A kingdom rejoiced at the birth of Princess Arsha, unaware that her mother had made a terrible pact with an evil witch. On her sixteenth birthday, the dark secret came to light, plunging the princess’s life into absolute darkness.
Long ago, there existed a grand kingdom where even the morning light seemed to carry ancient secrets. For many years, the royal palace was quiet, but happiness finally returned when a baby girl was born to the King and Queen. They named her Princess Arsha. Her presence filled every room with love, and the Queen was overjoyed. However, deep in her heart, the Queen carried a heavy secret that she could not share with anyone.
Before Princess Arsha was born, the Queen had been unable to conceive. Desperate for a child, she had sought the help of an evil witch. The witch granted her request but extracted a terrifying promise: the Queen would give birth to a daughter, but on the girl's sixteenth birthday, the witch would return to claim her reward. As the years flew by, the Queen lived in constant dread, wondering what would happen if the witch actually returned.
Princess Arsha grew more beautiful and radiant with each passing day. Soon enough, the time arrived for her sixteenth birthday, and the royal palace was filled with grand preparations. Arsha was known not just for her unmatched beauty, but for her exceptionally kind and gentle heart.
As the entire palace cheered and the princess stood ready to cut her birthday cake, a sudden, thick black smoke filled the room. From the darkness, the terrifying evil witch appeared.
The witch demanded the princess, reminding the Queen of their old agreement. The Queen wept and pleaded, offering her diamonds, pearls, gold, and silver instead. But the witch refused the riches. When the King and Queen firmly declared that they would never hand over their daughter, the angry evil witch cast a dark spell on Arsha. She cursed the princess so that she would never be able to look upon the sunlight again.
At first, the King and Queen hoped the witch had merely spoken out of anger to frighten them. But the next day, when Princess Arsha stepped out into the palace gardens, the sky instantly changed color and a fierce storm erupted. The winds raged so violently that it became difficult for the princess to even walk back inside. The following day, she tried to go outside again, but the storm grew even worse. This time, torrential rain was accompanied by streaks of fire falling from the heavens, as if nature itself had been seized by a dark, sinister force.
The princess’s daily routine changed completely. She could no longer leave the palace walls, but even staying indoors became difficult. Whenever she entered the grand halls where the sun peeked through the large windows, the weather outside would instantly turn chaotic.
Before long, whispers began to spread through every street and alley of the city. The citizens grew terrified of the endless storms and the damage they caused to life and property. They began to view the princess as a dangerous threat to the kingdom.
Facing immense pressure from his people to stop the destruction, the King had to make a heartbreaking choice to ensure the survival of his realm. He decided to send Arsha away to a distant, isolated dark castle where the sunlight could never reach. Under the cover of night, the princess was placed in a royal carriage and driven away. It was a choice born of political necessity rather than a lack of love, leaving the King and Queen drowned in grief and helplessness.
Imprisoned in the dark, sealed castle, Arsha began her life of deep isolation. As time passed, she slowly tried to adapt to the unending silence.
One night, while sitting on her bed, she suddenly heard the agonizing cries of an animal coming from outside. Wondering who could be in such immense pain, she stepped out into the darkness to investigate. Following the sound, she discovered a beautiful deer. Strangely, the animal showed no visible wounds, yet it was weeping and completely unable to move. Looking closer, Arsha noticed a golden pin deeply embedded in its body.
Moving gently, the princess pulled the golden pin out. The moment the pin was removed, the deer transformed into an old woman.
The old woman thanked Arsha for breaking the spell and revealed that her own stepsister—the very same evil witch who cursed Arsha—had turned her into a deer out of malice. After Arsha shared her own tragic story, the old woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, glowing magical umbrella. Within moments, the umbrella grew to normal size.
She handed it to the princess, explaining that it was a magical umbrella. The umbrella would allow Arsha to step outside into the world without triggering the witch's terrible storms.
While the old woman could not break the dark spell entirely, she gave Arsha a path to freedom. She told the princess to travel north to the River of Dead Souls. There, the spirits would ask her three riddles. If she answered correctly, they would let her cross to reach a magical pond whose water could dissolve the witch's dark magic forever. The journey would be incredibly dangerous, but the magical umbrella would protect her. With those final words, the old woman vanished.
The next morning, Arsha began her long trek. She journeyed through dense, wild forests and crossed scorching deserts filled with hot winds, hunger, and thirst. Despite the hardships, her resolve never wavered. The magical umbrella kept her safe and gave her the strength to keep moving forward. After many days, she arrived at the desolate place described by the old woman, where the River of Dead Souls flowed.
Three spirits rose from the eerie waters and blocked her path, demanding to know why a living girl had come to their realm. Arsha boldly stated that she sought the magical pond to break her dark curse. The spirits agreed to let her pass only if she answered three riddles. If she failed, she would be trapped in the river with them for eternity. Arsha accepted the challenge.
The first spirit asked: "What is it that remains hidden from everyone, yet everyone runs after it?"
Arsha thought for a moment and replied: "It is Time, which is hidden from view, yet everyone chases it." The spirits murmured in agreement; the answer was correct.
The second spirit asked: "Who is it that never speaks, yet everyone listens to it?"
Arsha answered calmly: "It is a Voice, which does not speak on its own, yet everyone listens to what it carries." Again, the spirits accepted her answer.
The third spirit asked: "What is it that always appears far away, lights up the heart, but can never be touched by a hand?"
The princess looked down at the glowing magical umbrella in her hands and smiled. "It is Hope, which keeps the heart bright but can never be physically touched."
The spirits praised her pure heart and accurate wisdom. Before letting her cross, they gave her a strict warning: she must not eat any magical fruit from the enchanted garden on the other side, or she would be turned into an animal.
Arsha crossed the river safely and walked through a beautiful, enchanted garden until she reached the magical pond. She scooped up the water, took a drink, and felt the heavy weight of the dark curse lift from her soul. As she turned to leave, her eyes fell upon the strange fruits hanging from the trees. Remembering the old woman’s plight, Arsha carefully plucked a few of the magical fruits and kept them with her.
She traveled day and night to return to the isolated dark castle where she had first met the old woman. Upon arriving, Arsha called out, and the old woman appeared before her. The princess thanked her deeply for saving her from a lifetime of darkness. She tried to return the magical umbrella, but the old woman refused, telling her to keep it as a source of hope whenever she felt discouraged. The old woman then took one of the magical fruits Arsha had brought back and disappeared.
The old woman traveled straight to the lair of her stepsister, the evil witch. The witch was stunned to see her, demanding to know how she had escaped the animal curse. The old woman pretended to submit, claiming she realized she could never match the witch's superior power. To prove her loyalty, she offered the magical fruit, claiming it would greatly increase the witch's dark magic.
Greedy for more power, the evil witch immediately bit into the fruit. Instantly, her dark magic backfired, and she transformed into a donkey. Through Arsha's clever thinking, the evil witch had finally met her downfall.
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