Chapter 33: The Road Not Taken

In the mirrored image, a prince clad in regal attire appeared.

He stood tall and proud, but his face shimmered with a hazy light, making his features indistinct. Judging from the outline, he was likely a handsome prince.

When the prince approached the hedge of thorns, all he saw were shrubs adorned with beautiful flowers.

He passed through the hedges effortlessly.

As he walked forward, the hedges closed up tightly behind him, almost as if welcoming his arrival.

…

Seeing this scene in the mirror, Aurora was bewildered.

“Why did all the other princes get entangled and killed by the thorns, brambles, and bushes on this cursed land, but when he came, all the obstacles disappeared? The hedges even opened up a path for him?

“Could it be… he’s one of the Black Witch’s underlings? That’s why the cursed plants didn’t attack him but instead cleared the way for him.”

Princess Aurora, you really are my student, Rhine thought, amused. You’ve hit on the exact same suspicion I had. But, Aurora, your guess is utterly unromantic. Where’s your sense of poetry?

Rhine maintained a composed expression, but he couldn’t suppress his inward laughter.

Based on the original fairy tales, Rhine believed this was a poetic interpretation, a symbolic exaggeration of the concept of destined love.

After all, in the much older version of the story, “Sun, Moon, and Talia,” it was not a prince but a neighboring king who awakened Sleeping Beauty. This king, upon seeing the sleeping beauty, was overcome with desire and, while she was unconscious, violated her. The Sleeping Beauty only woke up later, after giving birth to two children—“Sun” and “Moon”—when one of the babies, while nursing, accidentally sucked out the cursed splinter. Afterward, the Sleeping Beauty married the king who had violated her.

Compared to that, Charles Perrault’s and the Brothers Grimm’s adaptations were far kinder and much more idealistic.

Rewriting the tale to have a destined prince, rather than a rapist king, awaken the princess better aligned with people’s romanticized expectations of a prince and princess story.

The hedges parting, the thorns retreating, the flowers blooming on the trees—all of these were meant to illustrate the beauty of this perfect moment.

Yet, in a world of real magic and fantasy, even Rhine found it hard to explain the peculiarities of this phenomenon.

The young mage shook his head lightly and said,

“I don’t know either.

“Perhaps, after a hundred years, the Black Witch’s curse had weakened enough to pose no obstacle. Or perhaps… he is your destined love. When he stepped onto this cursed land, even the world itself welcomed him.” 𝖗А𐌽ǒ₿ƐṠ

“Destined love?!” Aurora’s eyes widened, filled with infinite doubt.

“But… I don’t even know him!”

…

The image in the mirror continued to change.

The prince stepped through the pathway made by the parting hedges, walking through a sea of crimson flowers, heading further in.

Everything was eerily quiet.

Finally, he reached the ancient palace and pushed open the door to the small room where Princess Aurora lay asleep.

There, on the bed, was none other than Princess Aurora herself!

She slept soundly.

The mirror immediately gave a close-up of Sleeping Aurora.

Compared to the golden-haired girl standing before the mirror now, the Aurora in the image appeared older, closer to the traditional idea of a beauty, as she had fallen into slumber at the age of fifteen.

The Sleeping Beauty in the mirror was as stunning as the real girl now—breathtaking and enchanting.

Her delicate features carried an almost magical allure, capable of ensnaring one’s soul. However, she lacked the sharp, indescribable strength in her gaze that the current Aurora possessed. She seemed more like a soft and fragile flower, evoking feelings of tenderness and protection.

The prince’s eyes widened as he looked at Aurora, unable to take his eyes off her.

As he gazed at her, he couldn’t help but bend down and gently kiss the sleeping princess.

The blessing took effect, and the curse was lifted.

In the mirror, Aurora awoke instantly!

She opened her eyes and gazed lovingly at the prince who had saved her.

The prince carried her out of the palace.

Before long, the kingdom’s slumbering curse gradually lifted, and people began to wake up one after another.

However, after a century had passed, the kingdom was no longer the same as before. The land was overrun with twisted trees and wild weeds, and every building was blanketed in vegetation.

The mirror displayed a new set of text:

“Not long after, the prince and Aurora held a grand wedding ceremony. They lived happily ever after and grew old together.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The colorful scenes in the silver mirror gradually dimmed and faded away into darkness.

“Ah? That’s it?” Aurora finally reacted, sounding surprised.

“The best, most perfect ending among all the possible futures… is just this?”

Aurora muttered, sounding slightly disappointed:

“So, in the end, the culprit behind everything, Black Witch Maleficent, didn’t face any punishment at all? She’s such a powerful witch and has already transformed herself into a real dragon—she’s bound to live for many, many years.

“What if she rises again and tries to destroy our kingdom a second time? Who would stop her then?

“And lastly, that prince—I don’t even know him. He’s from a hundred years in the future. His father probably hasn’t even been born yet!

“Then, we’re just… together? What kind of bizarre development is that?

“The blessing says the curse can only be lifted by the kiss of someone who truly loves me, but he’s seeing me for the first time while I’m unconscious! He hasn’t even spoken a single word to me.

