Chapter 112 World J:1 After little Ethan agreed, "Ethan..."
After Ethan agreed, "Ethan" opened a portal for them. Yaroslava, this powerful woman, easily carried the three children in her arms, along with their belongings, and resolutely stepped inside.
Their vision darkened, then quickly brightened again; Yaroslava and her companions had arrived in a new world.
Wait... what's that?
Yaroslava squinted and looked at it more carefully, then asked the three little ones in her hands, "What do you think that is?"
The three children watched it with her, and they all exclaimed in unison, "A castle!"
In the distance stands a towering castle, and closer up, you can see various retro-style houses of all sizes that are currently popular. The people are dressed in clothes from centuries ago, and the simple folks are going about their work.
Yaroslava tried her best to conceal herself and slowly approached some houses, instructing the three children to also try not to make any movements.
She wouldn't dare leave the three of them behind.
This is an unknown world, full of unknown dangers. What if something unexpected happens when she wants to gather intelligence more safely and secretly, leaving the three children behind to wait for her?
All three companions were wiped out.
"Have you heard?" A girl cupped her face in her hands and whispered to her best friend, "The king is going to hold a banquet for the prince in a few days! And I heard that the king intends to choose a queen for the prince at the ball!"
“I heard, dear Jenny.” Her best friend blushed, lost in daydreams: “I wonder which lucky girl gets to dance with a prince. I wish I could marry a prince—”
"Just kidding, you." The girl giggled, "Your chances of marrying a prince are less than your chances of marrying me; that possibility is much greater."
“Okay, Jenny.” Her friend reluctantly accepted, leaning against the girl: “If you buy me that super delicious bread, I won’t dream of marrying a prince anymore. I’ll marry bread.”
"Get out, get out, get out!"
The girls laughed and joked around, and soon they were holding hands and going to buy the bread from that supposedly super delicious bakery.
Yaroslava extracted important information from their conversation.
Prince, ball, delicious bread... etc. The last one seems unrelated.
Is this from centuries ago? Does this world possess any special abilities? If not, I wonder if Ethan can open a portal now.
"Prince? Is it Cinderella?" Little Nadia suddenly asked, "Is it the one who met the prince at the ball, but before the prince could find Cinderella, Cinderella had already become a great merchant through her own efforts, and after gaining power, she even staged a palace coup, overthrowing the rule of the king and the prince, and becoming queen herself?"
Yaroslava: "...Huh?"
Ethan: "So the stories kids hear can vary a bit between our cities?"
“Sister Nadia—” Little Turnas said helplessly, “I already told you, that was a version that Sister Rena specially revised for you! The original story is that the prince finally found Cinderella, punished the greedy stepsister who wanted to impersonate Cinderella and the wicked stepmother, and finally lived happily ever after with the prince.”
“I don’t like this story.” Little Nadia pouted. “I prefer what Rena said about Queen Cinderella! Marrying a prince isn’t enough. Rena is right. If Cinderella had been a little more ruthless, she could have directly controlled her children with the prince and become queen.”
Sister Reina... just how many versions did you modify for Sister Nadia?
And you can't just casually talk about the characters in the story; it all depends on how you write them. All the characters in the story are controlled by the creator.
Reina found Nadia's modified version quite interesting, while Yaroslava even thought it might actually be a Cinderella story.
Yaroslava inquired further, asking about the circumstances of each family. The children helped her find out which family might be Cinderella's.
Her biological mother died young, her stepmother remarried, and her two stepsisters came with her. Now, her stepmother's family is all-powerful.
When Yaroslava arrived with her three children, a gray-haired figure with long black hair was crying. The four of them watched as a red-haired woman with wings suddenly appeared in the air, which must have been the Fairy Godmother.
“Poor child, why are you weeping here? Perhaps I can help you; I am the Fairy Godmother.” The beautiful fairy godmother gently inquired of the person on the ground, then noticed Yaroslava and the three children: “...Who are you?”
When the elven godmother saw little Ethan in Yaroslava's arms, she paused for a moment, then looked down uncertainly at the figure on the ground, clearly puzzled.
“I need to go to the ball the king is holding for the prince.” The figure with his back to the four of them finally spoke, but it wasn’t the female voice they expected: “But my stepmother and stepsisters are laughing at me and won’t let me go, saying I don’t have nice clothes and that my manners are appalling.”
“But I want to go to the prince’s ball.” The dark-haired boy, his back to them, said in a melancholy voice, “I want to meet the prince, and I want to marry him.”
“…Wait, child, do you have a younger brother?” Bertha asked 'Cinderella'.
