Inside the dressing room, Cinderel sat quietly, waiting for the ball to begin.

  The gown she wore now was stunning beyond words—its deep blue shimmered like the ocean, adorned with gold and silver embroidery, delicate pearls, and tiny gemstones.

  "Today is just too strange… It all feels like a dream. And not just any dream—an unbelievably wonderful one."

  Just then, Cinderel saw a flicker of starlight ahead.

  Her fairy godmother, Lay, appeared before her.

  "Who… are you?" Cinderel asked bnkly.

  "Cinderel, you may not have realized it, but although you have a beautiful gown, you don't have matching shoes—your stepmother was so frantic she completely overlooked that detail. But don't worry! I can make you a perfect pair of gss slippers!"

  With a gentle wave of her wand, sparkling stardust fell onto Cinderel's shoes, transforming them into crystal-clear gss slippers.

  Cinderel was even more bewildered now.

  "What's going on today? Why is everyone suddenly helping me?"

  After making sure Cinderel had proper shoes, Fairy Lay finally let out a relieved sigh.

  She had made a promise to help Cinderel, after all.

  "Even if a certain magician—who appeared out of nowhere—stole most of the credit, at least I managed to do something." Lay consoled herself internally.

  "Remember, my magic will wear off at midnight. After that, the shoes will return to their original state," she reminded Cinderel. "But don't worry—your dress is so dazzling, no one will notice if your shoes change."

  …Something felt off.

  Saying it out loud, Lay suddenly had a weird realization.

  Wait… does that mean I was completely unnecessary?!

  I was the first one here!

  Before she could dwell on it further, a clear, youthful voice suddenly interrupted.

  "If Cinderel takes off the shoes, does the magic still wear off at midnight?"

  "Why would that—AHHHHH!" Lay shrieked as she spun around, only to find Rhine standing right behind her.

  When had he gotten there?!

  Rhine pointed at Cinderel's shoes and repeated his question.

  "You said your magic will disappear at midnight, right?"

  This was something that had genuinely puzzled him.

  It was one of those cssic Cinderel plot holes—

  In the original story, Cinderel fled the ball in a panic as midnight struck, leaving behind one gss slipper. The prince then used that slipper to find her.

  But if the fairy's magic disappeared at midnight… why didn't the lost slipper revert to its original form too?

  Plot holes like this were common in fairy tales, legends, and epic stories. But they never stopped these stories from becoming cssics.

  "Well… who cares? Magic is unpredictable anyway," Lay huffed.

  Rhine just smiled and turned toward Cinderel, who was still looking at both of them with complete confusion.

  "Cinderel, I know you must be very confused right now. You don't understand why people are suddenly helping you, or why Prince Eric personally invited you to the ball, right?"

  "Yes." Cinderel nodded, staring at the unfamiliar silver-haired boy and the fairy.

  Her stepmother was convinced that Cinderel had noble blood and some kind of hidden identity. But Cinderel herself had never entertained such unrealistic fantasies.

  She knew perfectly well—she was just an ordinary girl with no background whatsoever.

  "In truth, a friend of yours asked me to help you. I'm a magician. I then contacted Prince Eric and orchestrated the events this morning," Rhine expined briefly.

  "…A friend of mine?" Cinderel looked even more puzzled.

  "His name is Momo. You've spoken with him through birds."

  Momo?!

  Cinderel's eyes widened in shock.

  After losing both her parents, and after years of being treated like a servant by her stepmother and stepsisters, her only soce in life had been her conversations with Momo.

  They had never met in person. Their only connection had been through birds carrying their messages back and forth. Cinderel had been confined to the house, unable to leave, so Momo had always been the one to tell her about the outside world.

  She had always assumed Momo was a sailor or the son of a fisherman—after all, he often described the wonders of the sea, from strange fish to the deep-sea sights seen by divers.

  "So that's it! You're Momo's friends!"

  Cinderel gasped, then realized something even more astonishing.

  "You even managed to ask Prince Eric for help? But he's the kingdom's crown prince! Momo knows people as powerful as you?!"

  Cinderel was utterly amazed.

  Prince Eric? That's nothing. I'm the Sage of the Rose Kingdom, Rhine thought to himself, amused.

  "When the ball is over, I must properly thank Momo!" Cinderel decred.

  "You'll have the chance to meet him in person. You won't have to stay in that house any longer," Rhine said, pulling out a smooth, lustrous pearl from his pocket.

  "This is a gift from Momo. It's worth a fortune. Once the ball is over, you can sell it, live independently, and learn a trade to support yourself. You won't have to stay with your stepmother and stepsisters ever again."

  Honestly, this had only occurred to Momo after Rhine pointed it out to him.

