The Legend Of The White-Haired Woman

"Want to try something?" Ronan offered Arielle.

"Does Your Majesty have any recommendations?"

"Of course."

Arielle was led to sit down by a table underneath a tent where a person sold food. Arielle recognized this place. Behind the vendor's tent was the same inn where she had found Tania.

"Isn't this the inn where we...?"

"Correct."

Arielle looked at the inn's nameplate, started to spell the alphabet written on it.

"F-A-M-I-L…. uhm… J?"

"That's Y."

"Oh yes! I remember… Y. Then… I-N-N!" cried Arielle enthusiastically. She turned to Ronan asking for an assessment.

"Perfect. Everything read 'family inn'."

Arielle nodded happily. In just a day, she had begun to know the alphabet that she often ignored. Ronan paid for a cup of boiled corn seeds sprinkled with liquid sugar.

Arielle hummed happily as her tongue tasted the sweet corn seeds Not only that, Ronan continued to offer her various types of food. They all ranged from very sweet to very spicy.

"My stomach can't hold food anymore, Your Majesty," said Arielle.

"But you'll like this."

Arielle really felt her stomach was on the verge of bursting, but Ronan kept pulling her along to check out various vendors' foods. Ronan finally took her to the person who was selling fruit.

Arielle's eyes which were getting tired, instantly rounded in surprise. Behind the cloth covering his face, Ronan smiled broadly at the twinkle in Arielle's eyes when she saw the Frostberry fruit.

Ronan bought a medium-sized container, containing a few dozen Frostberries. The man invited Arielle to sit by the wolf statue in the centre of the square.

Some of the children ran around while they carried firecrackers, and caused them to be reprimanded by the annoyed adults. Arielle laughed at that. Ronan grabbed the coat that Arielle had brought with her so that the girl could eat the fruits freely.

"Earlier, you said that you were full?"

Arielle stopped, she didn't want to put the Fostberry in her mouth.

"I said I couldn't hold any more food. But I can still accommodate this fruit," answered Arielle straightforwardly.

Ronan raised his finger to wipe the rosy residue from the Frostberry juice on the corner of Arielle's lips.

"Do you often go out of the palace like this, Your Majesty?"

"Like what?"

"By covering your face."

Ronan hummed long. The man rested his hands on his lap as he then looked at the dark sky above him. "No. But something like this is much better. I want the people to enjoy happy nights like this without being disturbed by my presence."

Fireworks began to be lit in unison. When the man looked up, the light of the fireworks reflected off his red irises. The music all around was getting livelier, and the people cheered louder. Arielle looked around in confusion as the people around her started to stand up and walk briskly towards the north.

"What is going on?"

"Soon is the peak of the event," answered Ronan casually.

"Is there a show?"

"Hm-hm. You want to see it?"

"Of course!"

Arielle hurriedly put down the Frostberries and grabbed Ronan's hand to hurry. Ronan just smiled when Arielle, with her small body, forced her way in between the bodies of grown men who were much bigger than hers.

The girl desperately wanted to be in the front row. Ronan followed Arielle's footsteps from behind. What made Ronan so impressed was how Arielle kept barging in and saying sorry so easily.

The king almost laughed at Arielle's face, who pretended to feel guilty when she accidentally elbowed a man whose body was twice as big as the girl's own body.

"Hey, what are you doing!" the man protested.

Ronan lowered the cloth that covered his face slightly so the man could see his eyes. As he stood from behind Arielle, Ronan showed the royal sign ring and made the man speechless for a moment.

"Y-y-your Majesty…"

Ronan waved his hand and the man to make way for Arielle. The man took a step back and Arielle could more freely break through the wall of people. When they arrived at the front, the crowd was denser, which made their bodies stick together.

Ronan stood behind Arielle to protect the girl.

"Ugh… Mister… can you give me a way….."

Arielle turned to the side to see a boy struggling to break through Ronan's body. Arielle, who felt pity for the young lad, asked Ronan to move a little. She wanted to let the boy to stand in front of her.

"Thank you, Miss," said the child. He smiled broadly and showed one of his perforated teeth. Arielle gently patted the boy's hair.

"With pleasure," she replied.

"Why did you give him your place?" asked Ronan in annoyance.

"He's just a little kid. Look, his height doesn't even reach my stomach. I can still see freely."

Ronan didn't reply. He let Arielle do whatever she wanted.

The show began with the appearance of a brave warrior. A narrator introduced the man as the first king of Northendell. Arielle clapped enthusiastically with the rest of the audience as King Northendell defeated his enemies and built an empire with his soldiers and citizens.

One day the king met a woman in the mountains of Birwick. The woman was very beautiful, described as having hair as white as snow. Arielle's eyebrows automatically lifted to see the actress who was wearing a white wig.

She looked at her hair again, but Arielle tried not to think about it too much. Around her, there were many people with different hair colors. Blonde, brown, black, to red.

Maybe it's just a coincidence, Arielle thought.

King Northendell fell in love with the woman with white hair at first sight. When she was brought back to the palace, the woman realized that she was not the first. King Northendell already had a queen, and she would only be a concubine.

Even though King Northendell had shown his love and affection, the woman was not satisfied. She was always envious of the rightful queen. Until one day, the woman conspired with the black witch from Mount Birwick.

With her black magic, she killed the queen. After a period of mourning, the king decided to make the white-haired woman queen. Even so, the child she was carrying could not become the heir to the royal throne because Northendell already had a crown prince and a second heir from the late queen.

Feeling dissatisfied, the white-haired woman cursed the crown prince into a wolf on a full moon night. The king knew what the woman had been doing all this time, including having killed the late queen.

Together with the priests and all the soldiers at his disposal, the King drove the woman back to Mount Birwick. But the woman was eager to get more and more revenge for failing to become a queen.

The woman's anger amplified her black magic and tortured the crown prince by eliminating his human side every full moon arrived. Then the next full moon, the crown prince's animal side could no longer be contained and he eventually injured his younger brother to death.

Not only that, she cursed the whole kingdom so that it never again gets sunlight. Since that day, the snow had never stopped falling on Northendell. Many fields failed, and people suffered from hypothermia.

The king, heartbroken by the condition of the crown prince and the eternal snow in his kingdom was then overcome with anger. With all his soldiers he headed for Mount Birwick and burned alive the woman and her newborn baby.

The witch was also eliminated. And that day, several soldiers who had severe hypothermia slowly began to warm their bodies with the naturally exposed mana.

Since then, Northendell slowly began to rise from adversity and was able to survive in this extreme climate. However, until now it was reported that the remnants of the curse were still being carried by the descendants of the first crown prince.

The show ended with a burning straw that was shaped like a woman. Everyone clapped and cheered happily, but Arielle was still pensive thinking about the story earlier.

She turned back to ask. "Is that a true story?"

Ronan looked at Arielle and didn't immediately reply.