"Must be Gil's dad in this timeline." Mal muttered once she saw the man who tried to approach Belle based on the stories that Ben and his parents told her since she was going to be married into the family someday.

"Good morning, Belle!" Gaston grinned as he approached the girl with the flowers. "Wonderful book you have there."

"Have you read it?" Belle asked him.

"Doubt it." Mal snarked to Honchkrow.

Honchkrow chuckled in response to that.

"Well, not that one, but, you know... Books," Gaston shrugged before holding out the flowers at her, trying to be charming and endearing. "For your dinner table. Shall I join you this evening?"

"Sorry, not tonight." Belle replied apologetically.

"Busy?" Gaston asked her.

"No..." Belle said bashfully before walking off with Mal and Honchkrow.

Mal stuck her tongue out at Gaston on the way out.

"So, moving on?" LeFou asked as he came beside Gaston.

"No, LeFou. It's the ones who play hard to get that are always the sweetest prey," Gaston replied, still determined. "That's what makes Belle so appealing. She hasn't made a fool of herself just to gain my favor. What would you call that?" he then asked.

"Dignity?" LeFou smirked.

"It's outrageously attractive, isn't it?" Gaston replied eagerly.

"He doesn't know when to give up, does he?" Honchkrow asked his mistress.

"Based on what I've heard about Gil's father, no," Mal shook her head. "Not sure how I feel about that LeFou guy either."

"Meh," Honchkrow shrugged. "Compared to Gaston he seems harmless."

"Gaston~" A trio of village girls swooned after the man, but he was still just interested in Belle, though he decided to go see them anyway which made LeFou follow behind.

The girl with blonde hair and a green dress smirked as she watched Belle, Mal, and Honchkrow leave as though she was hiding a secret before she began to look nice and innocent to blend in with the village.

Belle, Mal, and Honchkrow began to make their way back to the house before they heard a music box playing. Honchkrow looked curious as he wondered why there was a music box playing in the house. Belle smiled as she knew what the music meant as she led her new friends back inside the house.

Maurice was shown to be with a music box as he began to sing to himself before seeing Belle, Mal, and Honchkrow. "How does a moment last forever?, How can a story never die?, It is love we must hold onto, Never easy, but we try~," he then sang as he began to tinker with the gears on the box as a painter was shown to be painting his wife's portrait as she held their baby with a red rose. "Sometimes our happiness is captured, Somehow a time and place stand still, Love lives on inside our hearts, And always will~-" he then stopped singing once he saw his daughter. "Oh, good, Belle, you're back. Can you please hand me the-"

Belle then gave him the screwdriver as Mal wiped her eyes at the song as she wondered if that was what it was like to have a loving father.

"And the-" Maurice was about to ask before he was given tweezers. "No, no, I don't need-" he then said before he was given a hammer just as a spring popped off. "Actually yes, that's exactly what I need."

Mal and Honchkrow smiled as they were happy to see a father and daughter working together.

"Papa, do you think I'm odd?" Belle soon asked as her father went to work.

"Odd? My daughter? Odd?" Maurice asked while he worked on the music box. "Where did you get an idea like that?"

"I don't know," Belle said softly. "People talk."

"This is a small village you know," Maurice reminded her. "Small-minded as well, but small also means safe. Even back in Paris, I know a girl who was so... Ahead of her time."

Mal felt like she knew who Maurice was talking about as she looked at the portrait of a woman holding a newborn baby in her arms.

"So different. People mocked her. Until the day they all found themselves imitating her." Maurice continued softly as he thought about the woman he was talking about that he missed dearly, even to this day.

"Please just tell me one more thing about her." Belle begged to her father.

Mal and Honchkrow looked soft as they watched the father and daughter.

Maurice looked like he was trying to distract Belle from her request before she saw right through that and he gave in as he told Belle about her missing mother. "Your mother was... Fearless. Fearless." he soon said to her as he closed his music box.

"Some may say the same about my mother." Mal commented to herself.

Maurice soon put the music box in a box before going outside with it and put it in a wagon before going to the driver seat.

"Going somewhere, sir?" Mal asked.

"Yes, I'll just be out for a little bit," Maurice nodded. "Perhaps you should stay here to watch over Belle for me."

"I think we'd like that." Mal replied as she let Honchkrow perch on her right shoulder before she began to pet him.

"So... What can I bring you from the market?" Maurice asked his daughter.

"A rose," Belle replied. "Like the one in the painting."

"You ask for that every year." Maurice told his daughter.

"Must be a flower fan." Honchkrow commented.

"And every year, you bring it." Belle smiled at her father.

"Then I shall bring you another," Maurice smiled back as he got their horse ready. "You have my word. Come on, Philippe!"

