Beyond the lands of the Rose Kingdom, in a hidden corner no diviner could ever find, stood a sinister, dark, and terrifying Gothic castle.
Inside the castle, Black Witch Maleficent stretched lazily on her obsidian throne, recalling her recent experiences in the royal city.
"I just casually destroyed a kingdom and cursed a bunch of people I hated. It's no big deal, nothing to worry about."
For a legendary magic master like her, the survival of a kingdom was but a thought away.
But her supernatural intuition vaguely sensed a hint of unease.
"Wait, did I forget something?"
"That's right, that night, there was one last blessing opportunity left. That little court magician, Rhine, hadn't yet bestowed a blessing upon Princess Aurora. How could I have overlooked that?"
"The magic of those mediocre talents couldn't possibly break my curse. But if they utilized the blessing opportunity, that would be a different story!"
Maleficent believed in one principle: whatever she did, she had to do it perfectly.
She would not allow her curse to fail!
The Black Witch closed her eyes, carefully sensing the curse she had cast.
After a while, the Black Witch opened her eyes.
"Something's not right?"
"The curse hasn't been weakened?"
She clearly sensed that the curse's power had not diminished in the slightest.
The prophecy that "the little princess would die at 15 by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel" still stood firm in the river of fate, unaltered.
Now, it was the Black Witch's turn to be bewildered.
Didn't they have one last blessing opportunity left?
Aren't they going to use it?
"Could it be that they completely ignored my curse and just gave the princess a normal blessing? That would be truly foolish." The Black Witch sneered.
Still uneasy, she took out a crystal ball and began to chant a spell.
Within the kingdom, hundreds of thousands of crows became the Black Witch's eyes and ears.
The crows flew into streets and alleys, entered taverns, collecting the information the Black Witch needed.
"Have you heard? For some unknown reason, the King has imprisoned the princess deep within the palace, not allowing anyone to enter or leave that building."
"Really? Is the King going insane?"
"Yeah, and recently the King's Soldiers have been going door-to-door confiscating spinning wheels. Heaven knows what the King is thinking!"
"Shh, keep your voice down! What are you all talking nonsense about? (covers mouth)"
"It's such a pity (sighs), they say the little princess once received blessings from witches and is the most beautiful child in the world. I really want to see what this little beauty looks like with my own eyes!"
"What are you thinking, fellow? Princess Aurora is not someone you can just casually see!"
"..."
After finding that everything was as expected, Black Witch Maleficent satisfactorily stopped her magic, a mocking smile on her lips:
"Hahahahaha, you think that by not letting Princess Aurora touch a spinning wheel, the curse won't come true? Just as I expected, that's what that foolish King would do."
The Black Witch walked down the stone steps, out of the dark castle, and instantly transformed into a giant dragon, flapping her wings and flying into the dark sky:
"Speaking of which, I've been staying in that broken Rose Kingdom for over a decade. It's been a long time since I've seen my sisters and friends, hehehe..."