The Princess and the Pin

The Pin of Klutzenheimer

Prince Hugo carefully escorted Sophina to the parlor. But then Sophina tripped on her own two feet, and her pin fell off her jacket.

"Here, you dropped your pin," said Prince Hugo. He picked up the pin and tried to give it back to Sophina, but then he slipped and dropped it.

"What is going on here?" Prince Hugo asked. "It's like I have a bad case of the clumsies. I can't even hold onto a little pin." He picked up the pin again.

"The pin?" Sophina asked. Then she realized something and said, "When I had it, I tripped on my own two feet. When you had it, you slipped and dropped it—and Hildegard gave me this pin this morning, and that's when I started getting clumsy. So I didn't get clumsy until she gave me the pin."

"So you're saying the pin made you clumsy?" Prince Hugo asked.

"I don't know, but we need to talk to Hildegard," said Sophina.

Just as the duo was about to take off, Prince Hugo tripped, and Sophina caught him by the arm.

"Okay, but let's go slowly," said Sophina.

Meanwhile, in another parlor, Hildegard was reading a romance novel.

"Hildegard, would you like to go outside and take a stroll in the rose garden with me?" her mother asked.

"Okay, Mother," said Hildegard. She put a bookmark in her book and took off to the garden with her mother.

As soon as Hildegard was gone, Sophina and Prince Hugo entered the parlor when Prince Hugo tripped and knocked Hildegard's bag off the chair. "Oh, this pin is awful!" he snarled.

Sophina noticed that there was a book that had fallen out of the bag.

"Hugo, look," Sophina said, tapping his shoulder. She and Prince Hugo saw the book, and on the front cover was a picture of the pin.

"It's the same as this pin," said Prince Hugo. He opened the book and read the title page, "The Beginner's Guide to Magically Cursed Objects? What do you think Hildegard needs this book for?"

"I don't know," said Sophina. "Let's see."

As the duo flipped through the book, they found a picture of the pin Hildegard had given Sophina.

Prince Hugo read carefully in the book, "Whoever bears the Pin of Klutzenheimer shall be cursed with colossal clumsiness." That's when pin got him to carelessly drop the book on Sophina's toes.

"Hildegard knew the pin was cursed," said Sophina, picking up the book. "She gave it to me on purpose, so I would be clumsy and fail the test. That way she could win you over instantly."

Prince Hugo was furious. "One thing I know is that a true princess would never cheat!" he growled. "She doesn't deserve me. We have to tell everybody."