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Belle soon called out as Maurice took off with Phillipe.

"Tomorrow!" Maurice called back. "With the rose!"

Belle chuckled slightly as she knew her father would be alright, but still felt worried for him.

"I'm sure he'll be okay." Mal said softly.

"Yes, but I can't help but worry about him sometimes." Belle replied.

They soon went back inside.

"Tell me, Mal, where did you come from?" Belle asked. "Surely you came from somewhere if you're not familiar with the neighborhood."

"Oh, uh, I come from very, very far away," Mal explained bashfully as she explored the home. "It's a very long story."

Honchkrow nodded in agreement.

"What about your family?" Belle asked.

"It's complicated," Mal smiled bashfully. "I'm actually missing someone right now that I'm supposed to, uh, bond forever with if you know what I mean."

"Oh, you mean you're going to get married?" Belle smiled.

"Uh, yeah," Mal replied. "We got engaged not too long ago."

"Your family must be proud of you to get married," Belle smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Belle." Mal smiled back softly as she deeply appreciated the blessing, such as the one she got from the other Belle that she knew.

Honchkrow smiled, happy for his mistress.

"Well, it appears that I have some chores to do," Belle said. "Care to help?"

"Uh, sure," Mal replied as she saw some laundry and knew how to do it without a washing machine as Akito, Estelle, and Vincent had talked about once before during their visit to Auradon and the Isle of the Lost. "This is how I used to do laundry back home."

Honchkrow soon decided to help out.

And so, Belle and Mal did some chores together with Honchkrow pitching in a bit. Belle soon tossed clothes and some soap chips into an empty barrel and rolled it into the fountain! It then bobbed on its side. Tying the other end of the strap to the mule's harness, Mal then set him walking around the circular laverie.

"Good work there, Mal." Belle smiled before they walked along together.

Honchkrow soon looked ready for the book.

"You really wanna read, huh?" Mal chuckled to her Pokemon.

Honchkrow nodded in excitement.

"All right," Mal chuckled. "Belle, we better finish up and quick before my little buddy gets apprehensive."

"All right, let's finish up then." Belle smiled.

A girl was shown with her own laundry before seeing Belle as she sat with Mal and Honchkrow as the mule did the laundry so that they could read the book. "What are you doing?" she then asked.

"The laundry," Belle replied before she decided to let the girl come and join them. "Come!"

The girl soon came over to them.

"Hello, there." Mal smiled.

"Why do you have purple hair?" The girl asked her.

"I was just born that way." Mal shrugged.

"Now, now, don't be rude to Mal," Belle tutted as she brought out the book. "Let's have ourselves a little storytime."

Honchkrow nodded in agreement.

"'The blue bird'..." Belle prompted as she found a children's book with pictures to help the girl since the girl wouldn't know how to read in this time period.

"'That flies... Over the dark... Wood'." The girl read aloud, slowly.

"That was amazing!" Belle smiled which made the girl smile back.

However, the schoolmaster saw this and looked disgusted with what Belle was doing with her. "What on Earth are you doing?" she then asked, like that was a crime. "Teaching another girl to read? Isn't one enough?"

"Maybe there's more room enough in this town for more girls who can read." Mal told him.

"You should not talk back like that, little girl." The schoolmaster warned.

"No, you should not talk back to me like that." Mal narrowed her eyes as her eyes flashed green, almost like she was about to go into dragon mode.

Honchkrow shook his head to his mistress, not wanting her to let her dragon side out or to let her use magic. Mal growled like a dragon before Honchkrow got her to stop as she held her head before shaking it as she closed her eyes and when she opened her eyes again, they were back to their natural green.

"We have to do something." A woman said to the schoolmaster as even she felt disgusted with Belle.

"I have a feeling we'll need to keep the laundry from everyone else." Mal whispered to Honchkrow.

"Yeah?" Honchkrow replied.

Mal soon looked over as she saw some villagers gathering. "There!" she then cried out.

The villagers decided to mess with Belle's laundry when she wasn't paying attention, but luckily for her, Mal and Honchkrow were paying attention and where Mal and Honchkrow made sure nothing happened to the laundry. The villagers tried to shoo away Honchkrow.

"Get 'em." Mal told her Pokemon.

Honchkrow nodded and soon pecked at and squawked loudly at the villagers to scare them off. Luckily for them, it began to work as the villagers decided to leave them and the laundry alone, feeling annoyed and scared of Honchkrow. Honchkrow then hissed at them.

"Good boy." Mal smiled proudly before she petted her Pokemon proudly.

Pere Robert rushed over, but then smiled once he saw that Belle's laundry was fine.

