People said that the Queen of White Kingdom, Snow White's stepmother, was exceptionally beautiful but extremely arrogant and possessive of a strong jealousy. She couldn't tolerate anyone being more beautiful than her.
What outsiders didn't know was that behind this terrible jealousy lay a great secret: the Queen was also a terrifying Witch, wielding wicked dark magic. She used magic to charm the King of White Kingdom, making him infatuated with her beauty and completely obedient to her. No matter how outrageous the Queen's demands were, the King would always comply!
However, the Queen's biggest fear was that one day, the King would see someone more beautiful than her, think she was no longer the most beautiful, and thus no longer be enchanted by her. That would be truly dreadful!
As a Witch, the Queen possessed a magical magic mirror. She often stood before it, admiring herself and asking the magic mirror:
"magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful person in this world?"
Gazing at the face that appeared in the magic mirror, the Queen fell into deep thought.
She rephrased her question:
"Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?"
The magic mirror again answered with someone the Queen didn't recognize.
This time it was a female. It was a Princess from some kingdom the Queen didn't know, someone she had never even heard of.
The Queen fell into even deeper thought.
She reflected on her question:
"Alright, this world is too vast, and this continent is too expansive."
"'Handsome Princes' and 'Beautiful Princesses' are everywhere, too many to count. There are certainly many Princesses I don't know who are more beautiful than me!"
"Perhaps I should lower my expectations?"
The Queen modified her question again:
"magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful woman on the Western Continent?"
"Still don't recognize her. Let me change it again."
"magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in White Kingdom and its surrounding areas?"
"Uh... let me change it again."
"magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in White Kingdom?"
This time, the magic mirror finally gave a suitable answer:
"Of course, it's you, my Queen!"
The Queen laughed heartily, quite satisfied:
"I knew it, I'm definitely the prettiest. Look at my sparkling eyes and rosy lips, who could compare to me!"
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, trying not to appear too smug.
For many years after, the Queen asked the same question every day. And the magic mirror's answer never changed.
Every time she heard the magic mirror's compliments, the Queen would smile contentedly.
Later, an organization called the Witch Society found the Queen and invited her to join. Almost everyone in it was an incredibly powerful Witch.
The Queen wasn't interested in magic discussions, nor did she possess exceptional magical talent like most Witches in the organization. But she needed elixirs to maintain her youthful appearance, so she agreed to join.
However, the Queen rarely participated in the Witches' daily discussions, only occasionally using the opportunity of the magic mirror answering questions to exchange for a bottle of youth elixir.
Days passed one by one.
The Queen noticed that Snow White was becoming more beautiful day by day!
As Snow White gradually grew up, she became even more enchanting. Her skin was truly as fair as snow, yet with the rosy flush of blood, and her hair was as black and shiny as ebony.
"What if one day, my daughter is more beautiful than me?"
With this tension and worry, the Queen still asked the magic mirror once a day, and only after hearing the magic mirror say, "The most beautiful woman in White Kingdom is of course you, my Queen," would she relax.
But even so, when she woke up the next day, the Queen would worry again, anxiously asking the magic mirror, afraid that today the magic mirror would suddenly tell her:
"Queen, you are indeed beautiful, but your daughter Snow White is 1000 times more beautiful than you!"
Finally, one day, the Queen's fear came true!
As usual, she asked the magic mirror again.
"Who is the most beautiful woman in White Kingdom!"
However, this time the magic mirror hesitated for a long time, becoming hesitant.
"Tell me quickly, magic mirror!" the Queen urged.
The magic mirror trembled and said:
"My esteemed Queen, please promise first that after I tell the truth, you will not shatter me, throw me from the upstairs, or do any other extreme things."
"I agree to your request!"
The Queen immediately promised, eager to hear the answer.
"It's over, is this day finally coming? If my daughter is truly more beautiful than me, what should I do?"
Countless thoughts converged in the Queen's mind, settling into an evil idea.
The magic mirror let out a long breath and solemnly gave its answer:
"Queen, you are indeed enchanting. But there is a beautiful little Princess who is a thousand times more beautiful than you!"
The Queen held her breath.
Indeed, it was so!
"In White Kingdom, the most beautiful woman is undoubtedly Aurora!" the magic mirror finally gave the answer.
"I knew it!"
The Queen roared and stormed out of the room in anger.
"I'm sorry, my daughter Snow White. I cannot tolerate you being more beautiful than me, I must kill you silently!"
Just two steps outside the door, the Queen noticed something was wrong.
