At the age of eleven, Prince Adam is inaugurated to be the King of his people. He throws a huge party to celebrate, everyone knows how cold and bitter Adam is because of his father's lessons. Which hurts the staff because he had great potential to turn out as his mother did. This might have been his fate had it not been that he was raised by his father. The child puts on a brave face and goes out to greet his guests and have fun. After five hours the guest finally leave. As Adam is about to whip off the silly makeup that he wore, there is a knock at the door. He grumbles and goes back to the door, he answers it to see an old woman clothed in rags at the door. He instinctively goes to close the door.
"Please let me in, it is cold and about to snow my lord," says the lady.
Adam goes to close the door.
"My parents aren't home I ought to not let anyone in they don't approve of-" starts Adam.
"Your parents' arent even alive, young prince," says the lady.
"What are you talking about, I am but merely a child..." says Adam.
"An orphan yes," says the lady.
"I'm not letting you in you are dirty filthy no, my staff already has a lot of cleaning to do," says Adam.
"Please I have a rose as payment," says the lady. "They can grow into stunning rose bushes if planted outside and magic for you,"
"No means no go away!" says Adam.
He slams the door and turns to see the woman inside of his house, she transforms into a young beautiful woman.
"You should have been more kind Adam, so you said your staff has a lot of cleaning, I wonder how long you will last alone to live your days until you get someone to marry you for you not your looks or money. As for this rose, it will indeed bloom into many rose gardens. I shall leave you my dear boy but not as a boy," says the lady.
She uses her magic and all the staff is gone, she touches Adam and he turns into a grotesque beast with boar features to go with his human ones. His nose grows into a snoot of a boar, little boar tusk hangs from the bottom of them. He has hooves for hands, she gives him the know-how on how to use his new magic. He starts to pass out in her arms.
"Oh Adam, I do hope you gain a heart under the features of a beast, good night prince," says the lady.
She leaves as he passes out. He wakes up and tries to make breakfast with his new powers after discovering the nightmare was true. He can't seem to eat anything he makes with his magic, but he smells a deer in the distance and runs after it. He kills the deer with his bare hands and starts eating it raw. He cries as he eats his first meal.
"What is my life to become?" says Adam.
Throughout the years Adam becomes more of a beast while his roses start to bloom more beautiful, he long-locked the doors to keep others out of the castle, he doesn't want to frighten anyone. He started his search for a wife but any woman who ended up at his castle don't want anything to do with him, no matter what he does. Even the gifts he offers them isn't enough to keep them in his castle. They run away when they see him eating raw meat so he decides to go all day without eating or drinking and to only eat or drink at night when his guest is asleep. He starts to lose hope that anyone would fall in love with a beast and marry him. It has been ten years since that day that the old sorceress has entered his doorsteps. He makes a chocolate birthday cake out of his magic even though he knows he can't eat it. He makes a wish on the candles and sighs.
"Happy twenty-first birthday to me…"
He blows out the candles and makes the cake disappear. Meanwhile back at Belle's house, Belle is preparing her father's carriage so he can go off on his two-week trip. In the ten years, Maurice lost his fortune when the business went down and because of this Susan's husband left. It turns out he only married Susan for her money. It takes many years for Maurice's business to pick up again. But the family still isn't where they used to be, as for Lucy and her husband Anthony there isn't enough money for divorce for them so Anthony stays and works things out with Lucy.
"Are you sure you don't want anything Belle?" asks Maurice.
"I am sure Papa, just your safe return," says Belle.
"My darling sweet girl I will be home as soon as I can do take care of things while I am away," says Maurice.
"I will Papa," says Belle.
"Now if I could you get anything at all? Your sisters wanted jewels I could get you jewels as well," says Maurice.
"Sigh. If you insist I just want a single rose," says Belle.
"Just that? Very well Belle I will do my best," says Maurice.
Belle smiles and kisses his cheek as he goes off on his business trip. Belle is eighteen now and took over her mother's chores along with her older sisters. Anthony does the hunting for the family as Maurice is getting too old to do the hunting. Lucy was the best at sewing so she picked up the sewing for the family, Susan was best at cleaning so she picked up for the family and Belle did the cooking and the gardening. All three girls knew how to do the cooking cleaning and gardening but Susan and Lucy always knew how to manipulate themselves out of the hard work. Belle didn't mind though, cooking and gardening was something her mother did with her and to her, it was like having her mother with her. So, just as she did as a child she took care of the family and didn't complain once. In her spare time, she would grab a book and read in her room. She also did the shopping as her father didn't trust her sisters to do it. Once a week she would go into the market and grab what the family needed to go with dinner.
"Anthony, can you go get some deer for dinner?" asks Belle.
"Of course Belle, I will even get enough for the rest of the week! Hell maybe even more!" says Anthony.
"Oh no that won't be necessary, father will be gone for two weeks so we only need enough for us four," says Belle.
"Sure, I will be back in a few hours," says Anthony.
He walks out the door dismissing Belle's words. Belle gets back to work on cleaning the dishes. The two sisters convinced her as a child to handle the dishes on her own since she is the one who "dirtied them" by putting food on them. Two weeks later Maurice is on his way home and he notices that a storm has made his usual path blocked. He gets his horse, Philippe, to go down the spare road and use his lantern for light. The weather gets worse the deeper he goes into the storm, he hopes to find a safe place to go for the night. He sees a castle in the distance and goes for it hoping that someone is home. He knocks on the door not knowing what he is getting into.
The End.