"Now once the laundry is finished, we'll let the laundry dry." Mal said.

"Thank you so much." Belle smiled.

"You have some lovely new friends there, Belle." Pere Robert remarked.

"We're happy to help." Mal smiled as Honchkrow did a little bow.

"Are you alright?" The blonde girl in a green dress asked them.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we're fine," Mal smiled. "I don't think I've seen you around this village before."

"You could say that I'm new in town." The blonde girl replied innocently.

"So are me and Honchkrow," Mal smiled. "I'm Mal."

"What's your name?" Honchkrow added.

"My name is Esabella." The girl replied.

"That's a pretty name." Mal smiled.

"I always thought so." Esabella smiled back.

Honchkrow seemed curious about Esabella.

Meanwhile, Gaston was shown to be focusing on someone other than Belle for once. "You are the wildest, most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. Nobody deserves you, but at least I know our children will be beautiful." he said, wooing... His reflection in the mirror that he was talking to.

"Am I catching you at a bad time?" LeFou asked as he came to see Gaston.

"What is it, LeFou?" Gaston rolled his eyes a bit from the interruption.

"A certain damsel is in distress," LeFou then informed. "Or at least she was going to be if her new friend and animal hadn't gotten in the way."

"I should still see her regardless," Gaston replied. "Maybe you could save that purple-haired girl if she needs you."

"Uh, yeah," LeFou nodded awkwardly. "I need a girl like you, Gaston."

"That's the spirit!" Gaston grinned as he went over to Belle's cottage which would be highly unfortunate for the girl.

"Ben, where are you?" Mal frowned at herself as she missed her fiancé.

"Don't worry," Esabella soothed. "You'll see him again soon~"

Mal appreciated the comfort even if Honchkrow felt suspicious of her.

"Belle! I heard you had trouble with the Headmaster," Gaston said as he came to see Belle who began to walk away from him, making him follow her, even going in the garden, trampling over the cabbages. "He never liked me either. Can I give you a little advice about the villagers though? They're never going to trust the kind of change you're trying to bring."

"All I wanted was to teach a child to read." Belle told him.

"The only children you should concern yourself with... Are your own." Gaston smirked eagerly.

"I'm... Not ready to have children," Belle said as she didn't like where this was going. "Come on, Mal and Honchkrow; let's get inside."

"I think that's a great idea." Mal agreed as she perched Honchkrow.

"Maybe you haven't met the right man." Gaston insisted.

"It's a small village, Gaston," Belle told him as she shut the gate on him to go inside the cottage with her new friends. "I've met them all."

"Besides, if there were any men that she hasn't met; Belle would have known." Mal said.

"You should speak when spoken to." Gaston told Mal.

"Nice comeback," Mal smirked. "You almost sound like my dad."

"Well, maybe you should take another look," Gaston continued to pry as he came in through the gate to continue after Belle. "Some of us have changed."

"Gaston, we could never make each other happy," Belle told him. "No one can change that much."

Honchkrow nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Belle. Do you know what happens to spinsters in this village after their fathers die?" Gaston soon asked.

"Coins?" A woman was seen begging in the streets. "Got any spare coins?"

"They beg for scraps, like poor Agathe," Gaston continued. "This is our world, Belle. For simple folk like us, it doesn't get any better."

"I might be a farm girl, but, I'm not simple and I'm never going to marry you, Gaston," Belle replied as she led Mal and Honchkrow inside the cottage and shut the door. "I'm sorry!"

Gaston stood outside the cottage, he decided not to give up, but he kept a gallant smile before he decided to leave Belle alone that time. And once he was gone, it was safe for Belle, Mal, and Honchkrow to come out.

"Can you imagine?" Belle scoffed as she came out the door. "Me? The wife of that boorish, brainless... Madame Gaston, can't you just see it?~" she then sang sarcastically. "Madame Gaston, his little wife~... Ugh!" she then groaned as she brought out food for the chickens who began to eat up. "No, sir, not me, I guarantee it, I want much more than this provincial life~" she then continued before she ran away from her home.

"Hey! Wait up!" Mal called out as she ran after Belle.

Honchkrow looked around for Esabella who seemed to disappear before he shrugged and flew after the girls. Belle, Mal, and Honchkrow soon arrived at the top of a hill.

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell, And for once it might be grand, To have someone understand, I want so much more than they have planned~" Belle sang once they were on top of the hill.

Mal stood beside Belle with a small smile as Honchkrow flew on top of her head.

Meanwhile, a storm seemed to hit as Maurice was still traveling with Philippe.

"The woods are lovely. I only wish I recognized them," Maurice commented as he rode with the horse through the dark woods. "Do you know where we are, Philippe? Because I don't."

