Chapter 27 The Legend of the Imprisoned Princess

"Luckily, fortunately, he didn't find out that an old woman like me with a pierced chest is still alive!"

Granny Rosa leaned sideways, and a scarecrow fell out of her witch robe.

The scarecrow's chest was pierced, as if a miniature sword had once pierced through it.

"Fortunately, I had a substitute who took most of the damage on my behalf. So the injury wasn't fatal."

Granny Rosa struggled to support herself on the ground with her elbows and tried to stand up sideways, but unexpectedly failed.

"Ahem. Ahem."

The old man coughed up a large amount of blood.

The old man tried again and again to prop himself up, either concentrating on summoning the wild wolves to drag him away, or summoning the ravens to bring healing herbs.

But all attempts failed due to poor physical condition.

Dusk fell and the moon and stars rose.

In the moonlight, Grandma Rosa was lying in the middle of the road, shivering in the cold wind.

Every time a biting evening breeze blew, the old man would shiver a few times.

"I clearly survived, am I going to freeze to death here?"

Thinking of such an ironic ending, Grandma Rosa suddenly felt a little sad.

"I should have called Fairy Violet or Lord Rhine. I really shouldn't have come out alone..."

"Wait, Lord Rhine, that's right!"

Suddenly, hope rekindled in Grandma Rosa's cloudy eyes.

The old man turned his head and looked at the bright moon in the sky. He opened his lips and recited the name that was passed down in countless legends:

"A sage from beyond the world, a prophet who knows the future, a wizard of miracles and wishes..."

After a while.

The young Rhine, dressed in pure white classical magician's attire, and the dashing girl with gilded hair quickly emerged.

"Granny Rosa!"

Aurora saw that Granny Rosa was seriously injured and rushed over to her: "Teacher, please heal Granny Rosa as soon as possible!

"Damn it, who hurt grandma like this!"

Rhine also quickly performed healing magic, covering Grandma Rosa with pure white light.

After regaining some strength, Grandma Rosa briefly recounted what had happened to her.

"What a rude, brutal and greedy soldier! No, he is not worthy of being a soldier, he is just a complete bandit!" Aurora was furious.

A hint of barely visible anger ignited in her clear eyes:

"It's a pity that I don't know where that soldier has gone. If I meet him, I will avenge Grandma Rosa with my own hands."

…

After "killing" the old witch, the soldier took all the money and tinderbox and walked into the city.

This city is the capital of the country, majestic and beautiful.

The soldier moved into a luxurious hotel, got the most comfortable room, ordered his favorite meal, replaced his old boots that were ridiculed by others, and bought new boots and new clothes.

The ragged soldier no longer exists, and what remains is a brand new gentleman!

People in the hotel often gathered in the bar on the first floor to discuss major and minor events in the city. Some of the information was true while others were just gossip, and many of the contents were related to the king or the royal family.

Today, the topic of conversation is the King's daughter, Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Kingdom of Rose.

——It is said that she is a very beautiful lady who has been blessed by witches with many beautiful blessings! "Have you heard of the legend about Her Royal Highness the Princess?" said a man in the tavern.

"It is said that the princess of our Rose Kingdom is a little beauty who gathers all the good wishes!"

The topic was brought up, and the guests in the inn talked about the legends they had heard about this beautiful princess.

The soldier was very interested in this topic. He put down the beer in his hand and listened attentively.

Legend has it that 10 years ago, when the princess was born, not only foreign guests came, but all the witches and magicians in the kingdom came to offer their blessings to the newborn princess.

The first blessing endowed the princess with unparalleled beauty, while the second blessing endowed her with a heavenly voice that could make anyone fall in love with her.

As for other blessings, no one knows.

Some say that the princess was gifted with the ability to dance.

Some say that the princess is gifted with the kindest, most gentle, heart of gold.

In any case, everyone knows that Her Royal Highness the Princess must have all the good qualities in the world.

"Where can we see the princess?" The soldier's curiosity was aroused, and he asked the people who were chatting.

He knew that given his past status, he was definitely not worthy of having contact with the princess.

