Chapter 1
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart could desire, the prince was a troublemaker, irresponsible, and careless. But then, one winters night, his parents were through with him. They demanded that he be more regal, or they would make sure he would be forever locked in the castle. Amused by their outrageous demand, he laughed it off. But they warned him, to not belittle them. When he laughed them off a second time, they brought in a powerful wizard. The prince tried to apologize to his parents, but it was far too late, for they had seen that the prince would never change.
As punishment the wizard transformed the prince into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on all who lived there, except for the King and Queen. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window into the outside world. A rose lay in place of his crown, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.
As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast.