The Wizard of Fairy Tale World-Chapter 162: The Bizarre Tale of The Four-Colored Fish

Chapter 162: The Bizarre Tale of The Four-Colored Fish

While Aurora and Maleficent battled, Rhine followed the information provided by the Magic Mirror and set off alone for the whereabouts of the Middle Eastern Witch.

Before leaving, he still remembered Aurora’s promise:

"I will defeat the Black Witch Maleficent—or at the very least, hold her off with everything I have!"

Rhine’s mission was to take advantage of their fated battle and find the Middle Eastern Witch who had cast the curse—then force her to lift the spell over the Land of Oz.

As for how he would make her comply… Rhine had his own methods.

The scenery around him blurred and shifted rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived near a magnificent palace, standing in the midst of a serene and beautiful garden.

"So this is the Kingdom of Alamaid. The old king, Mahamud, has only recently passed, and the young prince has ascended the throne, marrying his cousin as queen."

"And that cousin—the new queen—is secretly a powerful sorceress, the very same Middle Eastern Witch from the Coven!"

Rhine quickly recalled the intelligence given by the Magic Mirror.

With a swift transformation, he shrank into the form of a tiny flying insect and effortlessly slipped into the palace.

Once inside the royal chambers, he spotted two palace maids chatting in hushed voices.

"Our king is young, talented, and virtuous. It's such a pity he married such a wicked woman," one maid whispered.

"May the gods curse that faithless wretch!" the other maid spat angrily. "And our king—he’s too careless! He never even questions what the queen does behind his back."

Halfway through their conversation, they exchanged glances and fell silent, knowing that this was a dangerous topic.

To someone unaware of the situation, their words wouldn’t reveal much—only vague hints.

But Rhine had long since read this bizarre tale from One Thousand and One Nights and understood exactly what they were referring to.

The truth was, the Middle Eastern Witch was skilled in brewing potions, including powerful sedatives. Every night, she would drug the young king’s wine, putting him into a deep, unshakable sleep.

Once the king was unconscious, the Middle Eastern Witch would dress in heavy makeup and sneak out, only returning at dawn.

During this time, she would secretly visit her lover—a hideous black slave.

To the king and the rest of the court, she was a graceful, well-mannered queen. But in front of that slave, she was utterly submissive, catering to his every whim, enduring his beatings and insults without complaint. She even obediently ate scraps and bones at his command.

Rhine also knew how the story would unfold.

One day, the young king would discover the affair. Enraged, he would nearly hack the slave to death. But instead of being grateful, the queen would devote herself to nursing her wounded lover for three years.

In the end, when she finally learned that it was her own husband who had maimed her beloved, her fury would erupt.

Using her magic, she would curse the young king, turning his lower body to stone. Then, in an act of twisted revenge, she would unleash a horrifying spell upon the entire kingdom—transforming all its people into fish.

The four different faiths of the kingdom’s citizens would be reflected in the four different colors of the fish.

Years later, a fisherman would unknowingly catch some of these cursed fish and present them to a neighboring king, leading to the truth being uncovered. In the end, that righteous king would trick the witch into lifting the curse.

"No matter how you look at it, this story is just way too bizarre."

Rhine mentally sighed as he reviewed the tale.

"A witch, forced into a political marriage with a cousin she doesn’t love, sneaks off to see her low-status lover every night, terrified of being caught."

"And this is a woman powerful enough to wipe an entire kingdom off the map in an instant…"

Rhine was filled with the urge to critique the absurdity of it all.

But as things stood, he had arrived before the catastrophe had begun. The young king had yet to discover his wife’s secret, the affair had not yet been exposed, and the kingdom was still standing.

As Rhine, still in insect form, buzzed through the palace corridors, he spotted a woman dressed in luxurious silk, her face heavily painted. She hurried along, her movements anxious.

Her features were exactly as the Magic Mirror had shown him—this was the Middle Eastern Witch.

Completely unaware of the tiny insect tailing her, the queen slipped out of the palace.

"Lucky me—I caught her just as she’s sneaking off to see her lover."

Rhine found a quiet corner, returned to his human form, and pulled out a crystal ball. With a swift divination, he pinpointed the black slave’s location—an abandoned, dilapidated castle.

"Heh. You may be eager to see your lover, but unfortunately, I’m faster."

Clicking his heels together, Rhine vanished into a swirling silver vortex.

In the next instant, he reappeared inside the ruined castle.

The black slave was sprawled across a thin layer of reeds, snoring loudly.

His face was brutish, his lips thick—his upper lip jutting out like a cliff’s edge, his lower lip flat like a plain. His snores rumbled like thunder.

"I don’t get it—what does she even see in this guy?"

Rhine knew the story’s author had likely chosen to make the queen’s lover an ugly black slave to amplify the scandal.

But now, standing within the story itself, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself in disbelief.

Seeing that the man was still deep in sleep, Rhine raised his right hand and brushed a finger over the ring on his index finger.

This was a trophy he had taken from Magrito—an enchanted ring that housed a powerful spirit.

Though the spirit was no warrior, it had many useful abilities, akin to a weaker version of the Genie from Aladdin’s Lamp.

In the original tale of Aladdin, after losing the magic lamp, Aladdin had used this very ring to escape crisis.

A majestic, ethereal spirit materialized before Rhine. The towering figure radiated an imposing presence.

As soon as it appeared, it bowed deeply.

"Oh, great and legendary magician Rhine! What is your command?"

Rhine looked up at the towering spectral being and issued his order:

"I command you—remove this sleeping man from here and ensure that he does not wake for the next while."

"As you wish, my master."

The spirit bowed low before him.

A gust of wind howled through the castle, and the black slave vanished from the reed mat.

Satisfied, Rhine dismissed the spirit back into the ring.

Then, he retrieved a small bottle of pink perfume.

[False Love].

This was the same perfume that had once helped Aurora disguise herself as the Queen of White Kingdom.

Now, it would serve him once more.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

Rhine lay down on the reed mat where the black slave had been, dabbed a drop of the perfume onto himself, and closed his eyes—waiting.

He knew that the curse afflicting the Land of Oz—the Four-Colored Fish spell—could not be undone by simply killing the caster.

It had to be lifted willingly by the Middle Eastern Witch herself.

And in this world, there was only one person to whom she would completely submit and obey—her secret lover.

Sure enough, within minutes, the doors of the ruined castle creaked open. A chilly wind swept in.

The Middle Eastern Witch, her face painted thick with makeup, stepped inside.

At the sight of Rhine lying on the reed mat, she immediately rushed forward, mistaking him for her beloved.

"My lord," she said eagerly, kneeling beside him, "your humble servant has come to you."