Tale as Old as Time | ✓

Beast

The Beast was furious as he left the servants at the girl's door, as she refused to eat with him. He strode out of the wing and headed towards his study as he couldn't bear to be in the same environment as her. She was infuriating as she refused his request, given that he had forced her but, it was still a rude thing to do. She was the sweetest person he had met other than his mother, and he didn't want to hurt her but he ended up being on her hatred end.

Beast reached his study as he strode in and sat on the chair in front of him. He looked around the papers spread in front of him, they were laying there since years and he couldn't get himself to look at them. There al belonged to the royal work as he was supposed to do when he would be ruling around the Village but, he had failed his mother who had taught him the little things in life. He was furious at him for not changing, his father for being cruel and at his mother for being the sweet understanding person she was.

As he thought of his mother, he found courage and finally picked up the papers after years and stared at them as he read the papers. The papers were about the taxations and he was making a plan to raise the taxes before everything that happened. He supposed what happened to him were the consequences of his cruel system and his selfishness. But, he couldn't help himself as he was just a mere teenager when the Enchantress had cursed him. He was given full custody of the gold in the castle and all he wanted to do was spend them over luxuries. He was doing that, but soon he discovered that gold can finish too and you had to earn them more to spend. But, he was taught he was a prince and he wasn't supposed to earn them, he could steal them from the villagers by taxing them. And thus, he proceeded to do the same.

He never knew the concept of earning gold; he knew only to spend it. He kept on increasing the taxes around the Village and the villagers complied as they had no choice but, to do so. He secured the Village from the Outsiders and they gave him gold. He threw lavish parties and drank alcohol as he bathed in luxuries.

The Beast was broken from his memory as he heard Mr. Cogsworth loud voice scolding Lumière over something. He looked out through his study's door and tried making sense of the voices. He gave up a second later as he couldn't for the life of him get up and see what they were up to. Instead, he looked down at the papers in his hands, and picked up a pen in his hands, the claws making the paper seem fragile in his hand.

The feeling of holding the pen in his hand was foreign to him after all these years and he shrugged his hands once, trying to get the sense back. He shook his head as he put the paper down on the table and held the pen in his hand. He scratched out the old value of tax and lessened the percentage ten times as he wrote a new value on the paper. He smiled lightly as he had done something progressive since his change. He smiled sadly remembering his mother, but the image in front of his eyes was replaced by the girl from earlier. The way her eyes were widened as she stared at him. He shook his head as he closed his eyes, trying to forget that image.

Suddenly, something in his heart tugged as his heart constricted. He knew what was wrong as he ran towards his bedroom. He feared something had happened to the rose. He climbed the walls leading to the balcony with his claws, as it was a shorter way than climbing the stairs. As he neared the balcony, he saw the girl standing next to the rose. She touched the glass lid covering the rose and his heart burned.

His eyes widened as rage filled his mind as quickly jumped down on the balcony with a loud thud. The girl turned her head towards him and her eyes widened as she took him in. He quickly walked over to the rose and pushed the girl aside as she saw the rose sparkle in the dim light. Something is wrong, he thought. The Beast had never seen the rose sparkle like this before. He touched the glass trying to find any scratches but found nothing. He turned his head to look at the girl who was standing few steps away from him, clutching her wrist in her hand as she caressed it. He asked her as he saw nothing but rage, "What are you doing here? What did you do to it?"

The girl was scared as she answered, "Nothing." She looked at him with fera in her eyes and that cause to anger him more as he asked her, taking a step towards her, "Do you realise what you could have done? You could have ruined us all." He stomped his foot heavily as he walked towards her. He growled at her as he neared here, "Go!" He roared out loud as he pushed her away, and the girl ran away from him as he turned back to check the rose.

He closed the doors of his bedroom shut, not wanting to let anyone near the rose. He had to keep it safe at all cost. He walked over to the balcony as he looked down. He saw the girl getting on the horse. She quickly sat on it and rushed out of the gates. He saw her ride out of the gateway and sighed in relief as she entered the forest. The night was dark and a few seconds later, he heard the howling of the wolves. His eyes widened as he heard the loud neighing of the horse. 

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