Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a rich nobleman who had 3 daughters. They were all beautiful in their own way, but the youngest daughter was the most beautiful of all, and also kind and gentle, and she was known to many as 'Beauty'.
One day, the nobleman found out that he had lost his fortune over a bad business investment and had to sell everything he owned to settle his debts. Thrown from their life of luxury into the level of a commoner, the elder daughters were absolutely miserable, but Beauty, being the kind and gentle soul she was, adapted into it without complaint.
The nobleman's luck soon changed when he received word that one of his many business investments had miraculously bore fruit and the earnings were ripe for the picking. He would have to make the journey to collect those earnings and asked what gifts would their daughters want him get for them to celebrate their good fortune.
"Bring me a chestful of jewels of all kinds," the eldest daughter demanded.
"Bring me the best dresses from every place you traveled," the middle daughter begged.
"Just bring me a bouquet of fresh roses to add to my garden," Beauty requested.
Bidding his daughters farewell, the nobleman made the journey to where he would collect his dues. It was not much, but it was a start and enough to get their family back into the luxury wagon again. He managed to get presents for his elder daughters, but unfortunately the place he was in did not have roses, and he felt bad that he might disappoint Beauty coming home empty-handed.
On his way home, he took a wrong turn and ended up in the treacherous woods where man-eating wolves dwell. His ride was sabotaged and he lost his daughters' gifts in the process as he fled for his life. He stumbled across a dark, desolated castle and, having no other options, entered the grounds.
Once he was inside the castle, however, a lavish sight was upon him. A fire was burning warmly for him. A set of dry clothes was laid out for him. And best of all, a lavish dinner was prepared for him in the dining room. There were no signs of the host or the hired help, but everything was ready for him to his liking, even a bedroom for him to sleep in. And by the next morning, another set of new clothes and a hearty breakfast were ready for him, along with a grander version of his daughters' gifts and a strong, steady horse for his journey home.
As he rode out of the castle grounds, he caught sight of the castle gardens and was reminded of Beauty's gift he promised. Lo and behold, there stood a great rose bush, to the nobleman's relief, and he immediately went forth to unearth a bouquet of them for his beloved youngest daughter.
Suddenly he was seized by the throat and thrown to the ground, and when he looked up to see his assailant, he was shocked to be met with a lion-like beast with great fangs and horns, and choked by a pair of talons.
"How dare you steal from me!" the Beast bellowed. "After all the kindness I have shown you in my home, is this how you repay me?!"
"Have mercy, my lord!" the nobleman begged. "I only wanted to give what I promised to my youngest daughter, for I have 3 girls and I have yet to get her anything."
"I should kill you for your thievery, but I shall make a trade instead. Take as many roses as you like, but I will have one of your daughters in exchange. And do not try to renege on this deal, or your whole family will suffer my wrath!"
Fearing for his life, he agreed to the deal and left with the gifts and the roses. He managed to reach home safely and his daughters welcomed him home eagerly. His elder daughters barely noticed his distraught look, but Beauty did, and they soon learnt about his encounter with the Beast and the deal he made with him. Needless to say, the elder daughters blamed Beauty for their misfortune.
"This is all your fault for requesting such a selfish gift from Father!" they cried. "You must take responsibility!"
Beauty readily volunteered to be the trade, despite her father's protests. Taking the horse the Beast given to the nobleman, she rode on, allowing the horse to lead her back to its master.
Once she was within the castle, she was given the same red carpet treatment as her father did, only this time, the Beast would show up in the evenings to keep her company, dining with her and entertaining her the best he could. He had a bit of a temper, but Beauty had a way of soothing him somehow.
As weeks turned to months and months turned to years, Beauty and the Beast slowly grew fond of each other, and Beauty had somehow began to fall in love with the Beast. She was allowed to return home once a month, and as her sisters grew more and more jealous of Beauty's life of luxury far better than theirs as well as her looks, her father grew more and more worried of Beauty's reluctance to stay longer in her visits in favor of the Beast.
His worst fear was realized when Beauty came home for her monthly visit one day to tell her family that the Beast had proposed to her and she said yes. They were to be wed by fall and she was there to invite them for the wedding.
Her sisters went into a jealous rage at her good fortune and her father went mad with grief. They locked her up in the coal cellar and rallied the villagers to go forth and kill the Beast to release Beauty from his treacherous 'spell'. She was only released at sunrise by one of the Beast's mysterious invisible servants and the horse ready for her to ride back to the castle.
There, within the rose bushes of the castle garden the Beast gifted her, lay the poor Beast covered in mortal wounds and laying in a pool of blood. Beauty begged him to stay alive, but the Beast's life was slowly fading away.
"It is time you learn the truth, my dear Beauty..." the Beast whispered. "I am actually a Prince cursed by an enchantress...I was once an evil man, brought up by evil and never knowing love, and the enchantress cursed me to be a Beast as punishment...Only mutual true love will break the spell and it would've been so on our wedding night...But now...I am just happy to see you one last time...before I die..."
With that, the Beast breathed his last, and before her very eyes, Beauty saw as the Beast's features melted away--gone were the lion-like face, the fangs and the talons--to reveal a handsome, young prince. The Beast had told the truth but she was too late to realize it.
In a fit of rage and despair, Beauty killed her family and all the villagers to avenge the Beast that she had come to love with all her heart. But somehow, the more she killed, the angrier she was, and soon she was killing more and more people to try and bring down that rage to no avail. She would return to the castle every night after each kill, but by the next day, she was out again, searching for blood.
Just when she was about to make her next killing, a stranger appeared before Beauty in the form of a tall, beautiful woman with long-flowing forest-green robes and a golden crown adorned with green jewels, her hair as golden as the sun and lips as red a rose, but eyes as black as night.
"Who are you?" Beauty asked.
"I am the one responsible for the Beast's curse," the enchantress replied.
"What has he done to deserve this? What cruelty has he done to you to suffer the fate of never again being able to face the outside world?"
"I only meant for him to learn to love. His forefathers before him ruled the kingdom with an iron fist, and he was bound to follow their footsteps in their tyranny. If I were not to intervene, he would turn into a ruler worse than his forefathers and many will suffer from his sins."
"You were wrong!" Beauty cried. "He is everything to me! He had treated me with more love and understanding than any man can ever be! It's all your fault he's dead!"
"Years of being a Beast and you returning his love have humbled him, but his death was not my doing, but of your family."
"Then give me back my Beast! Return my beloved to me!"
"I cannot revive the dead, nor can I change the past, but your thirst for revenge has turned you into the same creature I have turned your beloved into. You have turned your love and loss into a form so distorted that you can no longer love or trust anyone. Your bloodlust is too great that I cannot allow you to be out there and massacre the world to soothe your own pain. You are a Beast, dear Beauty. A different kind of Beast, but a Beast nonetheless.
"Therefore, I shall transfer his curse to you. You are now doomed to remain a Beast until someone is willing to look past your monstrous form and love you for who you are, and you will never set foot beyond the gates of this castle ever again."
A long pause ensued before Beauty hung her head in resignation and replied, "I can never forgive myself for what I've done to my beloved. Do as you will to me. This is the least I deserve."
Beauty was trapped forever in the Beast's castle, never to leave and never to harm mankind again, and till this day, Beauty--now the Beastess--remained there, killing anyone who dares set foot into the home that she and her beloved shared, as she mourned for her lost love and yearn for the day that she would meet him again in another life...
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