A tree was then struck and came apart which startled the horse as he reared up.

"It's all right. It's all right, Philippe," Maurice told the horse before seeing a new path on the right side. "Hmm... Yes, we can go this way. Go on to the right."

Philippe soon went to where Maurice wanted him to go as they passed by the burning tree.

"That's it. Steady! Walk on!" Maurice told the horse. "One path closes, another one opens. It's all right, boy."

Philippe soon saw something strange as he kept galloping along.

"It's just a bit of snow," Maurice comforted before he saw how weird it was. "In June."

It did indeed started to snow all of a sudden even though it was summertime.

"Mind your step, it's slippery." Maurice told the horse.

A wolf growl was soon heard.

Maurice then saw the wolf and panicked to make his horse speed up. "Go! Go, Philippe!" he then cried out. "Come on! Come on! Whoa. Come on!"

It soon seemed to get worse as the buggy broke a bit as Philippe seemed to get loose and they were now surrounded by wolves. Maurice groaned as he began to climb up from where he was. He felt safe once he made it up, but grew wide-eyed once he saw a wolf right across from him. Maurice then slipped down the hill before he was then faced by a trio of wolves down that way too. Philippe soon came by just in time and Maurice landed on his back which felt like a miracle.

"Go! Philippe, go!" Maurice called out as he rode on his horse as the wolves began to chase them. "Go, go!"

And where the chase went on for a while until Philippe and Maurice made past two gates leading to a castle. The wolves soon came to a stop as Philippe and Maurice made it past the gates and one wolf even let out a howl at that. Maurice and Philippe then came to the castle grounds as it continued to snow around the castle.

"Oh, Philippe, you saved my life," Maurice said proudly. "Well done. Yes. They'll have to get their dinner somewhere else, won't they?"

They soon came into the castle grounds as Maurice came off of the horse and led him over to what he saw for the horse to have as a reward.

"Look! There's hay. And water. You're all set, my old friend," Maurice smiled as he walked Philippe over to the hay and water. "I'll go pay my respects to our unwitting host. Whoever that may be."

Philippe soon stayed where he was as he began to eat the hay.

Maurice began to make his way up the stairs to the entrance of the castle. "Hmm... Thank you. Thank-... Hello? Hello?" he soon called out as he came inside, looking for someone. "Sorry to intrude. I'm just a traveler seeking shelter from the storm. Sorry to disturb you. Anyone home? Anyone awake?" he then asked as no one seemed to come.

"He must have lost his way in the woods." One voice commented.

"Shut up, you idiot!" The other voice scolded.

Maurice seemed to have heard them as he looked over to where the two voices were. "Excuse me?" he then asked as he saw a candelabra and a mantle clock before examining them closely as they looked very gorgeous. "Hmm... Beautiful. Extraordinary."

A pair of young, hazel eyes looked out to Maurice while hiding away in the darkness as he frowned at how he looked, especially from being separated from Mal when they were just about to celebrate their engagement.

"A man of taste." The candelabra smirked at the mantle clock.

"He was talking about me." The mantle clock retorted.

Maurice soon went over to where he heard music playing.

"Oops!" A voice said before the candlelight went out and the music suddenly stopped on the keyboarded instrument known as the harpsichord.

"Well, wherever you are, I'm just going to warm myself by the fire," Maurice soon called out as he soon went to the fireplace, rubbing his hands together with a bit of a cough before letting his hands feel the warmth of the fire, then turned around to give his backside a turn as he began to warm up, feeling relieved. "That's better. Oh, much better."

There was then some sort of clatter heard in the dining room, so Maurice decided to follow the sound.

In the dining room, there was a lot of food shown which made Maurice feel happy and thankful before he went to the table to have a seat to dig into the food. "Oh... Thank you!" he said once he sat down and began to help himself.

A teacup soon moved over to Maurice while still on a plate and which startled the man. Maurice looked wide-eyed as he glanced at the teacup.

"Mum and Carina said I wasn't supposed to move because it might be scary," The teacup spoke up to the man bashfully. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Maurice said calmly before he soon ran out of the room in fear.

"Well, that could have gone better." A young female voice whispered to the teacup.

"Sorry, Carina." The male teacup replied.

"You're lucky you didn't give him a heart attack." The female teacup told him.

"I, uh... I cannot... Thank you enough for your hospitality," Maurice said nervously as he decided to get going as he took his coat off of the rack and went to go out the doors. "I'll... Bid you adieu... And good night."

Two pairs of eyes looked out from the top of the staircase as Maurice dashed away. Maurice soon made his way down to Philippe.