I'm going to post this chapter before I go!
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The Fairy Godmother is a woman at the top of the business world.
Rich, influential, and powerful, she is the model of female success.
And like most at the top, her greed for more could never be sated.
But for people like her, who had already reached such heights, even greed had to be done with class, with the right target.
Money? Just another number. Power? A means to an end.
But influence? That was a bone she simply couldn't resist biting into.
For such a thing, she would not hesitate—even if it meant cursing little girls and locking them in towers, or using her own son as a tool to climb the social ladder.
This was the Fairy Godmother, a ruthless businesswoman.
Of course, she hadn't always been like that.
At first, in her youth, she truly helped the sad, poor girl reveal her real beauty and win her Prince Charming, living their happily ever after. But what did she get in return?
A small mention in the fable, quickly forgotten, and nothing else. Not even a little thank you, or something like, "It was all thanks to the Fairy Godmother." No, she was simply a humble helper, speeding things along, as though their love were destined to bloom regardless.
"Bullsh*t!!" she would shout furiously at the time.
Without her, where would a prince ever look at a cinder girl?
A few more times she tried, but it was always the same result.
Love—it was always love's fault.
And where did that leave the Fairy Godmother? She was just a nice little friend who helped out a bit, ranked even below Cupid himself.
The Fairy Godmother remembered grinding her teeth every time she saw that, and her will was simply to split the couple apart and see if they would still come back together without her.
But no—she swallowed that fire. She focused, she learned, and she adapted.
Love? A cheap commodity, one she could create as much as she wanted. And as a commodity, it had value.
From then on, happily ever after came with a price—and it wasn't cheap. And everyone wanted it, everyone wanted the help of the Fairy Godmother, an authority on the matter.
Money, influence, favors.
She accumulated all of them throughout her centuries of life, with just a few waves of her wand, a silver tongue, and a little touch of threats to balance things out.
And then, for the first time, she truly lived happily.
With hundreds of employees she could order around as she pleased, influence enough to make her enemies tremble, and authority to stand tall and confident even before kings and queens, she was at her peak.
Still, even after achieving everything she had ever wanted… something was missing.
Could it be… love?
Pfff! Please, spare her that word. The Fairy Godmother bottled love daily and sold it for hundreds of gold coins. She had no need for something so useless.
No, what she wanted was something grander.
What made her unhappy was that she couldn't understand why, even with so much power and influence, when people compared her to those useless kings and queens… in truth, they didn't even compare her. It was simply a consensus that she stood below them.
That enraged her like nothing else ever had. The Fairy Godmother would not accept being above ten thousand, but below one. No—she wanted to be where she truly belonged: above everyone.
Even though she had done so much, and helped in so many happily ever afters of kings and queens, it was simply unrealistic to expect that any of them would hand her a throne, no matter the size of the favor.
So she thought and pondered for a long time, until she came up with her master plan… to have a child.
By having her own flesh and blood, she could place him as king. And as the powerful king's mother, whom he obeyed in everything, she would basically be above him, right?
From then on, people could only place her as equal to, or above, the kings—never below.
Of course, she had to admit that after she had Charming, she truly awakened a bit of that dusty thing in her chest, called a heart.
To her surprise, she really did love her son—not as much as influence, power, and herself, but just below those three.
Perhaps it was because he was an extension of her desire for influence and power, or because of simple, unconditional motherly love—but that didn't matter.
She loved her son and spoiled him as much as she could, though she would never stop using him for her plans. And from her son, many schemes began.
The favors accumulated from the past, the threats toward a certain frog king who had only one daughter—it all seemed to fall neatly into place for the Fairy Godmother's sadistic pleasure.
Fate itself seemed to want her there, shining above all, like the star she was.
It was at that moment, while she was thinking about her plans unfolding in the right direction, that she felt a bit hungry.
Pressing a button on the intercom on her desk, she ordered her favorite employee—the one she most enjoyed giving orders to.
"Jerome, black coffee and pancakes. Now!" she commanded, leaning back comfortably in her large, cushy chair, thoughtful.
But as she mused for a few moments, her eyes blinked as she realized she hadn't received the usual confirmation from the servant.
