"Mom, what are you doing?"
The Queen, who was in the middle of poisoning an apple, was startled by her daughter.
Behind her stood Snow White, looking bewildered. The child was only seven years old, truly at an age of innocence.
Looking at her daughter's Snow White skin and raven-black hair, the Queen couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
"Thankfully, the person more beautiful than me isn't you. Otherwise, you'd surely be dead by now."
"Nothing, my dear daughter. Go play somewhere else." The Queen sent her daughter away.
Although she couldn't compare to the others in the Witch Society, the Queen was still a Witch skilled in dark magic. Soon, after expending some precious materials and accumulated poisons, three wicked tools were crafted!
They were, respectively, a beautiful ribbon imbued with dark magic that would tighten around the neck and suffocate, a highly poisonous comb, and a basket of poisoned apples.
The Queen even played a trick, poisoning only one side of each apple, while leaving the other side unpoisoned.
This way, if Aurora suspected the apples were problematic, she could deliberately eat the unpoisoned half herself, tricking the other person into eating the other half.
This terrifying potent poison could even make an elephant faint!
"Hahahaha, that basket of apples, the part facing outwards is poisoned, and the part facing inwards is not. Remember that. Don't get it wrong."
The Queen left to use the restroom, reminding herself constantly as she walked.
"Mom, these apples are so plump!"
The Queen, who had just returned to the room, saw young Snow White curiously looking at the apples in the basket, poking them one by one with her finger.
"Ah ah ah ah wait, don't touch those apples!"
The Queen was greatly startled and quickly grabbed Snow White's hand.
"I just went to the restroom and didn't lock the door, Snow White, why did you run into my room again? You didn't eat those apples, did you?" The Queen asked in a panic.
"No," Snow White said obediently.
"Phew." The Queen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling unburdened.
Good, good, thankfully Snow White didn't eat the poisoned apple.
"Wait, why am I so worried about Snow White? I'm not her biological mother!" The Queen suddenly realized.
"Hmph. I'm not worried about her."
"I'm just worried that if my daughter ate the apples in my room and died suddenly, things would become unclear. The King might suspect me and wake up from my enchantment!"
The Queen's thoughts raced.
She had to admit that after discovering the person whose beauty surpassed her own was not her daughter, Snow White, her years of hostility, vigilance, and jealousy towards Snow White had long vanished.
Their current relationship was not much different from that of a normal stepmother and daughter.
"Speaking of which, after I kill this Aurora, will I one day discover that Snow White's beauty has also surpassed mine?" After sending Snow White away, the Queen couldn't help but wonder.
At that time, she would have no choice but to lay a deadly hand on her daughter.
And what then? The Queen let her mind wander.
She was destined not to be the kingdom's most beautiful woman forever.
Even if she killed all the beautiful women in the entire kingdom, one day she would grow old and her beautiful face would be etched with wrinkles by time.
At that time, the magic that enchanted the King would surely be broken.
On that day, she would have to face the King, no longer enchanted by her and now clear-headed, face the kingdom, ruined by years of neglected state affairs and angry commoners, and face the Witch Society, who would dismiss her because she could no longer control a kingdom.
—Would those evil yet incredibly powerful Witches kill her because she knew too many of their secrets?
"Forget it, forget it, don't think about such long-term problems! First, kill Aurora. That's the urgent matter at hand!"
The Queen shook her head, cleared her mind, and resolutely left the palace.
She used her practiced disguise magic to transform herself into an old woman, mounted a flying broomstick, flew over hills, rivers, and forests, and headed towards the Seven Dwarfs' dwelling.
...
Not long after the Queen left, the palace welcomed a strange guest—an old woman dressed as a Witch, wearing a pair of silver shoes.
"Snow White, do you know where your mother is?"
This strange Witch bent down and asked the bewildered Snow White. She was quite old, her face full of wrinkles, but her gaze was sharp, making her look quite frightening.
Snow White was very surprised.
Because this auntie had suddenly appeared before her, suddenly appeared in the palace! How could she run into the palace as if no one else was there, without being stopped?
Snow White shook her head: "I don't know. My mother left early this morning and didn't say where she was going."
"How annoying." The old Witch frowned and glared at Snow White again, "If your mother returns, tell her the Slave Master came looking for her."
This Witch from the Witch Society left after speaking.
She then went to the Queen's room and saw the magnificent full-length mirror, which was the Queen's magic mirror.
"magic mirror, oh magic mirror, tell me, recently between the Sia Kingdom, En De, and the merfolk in the sea..."
"Please wait a moment," the magic mirror said, "I am a loyal magic mirror. My only, eternal, great master is only Her Majesty the noble Queen of White Kingdom! I will not answer anyone else's questions."
"Damn magic mirror." This Witch from the Witch Society was very displeased.
She secretly cursed in her heart:
"Hmph, your so-called great master is nothing but a clumsy Witch with poor magic. If it weren't for a magic mirror that answers every question, how could she stay in the Witch Society!"