  As a merman, Momo had no concept of human wealth. It had never even crossed his mind that the treasures casually scattered across the ocean floor could completely change Cinderel's life.

  "This… this is so valuable…" Cinderel's hands trembled as she accepted the pearl, carefully tucking it away.

  Her eyes stung with emotion.

  She knew—the nightmare she had endured for years was finally coming to an end.

  "Thank you… thank you so much! And thank Momo for me! After the ball, I must meet him face to face! He said we're the same age—I want to see what he looks like!"

  "Oh, by the way, Cinderel." Rhine changed the subject. "You might have heard—one of the purposes of this ball is to find Prince Henry a fiancée. Do you think he'll set his sights on you?"

  "…How could that be possible?" Cinderel ughed at the idea.

  "There are so many beautiful girls in the kingdom, so many elegant dies with graceful dances and perfect figures attending this ball. I don't even know how to dance. Just being able to attend this ball, looking my best, is already more than enough for me."

  "Good," Rhine nodded in relief. "Prince Henry isn't exactly the most reliable person. You'll find out soon enough."

  After all, in the original story, this was the guy who decided to measure the feet of every girl in the country just to find a single person.

  "Prince Henry isn't reliable…? That can't be right…" Cinderel mused over Rhine's words.

  In her mind, a prince was someone noble, untouchable, and extraordinary.

  In all the fairy tales she had read, princes were always handsome, brave, and completely fwless!

  "Well, it's time. I'm off to the ball now. Thank you again—thank you, and thank Momo." Cinderel waved to the two magicians as she left.

  Watching her disappear into the ballroom, knowing that her life was about to change forever and that she was finally stepping into a better future, Fairy Lay smiled with satisfaction.

  "…Wait a minute!"

  Fairy Lay suddenly realized something was very, very wrong.

  "Cinderel thinks I'm working with you! That we were both sent by Momo!" Fairy Lay grumbled.

  "In reality, I don't even know you! And I've never even heard of this Momo person!"

  She turned around angrily, only to find that the young magician had already vanished without a trace.

  At the Ball

  Dressed in her luxurious gown, Cinderel looked breathtakingly elegant, radiant, and utterly enchanting. On the dance floor, she moved like a shimmering blue spirit.

  Prince Henry had been dancing with other young dies, but the moment he caught sight of Cinderel, he was completely captivated by her unique aura.

  Drawn to her, Prince Henry approached and, seeing her bewildered expression extended his hand to her in invitation.

  From that moment on, he danced with no one else.

  His hand never let go of hers.

  Whenever someone else asked Cinderel to dance, Prince Henry simply said, "This dy is my dance partner."

  However, Cinderel had never actually learned how to dance.

  Her movements were stiff and awkward, but her mind was elsewhere anyway—still spinning from the strange events of the day, the two magicians who had helped her, and that mysterious boy named Momo.

  She thought about how, once this ball was over, she would finally leave that house forever. She would finally be able to meet Momo in person.

  Her stepmother had never allowed her to travel before—after all, she needed Cinderel to do all the housework. But after tonight, she would never have to deal with that wicked woman again.

  As the clock struck midnight, the ball came to an end.

  Cinderel knew it was time to leave.

  She didn't hesitate for even a second. She turned and hurried away, completely unaware that the prince had reached out his hand, hoping to stop her.

  And just as if it were fate itself guiding the moment, in her rush, Cinderel lost her left gss slipper on the staircase.

  Prince Henry watched longingly as the girl who had enchanted him vanished into the night.

  With a wistful sigh, he murmured, "Wow… What a beautiful spirit. She's so different from all the noble girls I've met before. She even has this subtle, elegant fragrance… She should be my wife."

  As he reminisced about their magical dance, a sudden realization struck him.

  "Oh no! I was so busy admiring her that I forgot to ask her name!"

  Prince Henry was devastated.

  Just then, he spotted something on the stairs—a single, glistening gss slipper.

  "Is this… her shoe?"

  Picking it up, a brilliant idea popped into his head.

  "What?! Henry, you want to measure every girl's foot in the entire kingdom to find the one who fits this slipper—and then marry her?!" The King of the Western Asia Kingdom was utterly stunned.

  "Of course." Prince Henry grinned. "That's the only way I can find the beautiful girl from the ball!"

  Passing by at that moment, Aurora couldn't help but blurt out,

  "I just don't understand. How is this even remotely logical? Can't you remember what her face looks like? Why do you need to measure feet one by one?!"

  Standing beside her, Rhine internally agreed.

  Yeah, Your Highness… Are you sure this isn't just an excuse to go around touching every girl's foot in the kingdom?