Summary: The arrogant young lord of the Rose Mansion was cursed by a sorceress and turned him into a hideous beast. Tetsuya was a poor toy maker's son who came to the cursed mansion to save his father who was threatened by the beast. There he discovered that there's a lot more going on inside that mansion than just a fearsome beast.

Disclaimer: I don't own the original story of the Beauty and the Beast, nor do I own KnB or the individual pictures I used for this story's cover photo.

Before you read this: The story follows the main outline of the Beauty and the Beast. The setting of this story is purely fictional and will be largely based on Europe's medieval era. There will be some Japanese concepts I will borrow, such as their naming convention and the use of honorifics, their speech etiquette, and tiny bits of their culture. As I am neither Japanese nor European, I might commit a lot of mistakes, so I apologize in advance. Just think of this as an AU (since it actually is one). Also, the characters might be a bit OOC- or a lot OOC- especially their speech. But they act like the characters in my other story "The Boy and His Fish", so I hope it will be alright.

Also, the pacing of this story will be slow, especially at the beginning. I estimate at least 10 chapters of around 5k words per chapter for this story, and it will roughly be twice or thrice longer than my previous work. Enjoy!

Prologue

{c}-`-,-

Once upon a time...

there was a handsome but arrogant young lord who lived in the Rose Mansion. It was called thus because of the many beautiful roses that adorned the place, all of which were rich deep red in color. The young lord valued those roses above all other else inside that mansion, and he was merciless in handing down punishments to those who dared touch them without his leave.

One day, an old and ragged traveling woman in worn gray cloak stopped by the mansion seeking refuge for the night. When the young lord saw the dirty rags she wore, he immediately turned her down without a second glance. The traveler persisted and begged for food and water, but the young lord would spare none, especially not to peasants. But the traveler still did not leave. Lastly, she asked for a single rose from his beautiful garden as a balm for her weary heart. To this, the young lord grew hot with anger and suddenly lashed out at the old woman.

But the old woman who they all thought was decrepit with age suddenly leapt out of his way with fluid grace. Then she tossed aside her cloak, and behold! She was beautiful and magnificent; queenly she seemed beneath her tattered cloak.

"Thrice have I asked you for things that you could have easily given," she said in a loud, clear, and ominous voice, "And thrice have you rejected and treated me ill. Therefore, I condemn you to a form that reflects the hideousness of your heart."

The wind picked up and the leaves rustled. A sudden excruciating pain filled the young master and a shrill cry was ripped from his throat. His entire body felt as if it was burning from inside his chest.

Then the transformation began.

His mouth grew wide and his teeth grew long and jagged; his canines became much longer than the rest. Two small horns swelled on his forehead, and they grew larger until they broke the skin, curled and grew longer still until they resembled a ram's horns. The hair on his skin was turned into fur, and his neat red hair was turned into a thick mess of red mane. His nails were turned into claws, and his hands into paws. His arms and legs stretched and bent awkwardly until they resembled those of a large canine's. And finally, his left eye's color turned to liquid gold: the mark of the curse.

"Let all that shall see you fear you," said the woman. " You shall be doomed to a life of solitude, far from humanity and from the people you have scorned."

A guttural scream was heard as the young man-turned-beast writhed in pain.

Then she added in a more subdued voice, "This curse shall only be lifted once you find a person you could love with your entire being, and who would sincerely love you in return despite your deformities. But it should be done before all of the roses here withered. Should you fail to do so, you shall live the rest of your life as a mindless beast."

Then the woman left.

The beast was filled with remorse, but it was already too late.