"Many years ago, when I was young, the White Kingdom was much better than it is now."
"Back then, the White Kingdom's soldiers were much more polite, the streets were clean and orderly, and there weren't as many thieves lurking about. The King and his wife were also deeply in love."
Old Carpenter Geppetto sighed, lifting his chin, his eyes filled with nostalgia for the old days:
"Until a few years ago, the King's original wife passed away, and he remarried a new, beautiful Queen.
"From then on, the King changed completely. He no longer concerned himself with the affairs of the country. Instead, at his wife's urging, he handed all power over to her—the new, beautiful Queen. He declared this was a display of his love for her.
"And the new Queen knew nothing about governing the country. She only knew how to build magnificent palaces and promote her favored cronies to important positions in the army, making a complete mess of everything."
For these small kingdoms on the Western Continent, the personal governance style of a centralized monarch indeed had a significant impact…
Rhine thought.
This was completely consistent with the information provided by the Sea Hag.
In Rhine's view, the Queen, despite knowing nothing about state affairs, demanded power to control the country in order to fulfill the Witch Society's "admission requirement"—to destroy or control a kingdom.
"The Old Witch of En De interfering in Prince Eric's wedding earlier was also an attempt to use the En De Princess to control Prince Eric, and thus control the entire Summer Kingdom! Even invading the Rose Kingdom, that was probably her idea too!"
Rhine whispered his speculation to Aurora.
Aurora cursed in a low voice:
"Ugh, the Witch Society, it's them again! How many countries have these evil witches harmed, how many families have they ruined!"
Aurora would never forget that her and the Rose Kingdom's primary enemy was the Witch Society's senior elder—Black Witch Maleficent!
"If I ever get the chance, I must completely destroy this organization! I'll give all those witches a good beating," Aurora said indignantly.
As expected of you, Your Highness! Rhine thought.
"Such foolish incompetents like the Queen are a minority. Apart from the Sea Hag and the Queen, these two peripheral members, the other five Witch Society members, even if not all of them are as powerful as Maleficent, won't be far off! To completely challenge the entire Witch Society is much harder than dealing with one Black Witch Maleficent. With your current abilities, you're probably still far from enough."
Rhine reminded her.
"I know. Anyway, I just need to find more powerful warriors and monsters to fight, and I'll become even stronger," Aurora waved her small fists.
Old Carpenter Geppetto didn't understand the two children's conversation, but what did it matter? What legendary magicians said was always difficult to comprehend.
The Old Carpenter led Aurora and Rhine back to his dilapidated little home.
It was extremely rundown, without a single decent piece of furniture, and it smelled of mold. Walking on the wooden floor, which seemed like it could collapse at any moment, one would hear creaking sounds.
Aurora pondered what she had seen along the way and Old Carpenter Geppetto's words, feeling a lot of empathy for this kingdom.
She thought:
"It seems the Queen truly deserves to die. And she has indeed become our captive."
"However, even if we kill her like this, it won't restore the White Kingdom to its original state. This might only enrage the King, who deeply loves the Queen, causing him to take even more irrational actions."
Rhine smiled:
"You've become more rational, more like a future King."
"Although your words are extreme, you're actually considering more things."
The silver-haired youth smiled again:
"I do have a solution."
"I can restore the White Kingdom to its original state in the shortest possible time. No, no, it will even be better than before!
"This plan involves the unconscious Queen and her magic mirror. Whether it can actually be implemented might require a bit of experimentation."
Speaking of this, Rhine had to admit that he was indeed a good person. Since he heard someone crying, he had to do something.
He also hoped that many centuries later, the good name and story of the magician Rhine would still be circulated in the kingdom he had helped.
"Moreover," Rhine added, "if my plan succeeds, the Witch Society will lose such a dangerous source of information as the magic mirror, and the Queen's magic mirror can instead be used by us!"
In Rhine's opinion, a magic mirror that knew almost everything, if in the hands of the Witch Society, was simply too dangerous!
Enemies with correct information are far more difficult to deal with than ignorant and arrogant enemies.
Since conflict with the Witch Society is hard to avoid in the future, why not first seize their source of information!
More importantly, Maleficent currently did not know that the little Princess Aurora she had cursed was growing into a dragon slayer who wanted to kill her.
As long as the Queen and the magic mirror belonged to the Witch Society for even one day, Black Witch Maleficent might discover that she was facing a huge threat, and then fully target the growing Aurora and Rhine, and might even invite other Witch Society members as helpers.