"Wait, did I misunderstand something?"
The Queen ran back into the room and asked the magic mirror:
"You said the most beautiful person in the kingdom is called... what?"
"Aurora."
As the magic mirror answered, it showed a dynamic image—
It was Aurora, riding a white horse with Rhein, passing through a verdant forest.
This little girl had golden hair and blue eyes, enchanting and seemingly possessing an extraordinary, captivating aura.
The Queen was silent.
"No. Who are you?"
"I don't even know you!"
At this moment, the Queen's hanging heart relaxed a little:
"Thank goodness, I thought the most beautiful in the kingdom would be my daughter Snow White! If people found out I killed my daughter, it would be a bit difficult to handle. Now, it's a stranger who surpasses me in beauty, which is still good."
The Queen looked at the two children riding white horses through the forest in the magic mirror's vision and roughly judged:
"Judging from their direction of travel, it won't be long before the two children arrive near the palace."
"If the King sees that Aurora and discovers someone in White Kingdom is more beautiful than me, that would be terrible. My charming magic might lose its effect!"
"No, I must eliminate this girl named Aurora!"
The Queen hardened her heart and secretly summoned a burly Hunter.
She had long prepared for the day Snow White's beauty surpassed her own, and this Hunter was the assassin she had prepared in advance!
"I order you, go and eliminate Aurora! After it's done, I will give you a large amount of gold and silver as a reward," the Queen commanded.
"No problem, King, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"
The Hunter stood upright, nodding vigorously.
The Hunter had long heard that the Queen was jealous of Snow White's beauty and might hire someone to kill her daughter at any time, which was why she had been secretly contacting him.
The purpose was that one day, he could be used as a hitman to secretly assassinate Snow White!
So, from when the Queen first secretly contacted him a few years ago, the Hunter had mentally prepared himself for 'a big job' today.
He desperately needed a large sum of money now to take care of his elderly adoptive father and young daughter! Once he killed Snow White, he would be able to...
"Wait!"
"Who did you say?"
The Hunter suddenly showed a puzzled expression:
"Who is Aurora?"
"Cough cough..." Only then did the Queen remember that the plan had changed, and the assassination target had become someone the Hunter didn't know at all.
The Queen quickly ran back into the room, used magic to quickly replicate Aurora's portrait, and marked Aurora's location on a map.
"The target you are to assassinate is named Aurora, and she is right here! Her portrait is under this stack of papers."
"You must dig out the target's heart and bring it to me, then the mission will be complete. I will give you a generous reward."
After hearing his mission, the Hunter felt something was off.
"Wait, wait, so the Queen doesn't want to kill her daughter Snow White?" he couldn't help but think.
Over the past few years, he had completely misunderstood the Queen's intentions!
"That's right, even if she's not her biological daughter, she's still her daughter. Even if the Queen of White Kingdom is extremely jealous, how could she be so malicious as to want to kill her own daughter?" the Hunter mused.
Thinking of this, the Hunter suddenly felt that he had wronged the Queen!
This Queen, whom people said had an extreme personality, wasn't so bad after all...
The Hunter accepted the mission, picked up his sharp knife, and left the palace, walking into the forest.
As he walked, the Hunter pulled out the target's portrait and examined it.
After seeing the little girl in the portrait, the Hunter fell into confusion.
"This target named Aurora looks like just a little girl, why would the Queen want to kill her?"
"I really don't understand. As a tyrannical Queen, if she just wanted to kill some commoner she disliked, wouldn't it be simpler to just send a Soldier to do it? Why secretly contact me years in advance?"
"It's not like killing her own daughter, something the King must not know about, so why be so secretive?"
The Hunter didn't bother to think too much and just walked into the forest.
—Anyway, he just wanted a sum of money to take care of his elderly carpenter adoptive father and young daughter; the specific reasons didn't matter at all!
After seeing the Hunter disappear into the forest from afar, the Queen suddenly felt uneasy again.
"I heard that the Hunter also has a little daughter, about the same age as the girl I want to kill, named Aurora."
"When it comes time to actually do it, will that Hunter look at the beautiful girl's pathetic appearance, remember his own daughter, feel pity, and show mercy?"
She decided to wait a while and then use the magic mirror to confirm whether the Hunter had succeeded in the assassination or shown mercy.
...
In the forest.
Rhine and Aurora stopped to rest, letting their horses drink by the river.
Just then, the two saw a tall, strong Hunter, carrying a sharp knife, walking towards them!