Once upon a time, our land was ruled by a rich and possessive king. Many had felt cold towards him, but many also fear his wrath. It had stopped when one fateful night, an old homeless hag had came into his grounds, knocking on his castle door saying, "O dear Majesty! The winter is cold, my home is in ruins, may I seek shelter with your permission?" The king, of course, with his self-pitying personality, denied. The old hag had decided to teach the young noble a lesson, by turning the king into a ruthless, barbaric beast with his subjects as household items. She was a great fairy all along, but had decided to give a test to the king. The noble begged for mercy, and alas the fairy did. She handed him a rose in a glass case. "Only if you find true love," she said, "if you fail to after the rose wilts, you will remain beast forever"

"What happened to the beast next?" Theresa Edelstein asked the librarian eagerly.

"It is a mystery young one," the librarian smiled, "this is a legend after all, perhaps you can find the ending yourself my dear."

Theresa eyed the text warily and smiled, "Ah well! Thank you for the storytelling time! I must go home now!"

"Please do go home, it is dark after all," the librarian nodded.

Theresa waved good bye to the librarian and made her way home. She hummed happily and reached her house with her siblings and father safely before dusk. Her stepsisters Julchen and Monika are like family, but sometimes Julchen can be demanding.

Sometimes, Theresa echoed in her mind as she knocked her father's study.

"Come in," the weary sound of Gervas Beilschmidt replied.

Theresa opened the door and asked uncertainly,"What's wrong father?"

Gervas rubbed his temples, "couple of marriage proposals from some men to you, especially from that Allen guy. Also most of the trade ships sunk, most of our valuables are lost."

Theresa gasped, "then what do we do?"

"We sell this place," her father said grimly, "but don't tell your sisters for now, you know how they'll react."

"I understand," Theresa sighed as she departed to her bedroom.

Theresa opened her huge wardrobe of clothes and felt the fabric throughly. Her family is going to sell all of this, surely she could live like a peasant on the countryside. She furrowed her brows as she explored her bedroom and pondered about the possible future her family is going to have.

—

"Vati! I know you're going on a long trip and we're penniless like hell, but can we have some gifts?" Julchen bounced in the "stables" where Gervas was preparing for a trip to discuss his trades.

Monika and Theresa had tried to refrain their sister from doing this, but they failed to. Gervas nodded humbly as Julchen begin to spit out many objects to bring, ranging from gadgets to weaponry to whatsoever she wanted. The father also asked Monika and Theresa what they wanted, and Monika replied with a simple pen and paper. Theresa pondered hard, trying not to go overboard with requests that she would beg for, but ended with a single tulip.

"A purple tulip would sound nice if there's any," Theresa said, "it matches nicely."

"Indeed it does," Gervas nodded, "farewell my daughters, I shall see you within weeks."

—

Gervas was lost finding the trading port, to be more specific, he was already lost since the start of his journey. The winter air did no good to him either, as he tried to navigate through the blizzard with his only horse and bundle of clothes. A distant glow of light had sparked hope in him as he urged himself and his horse forward, finding themselves in front of a largely decorative and spacious castle.

"Well it's not the time to sit here and admire in the blizzard," he muttered to himself.

Before he could touch the wooden surface of the castle gate, the gate creaked open itself, big enough to allow Gervas and his horse in.

Very well then, he thought as he explored through the frozen untamed garden in front of the castle. He left his horse in the stables in the castle with food and water for the horse to feed itself. Gervas found himself wandering into the dining room of the castle, presumably. He saw the immense amount of food and decided to help himself. Whether God is real or not, Gervas thanked Him and began his feast. Soon enough it was bedtime, he found his way into a guest room, which looked more like a master bedroom in his eyes, but his sleepy eyes fought with his consciousness and so Gervas decided to sleep. He would thank the owner of the castle soon tomorrow, if he could.

Gervas woke up to an amazing breakfast in the dining room, but he had yet to thank someone for saving his life. He decided to explore the castle grounds, knowing for sure he could bump into the owner or at least someone in here. Gervas had learnt that there was an indoor garden inside the castle, somewhat unsurprising for a huge castle like this. He remembered Theresa's request and hurried over to find a purple tulip with high hopes. Surprisingly, the indoor garden was overloaded with tulips. Gervas spotted a patch of violet-colored ones in a corner and bent down to pick it.

For one moment, Gervas thought he could never be so happy fulfilling his daughter's wish, but then he realised he was in for the hellish moment of his life. The furious thuds could be heard louder and louder into the garden, and to Gervas' fear, an inhumane beast stormed in. The beast had spiked up hair with golden fur, jaws like a lion, ears like a dog, claws like a tiger, and a large scar on its forehead.

"AFTER ALL I HAVE GIVEN YOU IN THIS PLACE, YOU DECIDED TO STEAL MY PRECIOUS TULIPS," the beast thundered, "I COULD'VE LOCKED YOU INTO MY PRISON IN THE FIRST PLACE."

