When I'm with you, I feel safe from the things that hurt me inside
Chapter 1: Needing a Servant
Beautiful women in his castle; that's all Prince Adam ever wanted in his luxurious castle. His castle full of gold objects, shiny antiques, and the most wonderful people from all over the world serving him every day.
The thing about his servants were that they didn't love him. He was incredibly handsome, alright, but he was selfish and unkind, especially towards them. Everything had to be the right way, his way.
Most of the time, he disrespected them, but whenever there was a ball in his castle, he would treat them like never before. But, the only thing about his balls were that only the most beautiful people could come. Ugliness? Didn't even get a chance in his castle.
Every woman that had come to his ball had admired him, like he was a gift from God, but he didn't mind them because they were not beautiful enough to be his own. He wants a wife who is the most beautiful woman anyone has ever seen.
The women at his balls would think, "Why would I come if he isn't going to give me a chance?" or "Is he ever going to not worry about looks?" He laughed every time he saw a woman shed into tears after passing by them.
Even his servants, including all the males, were not handsome or beautiful enough to get married or anything, but he wanted servants, and so he got some. But today, in the 18th century, he still needed one more servant.
He didn't care what they looked like; he just wanted another servant to make fun of because they were working, and he wasn't. He knew that his trustworthy servants were going to find another one. Hopefully finding one that Prince Adam could fall in love with, not because of looks, but of personality.
In the grand, luxurious library in the castle, Adam was sitting in front of a desk reading a Shakespeare play called "Guinevere and Lancelot". He had grown up to love Shakespeare, but what was depressing was that no one else he knew loved him as much as he did.
Deep down inside him, he was not the prince everyone knew. He was just playing a role that is mind thought would be a great role to rule a castle.
He was laughing at almost all the romance parts because he hates romance, especially in books. He could feel chills come up his body when he read the romance part, but he just completely ignored it.
Then, his old servant, Cogsworth, walked into the library, worried that his master would be angry at him for interrupting his reading. Cogsworth asked nervously, "Master?" He looked up from his book, and smirked at the nervous one in front of him.
Cogsworth said, "Um, I was g-going out to the town. I was going to take Mrs. Potts and Chip with me. Maybe I-I could find a new servant for you there…?" Adam chuckled, his blue eyes meeting the old man's brown eyes.
He stood up from the desk, and he walked to the old man. He chuckled at him again. Cogsworth thought, why is he continuously laughing at me?
Adam said, "I need that servant. I don't care who it is. I want that servant and they better be someone I can trust. They can dust these shelves, they can make me dinner, they can teach you how to be a good servant!"
How dare he call me a bad servant?! I have done the most in this castle, and I deserve more than this, Cogsworth thought.
Cogsworth sighed, and he said, "Farewell, Master. I shall find you a nice servant. One that you may love and trust."
Adam frowned, he said, "I don't need a servant I can fall in love with! I just need a servant! Now!" His voice roared through the library, scaring the poor old man.
Cogsworth, shaken by his roar, backed away from him, and Adam said, "Don't back away from me. Go get me that damn servant!"
Stupid old man. He is the worst servant I have ever experienced in my life, Adam thought. How dare he speak to me like that, thought Cogsworth.
Cogsworth bowed to the prince, and he said, "Farewell, Master. I will head off to the village. I shall bring you back a servant." He turned away from the young man, and ran out of the library.
Adam watched the old man run out of there, scared as hell. Adam laughed, and he turned to face the shelves of marvelous books. Books that were passed down by his father. Books that he loved when he was a kid. Books he had never read before because they were written in Greek.
Adam's smile from his laugh turned into a depressed frown. He really did want to fall in love, but they did have to be beautiful. He would get lucky if Cogsworth returns with a charming young female. He was only twenty-one years old, but he was longing for an actual charming person in his castle besides him.
Adam walked around the library, his face glaring at the books as he read the titles on their spines. His library truly was grand: over one million books were on the shelves alone. He wanted to be with someone at that specific moment.
Someone he could read with, someone he could hold hands with, someone he could kiss, someone who would actually be beautiful for once. Like always, he only card about looks. Looks were the key to love in his mind.
He was then frozen when the door suddenly swung open, and there stood Lumiere, another servant of his. Adam jumped with fear, and he said, "Jesus, Lumiere. You scared me."
He apologized, "I'm sorry to intrude, Master. Is this a bad time?
Adam stood up after leaning against the shelves, and he said, "No, no. This is a perfect time actually. Has Cogsworth left yet?"
Lumiere said, walking towards his Master, "Yes, Master. He left with Mrs. Potts and Chip. They said they were going to find you another servant for your castle." Lumiere hoped that the servant would be a girl because all he wants for Adam is for him to fall in love.
