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There was a generally accepted custom that no matter what royalty actually looked like, they would be known beautiful, intelligent, brave, musically talented and gifted in whatever other ways the speaker personally found appealing. Even the smallfolk from the far edges of the kingdom who barely knew the names of their monarchs, let alone what they looked like, would sing the praises of their rulers.
Doing otherwise was generally considered impolitic.
Prince Sakamachi Onoda, however, was an exception. The primary word used to describe him was 'kind'. There had been short princes before, men who were described as 'stoutly dignified' and princes with weak eyesight whom were called 'intellectual' or 'scholarly'. While it would've been possible for his people to apply those adjectives to Sakamachi, the unspoken consensus was that Sakamachi would've been better off being born a princess to be rescued. His big blue eyes were considered his only real beauty spot but they were far better suited for expressing gratitude than steely self-determination. The prince couldn't even be praised for his seat upon a horse since he preferred some two-wheeled mechanical contraption as his noble steed.
Sakamachi's mother, known as 'The Practical Queen', counselled her boy not to be so shy of what the people thought and to mingle more with the courtiers. The court was desperate to like their future prince and yet, somehow, he still found himself awkward around him.
There was only one solution: Sakamachi would have to go out into the world and prove himself as a prince.
His mother saw to his packing and insisted he wear long underwear lest the nights get cold. She even had a spare set of eyeglasses fashioned so that her precious boy would not end up stumbling around blindly in the cruel world.
Her final touch was to secretly assign a contingent of guards to follow Sakamachi on his question - unfortunately, he pedaled so fast on his two-wheeled device that he left them all behind and they had to turn back to report to the queen that now her son was truly alone.
The Practical Queen was not pleased by their failure but was too just to punish them for it. The guards did, however, receive a very pointed scolding.
Meanwhile, unaware of the trouble he had caused, Sakamachi continued to pedal joyfully onward. The roads were in excellent condition, allowing him to make good time and soon enough, he heard of a beautiful princess trapped in a tower by an evil mage. From his early years, Sakamachi had loved tales of princess, requesting them from the court bards more often than anything except the story of the warrior-mage who had founded the kingdom.
He had to leave his bike behind when he reached the edge of the thick woods, hoisting it up into a tree and tying it in place. Sakamchi felt quite safe doing that since it was spelled to be waterproof and who would look up to even find a bike from a tree? Besides, he was a prince. If some poor soul needed a bike so badly that they would steal it, no doubt they were in greater need than he was and he was indirectly doing a good thing by 'donating' it to them.
Heart uplifted, singing merrily to himself, Sakamachi set off through the woods. The tall spire of the tower was always visible, making it easy for him to chart a course to it. He'd reached it by sundown but saw no sign of the dragon. Instead, a lean, short man with a basket was standing at the foot of the tower.
"MAKISHIMA, MAKISHIMA, LET DOWN YOUR HAIR, THAT I MIGHT CLIMB UP BY THE EMERALD STAIR."
A fall of green and red hair tumbled down from the window, making Sakamachi boggle. How long must washing and drying that take? When the man started to climb up, Sakamachi winced in sympathy at the thought of how that must pull on the scalp. What a monster the man must be to hold the beautiful princess Makishima captive in the tower and force her to use her own hair as his ladder!
When the man finally descended and was out of earshot, Sakamachi ran up to the tower and called out, "MAKISHIMA, MAKISHIMA, LET DOWN YOUR HAIR, THAT I MIGHT CLIMB UP BY THE EMERALD STAIR."
The hair fell back down again. Though it was rather slippery, Sakamachi's cycling gloves helped him get a good grip on it and his strong thighs from hours of cycling supported him as he climbed up the tower. When he finally fell over the windowsil, he was panting hard but felt triumphant. He dramatically wiped the sweat-soaked hair away from his forehead, adjusted his glasses and saw her. She was beautiful! She was tall and slim, with cascading emerald hair touched by ruby that tumbled all the way down to her hips -- what? Sakamachi looked back at the rope of hair he'd climbed up, only to see that it was attached to a hook instead of her head.
When he looked back at her, he realized she was glaring. Oh no, what if she had gotten the wrong idea?! Men who climbed in through women's bedroom windows rarely had good intentions.
"I'm Prince Sakamachi Onoda and I'm here to save you!" Sakamachi said quickly, pulling his crown out from his jacket pocket to wave it at her as proof of his identity.
"I'm Prince Yuusuke Makishima and I don't need saving," Makishima said flatly. "Go away."
"You're a prince?!" Onoda's big eyes grew even bigger. "But everyone said that you're a princess in a tower! And you're being guarded by a dragon and -- who was the man who came up earlier if he wasn't the warlock that cursed you to be held captive?"
"He's my manservant. He brings me woodcuts and food - and hair dye." Makishima scowled down at Onoda, arms crossed over his chest. "I don't like people. I don't like court. I don't fit in there and they think I'm weird. I'd rather live here in peace."
"...I don't fit in at court either," Sakamachi said, fidgeting slightly. His voice grew quieter as he spoke. "But my mother's there and she loves me. Don't you have anyone at your court that loves you?"
Makishima looked away instead of answering.
"...You could come to our court," Sakamachi said suddenly. "There's a tower there. Nobody would disturb you!"
"And why would I do that when I have everything I want here?" Makishima asked, though his tone wasn't quite as cutting as it could've been.
"You don't have any friends here," Sakamachi said, pushing his glasses up. "And if you were at my court, I could be your friend."
"Aren't you questing for a princess?" Makishima asked.
"No," Sakamachi said earnestly. "I was questing to prove myself. But if I had a friend, then it wouldn't matter so much if the court liked me or not. My mother would be happy if I have even just one friend."
Makishima looked down into Sakamachi's hopeful blue eyes and was lost.
And so it came to pass that Prince Yuusuke accompanied Prince Sakamachi home and the the art of cycling became the kingdom's most popular sport.