At the royal harbor of Enderland, two children appeared on the streetsâone a silver-haired boy, the other a golden-haired girl.
"I have a question, teacher," Aurora asked, looking up.
"If you donât actually want Prince Eric and Ariel to elope into the sea, then why did you create a potion that turns humans into merfolk?"
Throughout their journey, Aurora had come to realize something.
Though her blessings had granted her an exceptional talent, she was still too young, too inexperienced. Much of the knowledge she had learned from books remained just thatâdead knowledge, impractical and difficult to apply. The blessing had enhanced her memory, but it had not directly increased her intelligence.
There was still so much she needed to learn... Aurora thought to herself.
"That potion isnât truly meant to let them elope into the sea," Rhine replied.
"Huh? Then whatâs it for?" Aurora asked, puzzled.
"Fate is a funny thing," Rhine chuckled. "Thereâs an old saying in a distant landââThe will of heaven must not be revealed.â"
And he was telling the truth. Prophecy was bound by countless limitationsâit required a medium, only provided vague fragments of the future, and above all, revealing certain details to others could distort their accuracy.
"Fate truly is strange," Rhine mused as he gazed at the drifting clouds in the sky.
He still remembered when he first advised the King of the Rose Kingdom to invite the Black Witch, thinking it would prevent the infamous event where she stormed in uninvited in a fit of rage.
Yet fate found another way. Maleficent still became furious over something else and cast her curse regardless.
Likewise, when Grandma Rosa searched for the Tinderbox, she had deliberately kept the information from others, unknowingly preventing any warningsâensuring that the soldier ultimately obtained it.@@novelbin@@
It was as if some events were destined to happen no matter what.
These two incidents had been a harsh lesson for Rhine.
He had once believed he could easily change fate.
But now, with his newfound prophetic powers granted by the crystal ball, he had sensed something even greaterâ
For an outsider like himself, fate possessed an overwhelming self-correcting force.
Certain critical momentsâscenes so fundamental that changing them would unravel the entire storyâseemed impossible to truly alter.
Even if he attempted to forcefully interfere, the world itself would twist events to ensure they still took place.
"But that doesnât mean fate is unchangeable," Rhine thought.
From his past failures, he had learned a better method.
Rather than preventing these critical events outrightârather than fighting fate head-on, which would only lead to unintended consequencesâ
The key was to ensure that while these events appeared to happen as they should, their true outcomes were entirely different from the original fate.
For example, changing the nature of Auroraâs blessing had been one such approach.
"Fate can be deceived!"
Rhine couldnât help but smile at the thought.
"I suspect weâll soon hear the news that Prince Eric and the Princess of Enderland are getting married," Rhine said.
"What?!" Aurora was stunned. "But thatâs impossible! Prince Eric would never agree to the marriage. And Enderland has no reason to force him, right?"
"Oh? No reason?"
Rhine flipped his hand, revealing a small amount of shimmering powder in his palm.
"Earlier, I transformed into a bird and secretly inspected the cosmetics used by the Princess of Enderland. Thatâs when I found something strange."
"I used divination to analyze themâthese powders are ground from enchanted herbs and imbued with powerful spells.
"The magic only affects men.
"If Prince Eric is exposed to this fragrance for long enough, he will become a puppet under the casterâs control."
Auroraâs expression turned grave.
"So their so-called âalliance through marriageâ is nothing but a cover for an even darker scheme. We have to warn the King of the Western Asia Kingdom!" á¹ð¶ÎоÎÐÊ
Rhine shook his head.
"Other peopleâincluding ordinary diviners and magiciansâwould never detect the hidden magic within the scent. Even I wouldnât have discovered it without my crystal ballâs assistance."
"One piece of evidence isnât enough. Enderland can simply deny it. Theyâll claim itâs just a magicianâs baseless accusation. The alliance will continue as planned."
Aurora frowned in concern, lost in thought. "Then⦠what should we do?"
"Think about itâPrince Eric will surely reject the marriage.
"But that Old Witch of Enderland will never allow that to happen."
Rhine smiled.
"Theyâll soon start making mistakes.
"Theyâll be the ones to hand us all the evidence we need."
"If our plan succeeds, we wonât just prevent this unholy alliance between the Western Asia Kingdom and Enderlandâ¦
"We will also shatter the prejudices that humans hold against merfolk!"
The Old Witch found the heartbroken princess crying in her chambers.
"My dear princess, do not despair. I have long heard that Prince Eric of the Western Asia Kingdom is a rebellious youth."
"Perhaps he is deceiving you. Perhaps he merely made up a nonexistent lover to escape his fatherâs arrangement."
The princessâs sobbing quieted. She lifted her tear-streaked face, her sapphire-blue eyes filled with hesitation.
"Really?"
"You can test him yourself," the Old Witch said, handing the princess a bottle of wine.
"It is often said that people only speak the truth when they are drunk."
"Offer the prince this fine liquor from my personal collection.
"Once he is intoxicated, ask him againâdoes this mysterious âloverâ of his truly exist?"
The Old Witch gently whispered,
"My dear princess, I suspect that you are the one he truly loves."
The Princess of Enderland accepted the wine.
"Alright⦠I suppose itâs worth trying."
She wiped away her tears and left her room to seek out Prince Eric.
Watching the princessâs departing figure, the Old Witch grinned wickedly.
She had laced the wine with a powerful potionâone that could permanently erase a single memory from the drinkerâs mind.
The moment Prince Eric drank itâ
He would forget Ariel forever.
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