The magician of the fairy tale world.

Chapter 4 The Witch and the Twelve Golden Plates
Rhine was slightly stunned.

Was I the one who named Sleeping Beauty?
Personally participated in the well-known and household fairy tales and named the unborn heroine in the story.

Such a legendary experience gave Rhine a strong sense of unreality.

The queen nodded slightly.

The king smiled knowingly and gestured to the slightly surprised Rhine to boldly name it:

“Ancient sages have said that a name is the starting point of a newborn’s destiny and a good name determines the direction of life.

“It is a tradition in the kingdom to let a learned sage name a newborn baby.

"In my kingdom, no one is more suitable to name our daughter than you, Lord Rhine!"

The little magician lowered his head in thought, his eyes full of thoughts.

There have been countless versions of "Sleeping Beauty" throughout history.

The name of the heroine of the story is not fixed in different versions.

In some versions, the heroine is even called "Princess".

After a brief thought, Rhine had the answer in his mind.

"Let's call the little princess... Aurora."

Rhine opened his arms and raised his voice suddenly:
“It means morning light, the dawn.

“Even in the deepest and darkest night, dawn will come!

“May hope and light illuminate the little princess’ future path.”

This name was not chosen casually by Rhine.

The name Aurora originally belonged to the daughter of Sleeping Beauty in a certain version.

Tchaikovsky gave it the name of the princess, Sleeping Beauty herself, in his own ballet.

Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" also uses this name.

Since then, whether translated as "Aurora", "Aurora" or other names, the beautiful name Aurora has become the most recognized name of Sleeping Beauty in the world.

Rhine simply followed the will of fate and chose this nice name.

"Aurora, what a beautiful name." The queen clapped softly and exclaimed in admiration.

The king was also quite satisfied:
“Your Excellency Rhine, I plan to hold a grand banquet after Princess Aurora is born.

“At that time, I will invite 12 witches in the kingdom to baptize the newborn princess and offer their blessings!

"I also ask you, the learned magician, Lord Rhine, to bless the princess together!"

Rhine stroked his chest and smiled:

"It's my pleasure."

After saying this, the little magician's expression became more serious.

He knew that the future would be like the familiar story of "Sleeping Beauty":

At the celebration of Princess Aurora's birth, the 13th witch who was not invited to the kingdom, the notorious black witch, broke into the scene with resentment.

The black witch cursed the newborn princess, causing her to die from pricking her finger with a spindle when she was 15!

In some versions of the story, the reason the king did not invite the 13th witch was that there were only 12 plates to entertain the guests.

Simply put, it was a murder caused by a golden plate!
But now it seems that this is not the whole reason. The main reason is that the king himself does not like the black witch.

Thinking of the curse that has not yet come, Rhine's eyes narrowed slightly.

Is this a fate that can be changed?
Rhine raised his head, his face solemn beneath his hood, and gave kind advice as a sage of the kingdom:

"Your Majesty, since there are 13 powerful witches in the kingdom.

“If we only invite 12 of them, will the one who is left out feel resentful?
"Especially, considering Maleficent's personality. She's not the kind of person who is very forgiving...

"Ignoring her intentionally may lead to trouble."

Maleficent is the name of the black witch that Rhine has recently learned.

After hearing what Rhine said, the old king's eyes suddenly froze.

The kingdom's monarch felt a tingling sensation on his back and a chill running through his bones.

Yup!

I just overlooked such a big problem!

After being reminded by Rhine, he realized how great the hidden dangers were in his rash decision.

The notorious black witch Maleficent is the most powerful, yet the most cunning of the 13.

The princess's baptism ceremony is such a big event that the whole country must know about it.

If Maleficent is not invited at that time, it will definitely cause her dissatisfaction.

The old king broke out in a cold sweat when he thought of the disaster that he almost got into.

He was just a mortal monarch and did not dare to provoke the powerful black witch.

Legendary magicians have lifespans that are long, almost eternal, long enough to witness the rise and fall of kingdoms. The power of secular kings is not worth mentioning to them.

If they wanted, they could curse or even destroy the entire kingdom according to their will!

Even the props they made could bring disaster to a kingdom if picked up by people with bad intentions.

In the history of the continent, there is a story that often circulates - a poor boy accidentally picked up a magical prop left by an ancient magician, easily killed the nobles and king who oppressed him, and became the new king of the country.

Although the old king was not sure whether the black witch Maleficent was as powerful as described in the legendary stories.

But he didn't dare to gamble.

Fortunately, Rhine reminded us in time!

The old king came back to his senses from his fear:

"Thank you for your reminder, Lord Rhine. If Maleficent is not invited, she will definitely bear a grudge! In this case, I want to treat everyone equally and invite all the witches in the kingdom!" Under normal circumstances, the old king would definitely not dare to invite the black witch to his palace.

But on the day of the little princess's baptism ceremony, with the presence of 12 other witches and Lord Rhine, Maleficent would definitely not do anything evil, and there shouldn't be any accidents...