“Doesn’t love take time to develop?”

Princess, your thought process is far too advanced for this era. Wait… is this all my fault? How am I supposed to explain this to the King and Queen…? Rhine chuckled lightly and replied,

“Who knows? Perhaps love at first sight counts, too.”

His tone grew ethereal and otherworldly once more.

“Your Highness, you’ve now seen the road not taken.

“Ten years ago, on that disastrous night, two paths lay before you. One was paved with flowers and poetry; the other, with thorns and storms.

“At the time, you were just a swaddled infant, far too young to decide. I had no choice but to make the decision for you, choosing the path you’re on now and placing this heavy destiny upon your shoulders.

“Over the years, to prepare you as the warrior foretold by prophecy, the witches and I have subjected you to rigorous training. And soon, we will embark on an unknown journey across the continent, one that may bring unpredictable dangers. To fulfill this destiny, you’ve endured so much. I’m sorry for the hardships you’ve faced, my Princess.

“For the choice I made on your behalf, I owe you an apology.”

Rhine finished speaking and bowed deeply to the little princess in front of him.

Aurora, however, shook her head vigorously and quickly helped Rhine back to his feet.

“No, no, it’s not like that, Teacher! It’s me who should thank you! I also want to thank my father, my mother, the witch aunts, and Grandma Rosa! Thank you all.

“If I’d followed the original trajectory of my life, I would have been locked in a brass palace, knowing nothing about the world, ignorant and incapable. My literature teacher once taught me that a great person once said, ‘Among all the misfortunes in the world, the greatest misfortune is being unaware of one’s own misfortune.’

“Soon, Enderland would reveal the truth of the curse to the public, and chaos would ensue. I would’ve been stuck deep within the palace, only able to hear my maids reporting the disasters outside. Other than shedding tears, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. Actually, I probably wouldn’t even understand what a disaster is—because I would never have stepped outside the palace.

“It was you, Teacher, who gave me the opportunity to change everything with my own hands! Thank you!

“When the kingdom’s current troubles are resolved, we’ll embark on a journey across the continent together, searching for the Black Witch’s whereabouts. Even if the outcome isn’t perfect, at least I will have tried, and there will be no regrets…”

Aurora’s and Rhine’s concerns were far from unfounded.

Even before Aurora’s birthday, a terrifying rumor had begun to take root in the Rose Kingdom.

No one knew where the dreadful prophecy had originated.

It could have been the drunken gossip in taverns, the reckless claims of some astrologer, or perhaps one of the guests who attended the Princess’s birth ceremony spreading the tale firsthand.

In a short amount of time, the rumor—“The kingdom has been cursed by the Black Witch and will be destroyed in five years”—spread like wildfire.

Every day, the old King was overwhelmed by the bad news arriving from all corners of the kingdom:

Farmers stopped tending to their fields; bakeries and breweries ceased operations; wealthy families packed up and fled the kingdom overnight; even the once-disciplined military began to mutiny.

In the streets and alleys, people whispered that the King of the Rose Kingdom was a terrible, incompetent ruler.

They blamed the King for angering the fearsome Black Witch and dooming the nation.

Faced with the growing tide of bad news, the white-haired old King was forced to deliver a public speech. He declared that even fleeing the kingdom would not help escape the curse. He also promised that there was a way to end the curse before the disaster truly struck—that the Royal Sage who mysteriously vanished ten years ago was actively working to dispel the curse and would succeed before long.

But by now, the people no longer believed the King’s words.

The Rose Kingdom was no longer the beautiful, peaceful land it once was.

From the royal capital to small towns and rural villages, not a single place was free from chaos.

Even during the day, it wasn’t unusual to encounter robbers on the streets. After all, with the kingdom supposedly doomed in five years, why bother following the rules anymore?

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

At the height of the kingdom’s turmoil, foreign raiders came to take their share of the spoils—this invasion seemed long premeditated.

Enderland’s army launched a surprise attack on the Rose Kingdom, invading towns, looting wantonly, assaulting women, and setting fires everywhere.

“Up ahead is the Rose Kingdom. Take whatever you want, as much as you can carry. The gold and silver coins from the wealthy, the sculptures in the city center, the beautiful women—they’re all yours! Their soldiers have already lost their morale and are nothing like the disciplined army they once were. They won’t be able to stop our iron cavalry!”

This was the promise Enderland’s officers made to their soldiers before the invasion.

And in reality, the soldiers did far worse than their officers had promised, inflicting atrocities tenfold more terrifying and cruel.

“No… why has it come to this?”

In the royal palace, the King was in anguish and despair.

By now, the old King had grown even more frail, with not a single black hair left on his head. He wasn’t even sure how much longer he could hold on under the constant deluge of bad news.

“It must be those Enderland bastards! They must have deliberately leaked the news of the curse! It has to be them! Their nobles attended the Princess’s birth ceremony and witnessed firsthand when Black Witch Maleficent cast the curse—they know all the secrets.”