Inside the house.
"It seems Miss Cinderella is unwilling to attend tonight's ball."
Prince Eric looked at Cinderella, who was frozen in place and hadn't reacted at all, a look of self-reproach on his face:
"Indeed, it must be because we only informed her today. That was truly impolite!"
The Prince turned around with immense regret, pulling his wife Ariel away.
"Oh, Miss Cinderella is unwilling to attend the ball. We should tell Father to consider canceling it. If Miss Cinderella doesn't participate, is there even a need to hold the ball?"
Ariel complained to the Prince with displeasure:
"Eric, I told you, why did you wait until today to find Miss Cinderella?
"Giving Cinderella the ball invitation now is so rushed! Miss Cinderella must be very busy normally. How could she possibly find the time to change her plans at the last minute and attend Henry's ball?"
Prince Eric's attitude in admitting his mistake was very sincere; he lowered his head in self-reflection:
"Yes. It was my oversight; I neglected Miss Cinderella's own schedule."
I am indeed very busy usually, but that's because I have to do housework. This is completely wrong, isn't it? Who can tell me what exactly happened…
Cinderella's thoughts raced, and she quickly called out to Prince Eric and Ariel, who had already walked out the door:
"Wait. Prince Eric. I will attend Prince Henry's ball tonight!"
Prince Eric and Ariel turned their heads excitedly.
"Eric, did you hear that? Miss Cinderella agreed!" Ariel was overjoyed.
Prince Eric also seemed to have received some great honor:
"That's wonderful! Even Miss Cinderella will attend that ball. My brother Henry will surely feel incredibly honored."
Prince Eric and Ariel left cheerfully, passing by Cinderella's two bewildered stepsisters and stepmother. As they walked, they kept saying things like:
"You scared me to death; I thought Miss Cinderella wasn't coming. This ball almost couldn't happen."
…
After the Prince and Ariel left, the stepmother recalled everything that had just happened, her legs turning to jelly from fright.
She pulled her two biological daughters to a corner of the yard and said:
"Your sister Cinderella must have a very noble status.
"You saw, didn't you? Even the First Prince Eric spoke to her with that attitude just now.
"Uh, she must be a lost royal member. Oh no, it might be far more than that. She must be the Princess of some great empire!"
The stepmother guessed that this noble bloodline absolutely came from Cinderella's deceased birth mother!
Gods above, she had never known her husband's first wife had such an exaggerated background!
Two lines of desperate tears streamed from Cinderella's stepmother's eyes:
"It's all over now, my two foolish daughters.
"We always made Cinderella do the dirtiest, most tiring, and foulest chores, and we never shared a single bit of delicious food with her."
"We only found out today that Cinderella's background is actually so prominent. If she reveals even one percent of how we mistreated her, our heads will all be moving!"
The eldest daughter scratched her head:
"But I don't think we need to move. We live quite well here."
The second daughter was much smarter; she instantly grasped her mother's intention, revealing a "just as I thought" expression:
"I understand. Mother, you mean…"
Cinderella's stepmother understood at the same time and nodded.
"Quietly kill Cinderella!" The second daughter made a throat-slitting gesture.
The stepmother, angered, took out another bottle of water and splashed it on the second daughter's head, covering her mouth:
"You idiot! Be quieter!
"If Cinderella doesn't attend Prince Henry's ball tonight, we'll be in big trouble.
"What I mean is, we should quickly take advantage of Cinderella still being in our house and try every possible way to curry favor with her, gain her forgiveness, and make sure she absolutely does not reveal anything about how we mistreated her, not even a single bit!"
The two stepsisters nodded, half-understanding.
It was still morning, and there was still some time until tonight's ball. They had to seize the last moments to make amends for everything.
The stepmother rushed into the house with her two stepsisters, and as soon as she saw Cinderella, who had not yet recovered from the shock, she put on an extremely distressed expression:
"Cinderella, how can you dress like this? How can you be so dirty? This is truly unfair to you. Let me help you take a bath."
She then snatched the broom from Cinderella's hand:
"How can such work be done by you?"
The stepmother commanded her two stepsisters behind her:
"You, go sweep the floor. You, go cook. Today at noon, you must prepare the most delicious food for Cinderella."
Cinderella stood frozen in place.
The stepmother's 180-degree change in attitude made her feel like a dream!
Respectfully inviting Cinderella to sit on a chair, the stepmother carefully brought a cup of tea to the child whom she had oppressed countless times and mocked countless times in daily life.
The stepmother tried to subtly inquire about Cinderella's identity:
"By the way, my lovely Cinderella. Can you tell me where your deceased mother came from, and if she had any special background? Did she say anything to you before she passed away?"
When mentioning Cinderella's deceased birth mother, the stepmother also wiped away tears with a handkerchief:
"Oh, I truly feel sorry for your birth mother. She was so young, as beautiful as you, gentle, generous, and understanding, yet she died of illness."
Cinderella felt strange listening to this; she couldn't adapt to the huge change in her stepmother's attitude at all.
Normally, when you mentioned my birth mother, you didn't have this attitude! she thought.
