Witches and Twelve Golden Plates

Rhine was slightly taken aback.

Was he actually being asked to name Sleeping Beauty? To personally take part in a famous, household fairy tale and name its yet-unborn heroine...

The legendary experience gave Rhine a strong sense of unreality.

The Queen nodded gently.

The King smiled knowingly as well and gestured for the slightly astonished Rhine to name her boldly:

"Ancient sages once said that a name is the starting point of a newborn's destiny. A good name determines the direction of one's life.

"Having a learned sage name a newborn is a tradition of the kingdom.

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

The young magician lowered his head in thought, ideas flickering through his eyes.

Sleeping Beauty had countless versions throughout history.

The heroine's name was not fixed across the different versions.

In some versions, the heroine was even simply called "Princess."

After a brief moment of thought, Rhine had his answer.

"Let her be called Little Princess... Aurora."

Rhine spread his arms, his tone abruptly rising. "It means the morning glow, the light of dawn.

"Even in the deepest, darkest night, dawn will surely come!

"May hope and light illuminate the Little Princess's path ahead."

Rhine had not chosen that name at random.

The name Aurora had originally belonged to Sleeping Beauty's daughter in one version of the tale.

Tchaikovsky turned it into the name of the princess herself—Sleeping Beauty—in his ballet.

Disney's Sleeping Beauty also retained the name.

From then on, whether translated as Ailo, Aurore, or something else, the beautiful name Aurora became the world's most widely recognized name for Sleeping Beauty.

Rhine simply followed the will of fate and chose the pleasant-sounding name.

"Aurora, what a beautiful name." The Queen clapped softly, full of praise.

The King was quite satisfied as well. "Rhine, after Princess Aurora is born, I plan to hold a grand banquet.

"At that time, I will invite the kingdom's 12 Witches to baptize the newborn Little Princess and bestow their blessings upon her!

"I must also ask you, learned magician Rhine, to bless the princess as well!"

Rhine placed a hand over his chest and smiled.

"It would be my honor."

After saying that, the young magician's expression grew more solemn.

He knew that what came next was the familiar tale of Sleeping Beauty:

At the celebration of Princess Aurora's birth, the uninvited 13th Witch of the kingdom—the infamous Black Witch—would nurse a grudge and barge into the event.

The Black Witch would curse the newborn princess, declaring that she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die at the age of fifteen!

In some versions of the story, the King had not invited the thirteenth Witch because the plates prepared for the honored guests numbered exactly twelve—no more, no less.

Simply put, it was a bloody tragedy caused by a golden plate! But now that he thought about it, that was not the whole reason. The greater reason was that the King himself disliked the Black Witch.

Thinking of the curse that had yet to descend, Rhine's gaze sharpened slightly.

Was this a fate that could be changed? Rhine raised his head, his expression solemn beneath his hood, and advised the King in his capacity as the Kingdom Sage:

"Your Majesty, since there are thirteen powerful Witches in the kingdom, would the one left out be displeased if only twelve of them were invited?

"Especially considering Maleficent's temperament. She is not a forgiving person...

"Deliberately excluding her may bring disaster upon us."

Maleficent was the name Rhine had recently learned belonged to the Black Witch.

At Rhine's words, the Old King's gaze abruptly froze.

A chill crawled down the ruler's back and rose from the depths of his bones.

That was right!

How had I overlooked such a huge issue just now?!

Only after Rhine's reminder did he realize how grave a hidden danger lay within his rash decision.

The infamous Black Witch Maleficent was the strongest among the thirteen, yet also the most petty-minded.

An event as important as the princess's Baptism Ceremony would surely become known throughout the kingdom.

If Maleficent was not invited, she would definitely be displeased.

Thinking of the disaster he had nearly brought upon himself, the Old King broke out in a cold sweat.

He was merely a mortal ruler. He did not dare provoke a powerful Black Witch.

Legendary magicians possessed lifespans so long they were almost eternal. They could witness the rise and fall of kingdoms, and the power of worldly kings was beneath their notice.

If they wished, they could curse or even destroy an entire kingdom according to their own will!

Even artifacts crafted by them, if found by someone with ill intentions, could bring calamity to a kingdom.

Such stories often circulated throughout the continent's history—a poor boy accidentally found a wondrous artifact left behind by an ancient magician, easily killed the nobles and king who oppressed him, and became the new ruler of the country.

Though the Old King could not be certain whether Black Witch Maleficent was as powerful as the magicians in legendary tales, he did not dare gamble on it.

Fortunately, Rhine had reminded him in time!

The Old King recovered from his lingering fear.

"Rhine, thank you for your reminder. If Maleficent is not invited, she will surely bear a grudge! In that case, I want to treat everyone equally and invite every Witch in the kingdom!"

Under normal circumstances, the Old King would never have dared invite the Black Witch into his palace.

