"Prince Eric, do you still remember me? When your body lost its warmth and you lay on the shore, it was I who woke you up! From that day on, I fell deeply in love with you."
The princess was extremely excited.
"I never knew that the young man I saved was actually the Prince of Ender and my fiancé!
"I never dared to hope to see you again. The most beautiful thing I longed for day and night, never daring to hope for, has now become reality. This must be the guidance of fate, a beautiful encounter arranged by destiny!"
The little princess spoke a lot in one breath.
The Old Witch stood by, secretly rejoicing in her heart, waiting for the Prince and princess to fall deeply in love.
She knew that Prince Eric was a young man who loved romantic stories the most.
When the woman who had once saved him now appeared before him again, he would surely not be able to control his surging emotions!
Prince and princess. The rescued and the rescuer. They met once, longed for each other, and now they are reunited.
Is there a more perfect match made in heaven than this?
The princess opened her arms.
She could not wait another moment to embrace the Prince tightly!
However, Prince Eric merely stood quietly in place, not offering his embrace to the princess who waited with open arms.
His dark eyes gleamed, and a faint smile hung on his lips:
"Princess, I am also quite surprised to see you here.
"I remember you. When I lay on the shore like a corpse, you were the one who saved me. For many days past, I have always remembered you and this kindness.
"Thank destiny for guiding us to meet here! Otherwise, I would forever lose the chance to express my gratitude to you, my savior."
His words were incredibly sincere, and his emotions were quite genuine, but they lacked the burning passion that lovers in deep affection should have. It seemed as if he was merely stating certain facts.
"Thank you. I will forever remember your kindness. I will try my best to find a way to repay it!"
Saying this, the Prince placed one hand on his chest and performed a standard royal bow to the princess.
"But please forgive me, beautiful princess, my savior, I cannot accept your love.
"I am overjoyed to meet you, and incredibly excited to express my gratitude to you in person. We can become close friends who share everything in the future, but I cannot enter the halls of marriage with you."
The princess was both shocked and confused, simply unable to believe what she had heard. The Prince's sincere words struck her heart like a thunderbolt.
"Why?"
She asked loudly, completely abandoning the royal lady's etiquette she had learned in the temple.
The Prince took the princess's hand, staring into her equally sapphire-blue eyes, and said earnestly:
"Because I have already given my heart to another person.
"She, like you, once saved me. When I was floating in the cold seawater like a corpse, it was she who bravely rescued me.
"But she is also different from you; we only met once and do not know each other well. However, she and I have experienced many things. She has paid too much to be with me, and I am willing to pay the same price.
"I love her more than anyone else, and I am willing to place my hand on her chest and recite vows for all eternity in the presence of the priest.
"Do not be disheartened by this, beautiful princess.
"You are so kind and well-educated. There will be a Prince more handsome, more talented, and more like a future king than I am to marry you, not an immature, rebellious youth like me, full of fantasies."
The princess was dumbfounded, her eyes slightly stinging.
She stood frozen like a wax figure after hearing these cruel, thunderous words.
"Oh, gods! How can there be such a cruel thing in the world? To put the most beautiful and most cruel things in the world within a minute, letting them happen one after another."
"When I saw the person I had yearned for, thinking I would never see her again, reappear before me, and it was the Prince I was engaged to, I felt like I had entered heaven, only to fall into an abyss in the blink of an eye."
The Princess of Ender wept in her heart.
Watching Prince Eric reject the Seventh Princess of Ender, the Old Witch was also stunned.
Had that girl named Ariel, with the beautiful singing voice, really enchanted the Prince to such an extent?
This was truly unbelievable!
Should she not just be a substitute for the person the Prince loved?
"Wait, something is wrong. Very wrong."
"Did that girl named Ariel save Prince Eric in the sea?"
Suddenly, the Old Witch remembered something based on the Prince's description.
She rushed out of the hall and back to her private study, flipping through all the books containing magical knowledge and ancient secrets.
The Old Witch recalled all the information about Ariel, her withered hands rapidly turning the yellowed pages. The rustling sound echoed in the secret room.
The flickering candlelight cast the witch's terrifying shadow on the wall.
"Able to save people in the stormy sea."
"Possesses an extraordinarily beautiful singing voice."
"Her dance is as light as a fish."
"Mermaid; only a mermaid from the sea can satisfy all these conditions simultaneously."
"That girl named Ariel might be a mermaid from the deep sea!"
"Damn it. My plan was actually ruined by an intruding mermaid!"
The Old Witch gnashed her teeth in anger, but also felt slightly confused:
"But that girl named Ariel, no matter how I look at her, she's just a human, isn't she? At least that girl has human legs."
"Of course, in a world with magic, nothing is impossible!"
With this doubt, the Old Witch rapidly flipped through various books in her study.
Every few seconds, she would take a book from the dusty shelves, quickly flip through a few pages, and then throw it aside.
After searching dozens of books, the Old Witch's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Found it!"
"This book says that there might be certain magic or potions in the world that can transform a mermaid's tail into human legs..."
"However, the reason such mermaids have never been seen is because—according to an ancient secret—mermaids are low-level beings without immortal souls, and if they transform into human form, they will be abandoned and cursed by the world!"
"On the same dawn that her beloved marries someone else, the mermaid's heart will shatter, and her body will directly turn into sea foam!"
The Old Witch was quite excited by her discovery, and a crazy and wicked idea had already popped into her mind.
"This means that if Prince Eric and the Princess are forcibly married now, that mermaid who ruined my plans will die on the spot!"