At least that's what the old king believed.

Seeing that the king followed his advice, Rhine nodded slightly and stopped talking.

He has plucked the strings of fate.

The original reason that caused the black witch to curse Sleeping Beauty no longer exists.

Will the direction of the story change?
……

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed since Rhine made his advice.

The old king kept Rhine's advice in mind and planned to invite all 13 witches to the palace after the little princess was born, so that they and Rhine, who was already a court magician, could offer blessings to Princess Aurora together.

In the past few days, he has been preparing for this grand ceremony.

However, the old king soon discovered a problem.

The tableware prepared for the highest-level guests in the palace is a kind of golden plate with exquisite and luxurious patterns.

No more, no less, just 12.

If you want to invite all 13 witches, 12 golden plates are not enough.

It's impossible for the other 12 witches to use gold plates and let the black witch Maleficent use a silver plate...

The black witch will definitely be furious and curse the entire kingdom!
It would be better not to invite him in the first place!

As for Sage Rhine, as a member of the court, although the tableware he used was exquisite and gorgeous, the style was different from that of the guests, so there was no need for special preparation.

So the king summoned the old craftsman who had served the kingdom all his life and gave the order:
"You and your craftsmen will use this gold to make another golden plate, modeled after the original one that was prepared for the guests.

"The new plate must be exactly the same as the existing one!"

……

The old craftsman received the order and returned home, where he met his younger brother Oz, who happened to be home that day.

Unlike his elder brother, the old craftsman's younger brother Oz is a gifted magician.

Oz hated his family's fate as craftsmen in the kingdom, and he had longed for the powerful magicians in legendary stories since he was a child.

He always fantasized that one day he would have the magical power to call the wind and rain like the witches in the kingdom!
However, as little Oz grew up, he gradually realized that he was just like most people, just a member of the masses, and would never have any chance to encounter magic in his life.

However, Oz was still unwilling to give up his childhood dream.

He settled for the next best thing and studied magic, learning how to use gestures, props and performances to deceive the audience's eyes and achieve skills almost like a magician.

In this way, Oz became an excellent magician.

Unlike his old-fashioned brother, Oz is a genius in magic, with endless fresh ideas and creativity.

He used chemical reactions, stage lighting and shadow combinations, and special performance techniques to invent hundreds of new magic tricks, gradually becoming the best magician of this era.

In this way, Oz's fame grew and he toured several kingdoms.

Off the stage, men and women of all classes praised him and screamed for his performance.

Amidst the flowers and applause, Oz felt as if he had become a real magician with extraordinary powers!
Today, after learning about his brother's new mission, the middle-aged Oz teased:

“The king really trusts you, giving the gold to you and your craftsmen.

"If I were you, I might even consider keeping some of the gold for myself!
"Hahaha, who made me a guy who makes a living by cheating people?

"Look at me, I'm on the stage, I deceive everyone. And everyone I deceived is willing to pay me."

Oz said it casually, not taking it seriously, and went back to sleep.

But what he didn't know was that his careless words echoed in the old craftsman's heart for a long time.

Yes, why have I never thought of taking some for myself?

The court jesters and clowns could get generous rewards as long as they knew how to flatter and tell a joke.

I have served the king diligently all my life, but my wealth and status are not as good as theirs.

I deserve better!

Making a gold plate is an easy task for an experienced craftsman with great skills.

Over the years, the old craftsman has become extremely skilled in his craft.

He is familiar with every manufacturing process, knows every inspection process of the finished product, understands which details have loopholes, and which process steps are most likely to be neglected.

Therefore, the old craftsman was very sure that as long as he embezzled a little bit of gold and mixed a little bit of cheap metal into the finished product, there would be no possibility of being discovered!

……

As the old king prepared for the little princess's baptism ceremony, Rhine also accepted his new identity -

The king's advisor, the magician of the court, the sage of the kingdom!
Now, his power is second only to the king.

Of course, Rhine didn't think this was a big deal.

This small kingdom is not worth mentioning either in terms of population or area.

Forget about becoming the sage of the kingdom, even if he becomes the king, what would that matter?
Now that he has come to a fantasy world with extraordinary powers, compared to worldly power, there are only two things that interest him most: the magical power and the world itself!
As soon as he took over as the court magician, Rhine immediately issued two orders.

The first order was to have the servant go deep into the library to fetch a magic book that had been passed down in the kingdom for hundreds of years.

That is the key for him to become a truly powerful magician!

The second order was to get the most detailed world map in the kingdom, and from the palace's collection, a large stack of documents and books that recorded foreign countries and the world.

What kind of world have I traveled to?
What is it like outside of Sleeping Beauty's kingdom?
Rhine was hungry for answers.

　It could have been translated as Aurora, but some people would see her as the sister of the heroine in "Fate Ring", so the Chinese name "Aurora" was used.

　　It must be an important character. In a novel where most of the characters are named "King", "Queen", "Witch" and "Soldier", it is a name with gold content.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)