The Wizard of Fairy Tale World

Chapter 99: Eric’s Theatrical Talent

Inside the house.

“It seems that Miss Cinderella is unwilling to attend tonight’s ball.”

Prince Eric glanced at Cinderella, who was frozen in shock, completely unresponsive. He showed an expression of deep remorse.

“As expected, it must be because we only came to inform you today. That was truly too discourteous of us!”

With immense regret, the prince turned around, pulling his wife, Ariel, along as he left.

“Oh dear, Miss Cinderella doesn’t want to attend the ball. We should tell Father that we might need to consider canceling it. If Miss Cinderella won’t be there, is there even a point in holding the ball?”

Ariel, however, complained discontentedly to the prince,

“Eric, I told you—why did you wait until today to invite Miss Cinderella?

“Giving her the invitation to the ball at the last minute—how rushed is that! Miss Cinderella must be very busy in her daily life. How could she possibly have time to change her plans and attend Henry’s ball on such short notice?”

Prince Eric showed an attitude of sincere repentance, lowering his head in self-reflection.

“You’re right. I was inconsiderate and failed to take into account Miss Cinderella’s own schedule.”

Cinderella—I am busy, but that’s because I have to do all the housework! This doesn’t make any sense at all! Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on…?

Cinderella’s thoughts were in turmoil as she hurriedly called out to the prince and Ariel, who had already reached the door.

“Wait! Prince Eric, Your Highness—I will attend His Highness Henry’s ball tonight!”

Prince Eric and Ariel turned back in excitement.

“Eric, did you hear that? Miss Cinderella agreed!” Ariel was overjoyed.

Prince Eric, too, acted as if he had just received the greatest honor.

“That’s wonderful! Even Miss Cinderella will be attending the ball—my younger brother Henry will surely be incredibly honored.”

Overjoyed, Prince Eric and Ariel left, walking past Cinderella’s two dumbfounded stepsisters and her stepmother. As they walked, they even continued their conversation:

“That scared me—I really thought Miss Cinderella wasn’t going to come! The ball was this close to being canceled.”

…

After the prince and Ariel left, the stepmother recalled everything that had just happened and felt her legs go weak with fear.

She grabbed her two daughters and pulled them into a corner of the courtyard.

“Your sister Cinderella… her identity must be extraordinarily noble.

“You saw it too, didn’t you? Even the Crown Prince, Eric, spoke to her with such respect.

“No—she must be more than just nobility. She must be a princess from some great empire!”

The stepmother speculated that Cinderella’s noble lineage must have come from her late biological mother!

By the gods… She had never known that her husband’s first wife had such an extraordinary background!

Two streams of hopeless tears rolled down the stepmother’s cheeks.

“We’re doomed, my foolish daughters.

“We always made Cinderella do the dirtiest, hardest, and foulest chores. Whenever there was delicious food, we never spared her even a bite.

“And now we learn that Cinderella has such a prestigious background? If she so much as breathes a single word about how we mistreated her, we’ll all be losing our heads!”

The elder stepsister scratched her head.

“But I don’t think we need to move… We live here pretty comfortably.”

The younger stepsister, however, was much sharper. She immediately understood her mother’s meaning and gave an “Ah-ha, I see!” kind of look.

“I get it now. Mother, what you’re saying is…”

The stepmother and the younger stepsister exchanged glances, nodding in unison.

“We should just get rid of Cinderella quietly!” The younger stepsister made a throat-slitting gesture.

The stepmother, enraged, grabbed a bottle of water and dumped it over the younger daughter’s head, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“You idiot! Keep your voice down!

“If Cinderella doesn’t show up at Prince Henry’s ball tonight, we’re doomed!

“What I meant was—we need to take this opportunity while she’s still in our house to do everything we can to win her favor. We must make sure she never breathes a word about how we mistreated her—not even the tiniest detail!”

The two stepsisters nodded, half-understanding.

It was still early in the morning, and there were a few hours left until the evening’s ball. They had to make the most of this time to fix everything.

The stepmother, leading her daughters, rushed into the house. The moment she saw Cinderella—who was still in shock—she put on a look of overwhelming concern.

“Cinderella, how can you be dressed like this? How can you be so dirty? This is absolutely unacceptable! Let me help you wash up.”

She then snatched the broom out of Cinderella’s hands.

“This kind of work—how could you possibly do it?”

Turning to her daughters, the stepmother gave out orders:

“You—sweep the floor. And you—cook. Make sure you prepare the most delicious meal for Cinderella today.”

Cinderella remained frozen in place.

Her stepmother’s sudden 180-degree attitude shift felt like a dream!

With utmost respect, the stepmother ushered Cinderella into a chair and carefully served her a cup of tea.

Then, she began cautiously probing for information.

“Oh, by the way, dear Cinderella. Can you tell me where your late mother was from? Did she have any special background? Did she say anything to you before she passed?”

As she mentioned Cinderella’s late mother, the stepmother even took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

“Oh, such a tragedy… Your mother was so young, just as beautiful as you, so gentle, graceful, and kind-hearted—yet she passed away from illness…”

Cinderella felt uneasy just listening to her. This… this felt so off.

Normally, whenever you mention my mother, you never talk about her like this! she thought.

