Chapter 45: The answer comes before the question


    Aurora found the Sea Hag’s question utterly baffling.


    "If it’s eternity, then how could it have a length? That’s completely self-contradictory!"


    Why did this Sea Hag always ask such strange questions?


    Holding the mindset that it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, Aurora answered:


    "Eternity means an infinitely long time."


    The Sea Hag laughed:


    "Yes, but eternity—being infinitely long—how long is that exactly?"


    The Sea Hag’s mocking smile made the young girl a little annoyed.


    Seeing Aurora’s frustrated yet helpless expression, Rhine chuckled and said:


    "Did you notice? Just now, when the Sea Hag was describing the special nature of the Immortal Soul, she used poetic language. Just like the last riddle—it, too, was spoken like a verse.


    "I believe this hints at the kind of answer she is looking for.


    "Future King of the Rose Kingdom, most things in this world cannot be fully explained by pure logic and dialectics. Try answering this second question using the way of thinking found in fairy tales."


    Using the way of thinking found in fairy tales... Aurora pondered her teacher’s words.


    As Aurora remained deep in thought, the silver-haired boy stepped forward, speaking like a bard telling a tale by the fire:


    "Beyond the sea, deep in the lands where humans dwell, in a place far, far away, there stands a mountain of diamonds.


    "This diamond mountain is vast. To climb to its peak would take an entire year; to circle around its base would also take a year; and if one were to walk straight through to its far side, that too would take a year.


    "Once every hundred years, a single bird flies in from the distant horizon, gently tapping the mountain with its beak before flapping its wings and flying away.


    "For the people living at the mountain’s foot, many spend their entire lives without ever witnessing the bird’s arrival.


    "Only the longest-lived, those who reach a hundred years of age, may be lucky enough to witness the miracle twice in their lifetime, treating this experience as their greatest pride."


    The Sea Hag sighed softly:


    "Indeed, compared to us, human lives are so short.


    "This truly is a beautiful story about life and time.


    "But what does this story have to do with my question?"


    Rhine smiled and spoke the story’s ending:


    "When the entire diamond mountain has been worn away by the bird’s beak, the first second of eternity will have passed."


    The coral reef forest fell into silence.


    Absolute stillness. Only the gurgling of bubbles rising from cracks and the distant sound of fish gliding through the water could be heard.


    Aurora suddenly understood:


    "I see now. The second riddle wasn’t a literal question, but rather a challenge for us to depict the weight of ‘eternity’ in ‘the Immortal Soul’ through some means."


    So cunning.


    The Sea Hag burst into laughter:


    "Hahaha, what an interesting answer.


    "As expected of a human with an eternal soul, you’ve told me the weight of eternity yourself. Tell me, human, how did you come up with such a fascinating answer?"


    Rhine answered honestly:


    "This answer wasn’t my own creation. It comes from a story I once read in a book. At most, I only added a few details to it."


    It was a beautiful tale from , a story told by a young shepherd in response to a king’s question.


    Of course, what had left a deep impression on Rhine in his past life was that this story was also mentioned in an episode of .


    Who would have thought that here, in an entirely different tale, the same answer would prove useful once again!


    At that moment, Rhine heard Aurora’s voice from behind him, lowered to a near whisper:


    "Teacher, I’ve been thinking about something.


    "Today, after learning such a great secret from your conversation, I finally understand.


    "Teacher, just like you, I too am eternal."


    The Sea Hag suddenly remembered something and said coldly:


    "For the final question, I will add a new rule.


    "By the rules, both of you must answer. But for the previous two questions, it was that silver-haired boy who answered.


    "So, I believe that for the last question, the golden-haired girl should answer first. That way, it is truly both of you answering, rather than just one!"


    Ignoring Aurora’s protests of "That’s not fair!", the Sea Hag slowly asked, word by word:


    "Now, this is the third and final question!"


    Just as the Sea Hag was about to ask, Rhine suddenly felt a surge of searing energy from the distant seawater, piercing through the belly of the great fish and radiating onto his skin.


    The Wish Power of the Child of Destiny!


    Rhine instantly understood:


    "Obtaining the answer to this question" was the Sea Hag’s wish!


    If the first two questions had only been a test of the one answering,


    Then, the answer to the final question was what the Sea Hag truly sought.


    Only someone who knew the secret of the Immortal Soul and understood the weight of eternity could qualify to answer this question!


    "Now, tell me. We, the non-human beings—how can we obtain an eternal, Immortal Soul like yours?" the Sea Hag asked.


    "That’s the question?"


    Rhine almost couldn’t believe his ears. S~ea??h the N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    You mean... you don’t already know?


    Rhine, of course, knew the answer.


    The answer was "love."


    If a human truly loved a mermaid from the depths of their heart, they could grant the mermaid an Immortal Soul. And the human’s own Immortal Soul would remain intact.


    The original story had very little description of the Sea Hag, but considering how she instantly deduced the Little Mermaid’s intent in the original, she should have known this.


    "Could it be that in this world, the Sea Hag came into contact with the Black Witch Maleficent and her coven, delving into terrifying black magic, which led to her being completely rejected by the Sea Kingdom—so much so that she never learned this hidden yet beautiful truth?"


    Rhine had his suspicions, and his gaze flickered toward Aurora, who was still struggling to think.


    Aurora, of course, didn’t know the answer.


    —She had only just learned today that humans had an Immortal Soul, so how could she possibly know how a non-human could obtain one?


    The young magician had a sudden stroke of inspiration. He pointed at Aurora and smiled at the Sea Hag:


    "My friend has already given the answer.


    "By your own rules, all three questions have been answered. You should now tell us everything about Maleficent."


    What?


    When did she say anything?


    The Sea Hag looked utterly bewildered.


    From the moment she had finished stating the question, Aurora hadn’t spoken a single word!


    Rhine glanced at the thoroughly confused Sea Hag and mermaid princess before repeating her rule:


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    "The final question must be answered by the golden-haired girl first.


    "By this rule, as long as she spoke the answer before I did, it counts. Even if that answer came before the question was asked."


    An answer before the question? Ariel completely failed to understand what the boy meant.


    What did that even mean?


    How could someone give an answer before the question was even asked?