Chapter Text
Once upon a time, which wasn’t all that long ago, in the middle of the forest, there was a mansion. This mansion was run by a prince, whose arrogance and selfishness caused the people to plead for a witch to teach him some humility. The witch told them that she would first test this prince’s heart, and, if it were un-pure, he would be cursed to spend his life as a monstrous beast by day until somebody came and loved him. For who he was, and not just the way he looked or how he acted.
Disguising herself as an old woman, the witch waited until a ferocious storm wracked the forest, and then begged at the prince’s door for shelter for just one night. The prince arrogantly refused her, unwilling to share his dwelling with anyone except his servants. The witch told him that he would be rewarded if he let her stay, just until the storm was over. But, the prince refused her a second time. She had warned him, but he did not heed her. Transforming back into her normal state, the witch placed a curse on him, and the prince begged for forgiveness, but she had seen that his heart was un-pure. She told him to wait until someone loved him just for him, and when they confessed their love honestly, only then would the spell be broken.
By day, the prince would turn into a humongous beast, all the townsfolk feared him, and raised their children on stories of the beast. By night, the prince would be turned back into his normal self, but he had seen how horrid he looked, and he was ashamed. He locked himself in his mansion, and all his servants were dispersed, except a few exceedingly loyal ones, who cleaned up the mansion for him.
His brother heard of his state, and tried to console him, but the prince turned him away. He would bear this curse alone. Nobody could ever love a beast.
Well, nobody, except for one, a very special one that would change his life completely, if the beast allowed- and that is where our story begins. In a dark forest, haunted by wolves, with a raging storm going on, where one lonely little man desperately tried to find shelter.