Page 50 of Legacy of Roses

Forgetting propriety completely, he pulled up his shirt to gaze with horror at his stomach. It wasn’t just his arm or his back. He was covered in hair.

He broke into a run, racing for the manor door and a mirror. At least he could still move freely. He should be grateful he felt no urge to drop to all fours and lope along like a wolf. Or was that just because the transformation was incomplete?

He’d known their plan involved him turning into a fabled Beast. But the descriptions he’d read in books had been both vague and varied, so he’d had no clear idea of what to expect. And for some nonsensical reason, he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

Everyone who turned into a Beast must have a different experience—like the different punishments the Legacy enacted for leaving the kingdom’s borders. He only hoped the Legacy would continue to go easy on him.

Standing in front of the mirror, it was hard to muster relief, however. His body hair had grown so long it more closely resembled fur than hair, and his facial hair now obscured everything except his eyes. He didn’t recognize himself at all, and if he attempted to venture into Thebarton, he would likely be chased away by fearful townsfolk. He wouldn’t even be able to blame them. No one who saw him could mistake what hadhappened, and if they feared to associate with Rosalie’s family, they would fear him even more.

“I should have gotten more supplies,” he said aloud to the mirror. “I didn’t think this through very well.”

Perhaps they could request help from Daphne if they needed it. She wasn’t likely to abandon Rosalie after going so far to help them.

With that mildly reassuring thought, he had to pull together an evening meal for himself and then attempt to sleep. The task seemed impossible, despite his comfortable new bed, but eventually he succumbed to slumber. As he drifted off, it was with thoughts of the next day’s work. He would need to prepare a second bedchamber now that the manor was getting another inhabitant.

He was awake just after dawn and glad for an activity to fill his time. But when he got to the bedchamber he had chosen for Rosalie, he was left silent and staring. The manor had been keeping itself clean since his arrival, but it had now raised its efforts to a whole different level.

The room before him looked just as personalized as his mother’s had done, but it also gave off a fresh feeling, as if it had been prepared only hours before. Gone were the neutral colors he remembered previously, and in their place was deep purple with hints of gold. A room ready for royalty.

Fresh cut flowers filled the air with fragrance, and every possible luxury of furniture was positioned in the optimal way. Even the sheets on the four-poster bed looked and smelled fresh, as if someone had been busily changing them overnight.

He didn’t need to do any work for Rosalie’s arrival after all. But while the Legacy had done a better job than he could have, its efforts left him at a loose end. Part of him wanted to explore any other overnight changes to the manor, but another part of him was afraid of what he might find. It was one thing for theLegacy to pour power into his garden, or to keep the building free of dust, but he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of it flowing freely through his home.

He took a further step into the room instead and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror over the dressing table. Recoiling in shock, he nearly collided with the open door. Had he grown even more hair while he was sleeping? It looked matted now, and he recognized nothing of his old self except his height.

He turned quickly away from the reflection, deciding he could face the rest of the castle after all. But he had barely reached the top of the main staircase when a loud knock rang through the entryway, echoing from the double doors directly beneath him.

Someone had already arrived. Given his current appearance, he could only hope it was Rosalie.

He raced down the stairs only to pause with his hand on the latch. What would Rosalie think when she saw his new appearance?

When he had imagined her moving in, he had conveniently forgotten the state he would be in. Now that the moment had come, he hesitated to open the doors. Part of him resisted the idea of her seeing him as a Beast.

But the thought was pure foolishness. He couldn’t avoid the meeting, and it didn’t matter anyway. Rosalie had never seemed to like his face, so what did it matter if it had changed beyond recognition?

He pulled the doors open with one swift heave, and Daphne stepped inside. His heart immediately sank. Had Rosalie gotten cold feet in the night?

The thought was inconceivable. Had something happened to her then?

He barely had a chance to feel a flash of concern before Rosalie followed Daphne inside.

“I’m the one who asked for the rose,” she said. “I’m here to take my friend’s place.”

Relief filled Dimitri, and he nearly forgot his line. But both girls were looking at him expectantly, so he managed to stumble over it.

“Do you come willingly?”

“I do,” she said. “Even if I am to die, I’ll remain gladly in place of my friend.”

No sooner had she finished the sentence than a series of loud bangs sounded outside. All three of them jumped, and Rosalie and Dimitri both ran for the open doorway.

Outside, a series of bright fireworks in brilliant colors exploded across the sky, the deafening cracks continuing.

“What a waste,” Daphne said from behind them, peering up at the sky over Rosalie’s shoulder. “There’s no point having fireworks in the daytime.”

“At least we know the Legacy accepted the exchange.” Dimitri looked down at Rosalie with a smile. So far everything was going according to plan.

“This is a disaster!” Rosalie hissed through her teeth, flattening his pleasure. “How do we make them stop?”

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