Translation of one of my texts, enjoy your reading !

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In fairy tales, the charming prince always marries the princess after he saves, kisses or recognizes her. In the tales, they live happily ever after, have many children, and rule their realms fairly. Everyone knows that's how fairy tales end. A happy ending is what you get if you deserve it. Princes and princesses always deserve it.

It's all lies. Have you never wondered why the prince's name is always Charming? The answer is simple. It's the same prince in every last of them. One man, who elevated duplicity to an art. Cheating, too. Charming had more lovers than any other man, dead or alive. He's seductive and as good with a sword as with his tongue. He's working too hard to keep that crown, no man could ever take that title from him.

Sadly, he gets bored by his conquests as soon as he's done. Let's take a look at his history.

He married Snow White and cheated on her with her twin sister.

He divorced.

He married Briar Rose, the Sleeping Beauty.

He divorced.

He married Cinderella, knowing he was incapable of faithfulness.

Are you surprised he divorced? You shouldn't.

Since then, he has been living off gullible women's trust, indulging himself, stealing their hearts and their money. When they can't take it anymore, he leaves them, ready to fall into a new bed.

Gossip and slander mean nothing to him. All Fabletown sees him with contempt and judgment, except the few women he has not seduced yet. He doesn't even hear them anymore, mostly. However, there's one saying that regularly comes back to him. They say Prince Charming has no heart and never loved a single one of his conquests.

It is not true, but few people know it and fewer would believe it. Snow White knows. He loved her, and their divorce was both their fault. She lied to him, deceived him, and made him look like a fool. In response, he cheated her. If she confided in him, who knows what would have happened? He could well be another man today.

Briar Rose knows too he can love. He tried with her, so hard. She knows that even if she despises him like everyone else.

Cinderella doesn't. She's so resentful. Some would even say she's closer to the truth than the others.

He loved all three of them. But it was a long time ago and all three of his ex-wives think he's unable to love by now. They say Charming is made of false promises and empty smiles only.

Prince Charming is the only one to know the truth. He loved four women in his long life. He still loves two of them. Briar Rose is just a stranger to him now and Cinderella annoys him prodigiously. But he still loves Snow White in his way. He loves her enough to fight Bluebeard in a duel to the death, just because the man was a threat to her (Bluebeard's treasure was a delightful bonus. Enough to wait with the soon-to-be father of her children until the end of her delivery, just because he needs to know she's okay. Enough to plot a way for Bigby Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf she loves to show his valor and to give them a sanctuary where they can live their love in peace. Maybe it's not quite love anymore, it's... respect, mixed with shame, and friendship.

Snow White doesn't know he did all that for her. It's alright. She probably wouldn't understand. Prince Charming himself doesn't know why he cares like that about her, after all these centuries.

There's another woman in Prince Charming's cold heart. Her name is Fabletown, this little refugee community of which he became the mayor because it was fun and because he was greedy. Before his election, he said Fabletown was a woman he would seduce like the many others before. After all, no woman could resist him, right?

So, he seduced Fabletown and was elected. Then he discovered a mayor's job reality, the compromises, the need to get his hand dirty for the town to survive, all those angry people because he did not keep his promises...

His three ex-wives were convinced he would flee within the first month. But to everyone's surprise, and maybe even his, he never left Fabletown. He insisted he could do it and learned how to rule Fabletown, even if it was difficult at first. All those mistakes he made...

But if ruling Fabletown is tough work, Charming learns he's brilliant in the subject of protecting her. He spends nights conceiving plans against the Adversary. It's not bragging to say they're quite impressive and mostly successful.

Fabletown loves him, despises him, snubs him, criticises him, and cheats on him, but he stays. No woman could keep his attention before, but Fabletown, the only woman who never truly fell in love with him, that woman's the one he stays with. She doesn't know what he does for her, but he doesn't care. Prince Charming no longer tries to seduce her. She can think he's the worst trash in all the realms, he'll still protect her and die for her if it comes to that. Until the end, as a mayor, a prince or anything else. Because Fabletown is the woman of his life.

Who would have guessed that?