The princess woke up the demon with a kiss.

This was the last time she had done so, twenty years from the first kiss.

i.

Twenty years ago, she was a carefree girl, the beautiful heir of the most prosperous kingdom in the fairy tale continent. People said she had it all, but only she knew the existence of that void in her heart. All it takes is a romantic love, she thought, then her life would be complete.

She fell in love like she hoped for, but the lover was not a young prince like her people expected. The princess’s parents were furious when she took home that middle-aged king of a weak country and his baby girl from the previous marriage.

Shameless as always! That’s what her father called her. She knelt at his throne, accepting his humiliation in silence, like always. Though this time, all she could think of was her lover’s tender smile and that little baby girl whose skin white as snow and lips rosy as blood. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to be their family. She believed that firmly.

She thought of her aunts. She thought of the one who used a pair of crystal shoes to indulge the prince, the one who married a beast in order to become royalty, and the one who got a pair of beautiful legs through plastic surgery but later gave birth to fish-tailed children after marriage. They each revealed scattered information and together it was the truth that the princess knew.

“Kiss the brightest rose bud in the palace garden at midnight and there will be a sleeping demon waking up.”

“What can a mortal get from a demon?” The princess asked curiously.

“Ha ha.” The elderly woman turned her head, many of the once beautiful but decimated faces overlapping with the same indifferent tone. “Of course it is love.”

She didn't understand the meaning, but she couldn’t wait. She sneaked into the palace garden in the dead of night.

The clock struck twelve. The princess looked around, then touched the rose bud at the highest place with her pale lips. The petals slowly bloomed.

The princess waited anxiously, preparing for the horror of a demon’s face.

The mist cleared and a demon appeared. The princess squinted. The appearance of him was not as terrible as what the rumors depicted, at least it did not make the princess disgusted. Just a regular guy.

“My beautiful princess.” The demon had just been disturbed by the dream and was still yawning, but he bowed dutifully. “What can I do for you?”

The princess stared at him. He had pale lips. Just like hers.

“Let me marry my love.” The princess pleaded, wishing the devil had the ability to turn the impossible into possible.

The devil stared at her. “This will not be free.”

“What do you want?” Her voice was trembling.

“Throne.” The devil replied. “The throne you are going to inherit.”

The princess took a step back. “Do you want to be the king of this country?”

The devil smiled and shook his head. “I can't be the king of mankind.

“But what good does this do for you?” The princess didn't understand.

What kind of naivety is that! The demon smiled a little more. “I am a demon.” He nabbed a rose bud and crushed it with his fingers. “It is our favorite to hurt others without advantaging ourselves.”

ii.

The young princess believed so firmly that love could conquer everything. That was what all the touching stories on the fairy tale continent said. Unfortunately, she soon realized those were just stories. The princess, oh no, it was time to call her queen now, soon found out that the position of a civilian queen with no right of inheritance was not as glamorous as it seemed.

Fortunately, she still had the young beauty that attracted the king's loving eyes. And that little baby whose skin white as snow and lips rosy as blood brought her tremendous joy. When the queen held her in her arms, she would smile as bright as the sun. The queen treated the baby as her own.

But as time passed by, things changed. The tenderness in the king’s eyes when he saw her gradually faded away as she lost her youthful looks. The same tenderness only appeared again when she saw him dancing in a party with a young princess from the neighboring country who looked just as intoxicated with him as she once was.

She knew what she was in for. It would happen sooner or later. She tried to comfort herself. They are just being men. Even your father was the same. Her aunts had already prepared her for this.

She could probably still continue this broken relationship if she hadn’t saw the same kinds affection and intimacy for Snow White beyond what a father should have in the king’s eyes. She was stunned. She stared at him from far, far away. That man she gave up her crown for, that man she turned against with her family for, that man who she firmly believed could give her a family. He was standing there straight and tall, laughing at some disturbing jokes his servant told him. The muscle on her face twitched.

Snow White came to the queen even before the queen reached out for her, sobbing for help. That night, Snow White cried to sleep in the queen’s arms. The queen held her baby tight. She looked at the little girl she raised by herself. Tears streamed down and fell on Snow White’s rosy lips.

The queen kissed the sleeping demon for the second time.

“My dear princess.” The demon quickly switched from a dream state to a sober one. “What can I do for you this time?

The queen looked at him emotionlessly. “Keep the king away from us forever. A powerless queen cannot do it herself.”

The devil's eyes lit up and made a cheerful whistle. “It will cost you.”

“What do you want?” The queen sounded a little upset. “I don’t think you could afford it.” The devil looked at her. Her lips are pale. Too pale to be human. He thought.

“Just spill it out.” The queen was annoyed. She didn’t know him to be the hesitant type.

“You will lose your beauty.”

The queen hesitated. She closed her eyes, and the sweet memories of her smiling glamorously when she got married pushed through her heart one by one, but eventually deteriorated and turned into mud rot in the bottom. She nodded calmly. The devil looked at her with gleaming eyes and bowed, “As you wish”.

The king died of heart attack a few days later. The queen put on her mourning dress and stood in the middle of the funeral with a thick veil. Nobody could see her mourning look, so nobody could make fun of her unspeakable ugliness.

In fact, she did not shed a single tear. Love was long gone.

iii.

After the king’s death, the small country fell into disorder, facing threats inside out. A vicious old king from another land forced Snow White to marry him or he would invade the country. Snow White came to the queen again, begging for marrying her beloved Prince Charming instead of the king.

