Black Witch's Confusion

Beyond the borders of the Rose Kingdom, in a hidden corner no diviner could find, stood a sinister, gloomy Gothic castle steeped in terror.

Inside, the Black Witch Maleficent sat on the Obsidian Throne, stretched lazily, and recalled her recent experiences in the Royal City.

"I just casually destroyed a kingdom and cursed a bunch of people I despise. Nothing major, hardly worth dwelling on."

For a legendary magic master like her, the rise and fall of a mortal kingdom was but a flicker of thought.

Yet her supernatural intuition faintly sensed a thread of unease.

"Wait, did I forget something?"

"Right, that night, there was still one last blessing opportunity left. That little Court Magician, Rhine, hadn't yet bestowed his blessing on Princess Aurora. How did I overlook that?"

"The magic of those mediocrities could never break the curse I cast. But if they used that blessing opportunity, that would be a different story!"

Maleficent believed in one principle: anything she did must be done to perfection.

She would not allow her curse to fail! The Black Witch closed her eyes and carefully sensed the curse she had cast.

After a long moment, the Black Witch opened her eyes.

"Something's off?"

"The curse hasn't been weakened at all?"

She clearly perceived that the curse's power had not diminished in the slightest.

The prophecy—"The Little Princess will prick her finger on a spinning wheel at age fifteen and die"—still stood firm in the river of fate, unaltered.

Now it was the Black Witch's turn to be baffled.

"You still have one blessing opportunity left, and you're not using it? Could it be you completely ignored my curse and just gave the princess an ordinary blessing? How foolish." The Black Witch let out a cold laugh.

Still uneasy, she pulled out a crystal ball and chanted a spell.

Across the kingdom, hundreds of crows became the Black Witch's eyes and ears.

The crows flew into streets and alleys, in and out of taverns, gathering the information she needed.

"Have you heard? For some reason, His Majesty the King has imprisoned the princess deep in the palace and won't let anyone in or out of that tower."

"Really? Has His Majesty gone mad?"

"Exactly, and lately the king's soldiers have been going door to door confiscating spinning wheels. Heaven knows what His Majesty is thinking!"

"Shh, keep it down! What are you blabbering about? (covers mouth)"

"What a pity (sigh). They say the Little Princess received blessings from the witches and is the most beautiful child in the world. I'd love to see what that little beauty looks like!"

"What are you thinking? How could you possibly lay eyes on the Princess?"

"..."

Finding everything exactly as she had anticipated, the Black Witch Maleficent ended the spell with satisfaction, a mocking smile curling on her lips: "Hahahaha, you think keeping Aurora away from spinning wheels will stop the curse? Just as I expected—exactly the kind of thing that foolish king would do."

The Black Witch descended the stone steps step by step, walked out of the pitch-black castle, and in an instant transformed into a dragon. Beating her wings, she soared into the dark sky: "Speaking of which, after living in that wretched Rose Kingdom for over a decade, it's been ages since I visited my sisters and friends, hehehe..."

Aurora's main storyline will seamlessly connect to "The Tinderbox" tomorrow.

Also, I sometimes miss typos I can't catch myself, so I kindly ask readers to use Qidian's correction feature.