The Beginning
Snow White
The Queen smiled, wrapping her frail hands around the protrusion of her stomach, trying to keep her child warm as she strolled in the forest on a soft winter morning.
The sky was laced with fluffs of floss as tall, stretched branches of cold, withered trees peppered the view.
"My sweet daughter, I await the day when I can cradle you in my arms and whisper your name in a lullaby," The Queen smiled to herself.
Happiness couldn't even begin to describe the Queen's state as she tried to think of a name for her daughter.
"How about Rachel? Or.. Serena?" She pondered, drumming her fingers gently on her abdomen.
She wanted an English name for her daughter, though they were korean.
She wanted her daughter to be special, to be different, to tower above all the common and rise ; to be the symbol of perfection.
Before she could think of more names or continue in her state of ecstasy, she heard the silk at her sleeves tear, and it took a while before the pain sunk in, that she broke away from her thoughts and focused on her wound.
The Queen winced, as she gently covered her cold hands over the cut, at the same time looking for what hurt her.
Her eyes widened in surprise, as she reached forth.
It was a lone stalk of rose,
it's beauty strong amidst the vast field of withered trees and pure white, overpowering the soft beads of snow that dare land on it's blood red petals.
The Queen only smiled, as her fingers danced across the feathers.
"Yes, I have an idea," she muttered in glee, forgetting the cut.
Snow White.
She wanted her daughter's name to exactly reflect that quality.
With skin as pure, and as pale as snow,
with lips the elegant and strong colour of rose petals,
And with hair, the colour of the rose stalk in a long winter - soft black.
"You would be the most beautiful," the Queen murmured, patting her abdomen, instantly forgetting the pain as she stood up straight.
As she left, a small mischievous drop of blood from her cut fell onto the snow bed, sinking within the icicles ;
Tainting it with an unforgiving red.
Be careful what you wish for, My Queen.
_____
Years later, Snow White had grown into a fine lady, with the exact features her late mother had wished for.
Soft hair with the colour of the night,
Pale, porcelain skin,
And lips the august shade of blood red.
What about her heart then?
Beauty was not only skin deep, right?
Nobody could ever see it, but her heart had time and time again portrayed itself to be strong and kind.
Her mother had passed away after giving birth to her due to her feeble health and the king had remarried another woman who possessed equal, if not more, magnificence and regality than his late wife - Jung Sohee.
Unhappy with Snow White's name, Sohee manipulated the strings she had on her new husband and forced him to alter it to her liking.
Snow White became Im Yoona, carrying her father's family name. She was Snow White no more, but she still possessed the unwavering beauty features that can never fade through time.
But here comes the first thorn in this story,
The new Queen wanted Im Yoona dead.
As Yoona grew wiser, smarter, prettier, the Queen wanted her eradicated now more than ever.
She saw Im Yoona not as her daughter, but nothing more as a deadly threat.
____
"My Queen, what are you scripting?" The King smiled, planting a kiss on her temple.
Sohee, though shocked at his sudden appearance, acted nonchalant as she gently rolled up the paper, sliding it in her drawer.
"It's nothing, just some inspiration for a poem," the Queen smiled sweetly, hiding away the darkness in her eyes. "I'll let you peek at it soon enough."
The King deemed nothing suspicious as he landed another chaste peck on her temple.
Sohee struggled to keep the disgust off her face as she donned on a fake smile.
How quick this useless king took to change the previous Queen from being his apple of his eye to Sohee.
My, she expected more loyalty from him since she certainly did not expect anything else from this worthless excuse of a ruler.
But it was better for her this way anyway, when she had utter control of this puppet for now.
Her puppet.
Her smile wasn't fake anymore, as it widened. Phase one of her plan was about to begin.
______
Sohee stalked into the main room, pushing past the tall, wooden double doors that flung open like wings.
She always had this air of superiority that lingered, and those in the room quickly fell to their knees, bowing to their magnificent Queen.
Sohee ignored them, walking straight towards the throne as she gracefully sat down.
"So, who do you have to present to me now?" The Queen crossed her legs, leaning forward. "Don't disappoint me," she hissed at a lower volume at the person before her.
The butler gulped.
"I- I - I mean, you, My Highness, seeks for a competent hunter, is that correct?"
The Queen nodded impatiently, obviously irritated that he repeated what she herself had already said.
"W-well, the village across the mainland presented him as one of their best hunters. He can take care of the animal you were talking about," the butler quickly mouthed out.
He couldn't wait to leave the room.
Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Jung Sohee cracked a smile, though twisted, at the butler.
"Hmm. Good. Bring him here. The animal I want taken care of is no easy task," she grinned, nodding at him.
The butler, relieved at the Queen's reaction, nodded eagerly and left the room, returning shortly after with a brown-haired man with sharp features.
The Queen looked him up and down, and had to admit the supposed hunter did not look half bad.
Also, he had a good physique and seemed roughed up like he had endured much before.
A perfect hunter.
The butler bowed and scurried out of the room, happy he left with his head intact.
"So, you are the hunter?" Sohee's smile dripped with acid, once the doors clicked close and the last of the people in the room had left.
The brown haired man nodded, looking down.
"What's your name?"
".. Lee Dong Hae."
Sohee nodded, unfazed by his reluctant attitude, "I see. Well, I have an animal that I see of as a nuisance, and I need you to get rid of it."
He nodded, not knowing how else to respond to the Queen.
"Good. Follow me," the Queen beckoned, as she stood up and walked towards a smaller room at the end of another corridor.
Donghae followed obediently. He had no idea why he was brought here till now. He was relieved that it wasn't to behead him or anything, but something uneasy poked at him by the way the Queen spoke and his instinct told him there was something out of place.
But then again, he never had a position to question anything.
He entered the smaller room uneasily, closing the door behind him, the sight of the Queen on a chair behind a desk greeted him.
"So, let's get down to business. Like I previously mentioned, I have a wild animal I want to get rid of. And you will be handsomely rewarded if you can finish the job off well."
____
"No!" Was the first thing Donghae could say, after listening to the queen's instructions.
He had heard of the queen's deviousness from afar, but he never knew it reached this extent.
"No! I won't do it, no matter how much you pay me!" Donghae screeched, backing away.
The Queen only smiled, but her eyes were dark.
Ah, she couldn't say she didn't expect this, but she did expect a better response from a hunter with such a promising impression.
She would have rather dealt with a willing puppet, but now she had to take a different, more strict approach.
"Well, who said you had a choice?"
Donghae was silenced instantly, his adamance stripping away.
She was the Queen, he was a peasant, he never had a choice to begin with.
He should be thankful he still had his life after denying the Queen's orders outright like that.
Sohee's smile only widened, like she just read Donghae's mind.
They both knew what positions they were in and what they must do.
But.. Donghae couldn't comprehend this.
Just how could the Queen refer to her own daughter as an animal and want her killed just like that?
"B-but.." Donghae was at a lost for words. "She's your daughter.." He looked down. "I don't- I can't.." He shook his head.
He tried to fight her request, but it was already a losing battle.
He knew his hands were going to get bloodied soon enough, but he was going to try.
"I- I kill animals. Not humans," he feebly argued.
An empty, twisted laugh erupted from the Queen's mouth.
"Exactly!" She clapped. "You have killed hundreds of innocent animals for your own daily meals, yet you cannot kill this one, dirty animal for me?"
"She's a human! Not an animal!" Donghae gritted his teeth.
The Queen's laughter ceased as she clasped her hands together. It was silent for a moment before she spoke again, her expression unreadable.
Donghae gulped involuntarily.
"Oh, but she is. You just can't see how she is a threat,"
"N-"
"Enough of these useless banter. You don't have a choice," the Queen clucked her tongue, her eyes narrowing - indicating she had reached her patience limit.
Besides, Donghae didn't know what else to say. The Queen disregarded the princess's humanity and as her daughter, what else would she reason to?
There was nothing left to argue, if this was ever considered an argument.
"I want her heart, delivered in a wooden box to me after you completed your job, and I want it placed in this top drawer here," she ordered, staring down at him as she crossed her legs.
Her voice was monotonous, but her eyes were penetrating and deadly.
It said, do or die.
Donghae just stared at the floor.
"And if you get any ideas to run away from your current responsibility, your family and village will pay for everything," the Queen tilted her head and smiled at him challengingly, correcting his reluctant attitude immediately.
Donghae's eyes widened.
"N-no!" He hastily answered. "Don't drag them into this mess.. I-I'll get it done.."
The Queen's smile broadened. "I'm about to call the Princess to go pick some apples for me in the forest, and you'll get her then."
Donghae could only weakly nod.
How else was he supposed to respond? It was the princess over his family an village. A stranger over his kin - the choice was clear.
As he opened the door, he met eyes with the Princess who was patiently waiting outside to meet her mother.
She shot him a small smile before entering the room.
I'm sorry, Princess.
____
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