CHAPTER 1 

"Uncle," His Majesty the king says in a somber tone, "You should get married."

"Don't speak nonsense," replied the ancient beast, Canziano Ida Raoul Wolfe. The beast held an appearance likened to a wolf, a fortunate coincidence since wolves we considered sacred in Wolfe thus after being cursed he wasn’t sentenced to death. Of course there were assassinations, but no official action could be taken against his life. While it could be considered a blessing to be a wolf-like beast, it was undoubtedly a curse for the once crown prince to turn into a beast. His once stunning face was traded for a quite ghastly maw, with golden eyes that might have looked gorgeous had he been human but now only emitted an oppressive quality. His body was now covered with coarse black fur and was nearly twice his original size. Dangerously sharp claws that only grew in length each year, and he had been alive for many many years by now.

"We will die without an heir, then he will be next in line to be king. But, if you have a legitimate child they will be able to inherit the throne instead."

"As unfortunate as that would be, your majesty, I have no plans to offer my life in service of this kingdom's welfare."

"And if We order you to be married?"

"You don't have such authority, my king," Canziano replies.

"Unfortunately that really is the case, it seems despite being king there are many things which We cannot control. But couldn't you humor the request of a dying man? Not for the kingdom but for your great-great-great grand-nephew?"

"Your brother is also my nephew, should I humor his requests too, your majesty?"

"If it means he won't be kind then We should only gladly agree to such an offer."

"Your majesty, don't act so pitifully. It is unfortunate that his highness will succeed you but this is not something I can help you with. Though I may look like this I am not so inhuman to force a child to marry a beast."

"Then what if the person was willing?"

"For my status I am sure that there are many who are, but I am still not willing. If that is all this servant will be taking his leave."

"It can't be helped, We have a different request then." His majesty said with a defeated look, yet contrary to that appearance the beast smelled a scheme afoot. "Though I know you are not one for politics, it would help if your status is raised before I die. Why not become a hero slay the dragon in the garden of roses? While I might not have authority over your marriage, I am able to order a beast to go into battle."

The Garden of Roses was unlike it’s pleasant name. The garden was a forest of mutant roses from the ancient times, more ancient then this ancient beast. A time when fairies and their magic were much more common. It’s known that the land didn’t always have such a dangerous landscape, nor was it always home to an eternal dragon. However the legends on what event cursed the land were lost to the public and the kingdom that would have had the most insight was all but completely conquered when the beast was still the Crown Prince leaving only a small city states to carry it’s legacy. The Beast was alive during several dragon hunting crusades. To conquer a single dragon was a near impossible feat at one time but with enough manpower and magic items it became possible. At current the number of true dragons on the continent could be accounted for on a single hand. The remaining one all having strength tiers above the rest. This was the sort of mission that was bound to fail. Consequently Canzaino thought, This bitch really wants me to die. "This is different then war your majesty."

"Guardian Beast of the Wolfe Kingdom, in times of relative peace I haven't asked you to take vanguard yet so I'm not sure under what grounds you can refuse this."

"On the grounds that the enemy is a non-hostile dragon and not a kingdom, that this is an offensive and not a defensive event! Since we are in times of peace I don't even have an army under my command, and a legion of soldiers is not enough to slay a dragon."

"Have some faith in your abilities. I believe you can do well. Now, receive your decree," his highness says becoming a servant with an encased scroll in hand to come forward. "Or you could just agree to get married and we can forget about this."

"Ha, fucking hell. Every fucking relative of mine either wants my life or my death. If I could disinherit myself I surely would, I was a fool to resist breaking ties when I had the chance. What revenge can I even take against a dying man?" The beastly Grandduke laughed, a sight that made everyone but the dying king cower in fear. The beast was most certainly speaking out of tone, which was a grievous offense but the ancient beast was an individual who could do almost anything within the Wolfe Kingdom, a privilege he gained after dying the kingdom in native and foreign blood. He could do anything but refuse to fight a battle when a king who hasn't used his power orders it. Of course the beast could defect, but the creature had nowhere to run. He had lived a long painful life, and thought it would be alright to meet death in combat. "I'll accept your decree your majesty."

The king looked shocked at the beast's response but did not rescind the decree.

Princess Sofh Ramla Ains of the Ains Imperial Dynasty, sat amongst the expansive labyrinth of books. It was a quiet place. At one point in time, when she still bothered to translate such a concept to her realm, she was always surrounded by companions to entertain her during imprisonment. However the current her was nothing like her past. No longer scared of solitude, the empty environment allowed her to feel calm. It was not necessary to turn the pages of the book to absorb it’s knowledge but reading was a blessing the Princess found pleasure in. It was no use being beautiful, but the constant arrival of new books saved her from true isolation. Beauty was a useless thing in her malleable non physical realm, and she was nearly permanently cut off from the outside world where her beauty has value. Though it wasn’t completely useless, despite the time that had passed she hadn’t aged and was healthy according to her follower’s observations. Her ebony brown skin still had a youthful glow and jet black hair continued to grow healthily so much so that with the passage of time she could rival rapunzel. Such an appearance probably helped when she was a proper princess, despite being cursed she was treated well and she knew many of her followers offered themselves because of her beauty so it truly wasn’t completely useless. However the blessing of knowledge was better in her humble opinion.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Her current book was a record by a young pauper, detailing the atrocities he’s seen committed by the lord. It was a poorly written testament that unfortunately wouldn’t hold up in court, but the book Sofh had read prior was a compilation of letters between a spy posing as a servant for that corrupt lord and his master who was in the neighboring county. A spy who was likely unaware he had been compromised. A drama was being told via a paper trail nobody but Princess Sofh would be able to follow. 

