Once Upon a Dream

Prologue

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one 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, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is 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 21st 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 time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?" Beauty And the Beast

No, she didn't want to do that. It was a moment of anger, that she didn't use her rationality. She was sorry that she used magic to try to change someone else. Yet somehow this was good, ending in "Happily Ever After."

Now she just wanted to disappear for a while, in her mind from one day to the next she went from being Circe, the sister of the three witches to becoming the Enchantress. Would that be her legacy? A witch?

For all, she would be remembered as the mysterious

figure who initiated the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast.

For the time being it was good to be like this. For the time being, it was fine.

(...)

He was no longer a beast, he was now a man again, but not the one with the supreme ego. Adam walked around the castle happy that things were back on track. No more men as chandeliers or children as cups. Everything was normal.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

The future resident of the castle asked.

With a few days left before moving into the castle, Belle was used to breaking into her future husband's room and scaring him.

"No big deal." He chuckled half-heartedly at her. He knew he could tell Belle anything. "Just this here I received earlier. He explained it showed a letter. " It's from Phillip and Florian, they are kings of kingdoms near here.

"I get it, and what does it say?"

"Now that most of the kingdoms already know about the curse and the wedding is approaching, they want to see me, that's all."

"And a conversation with friends you haven't seen in years has left you like this?"

She knew him well enough now to know he was worried.

"It's not that, it's that it's not a conversation between friends. It's about a diplomatic meeting."

It could be a beast or a man. I knew that nothing was by coincidence.

(...)

"A union between kingdoms?"

Adam was at the scheduled meeting. It wasn't just Phillip and Florian; it was all the kings. Eric, Arthur, Frederic, and others he didn't even know existed. The subject shocked Adam. They wanted a new king and a new province that would rule all the others.