


Upon learning from his henchmen, Nick and Nack, that the Queen has arranged Anneliese's marriage to King Dominick, he decides to make Anneliese 'mysteriously disappear', which will cancel the engagement after which Preminger can pretend he has found the Princess, earning her hand in marriage, and allowing him to accede the throne and become king-himself. Unbeknownst to the Queen, the reason behind the kingdom's bankruptcy is her adviser Preminger has been stealing gold, emptying the royal mines. The Pauper Erika is an indentured servant, working off her parents' debt at Madame Carp's Dress Emporium, but dreams of becoming a singer and seeing the world. Several years later, Princess Anneliese is betrothed by her mother, Queen Genevieve, to the wealthy King Dominick to save the nearly bankrupt royal treasury however, she is in love with her young tutor Julian. In an unnamed kingdom, a blonde princess and a brunette pauper are born at the same time.
