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Once upon a time, there was a prosperous kingdom. It was the richest in the land, so it naturally attracted a fair amount of ambitious nobles.
The most ambitious was the head of the Mikage family, the young Reo. Surrounded by conspirators and rivals on all sides and alone standing next in line to the throne, he asked his household’s magic mirror:
“Mirror mirror on the wall, who will take the kingdom’s throne?”
“That didn’t rhyme.” The mirror briefly lighted up and then went silent again.
“You’re so annoying…! Just tell me!”
“Aren’t you so smart, Reo Mikage? Give me a rhyme that satisfies my expeditions.”
“It’s expectations, dumbass mirror!”
I bet he wasn’t this annoying when it was my father asking him!
Some time passed until the esteemed mirror gave a proper response.
The image the mirror showed was of a young boy, probably around his age, with hair and skin as white as snow and eyes as black as a dead fish’s. Reo was momentarily frozen in place, for the boy who was fated to take his throne had taken also his heart in a moment.
Reo hired an artist and sent portraits of the boy, whom he called Snow White in his daydreams, to his informants. Not much later, news arrived from his most trusted servant that Snow White had been found.
Though Reo could have easily sent for an assassin, a pull unknown to him led him to want to reach for the boy himself. Yes, he couldn’t resist the want to see meet him.
He knew of his many enemies, so he donned a black cape and summoned his servant.
So spoke the old witch: “This apple has magic that will put whoever eats it into a deep sleep, but I can’t guarantee they’ll be able to wake up. Lord Reo…”
“I’ll be fine. Thank you for preparing this, Baaya.”
Reo took other fruits to disguise the apple with. Basket in hand, he headed towards Snow White’s living place. The boy that would take his throne lived close.
Reo knocked on Snow White’s door, knowing he’d not be recognised. The house was fairly big for a plebeian, but the kingdom was rich enough to have plebeians who lived in comfort.
Snow White was the one to answer the door. Reo’s heart jumped. He was so curious about this languid boy who was supposed to possess the strength to crown himself king. He realised he had been staring when the boy in front of him shifted.
“I am a door-to-door fruit seller. Care to buy some? This fruit is the best in the whole kingdom!”
The boy turned his head to the sides and attempted to close the door.
“Wait, wait!” The prince shoved his foot between the door. Snow White seemed to be alerted now. “A-actually… You are my 1000th client!” Reo recovered swiftly. “You get some free fruit as prize. Congratulations!!!”
Reo mentally slapped himself, but he had no better idea. He wasn’t used to being the one dismissed. If Snow White hadn’t been put off before, he was now. The prince took advantage of the boy’s hesitation and he pushed the door wide open, waltzing into the place. “Excuse me!”
“Eh.” Snow White was taken aback.
Reo looked around the house, everything new to him. The plain decoration and modest furniture was not of his taste, but it seemed… cozy, almost.
“Are your parents merchants?” He asked Snow White.
“...Yeah.”
“Wow!” A real stereotypical plebeian home.
Snow White was side-eying the intruder, absolutely astonished. What was there to be amazed about?, he thought. Everyone around was a merchant. The guy himself had said he was an errand merchant. Whoaah… A weirdo got inside the house, Snow White concluded.
“And what are you doing here by yourself?” Reo should have left it there and forced the apple on him, but he seemed unable to let the boy be. “Are you following your parent’s business?”
“Not really. They let me do what I want.”
“You’re so lucky…” Reo got himself comfortable in a chair at the table. Rulers were not any freer than subjects. “What are you going to do?”
The boy stared at Reo occupying the chair.
“You’re so rude…”
“I’m pushy, too. So? Do you have a career path yet? Have you considered an apprenticeship? Smithing, maybe? Business is really booming right now.”
“Dunno.” Snow White shrugged.
“Man, it’s so unfair we have to work while all those nobles spend their time scratching their asses and doing whatever they want,” Reo prodded in the most obvious way.
“Yeah, I'm kinda envious.”
Reo nodded. “We should just kill the king and take his place or something.”
“Wha-” Snow White’s eyes widened.
“A joke, it was just a joke.” Reo swatted his hand around. What Reo got out of this meeting was simple. Snow White was a person of few ambitions. Even if he had had them, he seemed like he’d run out of energy halfway through a revolution and return home. He was as threatening as a puppy and as soft as well. He had checked.
Still, magic didn’t lie. Fate didn’t lie. It hadn’t lied about his parents’ death, either. Now more than ever, he felt that knowledge oppress his heart. He wanted to fight destiny, no matter what. His hand reached inside the basket.
“Here.” He left the enchanted apple on top of the table and stood up. “I’ve taken enough of your time.”
“Wow, stingy. Wasn’t I your 1000th client?”
“Don’t expect so much from free samples, unemployed baby.”
Reo travelled back home, relieved no commotion had taken place in his absence. Snow White wouldn’t leave his mind all the way back. With the excuse of making sure his magic had taken effect, he spent the next few days observing Snow White in the magic mirror.
