In the main hall of the palace.
The King, Queen, and Prince Eric are summoning the envoys from Ender.
The Ender country's delegation looked impressive, with half of them being strong warriors clad in armor, their fine armor displaying their military prowess.
The strangest person in the entire delegation was undoubtedly an old witch—she looked like a typical witch! Old and ugly, with frighteningly sharp eyes, she wore a classic wizard hat and witch robes, held a wooden cane in her hand, and muttered strange things from time to time.
People say that she is the advisor to Emperor Ender and the oldest, wisest, most majestic and most powerful member of the court wizard group.
Ariel was very scared when she saw her, which reminded her of the witch in the sea and the terrible legend about her.
"But the sea hag is just a little scary in appearance and temperament, and she is not actually a bad person. I hope this witch is the same." Ariel thought.
"You've traveled across the ocean and all this way, thank you for your hard work. Come and taste the fine wine of our West Asian Kingdom!"
The king's face was full of smiles and he was very enthusiastic. He repeatedly ordered the waiters to fill the golden cups of the Ender envoys with wine.
Prince Eric had almost never seen his father act like this, either towards him or his mother.
This made the prince feel quite uneasy, because it meant that his father attached great importance to making friends with Ender.
And my father wants me to marry the princess of Ender!
"What should I do? I belong to Ariel, and I absolutely cannot marry anyone else. Otherwise, Ariel will turn into sea foam!"
The prince thought anxiously.
"What are you thinking about, my child? Come and toast to our friends who have come from afar," the king said to Prince Eric. "Now is the time to discuss your marriage."
The prince opened his mouth to retort when Ender's old witch tapped the marble floor with her cane.
The clear voice echoed in the hall, drowning out all the talking and laughing.
Everyone, especially the envoys from Ender, fell silent, for they knew better than anyone that there was nothing more terrifying than the old witch's wrath!
"My Lord, the King of West Asia," the old witch said sternly, "on my way to this palace, I heard something not very good!"
"What's wrong?" the king asked nervously.
"People say that His Majesty has invited the sage of the Kingdom of Rose, a disgusting magician. He is now in this palace!" the old witch shouted angrily.
"This is outrageous! He was once an enemy of mine and my country. Yet you entertained him, letting him sleep in a luxurious room, on a soft bed and covered with a silken quilt."
The king had already learned the identity of the winner of the fortune-telling competition from his subordinates. He smiled and tried to explain:
"Don't be angry. It's just a coincidence. I'm currently recruiting famous fortune tellers, and that magician from the Kingdom of Rose happened to respond to the recruitment..."
"Kick him out!" The old witch's tone left no room for doubt.
Her voice was so loud that all the princes and nobles in the hall could hear it.
"Oh, her temper is still so weird, and she can't tolerate even the slightest offense. Perhaps witches who study magic and mix potions are prone to become like this, turning into a crazy neurotic. And, for some reason, her temper has been getting worse day by day recently!" The warriors of Ender thought.
The king was also a little embarrassed.
He waved his hand to call his subordinates and wanted to tell them to ask Rhine to leave the palace and let him stay in the hotel nearby or somewhere else.
Ariel, who was standing by, felt very uncomfortable when she heard what the old witch said.
Not long ago, it was the little magician who made them see the dawn of happiness.
"Rhine is such a good person, how could you treat him like this! The human world is so complicated." Ariel couldn't help but think.
"Wait a minute, that's not fair!"
Prince Eric could no longer bear it, and suddenly stood up and confronted the old witch in the horrified eyes of the princes and nobles.
Why? Why could a foreign witch, an envoy from a bandit nation, lecture them in the palace of the West Asian Kingdom and even drive away the magician who had done him such a great favor? Eric couldn't accept it.
After all, he is a young prince full of vigor and vitality!
"That wise and learned magician from the Kingdom of Rose is our guest, a guest of the Kingdom of West Asia. This is our country, our palace. There's no need for you to dictate our decisions, old witch!"
The prince scolded.
At this moment, he felt like a real hero, just like the heroes depicted in novels and picture books.
"Your Highness Eric, what did you say?"
The old witch was so angry that she almost jumped up. She hit the marble floor several times with her cane, as if she wanted to break it.
The other Ender envoys around rushed over and tried to stop her.
"Alright, do as you please." The old witch sat down again, the anger on her face subsiding as she revealed a sinister smile. "This is not a good choice—for either you or your friend, Your Highness Eric."
The envoys from Ender turned pale, for they knew that when the old witch made such an expression, it meant that someone was going to die.
…
"Prince Eric is a man of great loyalty!" Aurora praised, gazing at the scene in the crystal ball. "I can foresee that no matter how great the obstacles or the cost, he will find a way to be with Ariel."
Speaking of this, Aurora sighed again:
"If, under Prince Eric's insistence, the king finally agrees to let Prince Eric and Ariel be together, and live happily ever after in the Kingdom of West Asia, that would be wonderful indeed. The only pity is that if that's all, Ariel will still never be able to return to the kingdom under the sea and be with her family!"
"So, we have to pursue a better ending," Rhine said.
He looked at the various scenes in the crystal ball and turned to think about another thing:
"Why is that old witch so hostile to me? Is there some hidden reason? Or is her temper just that strange?"
There are many witches with strange personalities in this world, but in his impression, the most moody and almost neurotic witch is the black witch Maleficent!
"Be careful. I have a vague feeling that the witch might do something bad to us. Maybe even tonight!" The silver-haired boy reminded Aurora.
The arrival of the Ender delegation, once an enemy, made Rhine alert:
The stories scattered across this continent are not isolated, but rather each country is connected to the others, just like the black witch Maleficent and the sea hag belong to the same witch coven.
Enemies they've seen before may reappear, perhaps plotting something they're unaware of.
Under this complex interplay of influences, the story's development could easily deviate from the direction of the original fairy tale. Just because you know the original storyline doesn't mean you know it all.