Princess of Endernd and Prince Eric stared at the tightly sealed doors, and in that instant, everything became clear.

  This wedding had been nothing more than a conspiracy from the very beginning.

  Prince Eric thought of the curse weighing upon Ariel. Looking at the festive decorations around him, he suddenly realized the enemy's pn. Rage surged through him, and he wished nothing more than to cut down the mastermind behind this scheme with his sword.

  The girl I love took on a terrible curse just to walk on nd. When the first dawn of my marriage with someone else arrives, her heart will shatter, and she will dissolve into sea foam. I have to leave here—immediately! Who came up with such a wicked pn?!

  The young princess supported Prince Eric's trembling frame, gathering all her courage to point out the true culprit:

  "Eric! The one behind all of this is our Endernd Court Witch—the old witch who accompanied the delegation to the Western Asia Kingdom. You saw her in the grand hall of the pace!"

  She wasn't sure if more people were involved in the scheme—perhaps even her father, the emperor of Endernd, a man who had never known mercy.

  The beautiful bride, draped in her wedding gown, lowered her head, her entire body sinking weakly to the floor. The delicate veil of fine-spun silk draped over her in disarray.

  So in the end, I'm just a pawn without free will. When all this madness unfolded, I knew nothing and could do nothing. The only role I could py was that of a bride, a mere piece in this dark conspiracy.

  The young princess thought back to her first encounter with Prince Eric—how he had in on the shore, pale as death. She hadn't known at the time that the dying, handsome young man before her was a foreign prince.

  When she ter learned that the prince from the Western Asia Kingdom—the one she was engaged to—was the very boy she had saved, she had been overwhelmed with joy. It had felt like a dream, an impossible miracle come true. She had been so happy, believing it to be a fated encounter.

  But now, standing in the wreckage of the wedding, listening to the panicked shouts around her, and learning of the hidden truths and sinister plots from Prince Eric's mouth, she couldn't help but wonder—

  Was that "fated encounter" also orchestrated?

  After all, wasn't it that same old witch who had instructed her to go to the Forest Temple to learn royal etiquette?

  Could it be that even her happiest dream had been nothing more than a carefully arranged deception, a piece of a much rger conspiracy?

  A crushing sense of powerlessness nearly overwhelmed the beautiful bride.

  Through her tear-blurred vision, beneath the veil over her head, she suddenly saw a sight she would never forget—

  Prince Eric, now with a mermaid's tail, struggling to move. He pushed himself along the ground with his hands, using his tail to propel himself bit by bit toward the temple doors, desperately trying to push them open.

  Afterward, he and the others attempted the windows and other exits, but even the seemingly open pathways were blocked by an invisible barrier.

  None of the panicked guests trying to escape understood the truth—the force keeping them trapped wasn't physical walls, but the limits of this mirrored replica space. This pce was no rger than what they could see.

  "Prince Eric, it looks like we won't be able to escape using ordinary methods," the princess mused, suddenly struck by an idea. "Besides that potion, do you have any other magical tools?"

  "Magical tools?" Prince Eric was momentarily stunned before something clicked in his mind.

  "My bag! There's a silver mirror inside—take it out!"

  The young princess did as he said, retrieving the mirror and handing it to him.

  This was the communication device that Magician Rhine had once gifted Ariel in the ocean, and Ariel had passed it on to him! With it, they could contact Rhine!

  "It's almost as if fate arranged this… Everything is falling into pce."

  Prince Eric murmured in amazement, lifting the mirror. He followed the method Ariel had taught him, making sure his face was fully reflected in the gss as he spoke of their predicament.

  Inside Rhine's hands, the crystal ball glowed with an eerie blue light, brighter than ever before.

  The silver-haired youth showed no surprise—he wasn't even particurly excited. He simply gazed at the crystal ball, watching Prince Eric's face appear within it.

  "That direction."

  Rhine pointed toward a nondescript building in the distance, one that looked no different from an ordinary house.

  The next second, the young magician stowed away the crystal ball, pced his hands on Ariel and Aurora's shoulders—

  And in an instant, their figures blurred and vanished.

  A teleportation spell. As long as the destination was visible and not too far away, familiarity wasn't necessary.

  With a boom!

  A swirling mist erupted, and the three of them reappeared.

  They were now inside an empty warehouse.

  In the corner stood a full-length mirror, but it did not reflect the outside world as it should have. Instead, it showed the chaotic wedding scene inside.

  "Break that mirror," Rhine said. "That will let Prince Eric and the others out."

  Just as the three stepped forward to shatter the gss—

  An explosion rang out.

  A bck bze burst forth ahead of them, scattering sparks in all directions.

  Emerging from the fmes was the grotesque old witch, draped in a tattered bck cloak. Beside her stood a warrior cd in full armor, gripping a massive greatsword.

  The bck sparks flickered around them, falling like dark stars.

  "You found this pce?"

  The old witch's eyes widened in shock.

  How was this possible?

  Which part of her fwless pn had gone wrong?!

  "A mermaid… Who would've thought you'd manage to gain the help of the Rose Kingdom's magician?" The old witch's twisted expression grew darker.

  "But even if you've found this pce, it doesn't matter!"

  She turned to the armored warrior and commanded,

  "Go. Kill them!"

  The warrior stepped forward, blocking the mirror and the old witch behind him.

  "He's one of Endernd's most renowned warriors," the old witch sneered. "A man who has sin colossal sea monsters, an invincible force on the battlefield—strong enough to rival an entire battalion!"

  With a deafening roar, the warrior charged forward. His thunderous battle cry shook the entire warehouse.

  His massive greatsword swung high, slicing through the air with terrifying force, aiming directly at Rhine's head.

  Cng!

  A burst of crimson sparks flew.

  The greatsword struck something solid—bouncing back.

  The sheer force of the impact sent the warrior stumbling several steps backward, nearly knocking him off bance.

  But what truly shocked him—

  Was the fact that his attack hadn't been blocked by a weapon, a shield, or any form of armor?

  No.

  Standing in front of the two others, blocking his attack—

  Was a little golden-haired girl.

  And she had taken the full force of his greatsword strike… with her head.