In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was barbaric.

—"The Lady, or the Tiger?," Frank R. Stockton

Why does Stockton use an “olden time” setting instead of a modern one?

It allows him to use big words and fancy language.
It is more likely that a king would be cruel in an old setting.
There can’t be characters who are kings and princesses today.
A king from the past is more likely to make good decisions than a king today