31 Day OTP Challenge - SpaMano

Chapter 16: In a Fairytale

A/N//: Dear readers. Yes. Here is another one of my notes. Okay. This is a great chapter. In my opinion at least. I hope you like it. Cause. Yeah. There is going to be an author's note at the end explaining why I did what I did in case that's not evident. I also do not own the following fairytale.

Chapter 16: In a Fairytale

Unknown Day, Unknown Month ??, ????

Dreamland

Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing, and the frame of the window was made of black ebony. And whilst she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red looked pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself, would that I had a child as white as snow, with lips as red as blood, and hair as brown as the wood of the window-frame.

Soon after that she had a little son, who was as white as snow, his lips were as red as blood, and his hair was as brown as chocolate, and he was therefore called little Lovino.

After a year had passed the Queen took to herself another husband. He was a beautiful man, but proud and haughty, and he could not bear that anyone else should surpass him in beauty. He had a wonderful looking-glass, and when he stood in front of it and looked at himself in it, and said, "Magic mirror on the wall, who in this land is the fairest of all?"

The looking-glass answered, "Thou, o king, art the fairest of all."

Then he was satisfied, for he knew that the looking-glass spoke the truth.

But Lovino was growing up, and grew more and more beautiful, and when he was seven years old he was as beautiful as the day, and more beautiful than the king himself.

And once when the king asked her looking-glass, "Magic mirror, on the wall, who in this land is the fairest of all?"

It answered, "Thou art fairer than all who are here, sir king. But more beautiful still is Lovino, as I ween."

Then the king was shocked, and turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour, whenever he looked at Lovino, his heart heaved in his chest, he hated the boy so much. And envy and pride grew higher and higher in his heart like a weed, so that he had no peace day or night. He called a huntsman, and said, "Take the child away into the forest. I will no longer have him in my sight. Kill him, and bring me back his lung and liver as a token. "

The huntsman obeyed, and took him away but when he had drawn his knife, and was about to pierce Lovino's innocent heart, he began to weep, and said, "You potato bastard, just let me fucking live. I'm useless anyways. I'll probably just, like, get eaten by a bear or some shit. That bastard of a father of mine will never know!"

And as he was so beautiful the huntsman had pity on him and said, "Run away, then, you poor child." The wild beasts will soon have devoured you, thought he, and yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his heart since it was no longer needful for him to kill him. And as a young bear just then came running by he stabbed it, and cut out its lung and liver and took them to the king as proof that the child was dead. The cook had to salt them, and the wicked king ate them, and thought she had eaten the lung and liver of Lovino.

But now the poor child was all alone in the great forest, and so terrified that he looked at all the leaves on the trees, and did not know what to do. Then he began to run, and ran over sharp stones and through thorns, and the wild beasts ran past him, but did him no harm.

He ran as long as his feet would go until it was almost evening, then he saw a little cottage and went into it to rest himself. Everything in the cottage was small, but neater and cleaner than can be told. There was a table on which was a white cover, and seven little plates, and on each plate a little spoon, moreover, there were seven little knives and forks, and seven little mugs. Against the wall stood seven little beds side by side, and covered with snow-white counterpanes.