"Counselor."
"Your Highness."
Astrael shot her his usual mischievous glance, a reminder of how much he enjoyed pretending to get along with humans. But when the princess stopped in front of him, he was seized by curiosity. It was unusual for Snow White to want to talk to him.
"Are you enjoying the evening?"
The princess asked, pretending to be interested in his answer. Astrael curled his lips and stared at the girl thoughtfully.
"I can appreciate the sight of the countless vices that characterize this population. Vices to which some people seem immune..."
Snow White raised her dark eyes, meeting the red ones of the demon hiding beneath Edgar's human skin. She shuddered, thinking about what had happened a few months prior.
"What keeps you with us? What has kept you with Grimilde all these years?"
It was a question she had wanted to ask for a long time, but she had never had the courage to learn the truth.
Astrael took a moment to think, or at least he seemed to, and let his eyes roam over the faces of the crowd. Slowly, his lips began to stretch into a long, unsettling smile.
"How curious. Why ask me this question right now? It feels like..."
He leaned down toward the woman, taking a deep breath.
"...fear is what I smell. Do you fear me? Or perhaps you are frightened by what you do not yet know about your dear Grimilde."
Snow White frowned and held her breath. Before she could speak, Astrael continued his confusing, mad speech.
"Just today, I noticed something intriguing. The vegetation surrounding us says a lot about who we are. We can compare the nature of fungi to human relationships. Some manage to coexist peacefully, gaining benefits and giving back what they have taken."
The demon's eyes glinted.
"But others are parasites and feed on those who give them sustenance... often, these organisms are not alive... Or something in between."
"What are you talking about?"
Snow White couldn't follow his logic. Why were they talking about mushrooms? Astrael didn't make her wait long and answered quickly.
"Your beloved, righteous queen hasn't told you everything."
At that point, the princess took a step back and glared angrily at the demonic being.
"You don't think I'd fall into your trap so easily, do you?"
"You are free to believe whatever you wish, Princess."
"Tell me the truth... why did you seek Grimilde out again after being freed? Are you... are you killing her slowly?"
The greatest terror haunting Snow White's nightmares was exactly this: that Astrael was killing the queen little by little with his dark presence, or corrupting her. She hadn't gathered enough information yet to guarantee that Astrael wasn't planning to destroy everything around him. She couldn't trust his words.
Astrael took a step toward the princess, feigning an astounded expression, then smirked, narrowing his red eyes.
"I never abandoned Grimilde."
The princess tried to speak, but nothing left her lips. She began to breathe rapidly, feeling her chest grow heavy as her heart was squeezed by an invisible grip.
"I stayed when her family disowned her. I watched her break. I watched her grow over the years. I got to know her darkest secrets. And to answer your last question..."
He whispered, bringing his lips close to the princess's ear:
"I cannot kill what stands on the perimeter of life."
Snow White turned pale and started feeling sick. Anger flared within her suddenly: she shoved Astrael away and started running, ignoring the shouts of the guards and servants who tried to stop the princess to figure out what was happening.
She had to reach the garden. She had to see Grimilde. She didn't believe Astrael; her queen would never lie. The woman she knew was honest and good, she would never hurt her like that!
The candles illuminating the corridor seemed blurred through the veil of tears welling in the princess's eyes. She didn't even think about the route; her body acted on its own, invigorated by the most chilling adrenaline. Her stomach was in knots, and her legs were shaking. It was truly terrifying for her to discover that the person she trusted blindly might have lied about everything.
When she found herself just a few steps from the queen's private garden, she noticed there were no guards nearby, but she convinced herself it was Grimilde's doing, to give them more privacy. What did she want to talk about? Was it possible she wanted to confess her mistakes? Her misdeeds? As soon as she reached the entrance, she stopped. Grimilde was kneeling among the flowers, and the image was so familiar—yet at the same time so unknown—that it made her heart tremble.
"Snow White?"