Cinderella recalled her mother’s smile before she passed away. Her mother had once told her that she would watch over her from the afterlife—but aside from that, she had never said anything unusual. Cinderella truly believed that her mother had nothing particularly special about her.

“No,” Cinderella shook her head. “My mother didn’t have any kind of special background.”

Oh no. The stepmother’s mind raced. Cinderella must hold a grudge against me. She refuses to tell me the truth!

Forget it, forget it. As long as I can earn Cinderella’s forgiveness, that’s all that matters.

Looking at Cinderella’s filthy clothes, the stepmother quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, my dear Cinderella! How can you possibly wear such rags? I must hurry and buy you the most beautiful gown so that you can attend Prince Henry’s ball in all your radiance!”

The stepmother spent the entire morning—and a significant amount of money—purchasing the most exquisite dress from the town.

While bargaining with the dressmaker, she had felt extreme pain in her heart—this single gown had nearly drained half of her savings! But as long as she could gain even the slightest bit of Cinderella’s forgiveness, it was worth it.

She returned home with the magnificent dress in hand.

“Hurry, hurry, Cinderella! Put this on! Once you wear this, you’ll be even more stunning—you’ll enchant Prince Henry for sure!”

Meanwhile, the two stepsisters, tasked with cleaning and cooking, were struggling in complete chaos due to their lack of experience.

They watched as their stepmother showered Cinderella with praise. The same Cinderella who, until now, had always been bullied by them, wearing filthy rags—was now dressed in a luxurious gown of silk and chiffon. The sight left them deeply unsettled.

“Oh my god, this dress is a hundred times prettier than mine,” the elder stepsister sighed.

“This dream is getting more ridiculous by the second,” the younger stepsister muttered, pinching her own cheek.

…

Cinderella wasn’t the only one baffled. Watching everything unfold from the sidelines, her fairy godmother, Layla, was just as stunned.

“What on earth is happening here?”

Fairy Layla was completely confused.

“See? I told you—I’d make sure Cinderella had a beautiful dress for tonight’s ball,” Rhine said smugly, smiling with satisfaction.

“So this is what you meant? Your way of getting Cinderella a gown was… making her stepmother pay for it herself?”

Fairy Layla was absolutely floored by the boy’s peculiar logic.

“Exactly.” Rhine chuckled. “Isn’t this much better? That stepmother bullied her for so long—it’s only fair that she pays the price and makes up for it.”

The young magician then turned to look at Cinderella, who stood in the courtyard, wearing a sky-blue gown.

“But the most important thing is—Cinderella didn’t just get a dress to wear to the ball. She also gained something she never had before: respect. She received her stepmother’s compensation.

“From now on, her stepmother and stepsisters will never dare to bully her again.”

Fairy Layla had to admit—compared to simply conjuring a beautiful dress for Cinderella, this was indeed a much better way to help her.

As Layla started to question her own existence as a fairy godmother, Rhine casually changed the subject.

“So, why did you decide to help Cinderella in the first place?”

By this world’s definition, Fairy Layla was technically a witch too.

“I once disguised myself as an old woman and wandered the streets, asking for a drink of water. Only Cinderella gave me a bottle of milk. She must be a kind-hearted girl,” Fairy Layla explained. “So I swore that I would help her once.”

Layla glanced toward the courtyard, where the stepmother was now humbly pleading with Cinderella, who was dressed in her stunning new gown, not to expose the way they had mistreated her.

Layla had to admit—Rhine had a point.

“…But tell me, little magician, what do you plan to do next? Once the ball is over, you’re not seriously going to let Cinderella come back here, are you? Hey—wait! Where did you go?”

At that moment, Layla realized—the mysterious young magician had once again vanished without a trace.

Inside the Palace of the Western Asia Kingdom.

“Prince Eric, Ariel—you two really nailed that performance. I had no idea you were so talented at acting,” Rhine said, leaning back in his chair as he praised them.

Of course, the script had been written by him. Though, he had to admit, Prince Eric had improvised quite a bit—his emotional delivery was incredibly convincing.

“I’ve seen plenty of similar storylines in novels and plays before,” Prince Eric said.

He elaborated further:

“In stories like this, the protagonist usually starts off in a miserable situation—either as a poor young man or a poor young woman.

“But then, by sheer chance, they come across some kind of magical artifact, or they receive the aid of a powerful magician. After that, they rise to greatness.

“In some versions, even after the protagonist gains their newfound power, outsiders still assume they’re the same as before. No one realizes they’ve acquired a miraculous magic item.

“And when people finally hear about the protagonist’s incredible achievements, they’re always utterly shocked.”

Wow… Eric has really read a lot of these kinds of stories, Rhine thought to himself with amusement.

He could tell that ever since marrying Ariel, Prince Eric had become noticeably more cheerful.

Helping Cinderella attend the ball is only the first step, Rhine reminded himself.

He hadn’t forgotten the real goal—helping that young merman win Cinderella’s heart.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, twilight enveloped the sky.

The time for the ball was drawing near.

Dressed in the most exquisite gown she had ever worn, Cinderella sat inside the carriage her stepmother had rented. Her heart was filled with turbulent emotions as she arrived before the palace gates.

She had no idea that Fairy Layla, hidden by magic, was secretly following her from behind.

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