A poor girl, whose happy life had been shattered simply because of her stepmother's jealousy, was crying in the embrace of the woman who had taken her mother's place. She clung to her tightly, her face streaming with tears; her beautiful features faded as she wept like a small child.
Yet that was exactly what the girl named Snow White wanted, for she had never sought beauty—all she hoped for was happiness in her life alongside her friends. Romeo, who witnessed the scene, was also moved and let the two of them savour that moment.
Once everything had settled down, Mother placed her hands on Snow's shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm sorry for giving you such difficult tasks at times, but the fact that you're still alive today shows just how strong your resolve is." Every word she heard warmed Snow's heart.
Mother had indeed given Snow a great deal, but because she was so shy, it was hard for her to understand and know what was in her heart. "If I'd known your story from the start, I would have—"
"—You would have pitied me, wouldn't you?" Her blood-red lips curled into a smile; there was no intention to belittle anyone in her words, only a fact that was hard to deny. "Thank you… and you're right."
"M-Maybe I shouldn't just fight back when I'm backed into a corner," she muttered, though her hands were clenched tightly upon the cold floor. "I always want to be brave, but when I'm up against… Mum—I mean Miralda—it makes my legs go numb."
Romeo immediately got out of bed and walked over, tapping his clenched fist gently against his chest. "But you managed to save yourself just now, didn't you?" Snow kept her head down even after hearing that; she still thought that the courage had come only because they'd been backed into a corner.
"I understand how you feel," Romeo began, his eyes ablaze with determination. "You're afraid of losing your friends again, aren't you?" Snow's body stiffened instantly—confirming Romeo's suspicion.
"But now your friends are Fables! People who can protect themselves with tremendous power!" Romeo declared, causing Snow to lift her head in surprise, "And with Mother's skilful assistance—we'll be unbeatable!"
Her blue eyes now sparkled with hope, her palms clasped tightly together. "So, you don't need to worry!" Tears welled up in Snow's eyes again, but she held them back—a smile returned to her face and she nodded enthusiastically.
Mother, seeing this, smiled happily that one of her children had regained the courage to be brave—Everafter had taken away her seven dwarf friends, but because of that, she would gain more than seven human friends in the future.
Half an hour later, Romeo and Snow were near the photo shoot of a model they knew—with the sun about to set, it was a moment not to be missed. Their presence here was another of Mother's schemes, and the shy girl now had the courage to stand up to her.
"Mirabelle is really lovely, isn't she?" Snow murmured, gazing at the woman being photographed in various poses—both their faces flushed just from looking at her. "I-Is her charm effect always active…?"
"P-Probably," Romeo mumbled, covering his mouth so he wouldn't look creepy. Before long, one of the crew members, realising they were standing there, shouted at them.
"Hey! Don't stand there! You might disturb Mirabelle's concentration, you know!"
"Just leave them be," the woman insisted, not altering her pose in the slightest as she spoke. "They're just curious souls, awestruck by my beauty. You were probably just like that when you were little, weren't you?"
"But—"
"Just get on with your work."
Romeo and Snow breathed a deep sigh of relief; they'd been afraid of being told off and chased away, as Mirabelle's presence was the key to this plan.
Snow cleared her throat and turned to Romeo, who was standing beside her. "You're certain Miralda's coming here, aren't you?" she asked. No sooner had she asked than Romeo found himself staring in astonishment at a woman standing atop a building, gazing down at them with a haughty expression.
"Well… That's proof enough," Romeo muttered. Having only just recovered from the poison—he'd immediately scoured the city looking for Miralda, just to taunt her and challenge her to a rematch there. "She must be fuming that her poison was cured in less than a day."
She slowly floated down, aided by the green mist at her feet. "Just because you have the mighty Everafter, does that make you so arrogant?!" he shouted, finally reaching the ground firmly under his feet. "I still don't understand how you managed to cure that poison, but—"
Before he could finish venting all the pent-up frustration in his heart, a woman's voice came from behind Romeo and Snow. "I did it," they both turned and found a woman standing mid-air as if on an invisible platform that allowed her to walk casually.