At some point, he thought Snow White had bitten the apple out of his sight, but no. Five hour naps were just something he did. Never had he seen someone more idle. Though observing Snow White was strangely fascinating, he quickly felt frustrated. Did the spell fail? Did Nagi have resistance to magic?
He repeated the same strategy as before, and soon he was at Snow White’s door for the second time.
The boy recognised Reo and pointed at him. “Ah, it’s you. The weird person.”
“Don’t say it like you’re such a pillar of normalcy…” He put the fruit basket forward. “Care to buy some?”
“No, thanks.”
Reo strolled inside the house.
“After my apple, surely you’d like some.” He turned his head around and saw the untouched apple in the same place he had left it. “You didn’t eat it!”
So loud, Nagi thought.
“Why didn’t you eat it!?”
“Peeling apples is a pain…”
“Then eat it as is!”
“I don’t like them unless they’re peeled.”
“Just peel it.”
“That’s a pain, though…”
Gods, he had dealt with nobles less lazy than this guy. He sighed and extended his hand. “Give me a knife.”
Snow White must have concluded that he wasn’t dangerous, and just a weirdo, because he directed Reo to the kitchen to let the prince grab whatever he wished. Reo worked fast and delivered a plate of readily sliced apples to Nagi.
“Ah…”
“Cute, right? Baaya cut them for me this way.” Baaya being his trusted servant, as well as magic teacher.
Nagi looked at the apples that had been cut to resemble bunnies and pouted. “There’s still skin on them.”
“It’s good for you. The peels carry nutrients. Eat it.”
Reo was aware his actions were contradictory. Here he was, caring about the health of a boy he was pretty much feeding poison to. However, it was too late to make sense of the turmoil in his heart. Nagi had given in to the stranger’s warmth and had taken a bite of the enchanted apple.
The effect was instantaneous. Snow White didn’t have time to support himself before sliding from the chair towards the floor. The whole scene seemed to occur in slow motion in front of Reo’s eyes. Stupidly, he thought: I didn't ask him for his name.
For the next three years, he experienced what he now knew to be the pain of longing, love and self-hatred for the first time. By the time he took upon the throne, his negative feelings were so strong they had nearly consumed his heart.
He had tried to wake up Snow White. He had tried everything to break the spell on the man that now slept inside the castle grounds. Still, just as the magic had been simple, it was effective. Nothing had worked to reverse the spell, and Snow White kept sleeping peacefully. As Baaya warned him, putting a curse on someone was not as easy as removing it.
The king’s fixation hadn’t gone unnoticed. Rumours started as soon as he entered the castle with Snow White’s unmoving body. Things took a turn for the worse when Snow White’s parents found out. They naturally requested their son’s body back, convinced he was dead. Through them, he found out Snow White’s name was Nagi Seishiro.
Reo knew he had more chances than them of undoing the spell, so he refused. The public opinion didn’t take his refusal to grieving parents well. “Evil Queen” was the lightest nickname he got nowadays.
Sometimes, he took Nagi’s body with him to visit magicians and witches. The king carrying a body around in what seemed to be a coffin was quite the scene to his subjects. Despite the damage to his reputation, every time he returned with empty hands and growing turmoil.
Being widely regarded as an insane widow, support for his kinghood hadn’t been the best, regardless of his efficient management and plenty of achievements. Not that Reo didn’t understand them. He was not a madman, and instead aware of what he had done. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be feeling such despair.
“This is what you wanted.” He told himself while looking at his reflection in the magic mirror. Not the throne, but to defy fate and be victorious. To know he was his own person. Was that really, as he thought, a prerequisite to happiness? He didn’t know anymore, and the mirror could give him no answer.
The one to end his suffering, and the protagonist of his own fairytale, was one named Isagi Yoichi. Isagi had received his own prophecy from a fairy. The young hero had been promised fame and riches if he woke up some dude trapped by the neighbouring Evil Queen. The one way to wake him up, to give him a true love kiss.
How he would manage to give a love kiss to a random, Isagi didn’t know. But Isagi had his own set of ambitions, so he set off on a journey.
Much could be told about Isagi’s travels and his many trials and tribulations. However, this is not his story. What concerns us is that he safely arrived at his destination.
Now, he could have unsheathed his sword and fought his way towards the Evil Queen, but he had a strategic mind. All Isagi needed to do was to wake up the guy and run away with him. Worst-case scenario, he took the body and figured out what to do from there.
Learning information about the location of Snow White’s chambers was not that hard. Everyone around seemed to have something to say about the Evil Queen.
He chose to sneak in that same night. The guards were no match for him, but he better not cause a ruckus. He dodged the watch at the entrance and found himself inside the castle. He had to be quick.
He cursed in his mind as he opened the doors to Snow White’s bedchambers. He should have known. There were no soldiers at this door because the Evil Queen himself was at Snow White’s sleeping place. He was kneeling by the side of the sleeping boy’s rest place.
