"You really shouldn't be doing any more writing for weeks at least," Belle seriously told as she bandaged Adam's fingers that have endured quite a number of cuts...

He smiled at her as she continued to wrap the cloth, "Sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a concern...actually, I tried my best to be careful with the chipping tool but...guess it didn't help much..."

She looked up at him again, almost wanting to chid his naivety, yet his innocence gaze dispeled all that intention and it ended up with her sigh of surrender. She cut up the excess length of the cloth and finished the task, "This will be the last time you are to work with the tool, okay?"

Adam was taken aback, "But...Belle, it's still the first time I have carved it for you...I can't wait for more inspirations..."

Belle kept away the bandage basket and turned to him with earnest pleading eyes instead of indignation this time, holding his pair of hands that now did not seem to hurt a slightest bit. She then said to him, "Adam, everyone is expecting you to lead the kingdom...We can't be too selfish for our own fleeting indulgences...Time can be old...but it is also young...We have to learn how to behold the future from an instant in the present and it cannot get any more precious than our perpetual resilience..."

The moment Belle spoke those words, Adam immediately realised and softened with affection for his lady, "Belle, I heard your words in my dream...and now I can be sure you're my giver..."

She was surprised, "Wh-what was that?" Pausing to ponder for a brief moment, she felt a sense of something extraordinary...that the words originated from some point...

Adam smiled gladly, holding her hands close, "Last night, I dreamt about someone leading me and showing where the diamond-shaping tool was...He looked obscured with the shadows surrounding his every side...but..."

"But then...?" Belle wondered curiously, as though a revelation was about to begin.

"The moment I heard him speaking in a voice I had been so longing to hear...as though it had been kept away and hidden for eternity,...I wept while he taught me gently how to handle the tool..." Adam confided emotionally.

Belle gently cupped his face as his voice turned shaky, "Adam...you remind me of the times when I would sit by a tree and watch my father chip pieces of wood when we were still in the forest...Not a single wolf could be found in that paradise then...but things strangely changed after some time...Could this person you have dreamt of...be your father?"

He felt a rush of warmth in his heart when she suggested, but then still shook his head with uncertainty...

She smiled understanding how he must be tired thinking and questioning everything. "He'll surely come back...Those words I just said...sounded what someone appeared to be uttering to me in one of my dreams...I feel that more are awaiting us..."

"Thanks, love," he felt overly comforted.

She moved close to place an assuring kiss on his temple, "Alright, you ought to take a rest...I'll just get Mrs Potts to bring up your dinner at once!" She pulled him to sit back in bed, realising that he would need some help with having his meal for a time.

The last slab of ice which freezed and preserved the age-old underground roses in the front gardens ultimately melted away, to the delight of the castle servants and everyone else...