Over the past two months, many people in several small countries south of the Rose Kingdom had witnessed the following scene:
A silver-haired boy and a golden-haired girl traveling together.
The boy looked only twelve or thirteen, while the girl was even younger. The boy had a scholarly air about him, always reading with a book in his hands beneath the gentle sunlight. The girl was livelier, yet even in her spiritedness, she retained the elegance of noble-born child.
Both children were extraordinarily beautiful. Their large, bright eyes were as clear as lake water, and they possessed an unworldly beauty, as though they had stepped out of a fairy-tale book.
The girl in particular was special, as if she possessed an innate charm that made people want to draw close to her. Her voice was also sweet and pleasant, like a lark singing in spring. There was not a single innkeeper or shop owner who, upon seeing the adorable golden-haired girl, was unwilling to give her a discount.
The two children were polite, well-behaved, and lovable. They stayed at inns every night and clearly carried quite a bit of money with them, yet no one had ever seen any family members or servants responsible for looking after them.
Many people guessed that they were half-siblings with the same father, which was why they had different hair and eye colors.
Some said they might be children from a wealthy family who had run away from home, escaping their parents' supervision and setting out on a journey to a Foreign Land.
Others said that their homeland must have suffered some disaster, their parents must have died, and that was why they had been forced to leave their original home and travel here.
But no one knew that they were the former sage and future king of a prosperous kingdom.
Once, a kind innkeeper asked the two beautiful children, "Children, where did you come from? Did something happen to your family? Do you need help?"
Aurora answered:
"On the day I was born, my homeland suffered a disaster, and my family was cursed as well. So we must travel to a place very, very far away and find a way to break the curse before we can save my family."
Her answer was, by all accounts, honest.
"Thank you for your kindness, good sir. We do not need help. We must complete this task with our own hands," Rhine said as well.
"Then may the gods protect you." The innkeeper offered his blessing to the two children.
The next morning, the innkeeper discovered as soon as he got up that the leg which had left him limping for more than ten years had miraculously "healed itself."
But not everyone they met on their journey was as kind-hearted as that innkeeper.
From time to time, ill-intentioned bandits tried to use the cover of night to rob the two wealthy children who had no adults watching over them.
However, every bandit and human trafficker who harbored such thoughts vanished without a trace.
After many more days had passed, the story of the two children spread.
But as it passed from mouth to mouth and was repeatedly embellished, the tale became distorted.
People said there was a pair of siblings whose parents had been cursed by demons and fallen gravely ill.
The two children had no choice but to leave their homeland and set out on a journey, crossing mountains and wilderness to reach a sacred mountain, where they would find the legendary Rainbow-Colored Flower that could break curses and use it to heal their gravely ill parents.
A little fairy capable of magic had been moved by the two children and secretly protected them.
Whenever the children encountered man-eating beasts, the little fairy would cast spells to drive them away. Whenever they encountered murderous bandits, the little fairy would turn the bandits into ugly toads.
Those who heard the story praised the children's strength and wished that they would soon find the magical flower, return to their homeland, and cure their bedridden parents.
Later still, two scholar brothers appeared on the continent, specializing in linguistics and history and in collecting and organizing folk legends and fairy tales.
They unearthed folk stories from different narrators and record keepers, authenticated them, polished their language and rhetoric, and compiled them into collections of fairy tales.
During their extensive investigations and research, the learned brothers discovered this story.
"Brother, this is truly an interesting folktale. It is widely spread throughout the southwestern part of the continent. This story has several different variants, but its protagonists are generally a pair of siblings, and their goal is always to break their family's curse. I think we should record it."
"Very well. Let us call this story The Siblings and the Rainbow Flower."
Of course, that was all a story for later.
After a long journey, the mage and the princess finally reached the southern coast and gazed out over the boundless sea.
The water was so blue, like a spotless blue sky; it was also so clear, like the brightest gemstone.
Golden sunlight spilled across the water, making it shimmer as though fine flakes of gold leaf had been scattered over the sea. The waves rose and fell, breaking into sprays of foam as white as newborn snow.
"The books say that beneath this sea lies the country where Mermaids and other intelligent sea-dwelling beings live," Aurora said.
One of Black Witch Maleficent's "Black Magic Sisters" was down beneath those towering waves, in the Mermaid country.
Since Black Witch Maleficent was in contact with this Sea Hag, she might know where Maleficent was now! The princess looked at the surging waves and grew troubled again.
"But how are we supposed to get down there? And even if we can get down there, how will we find the country where Mermaids and other intelligent sea-dwelling beings live in this vast ocean?
"And even if we find the Mermaid country, how will we communicate with them?
"The information I read said that the Mermaids of Sea Country deeply hate humans from the land! They even deliberately create disasters and attack ships passing through these waters! Even if the two of us humans can enter the Mermaid country, we definitely will not be welcome. We might even end up fighting them!"
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