After a series of psychological exchanges, the Old King felt a measure of relief beneath his shock.
He had already made up his mind to give the kingdom to a warrior he had never met.
Now that it seemed it would go to his own child, wasn't that better than giving it to some stranger? Retracting his gaze from the king, Rhine rolled his eyes at the Witches, who were still frozen in astonishment.
What?
The blessings of being Invulnerable to blades and Impervious to fire and water—weren't those bestowed by you? What was there to be surprised about?
Rhine coughed lightly twice, then continued, "Everyone must keep the blessing I bestowed upon Princess Aurora today a secret.
"After Black Witch Maleficent leaves the kingdom, she may still continue to watch the curse's progress.
"If the Black Witch learns that we used a blessing to create a hero who will kill her, she will certainly find a way to prevent that blessing from coming true.
"The power of blessings is limited, after all. We cannot simply do nothing and wait for the prophecy to fulfill itself. We must work actively to make it happen..."
—Back when everyone had been discussing what blessing to bestow, Rhine had sent away the nearby soldiers and attendants, ensuring that only the King, Queen, and Witches knew the blessing's contents.
It was not as if Rhine had never considered granting an outrageous blessing such as "omniscience and omnipotence." But blessings had their limits. They could not even remove one of the Black Witch's curses, so they naturally could not directly grant power surpassing the Black Witch's. Thus, he had tailored a blessing that emphasized talent and the direction of fate.
Rhine turned to the Old King again. "For the blessing to succeed, there are three things I must ask of His Majesty the King next."
Worthy of being a king, the Old King had already accepted this somewhat absurd reality. "Please instruct me, Lord Rhine."
The ruler of this kingdom might not have realized it himself, but after all that had happened, he had vaguely come to regard the young magician before him as his only support and hope.
Therefore, when Rhine offered his suggestions, he naturally felt that he ought to follow them.
Rhine spoke slowly. "First, the first matter.
"Please seal off news of tonight. The people of the kingdom must not learn that this land has been cursed by the Black Witch and will meet its destruction in a dozen or so years.
"Once the news leaks, the entire kingdom will surely fall into panic!
"Whether they are immensely powerful nobles or merchants wealthy enough to rival a nation, so long as they have the chance, everyone will desperately flee this cursed land.
"Your Majesty's court will never again have wise ministers, Your Majesty's army will no longer have soldiers who fight bravely, and the kingdom's lands will see no hardworking farmers tilling the soil.
"There will be no need to wait for the curse to descend. The kingdom will already exist in name only."
Hearing Rhine's warning, the Old King nodded lightly.
This truly was a tremendous hidden danger!
But could the curse be avoided simply by fleeing the kingdom? If so...
As if understanding what the king had thought of again, the boy's aqua eyes darkened slightly, and he sighed softly. "I have just used Princess as a medium to perform a divination and determined the nature of the curse: Black Witch Maleficent's curse cannot be avoided even by fleeing the kingdom! But even if Your Majesty says so, people may not believe it. They will only think it is a trick by those in power.
"Our goal is to lift the curse. The kingdom cannot collapse beneath a curse called 'fear' before the Witch's curse even arrives!"
As Rhine spoke, the expressions of several Witches visibly changed.
His gaze swept across the Witches, and Rhine continued the subject at hand.
"Next is the second matter.
"Please pretend that I never showed Your Majesty the future, nor bestowed this special blessing upon Princess Aurora.
"Proceed according to Your Majesty's original plan—this includes confiscating Spinning Wheels among the populace and creating the false impression that Princess Aurora has been confined within the palace...
"And the 12 Witches and I will take Princess Aurora away from the royal palace. Before the day of the curse arrives, we will raise her into a ruler worthy of the throne and a hero capable of defeating a dragon..."
Thus, Rhine explained his plan in detail.
The king accepted it without objection, though the Queen was somewhat sorrowful.
The boy continued, "Then comes the third matter.
"Next, I will take Princess away from the royal palace for a long time, until I have raised her into a hero capable of standing on her own. During that time, please ask His Majesty to spread my legend. You may embellish and exaggerate it somewhat.
"Before becoming the Court Magician, I used potions and spells to cure over a thousand patients, but the scale of my influence was still far from sufficient. Moreover, the legend I need now must include more important details.
"These legends must emphasize that there is a Wish-Granting Magician in the kingdom. If one holds a wish burning fiercely enough in one's heart and recites the name from the legend, it may be possible to have one's wishes come true.
"This name is:
"the Sage from beyond the world, the Prophet of the Future, the Wizard of Miracles and Wishes..."
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