Pressing the button again, she asked in doubt.
"Jerome?"
"..."
A confused look appeared on her face, and she rose from her chair, beating her transparent wings as she took flight.
"Strange, what could that guy be doing? Did he go to the bathroom? But I'm hungry now, and he's taking too long to answer, so let's take it out on him, let's see…" She tapped a finger on her chin, thoughtful, before a small smile appeared. "...I think 40% off his salary this month is fair," she reasoned maliciously.
The Fairy Godmother, without wasting any time, left her office and went toward her employee to see his helpless anger when she announced the punishment.
What was the point of power and influence if she couldn't enjoy these little pleasures of using them as she pleased?
But as she was close to reaching the entrance hall, she felt a gaze.
When she looked over, she saw a charming orange kitty standing on the railing.
Though, for some reason, the kitty was even more charming than her coachman Kyle, the Fairy Godmother didn't care about that and stared at him, puzzled.
…
In front of the confused Fairy Godmother, Puss did not hide, run, or use his trump card—the kitten eyes maximized by his great beauty.
No, he would face her directly, without tricks.
He stepped forward with his black boot, emerging from the shadows and into the light above the door.
"Who are you?" she asked, frowning.
Puss placed a paw on his hat, lowering it slightly, which hid his eyes and left her only a glimpse of a charming smile beneath the brim.
"Glad you asked." His voice with a strong accent rang out.
His paw went to his sword, making the Fairy Godmother instantly alert.
"I'm Puss in Boots!" he declared, and swung the sword like a flash, carving a clear 'P' into the door beside them before the Fairy Godmother could even react.
The tip of the blade then pointed directly at her.
"Fear me... if you dare!" he proclaimed, confident, with his green eyes shining beneath the shadow of his hat's brim.
The Fairy Godmother froze.
And then…
"Pfff! Hahaha!" She laughed loudly with disdain. "Where did this wild kitty come from? Guards, get this flea-ridden animal out of here!" she shouted impatiently, drawing the attention of several employees below in the factory.
"Yes, Fairy Godmother!" cries of agreement came from below, and running footsteps were heard.
The ears of Puss, hidden beneath the hat, twitched at the sounds, and he no longer played around.
He slid the sword back into its sheath, making the Fairy Godmother scoff, thinking the cat had tucked his tail between his legs and was going to flee.
But then, before her stunned eyes, the serious kitty suddenly bent his legs and leapt to the side, toward the railing, kicked it, and launched himself directly at her.
"MEEEOOOW!!"
A pair of claws came slashing toward her, startling her and making her fly backward in panic.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.
Puss missed, kicked off the wall, and hurled himself toward the agile fairy.
"YOU DARE!" the Fairy Godmother finally reacted, screaming furiously, and the star of the wand in her hand lit up with a pale purple glow before firing a beam toward Puss, who was coming straight at her.
In midair, there was no way to dodge—but Puss's gaze was calm.
In the brief second the spell came, he placed a paw on the silver cat pendant of the cloak around his neck and tugged, twisting his body in the air and throwing the cloak forward.
The cloak surged ahead like a blur, colliding with the spell, suddenly transforming into a confused black mouse midair.
But that was enough, as Puss zipped past the mouse and snatched it with one paw, while his boot smashed into the Fairy Godmother's face and glasses, knocking her backward, making her crash to the floor and roll several times.
Meanwhile, Puss flipped in the air and landed softly on the ground, his legs slightly bent.
In his left paw—a mouse. In his right… a wand with a purple star at the tip.
The Fairy Godmother struggled to get up, a mess. And when she saw, through the cracked lenses of her glasses, what was in his right paw, she instinctively looked at her own empty hand.
"What?! How?! Give it back!!" she widened her eyes and screamed, gritting her teeth, staring at that damned cat with hatred.
Never before had she been so humiliated in her entire life. She, the Fairy Godmother, had been violently kicked in the face by a wild cat—and robbed.
Puss didn't seem to care, and smiled softly, while the fluffed-up fur of his paw that held the wand slowly settled back down.
He wanted to be a hero, but he had never stopped training as a thief.