The Wizard of Fairy Tale World

Chapter 35: The Journey of the Sage and the King

"My order is: Find the Black Witch Maleficent!"

In the clearing, three large dogs glanced around, sniffing left and right, following their master Rhine's command.

Finding nothing, the dogs all flopped to the ground, stuck out their tongues, and pitifully gazed at their master, who held the Tinderbox in hand.

"As expected, the Black Witch Maleficent must be very far away, well beyond the range of the Tinderbox's magical dogs."

"Of course, even if Maleficent were nearby, she might have ways to hide herself from magic and other supernatural forces."

Rhine dismissed the dogs and tossed the Tinderbox back to Aurora.

The two returned to the Palace, where they sifted through a large stack of documents piled on the table.

"These are the intelligence reports compiled by His Majesty and the witches. They detail the origins of the Black Witch Maleficent, where she might have gone, and other clues!"

According to the intelligence, Maleficent was not originally born in the Rose Kingdom. She had traveled from another country to settle here long-term about a decade before Aurora's Baptism Ceremony.

No one knew how long she had lived or where she had learned her terrifying magic.

It was only discovered that Maleficent practiced dreadful Black Magic, mastering the arts of curses and torment. She could summon dark creatures to serve her at will and even transform into a Black Dragon.

Furthermore, her mastery of magic seemed to surpass that of the other witches in the kingdom—of course, it wasn’t until that catastrophic night that people truly recognized her power and horror.

The records also mentioned that Maleficent had once spoken of "sisters" from beyond the kingdom.

Naturally, these were not blood-related sisters but witches who studied Black Magic alongside her.

Maleficent and her "sisters" occasionally held gatherings or communicated through magic to discuss new dark spells and how to concoct bizarre potions. The ingredients they used, of course, were ghastly things like frog eyes, spider webs, toad saliva, and umbilical cords of stillborn infants.

"The gatherings of Black Magic witches appear to be quite an extraordinary thing," Rhine said with a slight frown.

If they were to face multiple opponents as powerful as Maleficent, the thought alone was despair-inducing.

In this continent, where countless stories intertwined, what kind of figures could possibly be part of Maleficent's coven?

Rhine couldn't help but wonder. He continued reading through the documents.

According to the files, Maleficent had never mentioned the specific names of her so-called "sisters." She had only occasionally hinted that some of them had become Queens in various countries.

"The queens of other nations—this range is way too broad to even begin searching," Aurora said, leaning in.

Rhine's gaze froze on one particular line of text.

The passage described how Maleficent once boasted to the Violet Fairy that one of her "sisters" was not human but an Ocean Hag living in the depths of the sea, skilled in crafting strange potions. ɌᴀɴỌBËs

This Ocean Hag resided in the Kingdom of the Merfolk, deep beneath the ocean waves. Since she rarely surfaced, Maleficent communicated with her through a magical mirror. Maleficent had even complained about it.

"An Ocean Hag living in the Kingdom of the Merfolk. This might be our breakthrough!"

"If Maleficent is still in contact with her, this Ocean Hag might know where she is now."

According to the kingdom’s historical records, the Kingdom of the Merfolk lay beneath the southern coastline’s vast seas.

Having identified their first destination, Rhine and Aurora had one last task to complete before officially setting off—

Bidding farewell to the King and Queen.

...

In the deepest part of the palace complex, beyond many walls and buildings, stood a Brass Palace, a place said to have housed a beautiful princess in legend.

In reality, it was nothing more than an abandoned palace left by the previous dynasty, usually empty most of the time.

But today, perhaps for the first time in ten years, the beautiful princess from the kingdom’s legends truly stood there—

To bid farewell to her parents.

The Old King nodded gently.

The aged monarch offered a weary smile and removed the crown from his head, slowly lifting it toward Aurora's golden-haired head.

The act of an old king removing his crown and holding it above the head of a ten-year-old girl looked almost absurd.

—This was the fulfillment of a promise made ten years prior when the Old King vowed to a magician to pass the kingdom to the warrior who could save it, declaring them the new ruler.

The Old King hovered the crown over the girl’s golden hair, as if measuring whether the crown’s size fit:

"My daughter, I am already too old. When you and the Sage return from your journey, this crown shall truly belong to you."

After speaking, the Old King pulled the crown back.

Aurora bowed slightly, using the Court Etiquette her instructor had taught her to deliver an elegant farewell:

"Farewell, Father, Mother.

"I will travel with the Sage to foreign lands in search of the Black Witch Maleficent. We will find her, defeat her, and end the dark shadow looming over this kingdom.

"One day, I shall return with the Sage to take your place as the ruler of this land, Father.

"During this journey, I will work hard to learn how to become both a great hero and a worthy ruler."