Adam said, his lips curling into a small smile, "Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Goodbye, Lumiere." He turned around to walk away, but froze when Lumiere said, "Wait! I have something for you!"
Adam had a puzzled look on his face. Since when do I get things, he thought. He then smiled, and thought, oh, right! I get what I want when I want! Ha! That's the greatest part of being a prince.
Adam turned to face the man who was worried to death about his reaction. He asked, "Do you now?"
Lumiere then pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from his coat's pocket, and he said, "Of course. I just received this from a young man outside. He has claimed to be your… brother."
Adam's death smile turned into a death frown. His brother… Nathan… older brother of Adam. Adam thought, how dare my devil of a brother appear at MY castle?! MY castle! He cannot be here! Even if what he wants to say is important!
Nathan was eight years older than Adam: twenty-nine years old. Married; father of three kids that hardly knew about Adam. Nathan was the favorited son in his family. Their father only cared about him, and their mother spent most of her time with him, only.
Nathan always picked on Adam, including his bratty friends, because of his looks. He was only six years old when his father, Nathan, and his friends abused him. They punched, kicked, slapped, everything a six-year-old boy does not deserve.
His mother was the one to care for him closely, and only. Nathan grew up in a different castle with his grandparents while his parents stayed with Adam. After all the torture in his younger life, Adam had become who he is now: selfish and unkind.
He didn't abuse his servants, but he knew that he was mean to them. Adam asked, trying to cool down his anger, "Why is he here?"
Lumiere said, "Well, he just dropped this letter off to me. He didn't say why he was here, but I suppose this letter does. He seems like a handsome young man. He had a beautiful little girl with him."
Adam immediately said, "Give me the paper." He held out his hand, which was shaking with fear of his brother. Lumiere looked at the shaking hand of his master, worried about him.
Lumiere handed him the paper, and he asked, "Why are you shaking, Master? You're never shaking unless your cold."
Adam didn't want to tell Lumiere about his abuse from his brother, so the only option to do at that moment was to lie to his own servant. Adam smiled, a lie came to mind as he said, "I… I am very excited to see my brother. I also start shaking when I'm excited."
Lumiere had a smile across his face, and he said, "That is good, Master. Nathan seemed happy to give me this letter." Lumiere had no idea that he was lying about his shaking… and his brother.
Adam unrolled the paper, and he said, "Go get me a cup of water. I need to cool off." Lumiere bowed, and he said, "At your service, Master."
He didn't really need the water; he was trying to get Lumiere out of the room, which he accomplished because Lumiere immediately left the library.
Adam could feel tears of fear come up his eyes, as he saw a handwritten letter in his hands. He sighed, and let some tears fall from his eyes because he was thinking about the day he was abused.
He dropped the letter on the ground, and he walked to the shelf and slid down the surface. His tears streamed down his face like a river, and then he sobbed quietly in his hands.
15 years ago, he thought, 15 years ago, I was bullied by my own brother and father. All I had left was my mother, who then died, leaving me with my abusive, cruel father. Why did my brother get all the attention? Especially after what he did to me? What a bastard.
Adam uncovered his face, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He was still shocked that his brother arrived at his castle. He stared at the note that was on the floor, right in front of him. He was scared to read the letter, but he was going to anyway.
Adam snatched the letter off the ground, and he sighed. Here it goes, he thought, what could my brother possibly want from me?
He examined every word on the page, every handwritten word on that particular page.
Hi Adam.
It is me, Nathan, your older brother. I have come here to greet you after twelve years. I want to see what your life is like now. As you know, I am married to my wife, and I have two sons and one daughter. I know, I know. I always talk about me, but I came here to talk about our relationship with you. I would love to meet your new friends, and hopefully a mistress you love.
I also am here to tell you that I found out something about our dynasty as a monarchy family. Since father was a king, and you are the prince of the land, there is something about that. Father had to marry a woman after four years of being a prince. Once he got married, he was declared a king. I learned that you have to marry someone by January, and it is currently November.
I see that you have been a prince for almost four years, which means you have to get married. If you don't, then you will be hanged to death, and someone else will take your place. Also, a bad thing, a relative of you has to choose a woman for you to marry. I have chosen a woman for you. I will come by tomorrow, and I want you to meet her. You shall marry her before January, and you shall be king. If you don't marry this particular woman, then you shall be hanged.
I hope you read this little brother. I am happy to see you tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Nathan.
Adam dropped the note on the floor again. He screamed loudly; loud enough to shake the library. He did not want to marry a wannabe that his abusive brother chose for him. He wasn't ready to marry at all.
He said, "I am not getting married to her. I shall not fall in love with her! No! I can't be manipulated by him!" He roared again, and then Lumiere walked in nervously.
Adam looked at him, and he said, "Oh, sorry, Master. Here's your water."
