"What, you want us to drink the magic potion meant for mermaids?"
Cinderella's two older sisters panicked, fearing unpleasant side effects.
"Think about it, this is your chance to become the Prince's wife!" their mother said, placing the clear, water-like potion on the table.
Under their mother's coercion and temptation, the older sister, who lost at rock-paper-scissors, finally bravely drank the magic potion.
Before long, the older sister's two feet swelled up, and then each foot seemed to be cut in half, splitting into two smaller feet.
—This magical potion, which could separate a mermaid's tail into two human feet, when drunk by humans, instead split each foot into two more feet.
And so, the older sister now had four feet.
"What am I going to do, Mother! I have two pairs of feet now, like a centipede!" the older sister cried out loudly.
"No, a centipede clearly has more feet," the second sister retorted.
"What does it matter? You just need to hide two of them, only revealing the other two that fit perfectly into the glass slipper," her mother said, as if she didn't care at all. "Anyway, as long as you can become the Prince's wife, you'll always travel by carriage, so when would you ever need your feet?"
The older sister thought about it and realized it was true.
The two daughters and their mother spent a lot of effort extensively modifying the dress, finally managing to squeeze two of the four feet into the spacious clothing, which made her dress look particularly bulky.
The older sister then walked out, putting on the glass slipper with her uncovered feet.
The foot fit perfectly into the glass slipper!
"Look! Someone has finally perfectly put on this glass slipper, she is the bride the Prince is looking for!" people exclaimed.
Prince Henry also came over.
"Haha, I finally found you!"
The excited Prince Henry didn't notice the older sister's bulky dress at all, mistaking her for the bride he was looking for.
He genuinely didn't remember the face of his beloved—to be honest, after so long, he actually didn't have much of an impression of the girl who had captivated him at first sight at the ball. He and Cinderella had never even spoken, knew nothing about each other, and Prince Henry didn't know why he would suddenly fall for this girl. This was not surprising; he was always so whimsical, suddenly falling in love with someone. For him, the process of finding a bride was enough to satisfy his desire for excitement.
Prince Henry took the older sister into the carriage, and the two departed together.
The sun shone brightly today, and the sky was clear and cloudless.
On their way back to the palace, doves perched on tree branches began to sing—melodious and beautiful songs, as if celebrating the Prince finding his bride.
Everyone blessed this beautiful scene, and the happiest was undoubtedly Cinderella's stepmother.
She saw her own daughter finally about to become the Prince's wife, rising swiftly in status, and imagined the future glory and wealth, imagining herself moving into the palace and living a luxurious life, so happy she almost fainted!
Meanwhile, the second sister bowed her head, filled with regret that she hadn't been the one to drink the magic potion.
"If I had known this was really possible, I would have drunk that magic potion. Even if I grew 6 feet, 8 feet, and eventually truly became a centipede, it would have been worth it," the second sister muttered to herself.
On a small banyan tree in the distance.
Rhine, dressed in a cloak and the attire of a classical magician, sat on the tree, taking out food and feeding the chirping birds, and couldn't help but smile at the beautiful scene of the carriage gradually disappearing into the distance.
"It truly is a happy ending for everyone."
"Cinderella's stepmother achieved her goal of making her daughter the Prince's wife; Cinderella's older sister also achieved a leap in status; as for Cinderella herself, she can finally escape her nightmarish past and embark on a new life with the mermaid Momo."
As he spoke, Rhine sprinkled some more breadcrumbs on his hand, extending it to let the birds gently peck at his small hand.
After helping Cinderella, Rhine also gained the magical talent of communicating with and commanding birds, as depicted in the Grimm's Fairy Tales version of Cinderella. This is effective for all avian creatures.
Previously, Rhine could also use magic to summon a small number of weak birds to serve him. Now, this ability has been greatly enhanced, and he can also grant birds the ability to speak human language, truly allowing birds to convey messages on his behalf.
Below the tree, Aurora watched Prince Henry's carriage disappear from sight and sighed:
"I always feel like it's a somewhat ironic ending."
This was completely different from the feelings in her heart when she saw Ariel and Prince Eric finally marry.
"Whether it's Cinderella, or her stepmother and sister, both sides chose two different magic potions, and finally each embarked on the path they desired."
"Alas, Cinderella's older sister will probably have to live the rest of her life hiding those two feet."
Rhine leaped down from the tree, waving his wide sleeve.
"Let's go, it's time for us to embark on our journey soon.
"Our next destination is the center of the eastern desert, where Maleficent's castle is located. If I'm not mistaken, that should be the country called Oz.
"Aurora, you'd best find a suitable weapon and engage in more battles with strong enemies before reaching our destination, so you can grow into a warrior capable of defeating dragons."
Aurora nodded.
…
Soon after, Rhine and Aurora set off.
Because they wanted to see the progress of the alliance between Sea Kingdom and the Summer Kingdom, and due to the delay caused by Cinderella's matter, their departure time was significantly later than expected.