But on the day of the Little Princess's Baptism Ceremony, with the other 12 Witches and Rhine present, Maleficent surely would not dare cause trouble. Nothing unexpected should happen...

At least, that was what the Old King believed.

Seeing that the King had accepted his advice, Rhine nodded lightly and said no more.

He had already plucked the strings of fate.

The original cause of the Black Witch cursing Sleeping Beauty no longer existed.

Would the story's course change?...

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed since Rhine offered his counsel.

Mindful of Rhine's warning, the Old King planned to invite all thirteen Witches to the palace after the Little Princess was born, so that they and Rhine, now the Court Magician, could bestow blessings upon Princess Aurora together.

Over the past few days, he had been busy preparing for the grand ceremony.

However, the Old King soon discovered a problem.

The tableware prepared for the palace's most honored guests consisted of golden plates decorated with exquisite, luxurious patterns.

There were exactly twelve of them—no more, no less.

If all thirteen Witches were invited, then twelve golden plates would not be enough.

He could hardly let the other 12 Witches use golden plates while Black Witch Maleficent used a silver one...

The Black Witch would surely fly into a rage and curse the entire kingdom! It would be better not to invite her at all!

As for Sage Rhine, as a member of the court, his tableware was elegant and luxurious but different in style from that of the guests, so there was no need to prepare anything specially for him.

Thus, the King summoned the Old Craftsman, who had served the kingdom all his life, and gave his order. "You and your craftsmen are to use this gold to forge another golden plate matching the existing plates prepared for honored guests.

"The new plate must be exactly identical to the ones already there!"

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

Unlike his elder brother, the Old Craftsman's younger brother Oz was a remarkably gifted magician.

Oz hated his family's fate of serving the kingdom as craftsmen generation after generation. Since childhood, he had admired the mighty spellcasters from legendary tales.

He had always imagined that one day, like the Witches of the kingdom, he too would possess miraculous power capable of summoning wind and rain! Yet as young Oz slowly grew older, he gradually realized that, like most people, he was merely one among the masses and would spend his entire life without any connection to wondrous magic.

Still, Oz refused to abandon his childhood dream.

So he settled for the next best thing and learned magic tricks. He learned how to use gestures, props, and performance to deceive the audience's eyes and achieve feats almost like those of a magician.

That was how Oz became an excellent magician.

Unlike his rigid brother, Oz was a genius of magic tricks, with an endless supply of fresh ideas and creativity.

Using chemical reactions, stage lighting, special performance techniques, and other methods, he invented hundreds of novel tricks and gradually became the greatest magician of his era.

As a result, Oz's fame spread farther and farther, and he toured performances through several kingdoms.

Beneath the stage, men and women of every class praised him and screamed at his performances.

Amid flowers and applause, Oz seemed to feel that he had become a true magician with extraordinary power! Today, after learning of the new task his brother had received, the now middle-aged Oz teased him.

"The King really trusts you. He just handed all that gold over to you and your craftsmen.

"If I were you, I might even consider pocketing some of that gold for myself!"

"Haha, what can I say? I make my living by fooling people.

"Look at me. Onstage, I fool everyone. And the people I fool willingly pay me for it."

Oz said it casually, thought nothing of it, and went back to sleep.

But he did not know that his careless words echoed in the Old Craftsman's heart for a long time.

That was right. Why had I never considered skimming a little for myself?

The Court Jester and his fellow jesters only needed to flatter the King or tell a joke to receive generous rewards.

Yet I have served the King diligently my entire life, and my wealth and status are still inferior to theirs.

I deserve better!

Forging a golden plate was no challenge at all for an Old Craftsman of such superb skill.

After so many years, the Old Craftsman's craft had already reached the pinnacle of mastery.

He knew every step of the forging process, every stage of inspecting the finished product, which details had loopholes, and where oversight was most likely to occur.

Therefore, the Old Craftsman was certain that if he pocketed only a tiny amount of gold and mixed a little cheap metal into the finished product, there was no chance of being discovered!

While the Old King prepared for the Little Princess's Baptism Ceremony, Rhine also accepted his new identity—

The King's adviser, the Court Magician, and the Kingdom Sage! His authority now stood second only to the King's.

Of course, Rhine did not think that was anything remarkable.

This small kingdom was unremarkable in both population and territory.

What did becoming the Kingdom Sage matter? Even becoming King would amount to little. Since he had arrived in a fantasy world with supernatural power, compared to worldly authority, there were only two things that interested him: wondrous magic and the world itself!

The moment he took up the position of Court Magician, Rhine immediately issued two orders.

His first order was for attendants to venture deep into the Library and retrieve the Spellbook the kingdom had inherited for hundreds of years.

That was the key to his becoming a truly powerful magician!

His second order was for the most detailed World Map of the kingdom. He also obtained a large stack of documents from the court archives recording foreign nations and the general state of the world.

What kind of world had I transmigrated into? What lay beyond Sleeping Beauty's kingdom? Rhine hungered for answers.