Grimilde turned around as soon as she heard hurried footsteps. She was about to cut the blue rose she intended to give the princess, but as soon as the girl appeared at the garden entrance, she realized something was wrong. Snow White's face was streaked with tears, her lips pulled into a grimace of disbelief. She took a step forward and raised her hand to her own chest.
"I'm begging you... Tell me it isn't true. Tell me you didn't lie to me about your past..."
Grimilde didn't fully understand what was upsetting the princess, but she was certain she had found something out, probably because of Astrael.
"What did he tell you?"
The blonde gritted her teeth and tried to approach the princess, but as soon as she saw her stiffen in fear, she froze as well.
"Grimilde, have you ever lied to me?"
Grimilde had omitted important truths. How was she supposed to act? Snow White looked on the verge of devastation, and what she had to confess wouldn't help.
"Darling, let's sit down, I beg you."
"I don't want to sit! Why don't you deny it? That demon has been playing with us all along... he's lying, isn't he?"
"I will tell you everything, but first I need to make sure you're okay. I promise you, if we sit down, I will answer your every question."
Grimilde wanted to ensure the situation didn't escalate; she feared the princess would pass out any second. Initially, Snow White didn't seem willing to move, but then she walked over to the nearest seat, a white bench sitting beneath the night sky. The natural light of the moon struck the flowers and the water of the small artificial pool, creating an atmosphere that would have been magical, if not for the horrible feelings the two women were experiencing in that moment.
The queen decided to give Snow White some space and grabbed a chair from the small table where they usually sat to drink tea and relax together. She placed it in front of the princess and sat on the edge, her back rigid and her gaze full of sorrow.
"Snow White, look at me..." the queen whispered, waiting for the princess to find the words to explain what had happened. "What did Astrael say?"
"After your encounter and his liberation... what happened to you?"
At that point, the queen immediately realized the mistake was hers and not necessarily the malicious demon's. She should have told the truth from the very beginning, but she had omitted some details to protect Snow White. There were secrets capable of endangering the lives of those who kept them, and hers was one of them. Unfortunately, now she had to decide what to do: make Bianca hate her by denying the truth, or confess everything, causing massive upheavals in her life?
Grimilde had only a few minutes to find a solution; she knew the woman in front of her was ready to run away at any moment. Her hands were shaking, and she kept shifting her gaze toward the exit. In that desperate moment, the queen stood up from her chair and knelt before the princess, renouncing titles and roles, to beg for the grace of forgiveness from the woman she loved.
"What I must confess to you has the power to hurt you deeply, to completely shatter your world. I won't be able to protect you from this..."
Snow White understood that this was something very serious: the queen's broken voice and desperate eyes were enough. The princess let her beloved touch her, but she remained detached: she still feared what her ears were about to hear and what her heart would suffer at Grimilde's hands.
"I do not want to give my heart to a person I do not know."
The dry tone and those few words echoed in Grimilde's skull. The woman with wheat-colored hair was indecisive, confused, and doubted her own influence, her own strength. But what else could she do? The princess of Arran had been clear: she wanted to know, she wanted the truth... but knowledge sometimes came at a very steep price.
Not even the wisdom she had acquired over the years would be enough in a situation like this, especially since it had never crossed her mind that she would have to share her responsibilities and secrets with someone she could trust blindly. Once upon a time, she wouldn't have believed she could meet a person as good and honest as Snow White; in fact, in her eyes, the world was irredeemably corrupted by darkness. It was no coincidence that the evil lying dormant beneath the soil of their country had been accumulating, little by little, over the centuries.
"I will tell you everything," the queen decided, albeit reluctantly. "But I need to be sure that after this conversation, you will trust me enough to let me protect you."
Snow White seemed torn; she looked down at her hands resting on her knees, her fingers clutching the fabric of her dress. Finally, she spoke in a whisper.
"I want to trust you..."
For Grimilde, that was enough.
"May I sit beside you?"