How Can One Person Become Two?

Cinderella returned home after being away for so long, expecting her stepmother to scold her. Surprisingly, her stepmother said nothing.

Little did she know, her stepmother and stepsisters had already devised a plan.

They had attended the celebration banquet too, where they saw Cedric, whom Cinderella had disguised herself as. The second daughter said, ‘Why does Ceri look so much like Cinderella?’

The older sister laughed and said, “Silly! Cedric is a man, and Cinderella is a woman. Surely, you’re not thinking Cedric is actually Cinderella?”

The younger sister retorted, “No, you’re the silly one! Haven’t you noticed people are already suspicious that Cedric might be a woman in disguise? Women dressing as men is not unheard of in history!”

The stepmother said, “I didn’t think much of it until you mentioned it, but now that you say it, there really is a resemblance. And coincidentally, Cinderella has suddenly disappeared around this time…”

So they devised a plan to find out if Cedric was really Cinderella, and if he was, they certainly wouldn’t let her go!

A few days later, the stepmother ordered Cinderella to prepare a large feast, saying they were inviting guests.

However, on the same day, Cinderella was scheduled to go to the palace to discuss building an orphanage with the king.

She had no choice but to prepare the dishes in advance before dressing as a man and heading to the palace.

Unexpectedly, just as she left the palace, her stepmother and stepsisters blocked her path, insisting Cedric join them for a meal.

Only then did Cinderella realize that she was the “guest” they were inviting. How can one person become two? She grew anxious.

When they arrived home, they had Cedric sit in the living room while they ran to the kitchen to find Cinderella.

“If she’s not there, Cedric is very likely Cinderella!” they thought.

But when they entered the kitchen, they saw Cinderella busily cooking, who asked, “The food is ready. Have the guests arrived?”

As it turned out, Cinderella had managed to use magic to arrive in the kitchen just ahead of them.

Still, her stepmother and stepsisters remained suspicious.

They rushed back to the living room only to find Cedric calmly sitting there, drinking tea.

The stepmother called out, “Cinderella, the guests have arrived. Bring out the food.”

She thought to herself, “Let’s see if these two can appear at the same time.”

She called several times, but no one responded. Cinderella sat in the living room, and how could she respond?

Luckily, she was quick-witted and said, “Maybe something’s come up, or maybe she needs help. I’ll go check.”

Before they could react, Cedric quickly ran to the kitchen.

The three of them hurried to follow him there.

When they reached the kitchen, they saw Cinderella busily working and no sign of Cedric.

“Why didn’t you answer when we called?” they asked.

“I was in the garden picking herbs,” Cinderella replied.

“And where’s the guest?”

“He’s in the garden. He mentioned you were looking for me. Is something wrong?”

The three of them quickly ran to the garden but found no one there.

They returned to the living room, only to find Cedric sitting there once again.

The stepmother whispered to her daughters, “Every time one of them appears, the other disappears. There’s definitely something going on here! Keep an eye on him and don’t let him leave. I’ll go find Cinderella and get her to slip up!”

Just as Cinderella was growing anxious, another Cinderella appeared in the doorway with a tray of food.

In fact, this Cinderella was actually the Flower Fairy, transformed to help! Just as the secret was about to be revealed, the little bird and the big tree asked her for help.

Later, the flower fairy said, ‘They kept nagging like flies—how could I not help?”