A young nobleman rode on horseback, holding a bow and arrow, aiming at the target. The arrow nearly hit the bullseye, and the crowd cheered loudly.
The nobleman turned to Cinderella and said, “He’s our master archer, trained by the finest teachers from a young age. You could fend off an army—you surely wouldn’t lose to him.”
He handed the bow and arrow to Cinderella. “If you can beat him, I’ll donate another bag of gold coins—enough to buy new clothes for a thousand orphans for a year.”
Cinderella understood that he was testing her again. If she failed to shoot, they’d have one more reason to suspect she was disguised as a man.
Thinking of the orphans who would no longer lack warm clothes, she decided to try, no matter what.
But how could she shoot an arrow? And to win against such a skilled archer—how was that even possible?
She raised the bow, aiming at the target as carefully as she could before releasing the arrow. Yet the arrow flew wildly off-course, sending the servants, who were standing a safe distance away, scurrying even further back.
The crowd burst into laughter, eager to see the spectacle unfold.
But then, at that moment, the arrow suddenly curved in midair and struck dead center of the bullseye!
The crowd’s laughter froze, their smiles vanishing as they stared in shock—how could an arrow possibly change direction?
Once they recovered, the prince led the applause, exclaiming, “You must have been trained by a master, and for quite some time!”
“Your Highness flatters me…” Cinderella thought to herself that no amount of training could make an arrow curve like that—she had her magic to thank for that little trick!
However, the nobleman was clearly not convinced. He looked at Cinderella and said, “A real man should know how to hunt. Since you’re such a skilled archer, you must also be a good hunter. Go to the mountains and catch some prey—something fierce and large, like a wild boar or a wolf. If you can do that, I’ll donate another bag of gold coins, enough for the orphanage to buy a thousand desks!”
So, Cinderella headed up the mountain.
The nobleman and the noblewoman exchanged a sly smile.
“If Cedric is really a girl in disguise, we’ll find out soon enough! The mountains are full of wild boars and wolves; any woman would scream in fear at the sight of them. I bet she’ll be running down the mountain, screaming, in no time!”
Not long after, Cinderella returned and announced that she had caught her prey.
Everyone stared at her. “You’re empty-handed, yet you say you’ve caught something. Are you joking with us?”
“The prey is too large to carry by hand. Come with me and see for yourselves.”
Suspicious yet curious, everyone followed Cinderella up the mountain.
When they reached the spot, they gasped in shock: lying on the ground, securely bound, was a full-grown tiger.
“You… you actually caught a tiger?”
“Of course! Didn’t you say it had to be fierce and large?”
As it turned out, when Cinderella went up the mountain, she had seen a tiger chasing a hunter. She quickly threw her magic wand to knock the tiger out, making it the perfect prey.
That evening, Cinderella returned home with several large bags of gold coins. The Flower Fairy, the little bird, and the big tree all looked on, utterly astonished.
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