The elderly Queen dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, wiping away her tears but saying nothing.

Nearby, a small magician clad in flowing robes smiled and nodded at Aurora, saying,

"Let’s go, my future queen."

The Sage and the future queen bid farewell to the current king and departed from the Brass Palace.

Walking through the palace grounds, Aurora gazed at the distant mountains as they went:

"Teacher, I think by the time we return, I will have become the ruler of this kingdom, and you will have become its legend."

In the past, Aurora had been taught by a special tutor in elaborate grammar and refined rhetoric, and the clever little princess had mastered them all, speaking now with the polished tone of a poet.

"Father told me that ten years ago, after you helped him, you asked him to spread your story—to let the world know the tale of the magician. This must hold some special meaning for you.

"So when I become queen, I will do the same.

"Teacher, I will ensure your story is sung, your deeds recorded in history, and statues of you crafted by artisans.

"I will summon scribes to chronicle every tale from our journey and compile them into books. Artists will paint the most unforgettable scenes, and they will never be forgotten. Bards will sing these stories by campfires and wells.

"Many years from now, the events of our journey will become beloved legends, turning into the bedtime stories by every child’s pillow.

"Imagining such a scene is truly exciting..."

The young girl raised her head, gazing at the azure sky and the fluffy white clouds. A glimmer of hope sparked in her eyes.

Aurora glanced again at the silver-haired boy standing before her, a boy who would never grow older.

—He had looked exactly the same when he became her teacher during her infancy. Now, as she grew closer to womanhood, the small magician’s appearance remained unchanged. Time seemed to have stopped for him.

Aurora reached out her hand to measure their heights, confirming that her head barely reached Rhine’s shoulder. Giggling, she teased:

"Teacher, are you never going to grow up?

"I bet in just two or three years, before the curse is lifted, I’ll be taller than you.

"Even when I’m old and gray, you’ll still look exactly the same, won’t you?"

Rhine remained silent, quietly walking by her side. He could envision such a scene but found himself surprised by how far into the future a ten-year-old girl could imagine.

"Who can say what the future holds?" Rhine finally said after a long silence.

Aurora turned her gaze once more to the distant horizon, her thoughts soaring into the clouds, her face lit up with a blooming smile:

"Teacher, one day, I will become nothing but bones and dust. Yet you will still walk this earth with the same unchanging appearance.

"By then, your name will be legendary across the land.

"On this journey, I will learn how to become an extraordinary ruler and strive to become the greatest monarch in the history of the Rose Kingdom, a name remembered for generations.

"When I leave this world, people will say that the Rose Kingdom once had a great queen, and my deeds will be passed down.

"In this way, the length of my story might try to catch up to your eternal life—though I’ll never truly match it, I hope it won’t be left behind too quickly.

"Even centuries later, when you walk this earth, you might still hear people telling the stories of our journey.

"And in those stories about me, people will say that many years ago, the kingdom’s queen was given thirteen blessings at birth, burdened with a great destiny. She was raised by a wise, scholarly, and prophetic magician, one gifted with countless extraordinary abilities.

"Heavens, that sounds so epic! Just like the legends I’ve heard before!"

As she spoke, Aurora’s eyes grew deeper, filled with contemplation and yearning.

Like King Arthur and Merlin, perhaps... Rhine mused to himself.

"Your grasp of philosophy and grammar is quite good," Rhine remarked, unusually quiet today as he tried to sound more mature. "It seems those teachers I hired for you weren’t a waste."

Rhine averted his gaze from the girl and looked up toward the snow-white clouds on the horizon.

The clouds, like a gentle flock of sheep, strolled lazily across the vast pasture of the blue sky, basking in the warm sunlight.

He, too, had long been looking forward to this journey.

This world was vast—immensely vast. A kingdom like the Rose Kingdom was merely one among countless nations in the western part of the continent. And to the east lay the mysterious and opulent lands of the Far East, a place even more wondrous and enigmatic.

As a being with eternal life, Rhine understood that he was destined never to be confined to such a small fragment of the world.

Repeatedly fulfilling the wishes of the same "Child of Destiny" diminished the effect over time. Generally, one such figure could only offer two significant and effective wishes.

Rhine knew that to become the legendary magician worthy of epic tales, he needed to find more Children of Destiny during this journey.

Suddenly, Rhine felt a fiery and passionate desire ignite beside him. He knew this was Aurora’s wish.

"To learn to become an exceptional warrior and a great ruler, defeat the Black Witch, and lift the kingdom’s curse."

This was the heaviest and most fervent wish the Wizard of Miracles and Wishes had ever carried since arriving in this world.

The kingdom’s former Sage led the future queen onward, their figures growing smaller as they ventured further away.

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