"Good, good, he didn't discover that I, this old woman whose chest was pierced, am still alive!"
Granny Rosa shifted her body, and a Scarecrow fell out from under her witch's robe.
The Scarecrow's chest was pierced, as if a miniature sword had once gone through him.
"Thankfully, I had a substitute to take most of the damage, preventing the injury from being fatal."
Granny Rosa struggled to prop herself up with her elbows, trying to stand up sideways, but unexpectedly failed.
"Cough, cough."
The old woman coughed up a large amount of blood.
The old woman tried again and again to support herself to get up, or to concentrate her energy to summon wild wolves to drag herself away, or to summon ravens to bring healing herbs.
But all attempts failed due to her terrible physical condition.
Twilight deepened, and the moon and stars rose.
Under the moonlight, Granny Rosa, lying in the middle of the road, shivered in the desolate cold wind.
With each biting gust of evening wind, the old woman would tremble a few times.
"I clearly survived, am I going to freeze to death here?"
Thinking of such an ironic ending, Granny Rosa suddenly felt a bit desolate.
"I should have known to call Violet Fairy or Sir Rhine. I really shouldn't have come out alone…"
"Wait, Sir Rhine, that's right!"
Suddenly, hope rekindled in Granny Rosa's cloudy eyes.
The old woman turned her head, looked at the bright moon in the sky, opened her lips, and recited the names passed down in countless legends:
"Sage beyond the world, prophet who knows the future, wizard of miracles and wishes…"
Before long.
Young Rhine, dressed in a pure white classical magician's attire, and the valiant girl with golden hair, swiftly appeared.
"Granny Rosa!"
Aurora, seeing Granny Rosa severely injured and unable to move, rushed forward:
"Teacher, please quickly heal Granny Rosa!
"Damn it, who injured Granny so badly!"
Rhine also quickly cast a healing spell, covering Granny Rosa with pure white light.
After recovering some strength, Granny Rosa briefly recounted her recent encounter.
"That was truly a rude, barbaric, and greedy Soldier! No, he doesn't deserve to be a Soldier, he's a complete bandit!" Aurora fumed.
A faint, almost imperceptible spark of anger ignited in her clear eyes:
"It's a pity I don't know where that Soldier went. If I meet him, I will definitely avenge Granny Rosa with my own hands."
…
After "killing" the old witch, the Soldier entered the city with all the money and the tinderbox.
This city was the capital of the country, solemn and beautiful.
The Soldier checked into a luxurious grand hotel, took the most comfortable room, ordered his favorite food, changed out of his ridiculed old leather boots, and bought new boots and new clothes.
The ragged Soldier no longer existed; all that remained was a refreshed gentleman!
People at the hotel often gathered in the bar on the first floor, discussing the big and small affairs of the city, some of which were true and some were rumors, many of them related to the King or the royal family.
Today, the topic of conversation was the King's daughter, the Princess of Rose Kingdom.
—It was said that she was an exceptionally beautiful woman, blessed with many wonderful gifts by witches!
"Have you heard? That legend about Her Royal Highness the Princess!" one person in the pub said.
"It is said that our Princess of Rose Kingdom is a little beauty who has gathered all good blessings!"
Thus the topic was brought up. The guests in the hotel, one after another, recounted the legends they had heard about this beautiful Princess.
The Soldier was very interested in this topic, put down his ale, and pricked up his ears to listen.
Legend has it that 10 years ago, when the Princess was born, not only foreign guests came, but all the witches and magicians in the kingdom also came to bestow blessings upon the newborn Princess.
The first blessing endowed the Princess with peerless beauty that could overthrow cities and nations, and the second blessing endowed the Princess with a captivating, heavenly voice.
As for the other blessings, no one knew.
Some said the Princess was granted exquisite dancing skills.
Some said the Princess was given the kindest, gentlest, golden heart.
In any case, everyone knew that Her Royal Highness the Princess must have gathered all the good qualities in the world.
"Where can one see the Princess?" The Soldier's curiosity was piqued, and he asked the people chatting.
He knew that with his past status, he was certainly not worthy of approaching the Princess.
But now he was no longer a Soldier, but a noble, wealthy gentleman!
"Oh my goodness? You actually want to see the Princess? What are you saying?" The bartender looked surprised.
Had this gentleman never understood the situation of the Kingdom's Princess before?
Everyone in high society should know!
A series of hushed sounds rose.
"No one can see the Princess!" Everyone in the pub said in unison.
"The Princess lives in the deepest part of the royal palace, in a copper-cast palace, and only the King and Queen can enter that secret place."
"I also heard that many foreign princes learned that Rose Kingdom had a Princess who gathered all the good qualities in the world, but was imprisoned deep in the palace. So, those princes climbed into the royal palace in the dead of night, just wanting a glimpse of the legendary beauty of the Princess!"
"Unfortunately, all the princes who came to adventure failed!"
"No one could see the Princess, not a single person!"
The Soldier grew more and more puzzled, and more and more curious as he listened: "Why would the King lock the Princess deep in the palace?"
"I don't know, it's said to avoid some terrible prophecy."
"One popular saying is that on the day of the Princess's birth, a witch prophesied that Her Royal Highness would die suddenly and tragically when she grew up, which is why the King had to protect her."
"No, no, the version I heard was this: the Princess would marry an ordinary person without noble blood. This was unbearable for the King."
"Who told you that? How is it different from what I know?"
Everyone answered, one after another.
"Heh heh, a Princess whose beauty is unmatched in the world, gathering all the good qualities of humanity, yet she's locked deep in the palace. This is too much of a waste. I really want to see her!" the Soldier thought.
…
The Soldier was living very happily now.
He had money, indulged in fine food and drink, and made many dubious friends. These friends praised him as a generous person. The Soldier liked to hear such compliments; he enjoyed the feeling of being respected and admired. Anyone who praised him would receive a small bag of gold coins as a reward.
However, living the life of a rich man did not satisfy the Soldier. Less than a week after moving into the hotel, the Soldier grew tired of it and felt he should find something new and exciting to change this bland life.
This particular night was exceptionally dark.
The Soldier took out the tinderbox—the very one the witch had guided him to obtain under the tree hole—and struck it against the flint, intending to light a candle for illumination and fire.
Bang!
Amidst the flickering sparks, the door opened by itself.
A copper-colored dog with eyes the size of teacups appeared out of thin air in front of him.
It was the dog he had seen inside the tree!
The Soldier was terrified; he wasn't carrying the witch's blue apron now!
"No, don't, don't eat me!"
Unexpectedly, the dog lowered its head and respectfully said:
"My master, what are your commands?"
The Soldier was startled at first, then suddenly understood something.
"Get me some money!"
The Soldier said, trying his luck.
With a "whoosh," the dog disappeared.
After a while, with another "whoosh," the dog returned in front of him, carrying a large bag of money in its mouth.
"That's amazing!"
After several tests, the Soldier understood that this was a magical tinderbox that could summon the three large dogs from the tree hole to serve him.
Striking it once, twice, or thrice could summon three different dogs, respectively. All the dogs obeyed his commands as the tinderbox's master.
"God bless me. I'm not an ordinary person now. I have a magical tinderbox and three magical dogs loyal to me." The Soldier couldn't help but feel elated.
It was late at night, and the Soldier once again harbored the desire to see the Princess.
"Others can't see the beautiful Princess, but can't I?"