Although Cinderella was a little puzzled as to why she suddenly asked this, she honestly shook her head: "My mother only gave birth to me."
"Then...who is he?" Bertha turned 'Cinderella's' head to make him look behind him.
'Cinderella' turned her head, and Yaroslava and the others finally saw what she looked like.
Black hair, black eyes, hair that's a bit too long and almost covers the eyes, a somewhat timid person.
Turner Jr.: "Are you gay?"
Ethan was shocked and bewildered: "Nobody notified me!"
That's right... 'Cinderella' has a face exactly like Ethan's; she is his counterpart in this world, Ethan.
Ethan asked Ethan, who was clearly also taken aback, "Me, are you... gay?"
"Huh... what gay?" Ethan scratched his head: "Princes don't have genders. Actually, you can call him a princess too. In short, he's just the king's child. He's just too outstanding in every way, so everyone calls him a prince."
"It has no gender!" Little Ethan exclaimed in surprise. "Then what is it?"
“It—” Ethan recalled the ‘Prince’, and couldn’t help but smile with a relaxed smile. His eyes were soft and full of longing and affection. He was completely immersed in the memories of the Prince: “It was very tall, its roots were very tall, its body was full of age, and it had a charming herbal scent. It was practically glowing. How could there be such an excellent prince?”
"Wait, wait!" Yaroslava put the child down and made a pause gesture: "Are you sure you're describing the 'prince's' appearance? Judging from the prince's appearance, he doesn't seem to be in human form."
“Ah… well.” Ethan smiled a little embarrassedly: “Didn’t I just say? The ‘Prince’ isn’t human. It’s a very precious and miraculous herb that King Cynthia accidentally discovered when she was young. With the king’s love and careful care, the herb miraculously gained self-awareness, could talk, could walk, and even passed many of the king’s lessons. Then, it naturally became the ‘Prince’.”
"The 'Prince' is an excellent rider and a skilled hunter. He even repelled a vicious foreigner who tried to kidnap him and turn him into a potion. King Cynthia was very pleased with him, so he truly deserves the title of 'Prince.'" Ethan recalled his beloved 'Prince,' his face flushed with excitement. "King Cynthia has always been very strict, not only with others, but also with herself and the 'Prince.' I never thought I would actually be able to attend the gathering where the 'Prince' chooses his future partner. But unfortunately, it seems I can't go, so I'm here heartbroken and shedding tears."
“But…” Little Nadia said curiously, “You don’t seem to like it, at least not the kind of liking that involves wanting to marry a ‘prince’.”
“Why do you say that? I really, really love His Highness the Prince!” Ethan couldn’t stand hearing someone say he didn’t like the Prince, and he retorted angrily, “I’ve loved the Prince since I was a child. I grew up listening to his stories. I know very well that I have a very strong, irresistible love for him. I even collect the roots that the Prince has dropped… The Prince truly lives up to his name! His potions are incredibly effective! I only added a little bit of his roots when I was brewing the potion, and it was twice as effective as the potion I could have made otherwise!”
Ethan was lost in his memories, his eyes shining, as if he was still savoring the moment: "The effect was absolutely amazing, I absolutely love 'Prince'!"
"Wait! Hold on a minute!" Little Turner couldn't hold back any longer and started chattering away, "What you said wasn't 'like' about wanting to get married at all! Ethan, haven't you noticed? You've always said you like 'princes,' not 'love'?"
Ethan didn't know why little Turner said that, he just tilted his head and said, "What's the difference? Love and like are the same, they're both liking for the 'prince,' just different words with the same meaning."
“It’s not the same. There are many kinds of liking. There’s liking for friends, liking for partners, liking for idols. I think you just tend to like things you like.” Little Turner immediately became a lecturer, tapping on a non-existent blackboard: “It’s obvious that you’ve misunderstood your feelings for liking things. Listen to what you just said? You collected its roots entirely to make potions, right? Don’t deny it, you just said that.”
"And what's more! Listen to what you just said about 'Prince'!" Teacher Turner emphasized, "You were only praising its age, its beautiful roots, and the herbal scent that you're so fond of! You only like its essence as a potion!"
Little Ethan exclaimed, "What kind of potion is it... that my counterpart likes it so much?"
Ethan was struck dumb, his entire body turning pale: "How...how could this be..."
"Uh, if you're busy, please continue chatting." Bertha looked around. "Then I'll be going now?"
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Author's Note: Little Turner: Ethan, are you gay?
Ethan: Huh? How come I didn't know?
Nadia: This isn't right, is it?
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