[You had been wondering: if the Wizard was the mastermind, what exactly was the goal?]
[You knew the Mermaid Kingdom was a magical kingdom. Nothing in all these Mortal Realms should have been worth scheming over.]
[But what if the target was the Mermaid Princess's identity?]
[The story in which Snow White had been possessed by the Wizard was a vivid example.]
[Except Snow White had been cursed since childhood, while the Mermaid Princess very likely required a longer-term plan.]
[For instance, several transactions might have to be completed with the Mermaid Princess?]
[Her singing voice in exchange for a pair of legs, followed by the King's illness?]
[But that raised another question: how could the Wizard ensure the Mermaid Princess would truly worry enough about the King's illness to make a deal?]
[The Wizard had probably targeted the prince at first, only to discover that Xu Que was protected by the Hunting Rifle from Beyond the World and suffered no negative effects from magic.]
[So the King had been chosen instead. The Wizard likely intended to possess the King first, then use that position to force the prince and the Mermaid Princess to play along with the treatment.]
[And finally, possess the Mermaid Princess!]
[Only by possessing the King and becoming a direct participant could the Wizard best guarantee control over how the situation unfolded!]
[Had it been you, you would have had a better method, but this was the only option available to the Wizard.]
[And the facts proved your guess right!]
[Precisely because of that, the three fairy tales were saved, and you successfully completed the mission.]
[After another spell of disorientation, you returned to the library formed from the Remnant Pages of the Book of Stories.]
[The voice unique to Xu Que vanished from your surroundings,