At that time, with the enemy being obvious and them being hidden, it would undoubtedly be a big problem.
Since he had already become involved in the White Kingdom's affairs, Rhine decided to nip this danger in the bud.
Aurora was stunned:
"Solving the White Kingdom's dilemma and also having the Witch Society's magic mirror for our use, is there really such a method?"
Is teacher going to steal that magic mirror while the Queen is unconscious?
Aurora had a guess, but then she thought that the magic mirror might only be loyal to the Queen, so stealing it would be useless. Teacher's plan certainly wouldn't be that simple.
Just then, a child's voice came out:
"Dad, Dad, you're home. Did you bring Hunter Angus back?"
Hearing this voice, both Rhine and Aurora unconsciously turned their heads towards the dark corner from which the voice came.
"Not yet. Angus has been taken to prison and will be executed next week. He didn't commit any crime!"
Old Carpenter Geppetto said, lighting a candle and walking towards that corner.
Under the dim yellow light, Rhine and Aurora both saw what the person who spoke looked like.
No, that couldn't even be considered a person!
It was a piece of wood.
That piece of wood had grown a mouth and was actually speaking on its own.
"The wood is talking?" Aurora was stunned.
However, on a continent where magic and other supernatural things existed, this didn't seem so strange.
"This is also the first time I've seen a talking piece of wood. Master Cherry next door gave it to me," Old Carpenter Geppetto sighed.
"I don't have a biological son, only an adopted son, Angus, but Angus usually hunts and doesn't have a chance to stay by my side. So I keep this talking piece of wood with me; he's like my son."
"That's right, Dad is right!" the wood said.
Geppetto then told the wood what had just happened and how Rhine had saved him.
"Wow, you guys are amazing, thank you for saving my dad!" the wood said.
This Pinocchio seems more sensible than in the original. The mischievous child feeling isn't as strong. Is this what they mean by poverty breeding filial piety? Rhine secretly sighed.
He could already foresee that this piece of wood was the future puppet Pinocchio!
Only now, this piece of wood had not yet been carved into a puppet by Geppetto.
The wood then said:
"Dad, since Hunter Angus is going to be hanged, you'll only have me as your child."
"Dad is the best carpenter in the kingdom, why don't you carve me into a puppet?"
"That way I can move, I can run around, and I can be your son and go to the streets with you!"
Aurora immediately got angry. She scolded the wood:
"Why do you look so happy? Don't talk about your brother's death so lightly."
But Aurora thought again, the wood probably really didn't understand this.
Old Carpenter Geppetto also said:
"What are you talking about? This esteemed magician will surely save your brother Angus! He'll be fine."
Okay, Pinocchio is still a mischievous child… Rhine overturned his previous conclusion.
"Besides," Old Carpenter Geppetto added, "even if I carve you into a puppet, you still won't move. You're a motionless piece of wood; even if carved into a puppet, you won't be able to move. If you could move after becoming a puppet, then you should be able to move a little now."
The wood cried loudly:
"Why? Why? Why is it like this? I also want to become a real boy and run around in the streets, just like my brother, Hunter Angus!"
Looking at the crying wood, Old Carpenter Geppetto was also very helpless.
"I can help you. I can make you a moving puppet," Rhine suddenly said. "Don't forget, I am a magician."
Rhine raised his hand, and emerald green light surged from it, continuously injecting into the wood.
In a short while, the wood seemed to have been endowed with vitality, able to hop and roll on the ground. Although it still couldn't walk or run, it was at least a moving piece of wood.
This was the solidification of the "Grant Life" ability, a new function Rhine had developed after years of studying this magic.
"Next, as long as Old Man Geppetto carves you into a puppet, you'll be able to move, walk, jump, and run like a real child," Rhine said.
"Thank you, thank you, great magician!" the wood, or rather Pinocchio, shouted excitedly.
Old Carpenter Geppetto was also overjoyed.
"Alright, now it's time to deal with more important matters," Rhine said.
"Are you going to the prison to rescue Hunter Angus?" Aurora asked.
"No, no, wouldn't that make him a wanted criminal? That's only the worst-case scenario," Rhine shrugged. "If my plan succeeds, it won't be long before the jailers receive news that the Queen herself has ordered his release."
Aurora was immediately confused.
Wasn't the Queen still unconscious? She was still in the Seven Dwarfs' cabin. Could she give orders in her dreams?
Rhine smiled slightly, pulled Aurora, and their figures blurred, teleporting towards the direction of the palace.