Her red hair fluttered in the breeze, and her beautiful blue eyes gazed down at Miralda, whose jaw had dropped so low it nearly touched the floor. "And who's this wretch?" she asked with a playful smile on her face, whilst Romeo racked his brains trying to work out how she could stand in mid-air without looking as though she might topple over at any moment.
It was then that he realised the woman had enchanted the very air and space itself, allowing her to tread on anything—he brought his hand back to his mouth, his head drooped, and sweat began to pour down his face. "If I were to fight her… I wouldn't stand a chance," he muttered; Romeo had never felt so relieved in his life.
Meanwhile, Miralda herself was unable to process what she was seeing; she did not regard the woman as a human or a Fable—she was considered the goddess of beauty herself; her beauty, hundreds of times greater than her own, made her almost lose her mind.
She fell to her knees, her head still tilted back; her black fingernails began to scratch at her own face—her mouth still agape and her eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out. "W...what's your name?" He managed to utter the words, but was immediately met with Mirabelle's laughter. "What's so funny?"
"Your very existence is a joke," the woman casually hurled the taunt with such ease, as though it were a compliment from her, "But since you've gone so far as to fall to your knees—I shall take pity on you."
"My name is Mirabelle." The moment she heard that name, Miralda immediately clawed at her own face—she couldn't believe there was someone far more beautiful than her who shared the same first name. "You two never told me you had a clown," she said, glancing behind her before returning to savour the absurd spectacle before her.
Mother told Romeo and Snow to take Miralda to meet Mirabelle in person—and the fight would end without a single drop of blood being spilled. And Mother really hadn't lied about that; Snow felt both awed and frightened by Mirabelle's abilities.
"Someone with the name Mira is even more beautiful than me?!" The woman screamed, her voice reverberating so loudly it drew the attention of people quite a distance away. "Even after I tried so hard—to the point I nearly killed myself?!"
Her head was bowed and she was panting heavily, as if she'd just run a marathon—before long, green smoke began to rise from her feet, slowly creeping upwards and growing larger. "Take cover!" Romeo shouted, but to everyone's surprise, Snow had already acted first, forming a wall from her seven dwarf dolls, each standing on top of the other's head.
Romeo's eyes widened in surprise before he glanced at Snow, who was holding up the barrier with just her ten fingers. "D-Don't worry… They won't shatter or break just because of the poison!" she declared with a newfound confidence.
Romeo, seeing this, smiled before nodding—he seemed to have placed his full trust in Snow's shoulders. Once the poison fumes had cleared, the dwarves too slowly faded away into shards of light, blown away by the wind.
The man immediately glanced in the direction Mirabelle was standing, and she hadn't moved a single inch—if she could even enchant space and air itself, enchanting poison surely wouldn't be a difficult feat for her.
From above, Miralda, brimming with rage, lunged towards Mirabelle with both hands outstretched in front of her—green poisonous smoke once again billowed from her hands, right into the face of Mirabelle, who continued to gaze at the woman with an amused smile.
The woman snapped her fingers and the poison veered off as if a protective barrier were shielding Mirabelle's body from all harm, and without warning, a thread bound Miralda's leg very tightly—her purple eyes glanced behind her and she saw that it was a thread being held firmly by Romeo, who was wearing a red masquerade mask. "Thank you for the thread, Snow."
With all his might—Romeo immediately spun the thread in his hand, causing Miralda's body to spin along with it. It was a special thread belonging to Snow, part of her Everafter—after spinning three times, the thread finally snapped.
Miralda's body was flung through the air and crashed into one of the houses, smashing through two walls at once—after emerging from the house she'd smashed through, her body became wedged against the wall before finally falling and crashing to the ground.