Cinderella then recalled her birth mother's smile before she passed away. Her mother had said she would protect her from the underworld, and there was nothing else. She believed her mother was nothing special.
"No." Cinderella shook her head. "My birth mother was nothing special."
"Oh no. This Cinderella must hold a grudge against me and isn't willing to tell me the truth." The stepmother's thoughts raced. "Forget it, forget it, as long as I can gain Cinderella's forgiveness, that's all that matters."
The stepmother looked at Cinderella's dirty clothes and said:
"Oh, by the way, my lovely Cinderella. How can you wear such clothes? I must quickly buy you the most beautiful gown so you can attend Prince Henry's ball tonight in your most beautiful state!"
The stepmother spent the entire morning and a large amount of money buying the most beautiful clothes in town.
While bargaining with the clothing store owner, the stepmother felt immense heartache, because this dress almost cost her more than half of her savings—but as long as she could gain even a little bit of Cinderella's forgiveness, it was worth it.
She returned home with the most beautiful gown.
"Quick, quick, Cinderella, put on these clothes. As long as you wear these clothes, you will be even more beautiful and will captivate Prince Henry!"
As for the two stepsisters, who were responsible for cleaning and cooking, they were in a chaotic mess due to lack of experience.
They looked at Cinderella, who was being praised to the heavens by the stepmother, and at the Cinderella whom they had bullied daily, who used to wear dirty clothes, now wearing an expensive gown made of silk and chiffon. They felt very uncomfortable.
"Oh my goodness, this gown is 100 times more beautiful than mine," the eldest stepsister exclaimed.
"Today's dream is truly absurd," the second stepsister pinched her own face.
…
Just as bewildered as Cinderella were not only her two stepsisters but also Fairy Leila, who had been observing the whole process from the side.
"What exactly is going on?"
Fairy Leila was utterly confused.
"See, I told you, I would prepare a beautiful gown for Cinderella to attend tonight's ball," Rhine said with a triumphant smile.
"So, your way of helping Cinderella prepare a gown was—to make her stepmother pay out of her own pocket to buy one for Cinderella?"
Fairy Leila was shocked by the boy's miraculous thought process!
"Yes." Rhine smiled. "Isn't this good? As a stepmother who bullied her daughter for so long, the stepmother should pay some price to compensate Cinderella, right?"
The Little Magician then looked at Cinderella in the sky-blue gown in the yard:
"The most crucial point is that Cinderella not only received a gown for the ball but also gained respect she never had before, and compensation from her stepmother.
"From now on, her stepmother and two stepsisters will no longer dare to bully her."
Fairy Leila had to admit that, compared to simply preparing a beautiful gown for Cinderella, this was indeed better help.
Looking at Fairy Leila, who was doubting her own value, Rhine changed the subject:
"Why were you helping Cinderella, anyway?"
According to the statement of this world, Fairy Leila should also be considered a witch.
"I disguised myself as an old woman earlier and asked people on this street for water. Only Cinderella gave me a bottle of milk; she must be a kind girl," Fairy Leila replied. "So I swore to help her once."
The fairy looked at the yard ahead. At this moment, the stepmother was earnestly pleading with Cinderella, who was wearing beautiful clothes, not to reveal how she had mistreated her.
Fairy Leila also somewhat agreed with Rhine's words in her heart.
"By the way, Little Magician, what do you plan to do next? After the ball ends, you can't just let Cinderella go back to this house, can you? Huh? Where did you go?"
At this moment, Leila realized that the mysterious Little Magician had mysteriously disappeared again.
…
In the palace of the Sia Kingdom.
"Prince Eric, Ariel, you both acted really well. I didn't expect you two to have such acting talent."
Rhine leaned back in his chair, praising the two of them.
Of course, he had written the script earlier, but Prince Eric had improvised quite a bit, and his emotional expression seemed incredibly sincere.
"I've seen many similar plots and similar scenarios in novels and plays," Prince Eric said.
He elaborated in detail:
"Generally, the protagonist of such stories starts out quite down and out, either a poor boy or a poor girl.
"But the protagonist accidentally finds a magical item, or receives help from some other magician, and then becomes successful.
"In some stories, before the protagonist fully rises, outsiders still think the protagonist is as down and out as before, completely unaware that the protagonist has gained magical items.
"When they hear about the great deeds the protagonist has accomplished, they will all be incredibly shocked."
It seems Prince Eric has indeed read many fantasy stories… Rhine chuckled inwardly.
He could clearly feel that since his wedding with Ariel, Prince Eric had become much more cheerful.
"Helping Cinderella attend the ball is just the first step of the plan," Rhine thought.
He had not forgotten that the true current goal was to help the mermaid boy win Cinderella's affection.
…
The sun set, and dusk gathered.
The time for the ball was approaching.
Cinderella, wearing the most beautiful gown she had ever worn, arrived in front of the palace in a carriage rented by her stepmother, her heart filled with trepidation.
Cinderella was completely unaware that Fairy Leila, invisible through magic, was quietly following behind her.