The king was on his feet before Isagi could breathe twice. He looked pissed, and from the bags under his eyes, not asleep not only today, but for a long time. Both unsheathed the instant they crossed eyes. Their blades clashed. Isagi saw shock in Reo’s eyes when the king was pushed back.
“Don’t underestimate me!” Isagi regretted saying it right after, when the king flipped his cape and disappeared into thin air. An invisibility spell? Or maybe camouflage. Isagi closed his eyes and let his hearing sharpen. He was someone whose senses had even been a bother in the past. He could feel the vibrations in the air when the king dealt his strike, the sound of his steps on the floor, and pinpoint his position. He dodged and crossed blades with the king in every one of his attacks.
What is this monster?, Reo thought.
Isagi knew he could slip at any moment. After parrying a swing, he pushed back with all the strength in his body and pierced forward as fast as he could. His gamble paid off. He felt his sword pierce flesh. The king had to drop the spell. Isagi could now see that he had pierced the king’s leg. Reo staggered and fell to his knees.
Dealing the finishing blow would have been easy, but Isagi wasn’t the type to slay villains. That wasn’t what he was here for, either.
He approached Snow White. He had been placed in a bed made of glass and was surrounded by fresh flowers. His pale face and place of rest made him look like a corpse. Now, it was time for Isagi’s conundrum. Isagi preferred people who had nice smiles and who looked, preferably, alive as well. He had no idea how he would give this guy a love kiss, but the fairy seemed convinced it would all work out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement and dodged.
“You bastard!” The king had lunged at him. “Let him go!”
“I will! After I wake him up and free him from you!”
Reo stopped in his tracks. “You can wake him up?”
“That’s what I’m here for!”
“And why didn’t you say so!?”
“I’m sorry for thinking the guy who cursed a young guy and then locked his body up in a castle was evil, your Majesty!”
The king actually blushed in shame and touched his wound.
Isagi was in deep thought. Clearly, he couldn’t give the guy a true love kiss. So how would he fulfill the prophecy? Isagi glanced at the king, who even while bleeding from his wound, had positioned himself between Snow White and Isagi. The last puzzle piece fell into place.
Isagi pointed at Reo. “First, get that treated. I can’t have you bleeding to death before.”
As he said those words, troops stormed into the room, weapons drawn.
“About fucking time.” Reo said.
Isagi unsheathed. If he knew how many equally shady people Reo had met to try and wake up Snow White, he’d know that wasn’t necessary. Reo walked to them, slapping a soldier’s weapon aside and giving orders.
“Someone bring a doctor. And get some food ready. We have a guest tonight.”
After the king had been patched up, not at risk of dying from Isagi’s blind thrust, they sat down at Reo’s dining table to talk. He didn’t understand why he felt like it, but he told Isagi the whole story. When he was finished, a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
“So you’ve been regretting it all this time.” Isagi said.
“That’s right. That’s why I wanted to do everything I could to save Nagi.” Reo clenched his hands on his lap.
“Look, that’s not the only thing you want, is it? You want to stay with him, right?”
Reo got stunned into silence for a moment, then nodded without meeting Isagi’s eyes.
“Okay, let’s go then.” Isagi stood up and left the room.
“Wait! What?” Reo stumbled to follow after him.
They were back in Snow White’s room. The boy slept, unaware of the surrounding turmoil.
“Now that you’ve sorted out your feelings.” He pointed at the sleeping figure. “Kiss him.”
Reo was stunned into silence.
“Kiss him.” Isagi repeated. “That’s the way to undo the spell.”
“You’re joking.”
Isagi shrugged. “Magic makes no sense sometimes. You should know.”
Reo hesitated.
“And don’t tell me to do it myself, or how you don’t deserve it to touch him.” Isagi seemed to have read Reo’s thoughts word for word. “It has to be you.”
“After your speech, no way in hell I’m handing him over.”
Isagi smiled.
Reo took a deep breath and approached Snow White. Leaning over him, he placed their lips together.
The effect was instantaneous. Snow White blinked his sleepy eyes. Reo jumped on top of him, crying his eyes out.
“Hnn… Ah?”
Are these two going to be okay…? That was Isagi’s thought when he saw Nagi’s confused look, fussing without knowing where to put his hands on the crying boy in his arms. Then he watched as Nagi chose to give Reo a tight squeeze, and he knew that they’d be just fine.
The fairytale had a happy ending, like all do. Isagi received great rewards for helping the king’s beloved. Said guy, after giving Reo the silent treatment for a whole two days and one night, somehow forgave the king right after.
The matter of the kingdom being in disarray was still not solved, but Reo made up a sob story about Nagi being saved by a great hero and usurping the throne with Isagi’s help. The kingdom being as prosperous as before, and since the story sounded like it’d make for such a good ballad, everyone ate it up and didn’t put up much of a fight after Nagi’s crowning.
Nagi was also a forgiving soul in this tale, so Reo was sentenced to stay at the castle in service of the kingdom. They both lived happily ever after, and no other king in history must have been happier to sit on a throne while knowing he was a puppet monarch.
The End