Is Henry the White Horse Prince?

The Eastern Witch chanted a spell.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black mist surged, and in an instant, the men, women, and children who had just been laughing and chatting turned into fish.

Flopping helplessly on the dry streets, their gills trembled as they struggled for air, their tails slapping against the stone pavement. Their eyes were filled with terror as they thrashed about.

"Why?! Where are my hands? My feet? What happened to my body?!"

"I… I turned into a fish!"

"She's a witch! That old hag is an evil witch!"

"I can't breathe… it hurts so much!"

"Mom! Dad! Where are you?! I just went outside for a little while… why is this happening to me?! I can't breathe! Please! Somebody help me!"

"This isn't fair… I survived the darkest years of White Kingdom. I endured the tyranny of corrupt lords and their lackeys. And just when we finally have a wise Sage and a just Queen… just as dawn is breaking… I'm going to die at the hands of some stranger?! At least… at least let me see what our kingdom will become next year…"

"…It hurts… My mind is fading… Will the Sage and the Queen avenge me?"

Countless thoughts raced through the fish's minds.

And the Eastern Witch? She laughed.

She laughed like a cruel child pouring boiling water on ants. She watched as the fish flailed in agony, their eyes bulging, their bodies convulsing. She laughed and laughed—until the very last one stopped moving.

Satisfaction. Even if only a little.

"Well then, time to visit the Queen and that annoying Sage Rhine. If they irritate me too… they'll end up just like these fish."

She clicked the heels of her silver shoes three times.

The wind howled, and she vanished.

The moment she disappeared, the curse was lifted.

Boom!

The black mist dissipated, and the fish turned back into humans.

But they remained lifeless.

Gone were their voices, their laughter, their curious gossip. Never again would they marvel at the rise of their neighbor.

And then—

"AAAAHHH!"

Within moments, passersby stumbled upon the scene.

Men, women, and even children lay twisted on the ground. The eldest among them was past seventy. The youngest? No more than four or five years old.

All of them had died with bulging eyes, contorted faces, and purplish skin—evidence of their unbearable suffering.

"Murder! Murder!"

"Who did this?!"

"I've never seen people die like this before! What happened to them?!"

Chaos erupted. Some fled in terror to spread the news, others ran to find guards. A few children, unable to bear the horror, fainted on the spot.

The city guards, officers, and royal soldiers quickly arrived to restore order.

"Stay calm! We're contacting the victims' families. We will find out what happened. His Majesty, Her Majesty, and the Sage will bring justice!"

A stern-looking officer reassured the crowd, though his clenched fists and gritted teeth betrayed his fury.

This man—Karen—was the same shoemaker who had been discussing his sudden promotion just moments before.

And now, the lifeless bodies on the street… they were his neighbors.

He knew them all.

From the oldest grandparent to the youngest child.

"What happened here?"

"I was just about to celebrate the greatest moment of my life, to share my joy with my friends… And now, they're dead."

"A new White Kingdom cannot allow this murderer to roam free."

The Eastern Witch had likely acted on a whim, thinking nothing of the consequences.

What she didn't realize was that, in the old White Kingdom, the deaths of a few commoners would have barely caused a ripple.

But in this new White Kingdom, one striving for justice, such a massacre was an open challenge to the new order.

And it would not be ignored.

Guards sealed off the crime scene, identified the victims, and summoned their grieving families. The streets filled with sobs and wails.

"Stop, Pinocchio! Stop! You can't go there—it's a crime scene!"

Breathless, Geppetto and Angus chased after the runaway puppet.

Pinocchio, newly crafted and given movement by Rhine's magic, had just received his legs and immediately dashed off into the streets.

"Hahaha! You can't catch me!"

A soldier grabbed the wooden puppet by the nose.

"Kid, you can't run into—wait… this is a puppet? A moving puppet?"

"Thank you for catching him."

Geppetto quickly grabbed Pinocchio and hauled him back home.

"What's a crime scene?" the wooden boy asked.

"It means people died. They're gone. They won't move ever again," Geppetto explained.

Pinocchio turned his wooden head, staring at the gathered crowd and the mourning families. He could hear the faint, broken cries from the distance.

Meanwhile, at the palace gates, the Eastern Witch announced her arrival.

"Tell Her Majesty the Queen… that the Witch Slave Master is here to see her."

The guards, unaware of the massacre in the city, simply relayed the message.

The witch narrowed her eyes.

What will you do, Queen? Will you welcome me with a grand feast? Or will you refuse me at the gates?

You haven't spoken in the Witch's Coven for over two months. Have you forgotten? Or are you deliberately avoiding us?

Inside the palace.

The air was thick with the scent of paper and ink.

Documents stacked high, covering every inch of the desk.

Rhine and Aurora were busy handling state affairs.

Through experimentation, they had learned that the Magic Mirror wasn't truly omniscient.

For example, it couldn't display the attributes or skills of people outside the White Kingdom. Even when Rhine tried transporting the mirror beyond the kingdom's borders, the result was the same.

Likewise, it couldn't provide detailed information on powerful figures like the witches of the coven—it feared triggering their magical defenses, offering only vague summaries.

"Teacher, has Prince Henry of the Western Asia Kingdom still not returned home?" Aurora asked as she skimmed through the documents.

"No," Rhine replied. "He was disappointed that he didn't get to see Snow White, so he wanted to wander around White Kingdom a bit longer."

"Who knows what kind of trouble he'll run into?" Aurora sighed.

She had not forgotten the fiasco with the glass slipper.

Over a month ago, Prince Henry—the younger brother of Prince Eric—had arrived in White Kingdom.

When he learned that Rhine had left Western Asia and immediately been appointed White Kingdom's Sage, he had been dumbfounded.

"Great Magician Rhine has become your kingdom's Sage?! In just a few days?!"

At the time, White Kingdom's reforms had only just begun. Rhine had no interest in entertaining Henry, so the King hosted a brief banquet and sent him on his way.

Neither Rhine, Aurora, nor Snow White had made an appearance.

Before leaving, Henry had grumbled about missing the chance to meet the beautiful Snow White.

"Ugh, that guy's been riding his white horse all over the kingdom. Who knows what nonsense he'll cause?" Aurora muttered.

Rhine suddenly had a realization.

"…Wait. Henry rides a white horse?"

"Yes?"

"…Henry might be the White Horse Prince from the Snow White story."

The infamous prince.

Whose only notable act was…

"…Kissing a beautiful corpse inside a crystal coffin."

Rhine's expression darkened.

"…And honestly, Henry would do something like that."

"Well, great. The Queen's dead, Snow White's fine, and now the White Horse Prince has nothing to do."

"Who knows what kind of destiny-driven nonsense he'll trigger while wandering around?"

Rhine quickly cast a silencing spell so the Magic Mirror wouldn't overhear their conversation.

"The magic of False Love perfume will wear off in a few days," he told Aurora. "It's time. We need to wake the real Queen at the dwarves' cottage."

They could fake it for another two months.

But they had no interest in staying in White Kingdom forever.

The final step of their plan was to revive the true Queen.

"…Are you sure it'll be fine?" Aurora hesitated.

She remembered the Queen's cruelty and pettiness all too well.

"We won't be here forever," Rhine said. "Once we're done, we head to Oz."

But first…

A frantic knocking interrupted them.

The King himself burst in.

"My dear, wise Sage Rhine! There's an urgent visitor!"

"There's an old woman dressed as a witch outside—she calls herself the Witch Slave Master and demands to see the Queen!"