Maleficent was about to find out that things had indeed gotten much, much more complicated. In the little cottage in the clearing, Aurora¹ awoke on the day before her birthday in the best of moods. She had met the most handsome man, was going to live in the Moors², and, best yet, would get to spend more time with her faerie godmother. The only thing that gave her pause was that she needed to tell her aunts she was leaving. That part dampened her mood slightly. After all, the three of them had raised her when her parents had died, and while they could be a little odd, she loved each one of them. Sighing, she got out of bed. It was time.　

Walking into the cottage's main room, she smiled when she saw her aunts bickering³ once again. Hearing her footsteps, they all froze, then turned toward her, looking oddly guilty. But Aurora ignored that and plunged⁴ ahead with her news. "I need to talk to you about something," she began.　

"Anything, lovie," Flittle said, straightening out her hair, which was a tad disheveled.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, and please don't be sad, but I'll be sixteen tomorrow and so ..."

Her voice trailed off as she struggled to go on. "Yes?" Thistlewit prompted.　

Aurora took a deep breath, and then in a rush, her words running into one another, she said, "I'm leaving home."　

Expecting tears and sadness, she was surprised when Knotgrass's face turned red with anger. "Oh, no you aren't!" she cried. "I didn't suffer all these years in this miserable⁵ hovel with those two imbeciles so you would ruin it on the last day! We are taking you back to your father—" As the last words left her lips, Knotgrass slapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that.

Aurora's face grew pale. "My father?" she repeated. "You told me my parents were dead."

The three aunts looked at one another, silently figuring out what to do. Finally, Flittle patted the bench next to her. "You'd better sit down," she said.

Confused, Aurora did as she was told and listened as they began their story.

"Faerie Godmother!"

Aurora's voice rang out through the glen. Hearing the panic in her voice, Maleficent emerged from the shadows while Diaval hung back. It was the day before Aurora's sixteenth birthday, and she was supposed to have come after telling her aunts that she was leaving. Clearly, something had happened, and knowing the three pixies and their conniving⁶ ways to stay on Stefan's good side, Maleficent figured they must have told Aurora about her past to try to keep her with them. But just how much had they said?　

"I'm here," Maleficent said, glancing at the princess. The girl's usually bright eyes were full of tears and her hair was a mess, as though she had been pulling at it incessantly⁷. Maleficent waited, fearing what Aurora was about to say.　

"When were you going to tell me that I'm cursed?" she asked, her voice full of pain.

Maleficent had been right. Those meddlesome⁸ faeries-in-waiting had told Aurora what had happened years earlier. But Aurora had said only that she had been cursed. She hadn't said who had cursed her...　

"Well? Is it true?" Aurora asked, her voice pleading.

Maleficent nodded. "It is," she said simply.　

Aurora's face fell. "I was just a baby!" she cried. "Who would do such a terrible thing to a baby?" Her big blue eyes met Maleficent's. "My aunts said it was an evil faerie. They said her name. They said ... they said ..." She choked on her sobs⁹, unable to say the name out loud.　

Seeing the hurt this moment was causing her, Maleficent couldn't stand it any longer. Turning away so as not to meet Aurora's gaze, she said the name aloud. "Maleficent."

Behind her, Aurora's eyes grew wide as something clicked and she began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Is that your name?" she asked. "Are you Maleficent? Are you the one who cursed me?"　

Slowly, Maleficent turned to face the princess. This was not the way she had wanted Aurora to find out who she was and what she had done. But what else could she do? The truth was going to come out one way or another. "Yes," she said softly.

Aurora's hand went to her heart as the reality of Maleficent's confession¹⁰ hit her like an arrow. She stared at her, as though seeing Maleficent for the first time. The gaze burned Maleficent. She had just turned Aurora's world upside down. She had done the same thing Stefan had done to her, made the princess trust in her and then broken that trust cruelly. Such irony¹¹, Maleficent thought as Aurora began to back away. "Wait!" Maleficent cried, reaching out a hand.　

Aurora reared back from the touch, shaking her head. "No!" she cried. "Don't touch me! You're the evil that's in the world! It's you!" Aurora turned and raced off, disappearing into the woods.　

Watching her go, Maleficent felt all the strength drain out of her. It was hard for her to breathe. She had spent so long denying what she had done, to herself and to Aurora. And now she was being punished.　

She stood there for a long while, wishing she had the power to go back in time and never utter the curse in the first place. Never mention a spinning wheel or True Love's Kiss ... Suddenly, she felt a flash of hope. Perhaps there was still a way to make things right. Perhaps Diaval had been right and true love could exist for some people. Raising her eyes, she met the raven's gaze. "Find the boy," she said.　

As Diaval flew into the air, Maleficent said a silent prayer that she wasn't too late.