Counting it, from meeting mermaid princess Ariel until now, they had stayed in the Summer Kingdom for several months, during which Aurora also had a birthday. But Rhine was not worried, as Aurora's 15th birthday was still a long way off.
The two children rode their horses out of the Summer Kingdom's palace walls and headed towards the area marked as desert on the map.
—That desert is located at the border between the Summer Kingdom and the Middle Eastern Countries. Along the way, they would also pass through two or three small kingdoms on the Summer Kingdom.
"Goodbye, Rhine!"
"Goodbye, Aurora!"
Ariel and Prince Eric waved to the two children.
A hundred well-equipped Soldiers stood behind the Prince, their armor reflecting the sun's light. The chief officer waved a flag interwoven with gold and purple, the sound of flutes drifted down from the tall buildings, and rhythmic cannon fire came from afar.
Aurora also turned her head, waving vigorously, bidding farewell to the Prince on the ground and the mermaid princess from Sea Kingdom, with a look of reluctance.
"Aurora, there's no need to be nostalgic, your journey is still long," Ariel said with a smile, offering her blessings.
"Aurora, don't forget, a part of my immortal soul was bestowed by you. From now on, every day and night, we will always be together!"
Prince Eric also waved goodbye to Rhine:
"Sage of Rose Kingdom, esteemed Magician Rhine, in the future, if you need any help, I will certainly do my best to assist."
This young, handsome, and somewhat imaginative Prince suddenly showed a cunning smile:
"But by that time, I might not be helping you as the Grand Prince, but as the King of the Summer kingdom!"
Rhine smiled upon hearing this.
The Summer Kingdom's palace was by the sea, and the white horses they rode walked on the beach by the sea.
Rhine and Aurora saw many ships docked there.
Several sailors poked their heads over the ship's railing, discussing something with the mermaids floating in the sea.
"Don't go out to sea today, the planned route will encounter a storm," the mermaid warned the sailors.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" the sailors waved, thanking the mermaids in the sea. "These past few days, if it weren't for your ability to predict sea storms, we would have been swallowed by fish long ago."
Aurora watched such a scene, and for a moment, she was incredibly moved:
"I can't imagine that just a few months ago, mermaids were still considered cursed monsters in the eyes of sailors.
"The alliance between the Summer Kingdom and Sea Kingdom has truly changed so much.
"It probably won't be long before other coastal kingdoms will be scrambling to become friends with Sea Kingdom."
Rhine also smiled, saying without modesty:
"This is our achievement."
Just then, a big wave crashed onto the beach, breaking into snowy white foam.
One figure after another suddenly emerged from the sea.
They were mermaids.
They were Rhine and Aurora's familiar friends!
There was Mermaid Grandmother with her silver crown, Sea King with his golden trident, and five mermaid princesses with sea flowers around their necks.
They all waved to Rhine and Aurora.
Besides these royal members of the Sea Kingdom palace, Rhine and Aurora also saw two other mermaids.
They were the mermaid youth Momo, and Cinderella, who had already become a mermaid.
They smiled brightly, with serene and gentle sunlight spilling onto the cheeks of this mermaid couple. The two waved to Rhine and Aurora, and their blessings could be heard from far away.
In the year Aurora turned 11, history records that the long-secret Sea Kingdom and the land-based Summer Kingdom formed an alliance. From then on, the mermaid race in the sea finally became a part of the continent.
There are still 4 years until the curse of the spinning wheel and death descends.
…
Not long after Rhine and Aurora left.
"What, Henry, you're going abroad to play again?" Prince Eric was stunned when he heard his younger brother's plan.
"Brother, you've only been back for a few weeks! And don't you have a fiancée now? Shouldn't you be spending more time with your fiancée during this period?"
Prince Henry yawned:
"I'm not very interested in that woman anymore. You know, my enthusiasm always fades quickly. And that woman seems to have some secret, she avoids me every day and only wears spacious clothes like robes, she's really eccentric."
Henry added:
"Of course, I'll keep my word and marry her. But a noble Prince isn't limited to just one wife, is he?"
"So where are you planning to travel and seek romance this time?" Prince Eric knew he couldn't stop his brother, so he simply asked.
"This time I plan to go to White Kingdom. I've heard for a long time that the Princess of White Kingdom is especially beautiful, with skin as white as snow. People call her Snow White!"
Prince Henry's eyes lit up when he mentioned the beautiful Snow White.
"Sigh." Eric sighed.
He knew that White Kingdom was a land neighbor of the Summer Kingdom.
Suddenly, Prince Eric seemed to remember something, jumping up as if electrocuted.
"That White Kingdom? The direction it's in… isn't that the direction Rhine and Aurora are heading? They should also pass through White Kingdom before reaching their destination!"
"You mean that great Magician from Rose Kingdom and his beautiful girl attendant? They're also going to White Kingdom?" Prince Henry said, "That's great, maybe I'll even run into them!"