A Beast's Tale

Cold, cruel, calculating. These are the words that best describe Chevalier Michel, the second prince of Rhodolite. A genius and a master swordsman, he has well and truly earned the monikers the Brutal Beast and the Bloody Tiger, and he's worked his whole life toward the singular goal of claiming the throne. Now, that goal is within reach. But his world turns upside-down when a new maid shows up in his private library, a woman who can stand up to him when nobody else can. So begins an impossible romance. The Brutal Beast, and Rhodolite, will never be the same again.

*****

Based on the otome game Ikemen Prince: Beauty and Her Beast. All images come from the game, and I've also included some dialogue from the prologue and Chevalier's romantic ending where Belle chooses him as king. There is no explicit content, but themes and content are mature.

This is an accompaniment to "A Dove's Tale," and it started off as a writing experiment for me to try retelling the story from a male perspective, which I'd never done before. I strongly recommend reading "A Dove's Tale" in its entirety before reading this. The current version of "A Dove's Tale," written based only on Chevalier's route, has been entered in the Amby Awards 2023. I have since read Leon's, Yves', Nokto's, and Licht's routes, and "A Beast's Tale" contains a TON of new content.

Also, there are some Easter Eggs/references to an older Ikemen game called Midnight Cinderella.

Content Warning: Contains themes of assault, attempted rape, child abuse, depression, extreme violence gore, self-harm, sexual assault abuse, suicide, torture, violent death.