08/20/2020

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Once upon a time...
...a girl who called herself Belle Absolu. Belle Absolu came from the royal family of the great empire of Lancôme. But even though she was of royal descent, Belle Absolu did not have an easy time of it, because her father was missing and her mother, Lavieé Belle, was an extremely imposing princess who was both revered and hated and whose widely shining and magnificent banner attracted the attention of the people everywhere in the streets of the vast empire.
Belle Absolu still had several sisters, who also lived a submissive existence in the shadow of their powerful mother, but Belle Absolu did not only remain in the shadow, but most people of the kingdom did not even know of her existence.
Belle Absolu, who was actually named after her mother Lavieé Belle L'Absolu, had noticed in the course of time that it was rather disadvantageous for her to give strangers her full name. Either people burst into songs of praise for her wonderful princess mother and tried to use little Belle to ingratiate themselves with the court, or they looked on the girl with disdain - she could hardly be less inconsiderate and complacent than her omnipresent, pushy mother and some of her sisters, who were eagerly pushing their way to the front row.
That's how it happened that the girl had only a few girlfriends.
But the character of little Belle was completely different from her mother. Only in the first moment did she seem similar to her, starting with the fact that she too wore the royal robes of her house with the fine, transparent grey neckerchief and her noble figure. Also her eye colour of dark amber was the same and her tendency to fruit and sweetness. But after only a few minutes of getting to know her, it became clear to the few who did not immediately turn their eyes away from her that Belle Absolu was much more distinguished than her mother because of her restraint. She was also milder and gentler by nature. While her mother, with her preference for sugared and sharply burned, tart fruit and jasmine, seemed to many to be rather loud and biting, Belle Absolu loved ripe and juicy fruit together with a large bouquet of powder-blue iris. She liked sweets just like her mother, but, as befits a good dessert, she never forgot a pinch of salt. In fact, it wasn't just a pinch, but so much that it reminded her of salted caramel. Last but not least, if you had the patience to really get to know little Belle, after a while you could still discover her fondness for exquisite, delicate and at the same time powerful leather, in which she used to wrap herself up in the quiet little room in the evening for the long hours of the night.
So not only was little Belle Absolu in the shadow of her mother, not only was she exploited to gain access to the farm, not only was she rejected by haters of the Lavieé Belle family, but she was also overlooked because of her innate restraint. No wonder she felt unloved and lonely.
One day the girl met a blind man. He treated her completely different from what she knew, so unprejudiced and open that she cried about it with emotion for a whole night. The very next day she came up with what she called from then on her "blind test": She dressed in the very simple robes of the common people and spoke of herself henceforth only as Belle Absolu. She was surprised how friendly and appreciative the people met her under these circumstances. People were suddenly interested in her, in her all alone, in her as the most original person! Some sensed that she had enjoyed a royal upbringing and asked her if she came from the house of Guerlain, so well known to Iris, or was related to the Salt Caramels from the kingdom of Shay & Blue. Others thought to recognize in her the genetic line of the princes of Bottega Veneta, known for finest leather.
At some point in the distant future, Princess Lavieé Belle, like so many celebrities before her, will probably have undergone a huge amount of cosmetic surgery. As soon as she is no longer recognised by her admirers, the royal family will probably retire her, as is the fate of once radiant princesses. Perhaps then the hour will strike when Belle Absolu can step into the limelight.
However, this is highly unlikely. It is much more likely that once again a more dominant and space-consuming person will carry their banners through the streets.
In the end, however, it would not matter, because in the meantime Belle Absolu has found a number of real, loyal friends through her "blind tests" and has become happy in her own way.
And if they didn't die, they're still alive today.
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