Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in Prince Francis' eye he was the most beautiful man to ever have existed. His room was all set up with mirrors upon every surface so that he could gaze upon himself whenever he liked. To his own mind, his mid-length brown curls and piercing blue eyes were beyond compare. Any girl would have been lucky to marry him, but he found that no one was beautiful enough to compliment his own appearance.
His parents grew desperate to find him a wife or even just someone to spend his time with, but the young Prince rejected every last woman that came to his throne. As far as he was concerned, they could be as radiant as the sun, and they still could not compare to what he found himself to be.
On a night seemingly like any other, Francis sat on his throne with a golden mirror in his hand while girls came up to him one by one to try their luck at luring the man into their arms. One claimed to have more money than he could ever imagine, one claimed to sparkle in the moonlight, and one even claimed to be as beautiful as he if he would only look up at her. Of course this last remark made the Prince look up and laugh.
"If you were as beautiful as me, then the room would resonate with murmurs of how pleasing to the eye you are. People would throw themselves at you as you throw yourself at me, but that is not the case, is it? No, you are just as common as the girl before your or the girl after. Stop wasting my time."
When he was finished speaking, the girl ran off in tears and he simply returned to gazing at his reflection. After that horrendous display from the Prince, most of the other women backed away and chose no longer to pursue the frightening man. He had clear desires toward himself and himself alone, and no woman dared try after that.
Suddenly, a woman entered the room that caused the ballroom to glow with a soft golden light. It seemed like the sun itself had manifested into a beautiful young woman in a shimmering gown just to accompany the dancers. People began discussing the mystery woman, clearly afraid of her and her strange beauty. What would she be here for if not to attract the Prince?
"I hear the Prince of France has been looking for a beautiful wife." She said calmly, her golden brown eyes so sharply focused on Francis that he had to look up. It was only then that he fell so deeply for someone that was not himself, and he was surprised. This was the girl he had been looking for so desperately within the mirror. Beauty itself was at his feet, asking for his love.
"I need look no further, now that I have happened upon the sun itself." He whispered, standing up and advancing toward her.
A small smile crossed the girl's lips and she held out her hands to him. Almost instantly, their fingers tangled and love was imminent. They were to be together and anyone could tell. Francis' mother was amazed to see that someone had finally made their precious son see reason and love.
"Tell me your name." He pleaded gently, moving a hand to cup the girl's cheek.
"Ada." She smiled, nuzzling into his touch.
"We shall be married immediately, my beautiful Ada. Walk with me a moment? I'll take you to your chambers to be prepared for the wedding."
Ada nodded gently and took his outstretched arm, following Francis out of the ballroom to the shock and jealousy of everyone else in it. Unbeknownst to the pair, a third set of feet walked along with them as they made their way to the gardens to speak about their nearing wedding.
"Ada, if not for you, I would have spent my entire life alone. Every other woman I've ever met was a speck of dust when held up to the standard of our beauty." Francis whispered, sitting down upon a stone bench next to his love.
"Is that so?" The voice of another woman snarled in reply to the pair's conversation. "You think yourself so beautiful, when it is quite clear that your heart is ugly."
Francis and Ada turned around to see the young woman who had begged the Prince to see her as beautiful only moments before. Suddenly, the woman transformed in front of them to reveal herself to be a beautiful enchantress.
"I had hoped you would see reason before I had to act, but this was agreed upon by your father and myself. If your love was born of selfishness, then I would be allowed to act upon it."
The woman pulled out a glowing dagger and plunged it quickly into Ada's heart. She let out a heartbreaking whimper before glowing brighter and transforming into a blood red rose.
"You see, Francis, Ada was not a real woman or else she would never have captured your eye. She was of my creation to prove how ugly your heart is despite how beautiful you believe yourself to be. I'd like to see how you look at yourself now, you beast."
Francis, who had been frozen in shock, turned suddenly to see he had turned into a hideous beast just as the enchantress had described him. He cried out in agony, sinking down to his knees. He couldn't bear to look at himself now.
"What have you done to me?!" He demanded, anger bubbling inside him.
"When you can learn to truly love, if you do so before your thirty first birthday, the spell will be broken. If not, then you will remain a beast forever when Ada's last petal falls."
She turned swiftly away and left the castle, leaving him with his sorrows and new found pain. He was a beast.