Once upon a time, in an ancient Kingdom, there was a beautiful castle in the middle of a lush green forest. Regardless of the season, the forest always remained on the brink of autumn. The rosy colors of the leaves shown brightly under a warm golden sun. The animals were plentiful—foxes, squirrels, cardinals, swans, rabbits, and deer—and they thrived in the land of plenty. The castle was a masterpiece in itself with tall towers, an emerald moat, swan gardens, and vineyards. Inside the castle, lived the King, the Queen, and their young daughter—the princess. Their kingdom was small, but yet still it thrived in time not touched by the industrial revolution. The citizens of the kingdom were peaceful, knowing that the King worked hard to ensure that the treasury never emptied. All was well until the Queen became very sick, and passed away. When her spirit left, she seemed to take some of the magic of the kingdom with her. Hard time fell over the land, the foxes turned vicious, a bitter frost crept across the forest and the vineyards shriveled. The King, unable to face the failure of his kingdom threw himself off the top of the tallest west wing tower, leaving his young daughter the burden of ruling a kingdom that was wasting away.
Princess Bellaline was not necessarily evil but neither did she take the time to show kindness. Burdened by her grief, and the tolls of ruling a kingdom at such a young age she encompassed a cold and apathetic demeanor towards her citizens. She terminated the employment of the maids, cooks, gardeners, librarians, and horsemen only keeping a handful of essential staff and released the swans from the garden, emptied the mote, and closed the palace gates.
The darkness continued to spread, weaving its way into every aspect of life in the kingdom. The Princess isolated herself in her castle, opening the doors to no one who even dared enter. The soulful sounds of her piano playing that could be heard from the outside of the palace were the only indication that she was still there.
The eve of the Princesse's fifteenth birthday was a dark, bitter night with a wind so cold it turned everything it touched to solid ice the Princess's piano playing was interrupted by three knocks on the castle door just after nightfall. The Princess ignored the knocks and continued to play her sorrowful song. When the knocks sounded again, echoing across the desolate castle walls she once again ignored them. On the third knock, the doors burst open on their own and the princess was dragged by an unseen force away from her piano and to the doorway where a dark enchantress revealed herself. For her ignorance, the enchantress cursed the princess and everyone living inside the castle into a beastly existence. The princess was turned into a creature with large owl-like eyes and fearsome black wings. Those who served her were cursed into inanimate objects—a clock, a candelabra, a teapot—and thunderclouds surrounded the palace.
In an act of near pity, the enchantress left the cursed princess with a crystal red rose with thin diamond petals. If she could learn to change her ways, to let love in and earn love in return before the last petal fell, the curse would be lifted. Years passed, and she fell into despair and lost hope. After all, who could ever learn to love a monster?
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