The Wizard of Fairy Tale World

Chapter 56: The King's Shock

The King of the Western Asia Kingdom watched as the prince warmly smiled at Ariel and invited her to sing in the court, yawning lazily.

"Ah, young people always fill their heads with romantic fantasies," he mused.

"Letting an unknown girl sing in my court? Ridiculous."

"Let him be for now. Once Eric gets older, he'll look back on this and realize how foolish these feelings are."

He didn’t care what woman captured his son’s interest, as long as it didn’t blossom into true love. The King knew well that royal marriages were never about love, just like his own union with his wife—the current Queen. In this world, there were far more important things than love.

According to the long-established plan, his son was destined to marry the Princess of Enderland.

Of course, love had nothing to do with this—it was purely a matter of geopolitics. The Western Asia Kingdom relied heavily on maritime trade and fishing, and it needed Enderland's naval dominance for protection.

After receiving the prince’s permission, Ariel stepped to the center of the grand hall.

The King lazily closed his eyes, basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, paying no attention to this farce.

"If this stray girl Eric picked up can sing even half as well as the court singers, I'll toss out a couple of compliments to make Eric happy," he thought.

"Eric is nearly 16. His time for youthful fantasies is running out. He'll soon learn what it truly means to bear the responsibilities of a ruler and the future King of the Western Asia Kingdom."

The prince, on the other hand, looked at Ariel with an expectant smile, already crafting a hundred ways to praise this mysterious girl in his mind.

No matter how she sang, he wouldn’t hold back his words of admiration!

As for whether his father liked the girl’s voice, it didn’t matter. In this world, it was enough that he alone appreciated it.

Ariel began to sing.

The moment she sang her first note, the King opened his eyes.

He felt his soul tremble.

It was as if cool, crystal-clear water poured over him, cleansing his heart and spirit.

The King glanced at his wife on the throne beside him.

The Queen of the Western Asia Kingdom was wide-eyed and trembling.

It was only then that the King realized his own expression mirrored hers.

Ariel sang with rapture.

Her heavenly voice filled the palace, echoing endlessly among the beams.

Everyone was spellbound: the King and Queen on their thrones, the prince who only hoped to see her sing, and even the court singers who prided themselves on having the most beautiful voices. All their expressions froze.

Every soul in the palace heard the song, and all forgot their duties:

The nobles and aristocrats who were chatting and laughing fell silent, their raised goblets suspended midair.

Servants cleaning the hallways paused, brooms halted in hand.

A maid carrying milk past the grand hall stopped, listening quietly to the melody wafting from within.

Even the servant pouring wine into the prince's goblet froze mid-motion, oblivious as the golden liquid overflowed.

Overhead, migratory birds flying past the palace heard the song and changed their course, circling above the royal court.

Even miles away, people noticed the strange sight of hundreds of birds spiraling over the Western Asia Kingdom's palace.

When the song ended, the enraptured crowd finally regained their senses.

"Forgive me, Your Highness!"

The servant pouring wine noticed the spilled liquid and panicked.

Prince Eric, however, didn’t care in the slightest. He clapped fervently for the girl’s voice.

Before Ariel had sung, the prince had woven countless compliments in his mind.

Yet now that she had finished, he couldn’t recall a single one.

The echo of her breathtaking melody lingered in his mind, like an eraser wiping away all other thoughts.

He could only clap, harder and harder, until his hands ached, burned, and turned red. Tears welled in his eyes and fell onto his stinging palms, into the spilled wine, creating ripples.

The prince glanced at his father.

The King sat frozen, eyes vacant, like a statue unable to return to reality.

“Well? Wasn’t her singing beautiful?” Eric asked.

All the ornate words Eric had planned were forgotten—human language seemed inadequate to describe the mermaid princess’s voice. He resorted to the simplest, most primal terms.

The King shivered.

"Beautiful" wasn’t even close to enough!

As the ruler of the Western Asia Kingdom, he had heard countless talented singers and renowned musicians, so many that he’d grown numb to beauty.

But today, the King realized that the most exquisite melodies he had heard before were mere flickering candlelight compared to this girl’s radiant sun.

Even the eerie tales told by sailors of mermaids luring ships to ruin with their enchanting songs paled in comparison to the voice of this girl before him.

“Where did you find this amnesiac girl?” the King asked, trembling.

The prince recounted how he had discovered Ariel on the seashore.

“A girl with such an extraordinary voice couldn’t possibly be obscure!” the King declared.

"All the kings and emperors across this continent will vie to have her as a court singer!”

“This is wonderful,” the King said, clapping Eric on the shoulder.

“You’ve done well! To bring back a girl with the most beautiful voice in the world!”

Hearing his father’s praise, the prince felt as if he were in a dream, the scene before him utterly surreal.

In his mind, he had imagined himself as the only one captivated by her voice, his father watching coldly from the sidelines, offering at most a perfunctory remark.

Now, it was his father who was first to extol the virtues of this mysterious girl.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Seeing his son dazed, the King laughed.

“Make good use of her voice.

“When foreign dignitaries and royals visit our kingdom, let her sing!

“The Enderland delegation will be arriving soon. While discussing your marriage, let’s ensure they know that the Western Asia Kingdom’s court boasts the most beautiful singer on the continent!

“This will be our pride!

“Even the most unyielding negotiators will soften after hearing her magical voice. They won’t be able to eat or sleep, her song haunting their minds for months.

“Faced with this voice, even the toughest diplomats will temper their claws at the negotiation table.”