B.&.B

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A very long time ago , on a small farm , there lived a poor farmer with his two daughters and a son . He never made much money , for the farm was very small .

When he was a young man , he lost his beautiful and lovable wife right after she gave birth to his third child , his one and only son . Now his kids were almost young women and his son looked as innocent as ever .

occasionally , he found himself thinking of her and that's when he realized that he still missed his wife and even felt his heart weighing heavily in his chest as he started recalling the memories they once shared .

He was sad , for he had lost the love of his life so early .. He was sad , because his kids had to grow without a mother's love , the irreplaceable gift a person could ever be blessed with in their lifetime .

That's exactly why he has always tried his best to shelter them and be both , a caring mother and a respectable father , never thinking twice when it came to their happiness . He would forfeit his own for them . He'd sacrifice sleep and food to make sure they were leading a good life , a tolerable one at the very least . For them , He'd do anything , as long as it caused no other soul any kind of pain .

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One day , the devoted father called his children for a gathering , happily announcing

" My daughters , my son , the farm has yielded a lot of fruits this year and I can say we have money enough to buy a new cart ! "

The eldest daughter , Gertrude , was very happy to hear that .

" Good ! Because I cannot walk to the village anymore , or carry wood for the fire , I need a cart ! "

" Oh , father . Take me with you , I want to see the town for once ! "

The other one , Ursula , beamed .

" I can't take you with me . you must help them here and look after the farm while I'm gone .. but I promise to bring each of you something with me . "

The father promised , noticing how his youngest child, his son , did not utter a word .

" I want a new satin dress ! An expensive one ! " The brunette , Ursula , abandoned the chair and swayed around the small living room , closing her eyes and smiling as she imagined the dress on her body .

As though triggered by that , the elder daughter joined , freely demanding what her materialistic heart wished for " I want some new clothes too ! And I want some jewellery- a necklace and a ring ! "

The father moved his head in a manner that stood right on the border between a shake and a nod . He was way past the point of feeling disappointed when it came to the two girls . Perhaps , it was in their nature , never being content , always desiring more than what they had . He couldn't blame them for growing up to such misguided perspective though . It wasn't like he could afford much ..

" Well , girls , I will buy you what I can . "

Shrugging along , the man made no promise and then looked at his son before asking

" What do you want from the town ? "

" Father , I only want you to come back home safely . "

The said man saw in his son's kind face the same purity of his dear , sweet , late wife .

But then the two daughters shouted , snapping him out of his daze .

" Father , don't listen to him ! he just wants to make us look selfish ! " Gertrude boldly accused , already giving her brother a scorching glare for daring to do such thing and still have the audacity to look like a harmless child .

Encouraged and following the lead of the elder , Ursula snapped " Yea , he is stupid and likes this poor life ! "

That was not true , he was clever , very clever . He was also very beautiful .

And that's why his name was beauty . Zero , the Beauty !

The father spared the girls a resigned look , overwhelmed with pity and confusion . why were they so different and mean ?

Still he chose to ignore that and instead focused on his son , once more . " Come on , my love , let me bring you something .Tell me , what do you want ? "

The girls rolled their eyes and crossed their arms , puffing their cheeks shortly after . If he didn't know better , he'd have thought it was petulantly adorable of them . But it wasn't ! They shouldn't be treating Zero like that .. And not for the first time , the father started drowning in an all too familiar pit of darkness and fears . What would happen to those three if he were to die all of a sudden ? Would they grow further apart ? Would Beauty have no one by his side ?

" Alright , father . Will you bring me a rose ? " As kindhearted as ever , the silver haired beauty easily snatched those ugly thoughts away , drawing the father's attention back to him . the way he politely asked for something so simple made the man feel his heart constrict and flutter .

" A rose ? why only a rose , dear , when you could have a present ? " The father was bewildered by his son's request .

But beauty didn't share the same thought . He played with the piece of wood in his hands , beautifully carved into a rose . He'd made tons of those and that's exactly how the idea came to him in the first place . He did not want to burden his father with expensive gifts , gifts in general . He was fine that way , really . But when his father insisted , he found himself looking at the carved rose and that delicate tongue of his moved on its own , forming the word . As for why .. " A rose looks so pretty , father . And when you touch it , it is like silk , so soft . And the smell - there is no perfume as lovely as a rose . "

" Yes , my dear . you are right , I will bring you one . " the father finally understood and smiled , agreeing . It was no surprise . After all , only his zero would think of such a selfelss request .

The girls , on the other hand , were not thrilled and chuckled as they heard that . They started tossing the youngest mocking remarks , one after the other " Well , well , I wonder who the daughters are sometimes ! "

" yea , zero . Are you sure you are our brother ? Not sister ? " The girls made snide remarks . they never failed to get creative when it came to ridiculing him .

That was expected and not at all new . It was sometime around maturing that the girls had noticed their brother was actually a lot more different than the others . His exotic coloring and all did not really help .

He was also not into girls in particular , so they assumed he was their sister and that joke grew to be a candy in their mouths . Beauty , however , was not in the least bit affected by their constant attempts of provoking him . Deep inside , he thought of them as a spoiled child and could only shake his head at their way of viewing life .. But at the end of the day , they were his family and he couldn't possibly hate , let alone dislike them . He just couldn't .

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A/N

Very short prologue , I know . the rest of the story requires an extended period of time for me to edit and enhance it . I wanted to post at least this much .

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