Once upon a time, there live a queen, whose husband died in the war. She lives with her stepdaughter called Snow White.
The queen had a magic mirror and had always asked the same question. And the answer will always be the same.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The queen would asked the mirror.
The mirror would answer. "Why, it's you Your Majesty. No beauty can compete with yours for your beauty will be an eternal one." Hearing that from the mirror never failed to make her smile. She knew she was beautiful. Men would fall for her, kneel to her, ask for her hand. She always love when the mirror answered that.
One day, the queen did her usual thing. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"
Sadly, the answer wasn't the same as before. "You are indeed beautiful, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, there is someone who had managed to compete your beauty. And that person is your stepdaughter, Snow White."
The queen didn't react at first. She didn't know what to react at all. But instead, she smiled to the mirror. A smile with mixture of sad and joy. She bid gratitude to the mirror.
She couldn't believe it. Her stepdaughter, Snow White, had beat her beauty. She had to admit though. She IS beautiful and she couldn't deny that. Even though the queen's beauty was eternal, it didn't mean that she would be the fairest of them all. She wanted to stay as the fairest of them all but knowing that her own stepdaughter had took her place, what else could she do?
She went to see her daughter, who was reading her book peacefully at the throne room. The queen approached her. Snow White brightened up the moment she saw the queen. She settled her book down on the throne and ran to the queen. The queen kneeled down and welcomed her daughter into her arms.
Her daughter giggled happily, as if happy to see her stepmother. Indeed, her beauty was renowned. Rosy cheeks, blood rose lips, black ebony hair, a pair of glistening sapphire eyes – she was indeed have the gift of the beauty. But she was still ten and yet her beauty had already beaten her. A part of her was jealous for her stunning beauty but a part of her was proud for her. She may not be her biological daughter but she had already seen her as one.
"Mummy, look there." Snow pointed to the throne, where her book sat. She tugged on her hand and pulled her to the throne. The queen let the girl tugged her to the throne. Once they reached the throne, Snow took her book away from the seat and patted on it, telling her mother to sit down. She did as she was told, no questions. Snow then sat on her lap and handed the book to her. The queen had a question look on her when she handed the book to her. Even so, she accepted it and started to look through the pages.
Snow laid her head on her mother's chest, hearing her heartbeat. She gave sparkly eyes to her mother, telling her to read for her. The queen got her message and smiled back at her before reading the story out for her.
Time had stopped at that moment. They were drowned in the story telling. Snow listening intently as her mother told the story. Even the queen hadn't noticed how much time had passed and before they knew it, night had fallen.
A servant entered the throne room with her hands clasped together on her stomach. She noticed of their actions and immediately stopped in tracks. The queen gestured her to come in. The servant obeyed her and approached them. Snow had fell asleep listening to the story, so she had not heard the servant coming. The servant bowed herself, giving respect to the queen before saying something.
"Evening has fall, Your Majesty. It is time for dinner. The table is ready and everyone is waiting for you, Your Majesty." Announced the servant in a medium tone, trying not to wake Snow up.
"Thank you, dear servant," The queen looked down at Snow, who had her face buried in her chest. She was sleeping so peaceful that the queen was afraid to wake her up. She turned back to the servant. "Bring Snow back into her room. Tuck her to bed and let her sleep. She wouldn't need to join the feast for tonight."
The servant didn't question her and scooped Snow into her arms. As soon as the servant left the room, the queen got up. She looked at the book that she read to Snow. The book was titled "Rose of Blood". She wondered on where did Snow got the book. She must have gotten as a gift from one of the servants or citizens probably. The queen should have asked the servant to bring the book along but oh well, she could just go to her room later to place the book.
Placing the book against the chest, she exited the throne room and went for dinner.
