Over the past two months, in several small kingdoms south of the Rose Kingdom, many people witnessed the following scene:
A silver-haired boy and a golden-haired girl traveled together.
The boy appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, while the girl was even younger. The boy had a scholarly air, always bathed in tranquil sunlight, engrossed in a book; the girl was more lively, but her vivacity still retained the elegance of a noble child.
Both children were exceptionally beautiful, with large, bright eyes as clear as lake water, possessing a transcendent beauty that seemed to come from a fairy tale.
The girl, in particular, was special, as if she had an innate charm that drew people to her, and her voice was even more melodious, like a lark singing in spring. No innkeeper or shop owner, upon seeing this lovely golden-haired girl, was unwilling to give her a discount.
The two children were polite and adorable, staying in inns every night, clearly having a good deal of money with them, yet no one saw any family members or servants responsible for looking after them.
Many speculated that they were half-siblings, which explained their different hair and eye colors.
Some said they might be two wealthy runaway children, escaping their parents' supervision and embarking on a journey to a foreign land.
Others said that the two children's homeland must have suffered some disaster, and their parents had passed away, forcing them to leave their original home and travel to this place.
But no one knew that they were the former sage and future king of a prosperous kingdom.
Once, a kind innkeeper asked the two beautiful children:
"Children, where do you come from? Has your family suffered any misfortune? Do you need help?"
Aurora replied:
"On the day I was born, my homeland suffered a disaster, and my family members were also cursed. So, we must travel to a very, very distant place to find a way to break the curse and save my family."
Her answer was quite honest.
"Thank you for your kindness, good person. We do not need help. This task must be completed by our own hands," Rhine also said.
"Then, may the gods protect you," the innkeeper offered a blessing to the two children.
The next morning, as soon as the innkeeper woke up, he discovered that his leg, which had been limping for over a decade, had miraculously "healed."
But not everyone on their journey was as kind as the innkeeper.
From time to time, ill-intentioned bandits would try to take advantage of the cover of night to rob these two wealthy children who were not accompanied by adults.
However, all bandits and human traffickers with similar ideas vanished without a trace.
Many days later, the story of the two children spread.
But through word of mouth and repeated embellishment, the legend also changed shape.
People said there was such a pair of siblings whose parents were cursed by a demon and were gravely ill in bed.
The two children had no choice but to leave their home, embark on a journey, traverse mountains and wilderness, to a sacred mountain to find the legendary rainbow-colored flower that could lift the curse and heal their gravely ill parents.
A magical sprite was moved by the two children and secretly protected them.
When the two children encountered man-eating beasts, the sprite would cast a spell to drive the beasts away; when they met murderous bandits, the sprite would turn the bandits into ugly toads.
Those who heard this story praised the children's resilience and wished them an early discovery of the miraculous flower, a return to their homeland, and the healing of their bedridden parents.
Later, two scholar brothers specializing in linguistics and history, who collected and organized folk legends and fairy tales, appeared on the continent.
They unearthed folk stories from different narrators and recorders, authenticated them, refined their language and rhetoric, and compiled them into a collection of fairy tales.
The learned brothers, in their extensive research, discovered such a story.
"Brother, this is a very interesting folk legend, widely circulated in the southwest of the continent. This story has several different variations, but the protagonists are basically a pair of siblings, and their goal is always to lift a curse on their family. I think it's necessary for us to record it."
"Alright, let's call this story 'The Siblings and the Rainbow Flower.'"
Of course, these were all later developments.
...
After a long journey, the mage, accompanied by the princess, finally traveled to the southern coast and gazed at the boundless sea.
The water was so blue, like a clean, washed-out blue sky; the water was so clear, like the brightest gem.
Golden sunlight spilled onto the water, shimmering, as if fine gold foil had been sprinkled on the sea. Waves surged and fell, breaking into countless white foam, as white as freshly fallen snow.
"The book says that beneath this great sea lies the Mermaid Country, where mermaids and other intelligent sea creatures reside," Aurora said.
One of Black Witch Maleficent's "Black Magic Sisters" was right beneath these surging waves, in the Mermaid Country.
Since Black Witch Maleficent was in contact with this Sea Hag, she very likely knew where Maleficent was now!
The princess looked at the surging waves, once again troubled:
"But how do we go down?
"And even if we can go down, how do we find the Mermaid Country and other intelligent sea creatures in the vast ocean?
"And furthermore, even if we find the Mermaid Country, how do we communicate with them?
"The information I've seen says that the merfolk of the Sea Country are very hostile towards humans on land! They even deliberately create disasters and attack ships passing through this sea area!
"The two of us, as humans, even if we could enter the merfolk's country, would certainly not be welcome. We might even end up fighting them!"