Adam said, "I need you to go find my brother. Bring him to me."
Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Chip were all in the village together, looking for a perfect servant for their master. There were so many people to choose from, but so many already had jobs.
Chip asked, "How are we going to find a servant? This is impossible, Mama!"
Mrs. Potts chuckled, and she said, "Don't worry, Chip. We will find a one soon enough. They will be perfect for the Master. Cogsworth, what kind of person are you looking for?"
Cogsworth continued to look around for the perfect person, the perfect girl perhaps. He said, "I am looking for a stunning young girl. One that will help the Master become less selfish."
Chip mumbled, "Like that's going to happen."
The villagers seemed to be working, too many to count. All of them seemed to be older and married. Chip said, "Golly, there's too many people!"
Mrs. Potts said, "Chip, calm down. We will find a person. We just have to-."
She was interrupted by the sound of water and clothes being dumped onto the stone surface. They glanced over, seeing a group of villagers making clean clothes dirty. A beautiful girl was there, the only one who was startled.
She looked helpless. She started to cry. One of the villagers said, "You are nothing but a crazy girl. You deserve nothing. Girls can't read. That's what makes them so stupid."
The girl said, "I was just trying to teach this little girl how to read. You don't have to dump all my clothes! The only clothes I have! I don't even have a lot of money!"
The girl seemed like a seventeen year old; brown hair, stunning eyes, and a gorgeous face. Cogsworth smiled, and he said, "She is perfect for our castle. We need to get her."
Mrs. Potts said, "That poor thing. She looks very poor. We must give her this job and some money."
The group of villagers stopped taunting her, and they stormed away from the girl. She looked at her clothes that were all over the ground, and she fell to the ground and sobbed.
Chip said, "Come on. We have to go help her."
They then walked over to the crying girl, and Cogsworth asked, "Are you alright, ma'am?"
The girl looked up, tears still in her eyes. She asked, "Who are you?" They looked at each other in surprise, and Mrs. Potts said, "We'll answer that later. Do you need any help right now?"
The gorgeous girl stood up, and she said, "Yes. My father just recently passed away, and I am alone. I am getting picked on, and I don't have much. I just want a good home right now."
They smiled at each other, and nodded. Chip thought, she is perfect.
The girl asked, "Who are you?"
Cogsworth bowed, and said, "I am Cogsworth."
Mrs. Potts bowed, and said, "Mrs. Potts, my dear."
Chip saluted, and said, "I am Chip."
The girl giggled, and Cogsworth said, "We want to bring you home to our master. He has been wanting a girl like you, and you're perfect. We will provide you with shelter, food, and clothing. We live in a grand castle."
The girl gasped, and said, "No way! You guys would do that? For me?"
Mrs. Potts smiled at the poor girl, and she said, "Of course, my lamb. What is your name, deary?"
The girl smiled, and bowed, "I am Belle."
Belle, Cogsworth thought, what a perfect girl.
Chip said, "Come on, now Belle! We are going to take you home with us!"
Belle smiled, and said, "Oh gosh, thank you so much! I don't know what to do in return."
Mrs. Potts said, "No need to thank us. You can just follow us home and we'll get you started with a brand new home life."
Belle picked up her clothes, and she said, "Okay then!" Cogsworth smiled, and he said, "Follow us, deary."
They started walking the way they walked to get to the village, and Belle followed them.
In their minds, they knew that Belle was the perfect girl. She was gorgeous, of course, and they knew that Adam would fall for her. This girl was perfect.
Back at the castle, Adam was waiting by the front door for Lumiere and Nathan. He wasn't excited to see Nathan at all. He was biting his finger nails, and he was breathing heavily.
Plumette was by his side the whole time, and she said, "Don't worry, Master. Everything will be fine."
Adam said, "Don't say that. Nathan is the last person I want to see right now. I just don't feel like seeing him. Ever."
Plumette rubbed his back, and she said, "Master. Don't say that. You will eventually regret it." Then, the front door opened, and Adam jumped up.
He mumbled, "Here we go." Instead, there stood Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Belle. Adam immediately looked at Belle.
Adam gasped… she was so beautiful. More beautiful than anyone he had ever seen. They all walked in, and Mrs. Potts told Belle, "So, this is our castle."
Belle looked around in awe, and she said, "This is so gorgeous! I love it!" Adam smiled at the beauty, and he walked up to her.
She smiled because she was charmed by his beauty as well. He said, "Bonjour, miss. I'm Adam. But call me, Sir Adam."
Belle said, smiling, "I am Belle." He kissed her hand, and she felt chills come up her bones. She said, "Well, this is already off to a great start."
Cogsworth said, "Master, this is your new servant, Belle." Belle smiled, and Adam continued to hold her hand in his. He said, "Well, it seems that you found a great one."