Prologue
Once upon a time in a faraway land lived a young prince in a shining castle. Always busying himself with tinkering and never caring for himself, those who worked for him nor their families and although he had everything his heart could desire, the prince was selfish and unkind.
But then, one cold winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance and worthless offering, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty and worth are found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress.
The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. And as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.
Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-fifth year.
If he could learn to love another and earn her 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 eternity.
Many sleepless nights he spent trying to tinker his way out of the curse placed upon the palace but as the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?