Okay but... this really inspired me, because wouldn’t it solve like 90% of the problems of Cinderella if the prince was just blind? Like imagine this handsome, charming prince, who his entire life has relied on his senses of sound and touch to get around and has learnt to recognise people by the feel of their hands and the sound of their voice? As in the fairytale the king holds a ball to find him his wife, and the prince insists every maiden in the land to attend. The crueler guards joke that this is because he is desperate enough to marry even the poorest, “ugliest” girl in the land, but in reality the prince has never cared what others think of him, and extends that principal to his wife. And so as usual Cinderella shows up and he falls for her wonderful voice and the way she can conjure pictures with words, he loves her because she cares about him and ensures he can navigate the newly arranged ball room ( he usually has a guide dog but his father thinks that isn’t proper for parties ). But when the clock strikes midnight and Cinderella flees he feels despondent, he does not know her name, could not describe her face, and he is sure he will never see her again. Cinderella is heartbroken too, she had found a man so kind and good, who would not care about her looks or that she was a simple scullery maid. And so that is why he uses the shoe, it is all he had to go on, others laugh behind his back but he refuses to give up. When he visits Cinderella’s house he passes through quickly knowing immediately neither sister is right. But as he leaves he hears her voice, singing from the tallest tower and knows it is her. He races back and demands she try on the shoe and you know how the story goes. And so they wed and together they live happily because it was never her pretty face or her shoes that made him love her, but the way she spoke to him.
