In the year 2160, the entire world has gone back to having kings and queens as rulers because of the common ground it created with all the countries. This way, there were no countries that had a president, while another had a king. It seemed to go more smoothly that way.

All the marriages of royalties were arranged and not chosen. The royal youth were also forbidden to associate with the commoners, let alone be attracted to one. If one was found to have an attraction to someone of lower status, they were discouraged. Furthermore, if one of the youth had an affair with someone of the lower class, they were torn apart, and the lower class person was often executed. This also seemed to make things go a lot more smoothly between countries, even if it meant the deaths of a few lower class people. It did not matter to the upper class, and certainly not to the royalties.

Prince LuHan’s great, great grandfather was the first king of modern day China. Therefore, LuHan had grown up within the comfort of the palace and had been content. There was nothing he was lacking and he had become very self assured. He had also grown up with the mindset of self preservation. If you were royalty, it was all about you and your own comforts. LuHan didn’t get along with the other royalties of China, because he was a prince and higher than them. This caused him to become cold hearted and unapproachable. Even the servants avoided him at all cost, hoping he would not need anything that day…which never happened. He was mean to them, because they were also beneath him. Every time he needed something, if they failed to rush to his side immediately, they are punished.

Though this was the common outlook in this society, LuHan’s behavior bothered his parents and they decided it needed to change. He was going to ruin their chances of ever making strong alliances with the more complicated countries who had not had not quite accepted all of the customs. South Korea was one of those countries. His parents decided they were going to have a meeting with South Korea and arrange a marriage with their princess, Minah and Prince LuHan. LuHan dreaded the day of the ball, at which he is to meet his future wife.

Two weeks later, LuHan met Princess Minah. She seemed to be very nice, so they went out on the balcony to talk. She started up a conversation with him, and he began talking about how happy he was with his life as a single man. It was clear that he didn’t want to get married. She felt as if he wasn’t interested in her at all, and finally brought it up. She had an idea of how she could fix the problem.

“So, Prince LuHan, may I ask you a question?” She smiled at him.

“Sure,” LuHan shrugged. “What did you have on your mind?” He offered her a fake
smile. He didn’t have a reason to impress her or anyone else.

“Well, you don’t seem to be interested in me at all. Either that, or you are too in love with yourself to want to marry anyone. You seem to care only for yourself…or maybe you just aren’t attracted to ME, as a woman. If that’s the case, I could talk to your parents.” She smiled at him, seeming to be sick of his attitude, but making the best of it. She knew that his attitude wasn’t going to change with an arranged marriage, and that was what his parents were trying to do.

LuHan shook his head. “Don’t bother. They won’t listen, and it doesn’t matter if I am attracted to you,” he smiled at her. “They won’t take my feelings into consideration, as your parents will ignore yours, also. You don’t seem to see that.”

Princess Minah stared at him, nodding slowly. He was still being rude, which was what she had been expecting in the first place. “Well, my parents spoke with me about it, and they made sure I understood. I don’t have a problem marrying someone I don’t love, because it’s good for my country.”

“Well, unlike yours, my parents didn’t even speak with me about it before deciding. They just told me I was to get married, and they wanted it to be with South Korea, since we have had problems, in the past,” he glanced at her. “It’s not a matter of our hearts.”

She nodded. “That’s true…So, would it be different if I were male? I do know some good looking guys that are of our class. Not exactly royalty, though…”

LuHan’s head snapped up. “Well…they wouldn’t go for it. That’s beside the point, because I don’t want to marry anyone.”

“I don’t want to marry you, either. It’s simply something we must do for our countries,” Princess Minah smiled at him. ‘Your problem isn’t one that marriage will fix. You are stuck up and the way you treat servant is unacceptable…’ She kept all of these thoughts to herself, and turned to him. “Hey, I do have a solution, though. Just leave it to me. Trust me…”

“Uh…okay,” LuHan was confused.

Princess Minah left, going to her parents. “He’s unwilling,” She smiled at them. “Remember what happened to my cousin years ago, where he was cursed, but someone fell for him?”
Her mother looked intrigued. “You think that’s the right solution for Prince LuHan? He seems unwilling to love anyone…”

Minah nodded. “Exactly. He will, or live the rest of his life as a freak. He needs a lesson in how he treats EVERYONE, not just royalty.”

Her father nodded. “It sounds like a good idea. Do we know a witch?”

Minah grinned. “I do, and she won’t make him completely hideous. She will just teach him a lesson and he’ll come back to me. That simple.”

Her mother looked through her contacts, selecting one. “I’ll set it up. His parents don’t need to know of this, until it has happened. They will send him away, and we will then tell them how we fixed the problem. Either the prince falls in love, or he remains a beast.”

That night, there was a knock on his bedroom door. When he opened it, LuHan saw an old woman standing there. She asked to come in, so he opened the door. Once she was inside, she handed him a red rose in a glass case. “When this rose has lost its last petal, if you have not found true love, and learn to love other people, you will remain as you are.” She turned and left, with the rose sitting on the dresser.

LuHan looked confused, and didn’t think anything of it, going to bed.

The next morning, he looked in the mirror. To his shock, he had features like a cat, with fur, pointy ears, whiskers, a cat nose…and a tail. Staring at himself, he didn’t know how to react. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. Nothing had changed. He began feeling light headed and finally passed out from the shock of it. He was ruined.