Princess, a voice called asking to be let into the library. With the power of her thought the servant was allowed to enter and she faded into view. 

“Abigail, what brings you here? If I recall it isn’t your turn yet.” Sofh says putting aside the book.

“I’d like to take a leave,” she said gently. Her youthful appearance morphing into an extremely old woman. To take leave at her age meant she wished to die. For all the knowledge the princess acquired suicide was something she couldn’t understand. However it had occurred multiple times before so it wasn't suprising. Though not as many times as a person would guess, most of her followers remained in impassive states for years on end thus there was no happenstance of weariness.

“I’ll allow it, but let's have some tea before you leave.”

“Of course Princess.”

“Was there anything you would like to know before you leave?” Soph says. 

“When will your curse break?”

This wasn’t the sort of question Sofh hoped to answer but to a dying woman she thought to answer with her best ability. “While I am blessed with knowledge, I don’t have foresight. However while all curses can be broken not all will. Especially since my curse is from the Dark Fairy, it's likely that it never will. However I can’t imagine a life anymore that's not a dream, this is who I am now and I’ve learned to accept myself,” the ancient princess of Ains said. Everything she said was true, however she had likely sabotaged any chance of breaking the curse the year before it became active for magic ability. Trading her love for dreams was a decision she chose during heartbreak, but Sofh slowly learned that the trade was more profitable than it seemed. This is likely due to the trade occurring between Sofh Ramla Ains and one of her fairy godmothers instead of a rogue fairy.

“If that’s the case I wish you sweet dreams.”

“Thank You, and I hope your final rest is filled with sweet dreams as well.” the beautiful princess responds.

In response Abigail smiles timidly. There is no wavering in her heart, but Ramala Ains was certain it was a difficult decision. This was the cruelest aspect of the curse for those who dared follow her, an aspect which she would never know, the ability to decide when they die else live for eternity. For herself, she would live forever with death not being an option until her curse is broken.

“I’m not sure if you read it yet, but I hear that Ains will be receiving an important guest.” Abigail says effectively changing the topic.

“I haven’t read anything like that, my current reading list is at least half a century old involving different political conspiracies in the Great West. But what sort of guest is it to peak your interest?”

“The Guardian beast of Wolfe.”

It was a name the princess was intimately familiar with, a fact Abigail knew which was probably why the old maid bothered mentioning him up. “Grandduke Canziano Ida Raoul Wolfe, I used to read a lot about him, but I’ve stopped recently. For what reason would that soul come to this corner of the world?” said the princess.

“Most of the rumors are too wild to be the truth. However, the rumors burning down the rose forest seems to be the most popular.”

“The beast does hate the curséd flower, but I doubt he’d come all the way here to destroy some. Well there is no need to speculate, shall we see for certain?” A black diary appeared and the princess began to read the contents out loud translating the text fluently into Abigail’s native language as Sofh read.

Fuck the king, there’s no fucking way I’m going to do what he wants. Fuck peace, if Ains was properly at war I’d not have to deal with this. All of Wolfe can go rot in hell for all I care. All the fucking world could go to hell actually, no if I think about it his world already is hell. “Go slay a dragon,” he says. Me and what army? 

For now I’ll postpone as long as possible. Maybe if the twerp kicks the bucket quick enough I can get the second prince to rescind the order. No, as much as the current king has angered me, I hate that man doubly. Seeing him on the throne would be dreadful, but it's not the first time I will despise the king and definitely not enough of an issue. I'd get tricked into marriage. . .

“To think he’s coming to kill you of all the impossible things,” Abigail said. 

“Maybe I should help him a bit,” the princess says.

“Huh, how would that work?”

“I can help him postpone, and I could start a war.”

“Princess, you are saying some scary things. Dream peacefully.”

“Well, that works too, he’d never be able to kill my illusion nor would he be harmed by it. Though it would be annoying if they broke the illusion, but I should have enough shush money to stop the word from getting out.”

“But what was that comment about marriage?” Agail said. 

The beautiful princess touched her hand to her temple and searched for the answer instead of summoning a related book to receive the answer. “The current king wants the Grandduke to bear an heir so his brother doesn’t get access to the throne. Well it wouldn't be so bad for him to marry, true love can forcibly break many curses.”