Outside the city, in the crowd of onlookers, a silver-haired boy in a hood watched the hanged Soldier from afar.
"It seems your tinderbox is damp and unusable."
The boy was, of course, Rhine.
After controlling the animated rope to bind the Soldier, he took the Soldier's tinderbox.
Later, when the Soldier came to him for help retrieving the tinderbox, he merely pretended to walk away for a moment, then returned and gave the tinderbox back.
As a magician who granted wishes, Rhine did literally fulfill the Soldier's wish, but twisted a small part of it.
What he returned was a damp tinderbox that had been soaked in water!
—As soon as he got the tinderbox, Rhine performed a divination on this famous magic item, confirming that a damp tinderbox would temporarily be ineffective for a period of time.
"Alas, why do I seem like a devil from a story, exploiting the loopholes in people's hearts to literally grant wishes, yet twisting them?"
The young man muttered self-deprecatingly.
"The tinderbox that summons three dogs, I have retrieved it!"
Rhine flipped his right hand.
With a plop, a cloud of mist emerged, and the tinderbox, which had just been in the Soldier's pocket, appeared out of thin air in his palm.
"Retrieve previously touched items."
This was a new magic Rhine learned after fulfilling the Soldier's wish to "retrieve the tinderbox."
This even included items Rhine had touched before learning this magic.
It's quite a powerful conceptual ability!
The young man thought. Many interesting uses immediately popped into his mind.
"I don't know what to call it. I'm terrible at naming things! I can't just call it 'Dromji Instant Summon,' can I? 'Return to Sender'? That doesn't seem right either, never mind…"
Rhine shrugged, putting the matter of naming out of his mind.
After a while longer, when the damp tinderbox dried out again and regained its original magic, Rhine took the tinderbox and teleported to a deserted wilderness.
Rub, rub, rub… One! Two! Three!
Rhine rubbed the tinderbox several times, and with a few whooshing sounds, all three dogs appeared, their eyes bigger than the last.
The injuries on the dogs had indeed all healed, their fur glistening in the sun, looking not at all like they had been injured.
"They are indeed magical creatures; their self-healing speed is astonishing."
Unlike before, the dogs lay prostrate beside Rhine, both obedient and well-behaved. They seemed to have long forgotten their old master, ready at any time to follow the commands of this new tinderbox owner.
"These dogs can actually find out that the princess is not in the palace, but in the town outside the royal city. What a marvelous power!"
"Can dogs always sniff out the direction of the target their master designates for them? Whether it's assigning them to find money or something else?"
"This does highlight some characteristics of a dog. I can try it sometime to see how far a target they can find…"
"This tinderbox will definitely have wonderful uses in the future!"
"Aurora's 10th birthday is coming soon. According to Granny Rosa's idea, let's make the tinderbox her gift!"
The space around Rhine suddenly twisted, his slightly slender figure blurred again, and disappeared into the wilderness.
...
Two days later, Rhine held a grand birthday celebration for Aurora.
The 12 Witches all came, just as they had ten years ago when the girl was born, reuniting once again.
They gathered not only to celebrate her birthday but also to quietly discuss when they should tell Aurora about her princess identity and the mission she carried—a mission too heavy for a 10-year-old girl, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Granny Rosa kissed Aurora's cheek and personally handed the tinderbox to Aurora—just as she had initially envisioned.
The aged old Witch also thanked Aurora for defeating the Soldier who had almost killed her.
"I heard that on the day of the Soldier's execution, almost everyone in the royal city ran out of the city to watch. It was you who made the sinner receive the judgment he deserved!"
All the Witches knew the story of Aurora defeating the three large dogs, praising her as an excellent hero, just like those heroes in bardic legends and myths—Aurora was as brave as those heroes, as skilled in martial arts as those heroes, and most importantly, had a heart of gold like those heroes.
"Aurora, my dear child, you are already a hero capable of standing on your own."
"Just like in stories, every hero has their own mount. You can rub the tinderbox now and summon magical dogs to be your mounts!"
Granny Rosa gave Aurora a big hug.
Violet Fairy, the leader of the 12 Witches, also smiled broadly:
"Yes, you should try it. It will surely be a beautiful sight!"
Aurora nodded gently.
She and the others went to an open field and rubbed the tinderbox there.
Rub, rub, rub, rub…
With sounds of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," the three dogs appeared one by one. The smallest of them had eyes as big as teacups.
