"... Señora Vivianne, what is the real problem?" Puss asked with a serious look, worried about Fiona.
The little fairy flapped her wings rapidly like a dragonfly, her face troubled.
"Well, as I was saying, she has three bloodlines: Frog, Dragon, Human. Originally, her human bloodline was much stronger than the other two, and in a fight between the three, it would easily dominate. That way, she wouldn't transform into another creature, but rather remain human, perhaps with greater strength and dexterity, but still human…"
She explained while sitting on top of Puss's hat, pulling the big yellow feather behind it and hugging it.
Puss looked up but only saw the brim of his hat, leaving him helpless, yet he didn't move her from there.
Vivianne continued, still hugging a feather much larger than her own body.
"... Except someone tampered with her bloodlines. This person didn't curse her with a simple spell that could easily be dispelled. No, they did basically the same thing we intend to do with Aurora. The opponent fused Princess Fiona's frog and dragon bloodlines, greatly boosting their strength until they rivaled the human bloodline, even surpassing it, and then cast a spell to guide the balance, keeping her human form by day and her frog-dragon form by night."
She analyzed with professionalism.
"That's interesting, but what is the problem you mentioned?" Puss didn't understand—after all, the result was still the same, even if they now knew the reasons.
'Her concerns can't stop there…' Puss thought, and judging by Fiona's serious look at the fairy, she must have thought the same.
"There are two—" Vivianne began, hugging the yellow feather, which ended up brushing against her nose and irritating it, "Achoo!" She sneezed, rubbing her nose with her hand, "... problems."
Then she raised a finger.
"The first is that whoever did this wasn't very concerned about the long term, or about what would happen in the future if the princess didn't break the spell. Currently, the human bloodline is being overwhelmed by the frog-dragon bloodline. I estimate that in probably just over twenty years, Princess Fiona will no longer be able to return to her human form if she doesn't obtain a true love's kiss—just like our dragon girl here."
She explained with a serious look, but then her face turned a little uneasy, and she finally voiced what truly worried her.
"The second problem is that… well… this spell wasn't cast by a witch. This isn't witch magic…" She hesitated a bit at this point, but in the end, revealed with a bitter, awkward expression, "... it's fairy magic."
"What?!" Fiona's eyes widened in disbelief, stunned.
Her mind was racing—she could hardly process that in just over twenty years, she would become an ogre full-time, and now she discovered that the supposed witch was actually a fairy, making her thoughts go blank for a moment.
Puss also finally understood why the little fairy had been hesitant before. It wasn't the problem itself, but the cause. It didn't look good for her or her kind that a fairy had caused trouble for the royal family of the kingdom she lived in.
Vivianne sighed helplessly and gave a few hints. At the very least, by helping Fiona, she could clear herself and her family of suspicion.
"This magic didn't come from just any fairy—after all, such a level of magic is truly difficult to produce, and even for me, it isn't easy. I need a lot of preparation, various ingredients, and a ritual. But from what I know, it shouldn't have been complicated or time-consuming when you were cursed as a child. For such a feat, only a powerful wish fairy would have the potential to accomplish it without complicated procedures…"
She spoke with a strangely accusatory tone, rubbing her neck.
Fiona furrowed her brows, paying close attention to the explanation, but interrupted when she heard a term she didn't understand.
"Wish fairy?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She had never known who had cast the spell on her, so she had simply tried to forget and focus on the problem itself. But now that she had clues about the culprit, she found that her heart was far from calm.
The little fairy nodded, absentmindedly rubbing the yellow feather of the hat with her hand.
"Yes, just as cats have different breeds, we fairies do as well. My children and I, for example, are called pixie fairies."
She explained, rubbing her face against the feather.
"And what about the wish fairies?" Fiona asked, her mouth twitching slightly at the sight of the distracted fairy rubbing against the yellow feather of the hat.
"Those are more complicated… They say wish fairies are fragments of the Wishing Star when it fell to earth, slowly gaining life over the years. They are extremely rare and cannot leave descendants of the same kind, since technically, they are hardly considered natural living beings. Even though they can bear children, they could never give birth to another wish fairy. But in exchange for being rarer than dragons in history, they are absolutely powerful."
Vivianne finished with a serious look and a sigh, as she let go of Puss's feather and flew off his hat.
"Look, wish fairies are extremely powerful, so I'd recommend not fighting one, but if it becomes necessary, try to ambush them and remove the wand from their hands. Everything points to the wand being the core of the Wishing Star fragment, and it's the source of the wish fairies' powers. Take their wands, and they're nothing. Their real bodies aren't strong, just condensed elements, like flames, wind, or even soap bubbles…"
She winked mischievously at the end of the sentence, as if she had given a big hint, but didn't say it directly. Then, saying goodbye quickly, she left like an extremely fast dragonfly.
