The King and Queen were stunned after hearing Rhine's words.
The 12 Witches were all stunned.
Especially Violet Fairy, the leader of the 12 Witches, she was extremely surprised.
This seemingly young magician, also knew such a brave warrior?
Recalling that Rhine had previously displayed magic beyond her own, Violet Fairy suspected that the boy in front of her was not as young as he seemed.
Could he be an old wizard who had lived for centuries pretending to be young?
"Your Excellency Rhine, is what you said true? So you know such a powerful warrior! Why didn't you say so earlier!" The King's eyes widened, full of surprise and uncertainty.
This white-haired old man no longer had any of a King's majesty.
He grasped this last straw of hope, clutching Rhine's lapels, and excitedly asked:
"Please tell me, Your Excellency Rhine, where is that warrior? Which kingdom is he in now?
"I want to hire him, even if it means emptying all the gold in the entire national treasury!
"Oh, by the way, I can also marry my daughter to him and let him be the new master of the kingdom!
"I am willing to offer the entire kingdom as a gift to him, as long as he can help me defeat Black Witch and lift the curse."
Rhine's expression was as usual; he was silent for a moment, then said lightly:
"Your Majesty, I confirm to you: do you truly wish to see this warrior, and are willing to pay any price, even letting him become the future master of the kingdom?"
The King paused for half a second upon hearing the question.
Then,
This increasingly weathered old man nodded firmly, his eyes full of emptiness.
If the curse could not be lifted, the kingdom would be destroyed anyway, so what was the point?
Rhine smiled.
"Respected Majesty, since you have made up your mind, let me take you now to see that warrior…"
Under the gaze of the kingdom's monarch, the Queen, and the Witches, Rhine strode forward.
One step, two steps, the young magician walked to the little princess's cradle.
Following the blessings of the 12 Witches, Rhine spread his arms and bestowed the 13th and final blessing upon the "Sleeping Beauty" in the swaddling clothes:
"Princess Aurora, the blessed one who has gathered twelve blessings.
"I bestow upon you three gifts: the talent for combat, indomitable courage, and the power to uphold justice.
"I bless you to become the great warrior I just described, to defeat Black Witch Maleficent, and to personally break the curse upon you!"
Rhine turned gently.
"Above, is the blessing I give to Princess Aurora."
Behind him, in the cradle and swaddling clothes, a light so brilliant that it made one unable to open their eyes bloomed, signifying that the blessing had been bestowed.
A deathly silence.
Whether it was the King and Queen, the princess's parents, or the 12 Witches, they were all dumbfounded at this moment, as if they had turned into statues.
They couldn't be blamed for being foolish and not thinking in this direction.
It was simply that Rhine's actions completely overturned their usual modes of thinking as fairy tale characters.
Is this… a blessing usually given to a princess?
They had never even heard of similar examples!
Rhine looked natural, as if he had just done something that was a matter of course.
It was everyone's astonishment that made him a bit speechless.
Wasn't what he did a logical progression?
Now, the only resource his side had that could potentially counter Black Witch was the last chance to bless Aurora.
Blessings, like curses, have a self-fulfilling nature at the causality level.
Since Black Witch could cast an inescapable curse, his side could also use this point to pre-set a good future with a blessing.
Compared to a passive defensive blessing like "the princess will not die, only fall into a deep sleep," wouldn't it be a hundred times better to simply set in the blessing that "the princess will kill Black Witch and lift the curse"?
The King recovered from his shock and asked with surprise and doubt:
"Your Excellency Rhine, what is this?"
Rhine smiled slightly and explained in detail:
"Respected Majesty, the future Princess Aurora is the perfect warrior I just spoke of.
"The Witches' blessings have bestowed all positive human qualities upon Princess Aurora.
"Princess Aurora has been blessed with a healthy body that is never sick or tired, thus she can become the most valiant warrior.
"Princess Aurora has been blessed with an eidetic memory and astonishing learning talent, easily mastering peak swordsmanship, and even magic.
"Princess Aurora has been blessed with a captivating voice and charm that enthralls all beings, thus she can become a commander whose Soldiers would follow her to death, a shining banner among countless armies.
"If she is present, morale will surely be high; if she does not fall, the army will not collapse.
"Her Highness also has the blessing of being 'impervious to swords and fire and water,' only she can remain unharmed by a wicked dragon's flames and plunge a sharp blade into the dragon's heart!
"Coupled with the blessing I just bestowed, Her Highness Aurora will certainly become the kingdom's most excellent warrior, kill Black Witch Maleficent, and personally lift the curse of 'being pricked by a spindle at 15 years old'!"
The King paused for a moment, carefully recalling the specific details of the so-called "warrior" that Rhine had just described.
It indeed perfectly corresponded to every blessing the Witches had previously bestowed upon the princess!
Although he found it unexpectedly reasonable, the King still couldn't help but roar in his heart:
"This works too?!"