Aurora rode on the dog with eyes as big as teacups, guiding it to run across the open field. The other two large dogs followed behind the young girl.
At first, Aurora's movements were a bit clumsy, but the blessing had endowed her with an impressive physique and astonishing learning ability. Before long, she was as skilled as an experienced rider.
What a heroic and spirited sight!
The dogs ran joyfully, their eyes wider than ever before.
...
The birthday celebration was about to end.
Aurora carefully put away her beloved tinderbox.
She seemed to love her birthday gift very much, but there were clearly still some worries and concerns, which she couldn't hide even during the birthday ceremony.
"What are you worried about, my little Aurora?" Granny Rosa asked with concern.
Aurora recounted everything the Soldier had said after she met him.
"If what the Ender kingdom captive in the Soldier's mouth said is true, Ender kingdom might soon reveal the truth of the curse. When everyone knows that our Rose Kingdom is cursed, the country will fall into chaos, and it will be a disaster!
"Moreover, even if the King and the royal family successfully cover up the truth, everything will only get worse!
"If such a curse truly exists—I've already asked my teacher, he said this curse absolutely exists—when the disaster strikes, there will be no room for remedy."
At this moment, Aurora did not look at all like a little girl celebrating her 10th birthday, who should have been enjoying the blooming season. Although her tone still showed immaturity, she was clearly worried about the country and its people.
Rhine and the Witches exchanged glances, their brows slightly furrowed.
Although the King had sealed off the news, the people in the country did not know the full details of the princess's rebirth ceremony or the existence of the curse.
However, at that grand banquet 10 years ago, there were also many foreign guests among the attendees.
Expecting them to keep a secret was clearly impossible.
At this point, Aurora's voice trembled slightly. Her eyes were bright, fixed intently on Rhine—it was only at this moment that the golden-haired young girl realized that her respected teacher, who had taught her valuable knowledge for many years, was no longer much taller than her:
"Teacher, why do the King and Queen want to cover up the truth of the curse?
"A disaster will befall the Rose Kingdom precisely a few years from now. Since that's the case, shouldn't everyone know?
"Let every person who has the means to leave the kingdom, regardless of occupation, class, or gender, stay as far away as possible from this cursed land!"
The girl became more agitated as she spoke, clenching her small fists:
"Teacher, you once taught me about being human. Since there really is such a curse, shouldn't we… shouldn't we… tell everyone the truth—before the enemy country exposes it?
"The people of Rose Kingdom should have the right to know the truth and leave this cursed land in advance!"
When she spoke the last sentence, Aurora was practically roaring, with an undeniable authority.
The girl's voice, empowered by the blessing, that captivating voice, now seemed to possess magic, making even Rhine's emotions fluctuate.
With the blessing's enhancement, Aurora truly was a born orator. Even I, who knows the complete truth, almost agreed with her statement for a moment… Rhine sighed inwardly.
Violet Fairy, seeing Aurora so agitated, quickly stepped forward to comfort and explain, telling her the fact that "even if you flee the kingdom, the curse will never die, and at most, you can only live a few more years."
Unexpectedly, Rhine made a gesture, stopping Violet Fairy, who was about to explain.
The silver-haired magician youth stood up and gently placed his hand on Aurora's shoulder:
"Aurora, I want to ask you, if one day you were to become the King of this country—replacing the current King—would you do better than him?"
Aurora nodded vigorously without thinking.
"Tell me, what would you do?" Rhine asked.
"I would use a sword, and a little bit of magic. I would find the whereabouts of Black Witch Maleficent, gather as many warriors as possible, and then gain the help of you, my teacher, and gather the strength of the entire nation to challenge this culprit, defeat her, and force her to reveal the method to lift the curse—or, if this curse can be lifted simply by killing the one who cast it, then that would be even better."
Rhine's lips curved slightly, revealing a relieved smile.
"But there are no 'ifs' in the world." Aurora lowered her head, "Only the King's child can become King."
Then, the little princess's whispered remark almost made the Witches lose control of their facial expressions:
"At this point, even overthrowing the royal family would be useless, it would only make things worse."
Rhine raised his hand and gently stroked Aurora's small head, covered by soft golden hair:
"What you said doesn't require you to be King to do. I can take you now, go abroad, inquire about the whereabouts of Black Witch Maleficent, catch her, and defeat her!"