Prologue

Prologue

Once upon a time...

In the hush of a winter’s day, as snowflakes drifted down like delicate feathers, a gentle Queen sat sewing for the unborn child within her. She sat by the window, gazing out at the garden shrouded in a pristine blanket of white.

"Ow..." She gasped softly as the needle pricked her finger. Droplets of crimson blood rolled onto the pure white snow. The Queen whispered a prayer: Should I have a daughter, let her skin be as white as snow, her lips as red as blood, and her beauty beyond compare.

Her prayer was answered. Before long, she gave birth to a baby girl with skin as fair as alabaster and lips as vivid as roses. She named her Snow White.

But every blessing has its price. The Queen breathed her last shortly after the birth. King William, her father, was forced to remarry to secure his throne. The woman chosen as the new Queen was a nobleman's daughter—stunningly beautiful, yet she looked upon the young princess with eyes full of venomous hatred.

"Take that brat away and raise her far from me. I loathe children."

"But, Your Majesty, if the King were to find out..."

"You fool, only if you tell him. I shall tell the King she has fallen ill with a plague and must be quarantined until she recovers."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

The wicked Queen was determined to bear her own heir and eliminate Snow White, ensuring her own blood would rule the Kingdom of Napoli. Thus, the poor princess was confined to a high tower, with only a few priests and maids allowed inside to educate and serve her.

"Order them to starve her. Water and bread only."

The Queen’s greatest hatred was reserved for those more beautiful than herself. By age five, Snow White’s beauty already eclipsed that of her stepmother. Worse yet, the courtiers whispered comparisons between the Queen and the late, beloved Sovereign.

"Dead and buried, yet you dare haunt me with your beauty? Everyone mocks me, saying I cannot compare to a mere child. Fine... if her mother is rotting in a coffin, I will make Snow White as hideous as her mother’s ghost."

The cruel stepmother hoped to destroy the child’s beauty, leaving her withered until she simply faded away. Every three days, she would ask her confidante the same question:

"How ugly is she now? Is she near death?"

At first, the maid would climb the tower to check as commanded. But as years passed, the maid grew lazy and began to lie just to satisfy the Queen. She reported that the princess was hideous—her hair a tangled mess, her skin shriveled and pale, her eyes sunken, and her lips blackened and cracked. She claimed death was surely imminent.

The wicked Queen, satisfied and reassured, finally turned her attention away from the poor orphan.

Little did she know, this neglect became the very chance the little princess needed to survive... and bloom in the shadows into a woman of unparalleled allure.

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The Queen believed her cruel orders had succeeded, but in truth, the palace servants were moved by pity for the young princess. Though she did not live in royal luxury, Snow White never suffered from hunger or the biting cold.

"The little princess is a gifted scholar, gentle and kind. She keeps birds as her only companions," the priests would often say. They whispered of her beauty, which flourished more brilliantly with each passing day. Soon, rumors spread throughout the city of a breathtaking maiden hidden away in the abandoned tower at the edge of the palace.

When these rumors reached the Queen's ears, she was consumed by a cold fury. She stormed to the tower, determined to see for herself whether her stepdaughter was an angelic beauty or a withered corpse.

Then, the thing she loathed most came to pass.

The moment she beheld the girl she had tried so hard to destroy, even the Queen herself couldn't help but gasp. How can she be this beautiful?

"Are you truly... Snow White?"

The wicked Queen stood frozen. The scrawny child she remembered had blossomed into a stunning woman. Though she wore no fine silks, her soft features, large expressive eyes, and vivid crimson lips were perfectly composed. Her porcelain skin glowed, and her body, newly awakened into womanhood, possessed a natural allure. As Snow White stood bathed in the sunlight streaming through the window, the Queen felt defeated before a single word was exchanged.

"Mother! You’ve finally come for me!"

Snow White rushed to embrace her stepmother with pure joy. Since she was small, the priests and maids had lied to her, saying the Queen loved her dearly and only stayed away because of a long illness. Snow White had waited for this day with nothing but hope. She had no inkling of the murderous rage boiling beneath the Queen’s skin.

"Oh... Snow White, my sweet child. I have missed you so."

The Queen forced the sweet words through gritted teeth. In the past decade, she had only grown older, her face etched with lines of age, while Snow White had only grown more radiant. It was terrifying. She wanted to kill the girl right then and there.

Don’t think you’ll ever leave this place alive. The Queen’s hand gripped a hidden blade, ready to strike, but her confidante intervened just in time.

"Move! Why do you block me?"

"The King is coming up to the tower, Your Majesty!" the maid hissed. The Queen quickly concealed the dagger and turned a sweet, practiced smile toward her husband as he stepped into the cramped room.

"My Lord..."

"What is the meaning of this? Why is my daughter living in such a wretched place?"

"Alas, my King... I must blame myself for not looking after her well enough," the Queen sighed convincingly.

King William scanned the room—a small bed, a single table, and a diet of bread and apples. If not for the town's gossip, he might have forgotten his daughter entirely. When he looked at her again, he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"My child, forgive me for neglecting you. Guards! Seize these maids and the priest. I’ll have their heads!"

"Father, please!" Snow White pleaded. "It was my own poor health. I feared I was contagious. These people have cared for me devotedly all these years. I owe them my life. Please, do not kill them."

"You are as gentle as your mother... At last, you are well. You are the Princess of Napoli. From now on, you stay by my side."

"Yes, Father... I have waited so long for this day."

Snow White was overjoyed to be reunited with her family, but the Queen felt no such joy. She was no innocent girl; she saw exactly what was hidden behind her husband’s hungry gaze and lingering smile.

"The way His Majesty strokes the Princess’s hip... it seems a bit much for a father, don't you think?" the Queen's maid whispered. The Queen clenched her fists, her knuckles white.

"Look, Your Majesty... he’s sliding his hand beneath her skirts."

"I see it!" the Queen snapped.

"Does that mean the King intends to..." The maid gasped, unable to speak the foul thought aloud. Everyone watched as King William squeezed Snow White’s firm curves, his fingers brushing against her delicate center. The young princess, raised in isolation, knew nothing of lust or sin. In the hands of a king obsessed with carnal pleasure, it was only a matter of time before she was defiled.

"She’s a slut, just like her mother."

"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"Hah! Snow White is a bastard. Her mother was pregnant before the wedding. The King was so blinded by lust for that woman that he allowed this brat to be born!"

"How loathsome... How can she even be called a Princess?"

"I must find a way to get rid of that girl immediately. Before he... Hmph!"