“Didn’t expect to see you so soon, my princess.” The devil finally seemed to have not slept at all this time, and he frowned slightly.

“I’m sorry to wake you.” The queen kept her head low, reluctant to show her face. Even the devil thinks I’m hideous.

The devil saw that. He stowed away his impatience and walked towards the queen. “What can I do for you this time?”

“Give me a poisonous apple that can put someone into suspended animation”.

“Why?”

The queen paused. He never asked her that before.

“Why do you care? Just give it to me.” The queen cried in desperation.

The devil walked towards her. He touched her chin. She looked up. Under that monstrous look, her lips were pale like snow.

“I can’t let her marry someone she doesn’t love.” The queen said in a trembling voice.

The devil showed a complicated smile and picked off a rose next to it, turning it into a dripping red apple in his hand. The queen didn't take the apple right away. “What do you want this time?”

“Family.” The devil answered.

iv.

“Eat this apple and sleep.” She said to Snow White. “Live a free life ever since. Prince Charming will know what to do.”

She didn’t forget the devil’s offer: “You could eat it yourself, leaving all that mess to Snow White. You could stay here, with me. I’m all you have.”

But she couldn’t forget many things.

She couldn't forget the way that little baby grinned when she saw her. She couldn't forget the way that chubby child dangled while grabbing her hand tightly. She couldn’t forget the way that little girl braided the rose into a corolla and put it on her head with a smile...

There were not many good things left in her miserable life, and she didn't want to lose the last precious memories. Yet she had to admit her disappointment when Snow White took a bite of the apple without hesitation. She understood that Snow White no longer regarded her as family since the devil took all that away.

v.

News of Snow White's death and the rumor that she was poisoned by her vicious stepmother spread throughout the fairy tale continent. But the queen couldn't take care of this. She had to fight with all her strength against the domestic and foreign forces.

The news about the wedding of Prince Charming and a civilian woman came. People said she had skin snow as white and lips rosy as blood. The queen went to the palace garden and tied a rose crown with a long-lost smile. It was good to know there was some happiness in this world, even if she could never obtain it throughout her life.

vi.

But the story did not end here. Not long after, Prince Charming led the army to attack under the banner of "destroying the kingslayer and welcoming the new queen".

People spread gossips of the queen’s countless filthy records: abusing her stepdaughter, murdering her husband, and even wishing to kill the poor Snow White with a poisoned apple. Not to mention her disgusting look. Yuck! “This is a terribly vicious woman.” The farmers all said this.

No one believed that there was once a young beautiful princess who bravely chased after her love and simply held a rose bouquet as she walked into this foreign country alone, giving up the succession to the throne of the most prosperous country.

People only believe in what they are willing to believe.

With the support of the people, the queen's army suffered one defeat after another. Soon, Prince Charming's army came down to the city which was full of flames and screams. The queen stood on the top of the tower, staring at Snow White who was standing by Prince Charming. She looked at Snow White, anxiously trying to find a tiny bit of sympathy, but there was nothing. She stared at the new queen whose skin white as snow and lips rosy as blood, trying to engrave that face in her mind. She knew she would never see her daughter again after tonight.

vii.

The princess woke up the demon with a kiss.

This was the last time she had done so, twenty years from the first kiss.

“My favorite princess, we finally meet again.” For the first time there was no smile on the devil's face. “What can I do for you this time?”

The princess shook her head feebly. “Nothing. I just don’t want to be alone.”

The devil lowered his head. Her rejection from the last time pricked him. “I’m afraid you’ll have to go if you don’t want anything from me.”

“I have nothing else to give you.”

Prince Charming's army broke through the city gate and would soon enter the palace. All the nobles and servants were fleeing. Only the queen stood calmly at the deepest part of the palace with the one who has always accompanied her.

“No.” The demon said. “There is one thing you can give me.”

It was the most expensive thing she had, the thing she once refused to use as the deal with the demon even in the most desperate situation.

The princess smiled. Her smile was pale as her lips. “But there is nothing I want.”

She was really tired. She even envied the devil for he could sleep relaxed and comfortably for a long time, forgetting about all the disturbances outside.

“Then...” The devil thought, his tone getting suspiciously hesitant. “...I have something that I want to exchange with you.”

“What is that?” The princess thought this was probably the last time she felt surprised in her life.

“I want your soul”. Said the devil. “A pure soul is worth many things.” The demon walked through the thorny rose bush and moved closer to the princess. “I can give you a powerful kingdom, eternal beauty, a happy family and a romantic love that never ends.”

The princess smiled happily. She thought of her aunts' answers to her question when she was little.

“What can a mortal get from a devil?”

“Of course it is love.”

She understood it. She finally understood it.

The devil walked up to the princess, held a flaming rose in front of her, and asked the princess if she would exchange it. This time, the princess did not hesitate. She took the rose and kissed the demon's lips.

In the next second, all the rose branches began to grow wildly, as unstoppable as the tide. They crawled over the city walls, surrounded the castle, blocked Prince Charming's army outside the city, and froze the time in the castle at that moment. No one can ever get close to this castle surrounded by rose vines. It is forgotten by the world.

There are only occasional legends that there is a crystal coffin in the top room of the castle in which a beautiful princess is sleeping, waiting for a certain day in the future, the deepest kiss of the lover will wake her up. As for whether this lover is a prince or a demon, no one knows the answer.

But it doesn't matter as fairy tales are all like this — with no beginning and no end. We just need to know that ever since then, the princess and her lover have lived a happy life.

Forever.