"If this damned magic mirror only recognized one master, I would have killed that Queen and stolen the magic mirror long ago!"
The magic mirror added:
"Moreover, it's useless for you to ask me. I can only give answers when my dear master asks me questions. Others cannot use me. If the Queen doesn't ask me questions, I am just an ordinary mirror and cannot actively perceive anything."
This Witch from the Witch Society, the Slave Master, forcibly suppressed her anger and asked the magic mirror again:
"I am a friend of your master. Can you tell me where your great, dear master has gone? Surely you know this, right? She must have told you!"
"Before leaving, the master said her whereabouts must be kept secret," the magic mirror said righteously.
The Witch was furious, almost wanting to smash the mirror, but remembering that she would still need this magic mirror later, she could only swallow her anger.
"Fine, I'll just wait here for the Queen to return. Only she can use this magic mirror."
...
At the Dwarfs' house.
Aurora clapped her hands, and the broom automatically swept the floor, the rag automatically wiped dust from the table, and even the dirty dishes cleaned themselves.
"Wow, what amazing magic!" x7
The Seven Dwarfs exclaimed in unison.
As soon as they finished speaking, the seven of them complained to each other:
"Why are you copying what I say?" x7
Seeing the Dwarfs' surprised expressions, Aurora smiled contentedly, looking incredibly proud.
The magic Aurora had just performed was something she had learned from the 12 good Witches of Rose Kingdom.
Although Aurora's talent wasn't in magic, she could still perform a few small tricks. While not useful for combat, using magic to light a lamp or handle some housework was no problem.
Unfortunately, during her previous journey, with Rhine, a powerful Magician, always accompanying her, she never had the chance to show off the little magic she knew. Now, finally having an opportunity to demonstrate it, Aurora felt quite satisfied.
"Thank you for helping us clean our home. You truly are a powerful and kind child! Goodbye, we're going up the mountain to mine."
The Seven Dwarfs bid farewell to Rhine and Aurora and went up the mountain to mine.
Before they left, they reminded them:
"Oh, right, be careful of the Queen. Although I don't know why you angered her, everyone says the Queen of White Kingdom is a strange, irritable, and obsessive person. Since she sent a Hunter to attack you, she certainly won't let you off easily after one failure."
Rhine nodded slightly, watching the Dwarfs disappear into the mountain forest.
He already had a guess as to why Aurora was targeted by the Queen.
Rhine took out his crystal ball and quietly asked:
"Did the Queen send a Hunter to attack Aurora because Aurora is more beautiful?"
A brilliant blue light erupted, giving an affirmative answer.
"So that's how it is."
Rhine shrugged.
Fate was truly miraculous. It seemed that because he and Aurora had come to White Kingdom, Aurora had, by some strange coincidence, taken Snow White's script.
And the Queen apparently didn't know that they were merely passing through White Kingdom, not residing there long-term. After all, cross-country travelers like them were too rare on this continent.
"Should we just leave White Kingdom like this? But if we do, the most beautiful person will become Snow White."
"With the failed experience of assassinating Aurora, the Queen will surely be more careful, and Snow White probably won't be able to escape her stepmother's poisonous grasp by luck, unlike in the original story!"
"And Hunter Angus didn't complete the Queen's task, so the Queen probably won't spare him. And before leaving White Kingdom, I still plan to meet his carpenter foster father..."
As someone who liked to meddle, it was fine if he hadn't participated before. But now that he had already been attacked once by the Queen's people, Rhine had no intention of just leaving; he had to resolve this matter!
"Perfect, I also want to see that magic mirror and ask it a question or two."
"Is there any way to bring a brand new, beautiful ending to this story?"
The silver-haired Little Magician looked out at the azure sky, pondered for a moment, and a slight smile played on his lips as he came up with an interesting idea.
Just then, an old woman—of course, it was the Queen in disguise—arrived at the Dwarfs' wooden house.
"Sundries for sale, sundries for sale," called the old woman, who was the Queen in disguise.
Just by seeing the old woman, Rhine guessed she was the Queen in disguise.
"You've come again, as expected, truly relentless..." Rhine said with a hint of exasperation.
No. In this wilderness, you're dressed as a peddler? Does anyone actually believe that?
"How can there be someone selling things in this mountain forest? Old woman, what are you selling?" Aurora asked, leaning out the window.
The old woman, disguised as the Queen, called out again:
"I'm selling many beautiful things. Like ribbons of various colors, and pretty combs, and big, plump apples."
Without waiting for Aurora to respond, the Queen handed over a beautiful ribbon and a comb:
"Quick, try them. Put on this ribbon. Comb your hair with this pretty comb."
A young girl of this age should be interested in her pretty trinkets, she'll surely want to try them! The Queen mused to herself.
She could almost see the innocent, golden-haired girl curiously taking her items, putting the ribbon around her neck and suffocating, or dying tragically from poisoning after combing her hair.
"Old woman, I'm sorry, I don't want to buy, nor am I interested."
Aurora said coldly, and with a snap, closed the window.