But now he is no longer a soldier, but a noble, wealthy gentleman!

"Oh my God? You actually want to see the princess? What are you talking about?" The bartender looked surprised.

Didn’t this gentleman know about the situation of the princess of the kingdom before? Everyone in the upper society should know! A series of boos sounded.

"No one is allowed to see the princess!" everyone in the tavern said in unison.

"The princess lives in the deepest part of the palace, in a bronze palace. Only the king and queen can enter that secret place."

"I also heard that many princes from foreign countries learned that there was a princess in the Kingdom of Rose who possessed all the best qualities in the world, but was imprisoned deep in the palace. So, those princes took advantage of the night to sneak into the palace, just to get a glimpse of the legendary princess's beauty!"

"Unfortunately, all the princes who came to take risks failed!"

"No one can see the princess, no one!"

The soldier became more and more confused and curious as he listened: "Why did the king lock the princess deep in the palace?"

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"I don't know. It is said that it is to avoid a terrible prophecy."

"There is a rumor that on the day the princess was born, a witch predicted that her highness would die suddenly and tragically when she grew up, so the king wanted to protect her."

"No, no, no. The version I heard said that the prophecy was this: the princess would marry an ordinary person without noble blood. This was unbearable for the king."

"Who told you that? Why is it different from what I know?"

Everyone answered one after another.

"Haha, a princess with unparalleled beauty and all the good qualities in the world is locked up deep in the palace. This is such a waste. I really want to see her!" thought the soldier.

…

The soldiers are living happily now.

Now that he was rich, he indulged in food and wine and met many good friends. These friends praised him as a generous man. The soldier liked to hear such praises. He enjoyed the feeling of being respected and admired. Anyone who praised him could get a small bag of gold coins as a reward.

Just living a rich life was not enough to satisfy the soldier. Less than a week after living in the hotel, the soldier got bored and thought he should find something new and exciting to change this boring life.

It was particularly dark that night.

The soldier took out the tinderbox - the tinderbox that the witch had guided him to get under the tree hole, and rubbed it on the flint, trying to light the candle and make fire.

Bang! With a flicker of sparks, the door opened automatically.

A copper-colored dog with eyes as big as teacups appeared out of thin air in front of him.

It was the dog he had seen in the tree!

The soldier was terrified. He was not wearing the witch's blue apron! "No, don't, don't eat me!"

Unexpectedly, the dog lowered its head and said respectfully: "My master, what instructions do you have?"

The soldier was stunned at first, then he suddenly understood something.

"Get me some money!"

The soldier said with a try-it attitude.

With a whoosh, the dog disappeared.

After a while, there was another "whoosh" and the dog came back in front of him with a big bag of money in its mouth.

“It’s amazing!”

After several tests, the soldiers realized that this was a magical tinderbox that could summon three big dogs from the tree hole to serve them.

Rub it once, twice, or three times to summon three different dogs, who all obey the orders of their tinderbox master.

"God bless me. I am no longer an ordinary person. I have a magic tinderbox and three magic dogs loyal to me." The soldier couldn't help but feel elated.

It was late at night and the soldier once again wanted to see the princess.

"Others can't see the beautiful princess, but can I?"

Note: In the story of "The Tinderbox", the description of the dog's size is very strange.

The smallest dogs have eyes as big as tea bowls, the middle-sized ones have eyes as big as water wheels, and the largest dogs have eyes as big as the Round Tower in Copenhagen - the latter's size would be considered huge even if it were placed on the Ultraman set.

But in the actual story, the dog's size does not seem that big. It is more like the size of an ordinary wild beast like a lion or an elephant.

For example, the soldier could move the dog onto the apron.

For example, if the dog was really a giant monster like the one in the Ultraman movie set, and summoned such a large creature in the city, it would have been discovered long ago without waiting for the soldiers to kidnap the princess.

This article assumes that the "eyes are the size of a round tower" is an exaggeration, and the largest dog is about the size of a house. Of course, for ancient armies, this is still a terrifying beast.

(End of this chapter)