In a small region of France, nestled within a pristine forest, lay a shimmering white castle. Although one wouldn't know it if they were seeing it for the first time, it had once been under an enchantment which happened years ago.
The region's young king, Adam, who lived in the castle, had once been a spoiled, selfish and unkind child. When he was only eleven years old, he was transformed into a hideous beast by an enchantress, disguised as an old beggar woman whom he refused shelter to on Christmas Eve and his servants were transformed into household objects until he had learnt to love another and earn her love in return before his twenty-first birthday.
In the enchantment's last year, it had been broken and Adam had married a former peasant woman named Belle, who became his queen and whom he loved with all his heart and soul as did she.
The couple were devoted to each other and their kingdom which they ruled fairly and benevolently and were loved by their subjects who resided in the village where Belle came from, given their history but they let bygones be bygones and made peace with each other.
A year after their wedding, the queen became pregnant and it was a joyous and happy time for the couple, as they had wanted a child very much and vowed to love their son or daughter and always be there for him or her, no matter what. The servants were also excited about the coming baby, especially Chip, who was looking forward to having a new playmate.
Along with the long-serving faithfuls- Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Babette and Madame Armoire- six new servants had joined the staff, having endured hardships in their lives and were keen to leave all that behind and have a fresh start. They were married couple Raymond and Amelie, the castle artists; brothers George and Remy, the launderers; Katrine, a dressmaker and Madame Armoire's beloved niece and Rebecca, a kitchen maid and part-time doll maker.
They had little to no knowledge about the enchantment, although Katrine, through her aunt, seemed to be more knowledgeable about it. In addition, Belle's father Maurice had married Mrs Potts and became a well-loved permanent resident of the castle and received a huge, well-lit and ventilated workroom where he could work on his inventions and was looking forward to the birth of his grandchild.
But the peace was soon shattered when one day, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, a mob invaded the castle, intending to kill the king. It was led by Anton LeGume, the younger brother of Gaston, the late 'hero' of the village who had wanted Belle as his wife and had also led a mob to kill the Beast when he realised that Belle fell in love with him, only to meet his demise by falling into a ravine after stabbing the Beast and the mob had been defeated by the enchanted objects.
Anton, although he had hated Gaston, since he had always usurped him in everything he did and had been the favourite son in their family, nonetheless wanted to avenge his brother's death and become the new town hero- 'to do what Gaston never could- kill the king and claim the queen as my own!' he had said at the time.
After entering, he got his cronies that he managed to recruit when he told them he was avenging Gaston and one of them just happened to be LeFou, Gaston's loyal sidekick who also wanted to avenge his death, to gather Adam, a heavily pregnant Belle, Maurice and the servants into the ballroom, tied them up and held them hostage, making them witness to his terrible deed, where they were helpless to do anything and could only pray that no harm came to them and that they would be saved.
Adam, determined to protect and save Belle, Maurice and the servants and fearing for his child, fought Anton, only to get shot in the chest by his pistol in front of everyone.
'See that, Pa? WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE NOW?!' he shouted to the sky, as he shot Adam. Anton then grabbed Belle, who was distraught about what happened to Adam and tried to get her to marry him. When she refused, Anton grabbed her roughly by the neck and pointed the pistol at her stomach, intending to harm both her and her unborn child.
Fortunately, Cogsworth was able to raise the alarm and the ordeal ended when Anton was arrested (and later executed for attempted regicide) and everyone was freed safe and relatively unharmed (sans for Adam), although they were rattled by the whole thing. Adam had been lucky that the bullet from Anton's pistol hadn't struck his heart, only grazing his rib (had it indeed struck, it would've been fatal) and was expected to make a full recovery. Belle and the baby were both fine and none the worse for wear after the ordeal, to her relief as she had been terrified of losing both of them.
A month later, everything was back to normal and Belle gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl, who was the spitting image of Belle with Adam's auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes. The little princess was named Rose, since it was that flower that brought her parents together, Belle's favourite flower and it was in a rose garden where Adam had proposed to Belle, so it had significant meaning for them. Belle and Adam instantly loved their precious daughter the moment she arrived and placed into Belle's arms, spending the rest of the day cuddling and nuzzling her.
A huge celebration banquet was put on a week after Rose's birth, where villagers and nobles from all around France and the Versailles court came bringing gifts and their respect and well-wishes to the newborn princess, who spent the time sleeping in her crib, with her proud parents looking on. They also lit pink rose-shaped candles to mark her birth and would light one every year on her birthday, with pearl-studded ones to mark milestone birthdays.
It was hoped that Rose would have a healthy, happy childhood, never to suffer the same fate as her father and that she would grow into a beautiful young woman who would one day become queen of her kingdom and for a while, it seemed that way. No one could know what fate was to come.