Puss was very surprised to hear about the likely origin of the Fairy Godmother, which was connected to the Wishing Star.
Fiona, on the other hand, didn't fully catch the hint, and turned to Puss with furrowed brows.
"She looked a bit… afraid? No, afraid wouldn't be the right word…" she said, trying to find the words.
Her words woke him up, and he understood what she meant.
"It's caution. She has a family to raise, and the one who cursed you isn't easy, so she didn't want to speak too directly and risk creating conflict that could hurt both us and also make her a target. Anyway, have you figured out who it is?" Puss explained what he believed, shaking his head, then locked his green eyes onto Fiona's blue ones and raised a brow at her.
She thought for a bit, frowning and biting her cheek, thoughtful, but in the end, she shook her head helplessly.
"I don't know. I've been trapped in that tower forever, I know very little about fairies or anything else beyond the books my parents sent me," she explained, becoming a little depressed.
Seeing her downcast, Puss was a little unsure whether he should say this—it might make her a bit impulsive—but he thought it would be better for her to know.
"Well… maybe I have an idea who it is," he said suddenly, drawing the girls' attention, and also Tornado's, who was grazing in the background, listening to everything—but no one cared about the poor horse at that moment.
Fiona stared at him intensely, enough to make him feel a little uncomfortable and scratch his neck.
"The only one who fits the criteria: fairy, strong, has a wand that is the source of her power and can perform powerful spells—I believe that throughout Far Far Away and the region, there's only the Fairy Godmother," he revealed with a heavy look.
"Fairy Godmother?!" Fiona reacted, surprised.
As far as she knew, the Fairy Godmother was a famous fairy-tale figure who had created many happily-ever-afters, her influence extensive, and she owned the largest potion factory in the region, if not the world.
Puss nodded at her, confirming.
"Yes, and from the hint Vivianne gave at the end, when she winked while talking about soap bubbles, there can't be a mistake. It's known that the Fairy Godmother's theme is soap bubbles, so she must be a wish fairy—and if they're as rare as Vivianne said, we can almost confirm she's the one who cursed you."
He explained with a serious look.
Fiona froze for a moment, wondering why the Fairy Godmother, who had helped so many, would be the same witch who cursed her.
But in the end, her gaze became determined, and she declared, to Puss's surprise:
"Let's find Father and Mother."
…
Seeing impulsive Fiona, Puss had to calm her down, asking her to wait until they dealt with Aurora's situation first, before they could move freely toward the castle.
Puss feared leaving Aurora and her being found in her dragon form, which could cause many problems.
If word reached the Fairy Godmother that there was a dragon near the city, she might discover Fiona had been rescued, which wasn't good—since she could then seek out King Harold and threaten him, creating unnecessary trouble for the girl's family, and even for Puss, who would likely end up cleaning the mess.
After he explained the reasons, Fiona calmed down.
"So, you think she cursed me and sent me to that tower for her own gain?" Fiona asked with a furrowed brow, confused about what benefit that could bring the Fairy Godmother.
"Yes, I already suspected that when we had that earlier talk. Witches, as evil as they are, wouldn't create such trouble for zero benefit, so I already doubted it could be that simple, what happened to you. And now, knowing it was a fairy, everything indicates there's a bigger purpose behind it," Puss explained, while poking some firewood in the campfire with a stick.
The fire reflected in his serious green feline eyes, making his presence slightly mysterious and handsome.
Aurora looked dazzled at the beautiful cat, her eyes hazy and full of love.
Puss noticed and smiled, winking playfully at her, making her so shy she hid her eyes under her paws in a cute way.
Fiona was too lost in thought to notice that the orange cat wasn't fully focused on the problem, enough to even have time to flirt.
"But what benefit would that bring her?" Fiona struggled to understand and could only turn her eyes to Puss, wondering if he had any idea.
The cat turned to her and shrugged.
"I don't know, but it definitely exists. Maybe your father knows something." He shook his head, turning his eyes back to the fire, arranging the wooden structure with the prey he had caught earlier above the flames.
Of course, he knew, it was just hard to say without sounding like he knew too much.
"My father?" The girl was confused about why her father would know.
She only wanted to go to her parents to figure out how to deal with the Fairy Godmother, but she had never thought they might have an idea about why she cursed her.
Puss decided to give her the hint, so she could be better prepared for how to deal with what was to come, though he feared this might also cause some problems.
"Your father was a frog, and someone transformed him into a human. My instincts tell me it may be related to the Fairy Godmother."