Gervas was shocked from fear, went down on his knees, and modestly answered as calmly as possible , "please, I do not wish for harm. I only picked a single tulip just for my precious daughter. She had wished for me to send her one."

"A daughter you say…" the beast muttered.

"Please! I do not want harm to them!" the father said.

The beast snickered, "I do not wish to interfere either, but I must do something about your theft. You may go home, but you must come back bringing your daughter in. Take this as a way to say sorry, but if you try to break this promise: you'll face further consequences."

Gevas was about to protest but hesitated, "you have my word."

"Then go," the beast glared, "you can bring the tulip too."

—

Gervas rushed home and managed to bring the tulip safe and sound. The daughters had gotten what they wanted, but Theresa was aware of her father's shaken expression.

"Theresa… I need to have a word with you," Gervas told her.

"Yes, of course," Theresa followed her father.

"I was lost in the blizzard… then I found this castle… it was really nice and all and that's where I found the tulip for you, but… the beast inside the castle is threatening me if I do not bring you to him; we will all face more problems…" Gervas panted.

Theresa gasped, "a beast?"

"Yes," Gervas nodded grimly, "a beast"

Theresa hung her head in shame, "it's because of me, you'd have to experience this terror…"

"No, you don't have to go Theresa, I can reason with the beast-"

"Father, I am the cause of this problem, I shall go with you. I want to reason with the beast instead," Theresa cut.

Gervas shook his head, "I can't allow that."

"Yes you can," Theresa answered stubbornly, "I can't allow anything to happen to you either."

Gervas sighed, persuading with his daughter is an activity he could never really accomplish.

—

Theresa arrived at the huge castle and gasped in astonishment. The castle was exactly like from the storybooks, and she couldn't believe it was all real. Sure, facing the beast is a tough decision, but Theresa wasn't allowing her father to suffer alone. The castle gates opened for both her and her father, and so the two walked into the spacious building. She and her father both suited themselves and ate a huge feast prepared for them, although she couldn't eat much at this rate. The castle was eerily filled with classical music, which she wasn't sure if she liked it or not. After their huge meal was finished, a thundering voice echoed from the corridor.

"I wish to speak to your daughter alone, if you may," the voice said, "it best if you leave now old man."

Gervas glanced at his daughter sadly and gave a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving.

"I'm sorry," Gervas silently muttered as he exited from the castle.

Theresa wasn't sure how to feel now. Anger? Confusion? Sadness? Fear? She had yet to decide as the slow steps of the beast came in the dining room, revealing himself. Theresa was surprised at how quiet the beast was when he arrived in the room, sharing a few moments of silence. Theresa then coughed a bit to break the silence.

"Er… may I introduce myself?" she asked nervously.

"...You may," the beast nodded while keeping his aura of seriousness.

"Well… my name is Theresa Edelstein, as you may probably know, I have a father. What is your name may I ask?" Theresa answered confidently.

"I have no rightful title for you to call me, just simply call me 'beast'," the beast muttered.

"I believe that is not how it goes, sir," Theresa urged, "there must be a more polite manner to call you."

"Well don't even bother calling me!" the beast raised his voice then paused for a brief moment, "…I shall allow the staff to escort you to your room, good bye."

Theresa stood up in response, "Excuse me but you haven't-" but the beast was long gone and household objects suddenly came into view. Some have human-like structures although they are inanimate objects, but Theresa was sure these objects can interact.

"Ah! Good evening Miss!" a voice chirped happily.

Theresa quickly turned to the sound of the voice, only to find a teapot with a human-like face speaking.

"You're kidding me, this is real," she quietly muttered.

"Of course this is real you silly! This entire place is enchanted!" the teapot tsked at her.

"Then may I ask what is your name," Theresa huffed.

"You may call me Manon," the teapot smiled warmly, "now come along, my br- master doesn't like being behind schedule!"

"Whoa, whoa, you're telling that this was arranged?" Theresa asked.

"Of course it is! We've all been expecting you here. Master says that this place now belongs to you, just don't come into the West Wing," Manon chuckled.

"This is a huge place, why would he bother to give it to me," Theresa pondered.

Manon hopped down from the tea cart and led Theresa into a large room. Theresa gasped in surprise, as she had never experienced this much luxury since her family had gone bankrupt.

"I shall leave you alone to explore your room, feel free to sleep right now," Manon said, then hopped out of her room, closing the door from behind.

Theresa sighed at the surprises she had experienced at this day; she was definitely trapped in this castle, and yet, she is genuinely concerned for the "beast".

Author Note: Hello! This is my first story to be posted in since a long time ago so feel free to criticise in the reviews. Also I have not checked my grammar or reread so I am so sorry if there is a grammar mistake or anything (I am not a native English speaker I apologise). This fanfiction was supposed to be Netherlands x fem!Austria in case you are wondering. I'll list the following characters that have appeared already. Have a nice day!

Theresa - fem!Austria

Beast/? - Netherlands

Gervas - Germania

Julchen - fem!Prussia

Monika - fem!Germany

Manon - (teapot)Belgium

The librarian is just a random character ;;