 

玛琳菲森很快就发现事情真的变得越来越复杂了。生日的前一天，在林中的小屋里，爱洛从睡梦中醒来，心情特别好。她遇见了世界上最英俊的男子，她即将在摩尔森林里生活，还有最棒的是，她将会有更多的时间和她的仙女教母待在一起。唯一让她有些迟疑的是，她需要告诉阿姨们自己将要离开。离别稍稍影响了她的心情。不管怎么说，在父母死后，是她们将自己抚养成人的；有时候她们是奇怪了一点，但是她爱她们每一个人。她叹了一口气，下了床—是时候了。

她走进小屋的主厅，看到阿姨们又在为了些小事吵嘴，便笑了。三个仙子听见爱洛的脚步声后立刻停止了争吵，她们转向她，看起来有点心虚。但是爱洛却顾不得那些，她直接说起了自己的事：“我需要和你们说件事。”

蓝果仙子整理了一下有点凌乱的头发，说道：“说吧，小可爱。”

“很抱歉和你们说这些，请不要觉得难过。但明天我就要满十六岁了，所以……”

她尽力让自己说下去，只是声音越来越小。绿蕨仙子催促说：“所以呢？”

爱洛深吸了一口气，一下子全说了出来：“我要离开这个家。”

她本以为她们会伤心，会流泪，但是她惊奇地发现红叶仙子的脸气得通红。她叫道：“哦，不行！我在这破房子里和这两个笨蛋一起忍了这么多年，可不能让你在最后一天毁了它！我们要把你带到你父亲那里去—”最后几个字一说出口，红叶仙子就用手捂住了嘴巴。她可没准备说那个。

爱洛的脸变白了，她重复道：“我父亲？你们说过我的父母都过世了啊。”

三位阿姨大眼瞪小眼，一言不发，都在琢磨着该怎么办。最后，蓝果仙子拍了拍她身旁的长凳说：“你最好先坐下。”

爱洛满心疑惑，她坐了下来，听她们讲起了故事。

“仙女教母！”

爱洛的声音响彻幽谷。玛琳菲森听出她声音中的恐慌，赶紧从隐蔽处走了出来，而迪艾瓦则有些踌躇不前。明天是爱洛十六岁的生日，她本该和姑妈们作别后来这里的。显然，出事了。玛琳菲森知道三个魔法仙子会站在斯戴芬那边，和他串通一气。所以她觉得她们一定是为了让爱洛留在自己身边，告诉了爱洛她的过去。但她们到底说了多少？

玛琳菲森瞥了一眼公主说：“我在这儿。”女孩明亮的眼里满是泪水，头发也乱成一团，好像她刚才在不停地扯着自己的头发。玛琳菲森等待着，对爱洛要说的话充满恐惧。

爱洛问：“你准备什么时候告诉我，我被诅咒了？”她的声音充满痛苦。

玛琳菲森猜对了。那些爱管闲事的仙子根本管不住自己的嘴，已经告诉了爱洛之前发生的事情。但是爱洛只说到诅咒的事，她没有说是谁诅咒了她……

爱洛问道：“那，这是真的吗？”她的声音中满是祈求。

玛琳菲森点了点头，简单地回答道：“是的。”

爱洛的脸沉了下来，哭着说：“我当时还是个婴儿啊！谁会对一个婴儿做出这样可怕的事？”她蓝色的大眼睛看着玛琳菲森的双眼说道：“阿姨说是一个邪恶的精灵，她们告诉了我名字，说是……说是……”她哽咽着说不出话来。

此时此刻，看到她如此受伤，玛琳菲森再也受不了了，她转过身去，避开爱洛的眼睛，大声说出了一个名字：“玛琳菲森。”

身后的爱洛睁大了双眼，心中恍然大悟，事实都一点一点被拼凑了起来，她问：“那是你的名字吗？你是玛琳菲森？就是你诅咒了我吗？”

玛琳菲森慢慢转向爱洛公主。她从没想过会在这样一种情形下，让爱洛揭开自己的真面目，发现自己的所作所为。但她还能做什么呢？真相迟早要大白于天下，她轻轻地说：“是的。”

爱洛用手捂住了心口，玛琳菲森的坦白像箭一般击中了她。爱洛盯着玛琳菲森，好像第一次见到她一样。这目光灼烧着玛琳菲森。她刚刚让爱洛的世界彻底颠覆，就像斯戴芬当年对她做的一样。她让爱洛公主相信了自己，然后又残忍地背叛了她。这是多么讽刺啊，玛琳菲森想。爱洛开始向后退，玛琳菲森伸出一只手叫道：“等等！”

爱洛躲开了她的手，摇着头说：“不！别碰我！你就是这世上的邪恶所在！就是你！”然后转头飞奔着冲进了树林。

看着她离开，玛琳菲森觉得身体里最后一丝力气也被抽走了，她甚至难以呼吸。长久以来，关于她所做的事，她都在对自己和爱洛撒谎，而现在她受到了惩罚。

她久久地站在那里，多么希望能够回到过去，多么希望自己从没有下过那个魔咒，多么希望自己从未提过什么纺车或是真爱之吻……忽然，她有了一丝希望，也许有一种方法可以改变这一切。也许迪艾瓦是对的，对某些人来说，真爱是存在的。她抬起头，迎着乌鸦的注视说：“找到那个男孩。”

迪艾瓦飞向天空，玛琳菲森暗自祈祷，希望一切还不会太晚。

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