Beauty and the Beast: The Tale Continues

Chapter 21 - Wedding Preparations, Part 2

Author's Note: Disney is the rightful owner of Beauty and the Beast, while I just own the story.

"So, have you two marked this area already?"

Belle paused her reading, with her and Adam looking up to see Nathaniel, whose expression was still unreadable.

"I'm sorry?"

Adam's uncle smirked at Belle, and he replied, "Oh, forgive me for not simplifying it... I was wondering if you and my nephew have had s-"

"Nathaniel, don't you have somewhere to be besides here?" growled Adam, who would have already thrown his uncle out if Belle had not been beside him.

"Don't you?" challenged Nathaniel, crossing his arms. "Judging by your hands, it seemed to me like you were more interested in-"

"Belle, please walk with me," muttered Adam, grabbing ahold of her hand, and he began to quickly lead her out of the library, not even looking at his uncle.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I cannot believe that I have to put up with that arrogant, obnoxious, vile-

"Um, Adam, you're starting to hurt me."

Realizing that he was unintentionally squeezing Belle's hand a little too hard, Adam quickly released it from his grasp, and apologized. "Belle, forgive me, please, I didn't mean..."

"I know," replied Belle, giving him an understanding look. "I see what you meant by the change..."

"Oh, ho, I am afraid that you've only seen a small sample?,," growled Adam. "I cannot believe that he has to appr... appear at our wedding."

Belle sighed, and she asked, "You really don't like him, do you?"

"Well, how could anyone?" exclaimed Adam, his blood starting to boil. "He downright asked if you and I had sex in the library."

Belle waited a moment before giving her response. "Well... okay, he isn't much of an appropriate person, but-"

"Belle?"

The two of them turned around, and saw Nathaniel, with Adam asking, "What now?"

"Forgive me for trying to take you away from my nephew," replied Nathaniel, looking only at Belle. "But I was wondering if you and I could perhaps take a walk around the grounds. I would like to know more about the woman who is to be wed to my sister's offspring."

Adam's eyes started to glow with rage, and he cried, "If you think, for one second, I am going to allow-"

"Certainly, sir."

The young prince looked back at Belle, confused as to why she would say that.

"There are some things that I would like to talk to you about."

Nathaniel smirked, noticing the slight edge in Belle's voice, and he replied, "Of course, mademoiselle... shall we?"

Belle nodded her head, and she was about to follow him outside when Adam gently grabbed her arm, with a very concerned look on his face.

"I'm not entirely comfortable at the moment with just leaving you alone with him," said Adam, in a low voice so that only she could hear him.

"Adam, trust me, I can handle him," assured Belle. "He can't be any worse than Gaston."

That is debatable, thought the young man, but then, Belle placed her hand on the side of his face, and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be fine..."

Adam sighed, and he nodded his head, releasing her arm, followed by glaring at his uncle. "Do try and be more respectful to the woman who will be my wife."

Nathaniel simply nodded his head, and as he and Belle walked out of the castle doors, Adam decided to look for a place to release all of his anger.

Once they started their walk on the grounds, Belle was about to say something when Nathaniel cleared his throat, and said, "Allow me to apologize again for anything disrespectful that I have said to you, Belle... I haven't exactly been myself since losing my only sister."

"I know what you mean," replied Belle, as she thought about her own mother. "And thank you for the apology."

"Of course," said Nathaniel, with a small smile. "And may I say that you're a lot more... different... than the other girls."

To his surprise, Belle didn't give much of a reaction. "Yes, Adam did discuss that with me... but like he said, he didn't spend much time with them, anyway."

"Oh?" Nathaniel said. "Is that what he told you?"

Now, it was Belle's turn to be surprised, and Nathaniel added, "If I seem to recall correctly, there was this one princess who-"

"A... princess?"

"Indeed, an actual princess," continued Nathaniel. "In fact, there was this one night when... well, how surprising!"

He and Belle had reached the area where the servants did laundry, and currently, Belle's invention was being put to use.

"Who in the world thought of this?" wondered Nathaniel.

A look of proudness appeared on Belle's face as she said, "That was my idea, sir. It allows me more time to read my favorite book."

"How pecuilar," replied Nathaniel, a warm smile on his face. "You know, when Adam's mother and I were very young, she would always try and find a way to reach the sweets from the top shelf, simply because she could not wait until after dinner was served."

Belle started to smile, but then, she found herself saying, "Um, you were talking about a princess that Adam...?"

"Oh, yes, sorry about that," chuckled Nathaniel. "See, there was this one night..."

FLASHBACK (A few years before the curse)

As he poured some more wine into their glasses, Nathaniel said, "See, nephew? I told you this would bring us together."

"For the moment," muttered Adam, as he took a sip of the beverage. "But at least I have someone by me to celebrate with."

"Oh?" asked Nathaniel. "What is it exactly?"

Adam found himself starting to laugh as he replied, "As Father would have probably said... I have finally become a man."

He then raised his glass, as if giving out a toast, and as he drank the wine, Nathaniel asked, "So you mean that you and... before even marriage, son?"

Adam let out another laugh. "Well, there is probably a special place in Hell for me right now, but it doesn't matter... all I know is that I made love tonight, and it was glorious."

Nathaniel chuckled, and he replied, "I would not be too joyous about it, Adam, in case another girl enters your life."

"Oh, I can take care of all that," explained the young prince. "I'll just say to whoever else shows up that I still have my virginity, and that it would be an honor for me to be their first, vice versa, all that stuff... all girls nowadays are foolish either way, so it would not be difficilt for them to believe me."

"Adam?"

Adam and Nathaniel turned around to find a young woman standing by the doorway, wearing some of the prince's clothes.

"Ready for another one, my love?" asked Adam, and as the girl nodded her head, he downed the glass of wine in his hand, placing the now-empty glass on the table.

"Duty calls, Nathaniel..."

PRESENT TIME

"... and, so, that is why I asked him that question in the library," finished Nathaniel. "Wouldn't have surprised me in the least, however, if-"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by the sound of a sob, and Nathaniel turned to see Belle running back to the castle.

In his workshop, Maurice, who was halfway done with his new music box, saw that Adam had entered the room.

"Oh, hello, Adam, I thought you'd be with Belle right now."

"She's a bit, um... occupied at the moment," sighed the young man. "I see that you are nearing completion with your latest music box."

Maurice nodded his head, and replied, "Indeed, I am... just promise to me that you won't let Belle know what you saw. This is a surprise for her."

"I give you my word, Maurice," said Adam, nodding his head. "Now, I was..."

Suddenly, he found himself unable to finish his sentence.

Something is wrong.

"Adam? Are you alright?" asked Maurice.

Instead of answering, however, Adam hurried out of the room, and started to head out of the castle, but he stopped at the top of the stairs when seeing that Belle was already making her way in.

"Belle? What is it?" questioned Adam, hurrying down the stairs, sensing that she was upset. "Did he-"

He then immediately stopped talking after seeing the way Belle was now looking at him, one that he had never seen before.

"Adam... I am about to ask you a serious question," said Belle, who was holding in her tears. "And I want you to promise me that you won't lie to me."

"Of course, Belle?," replied Adam. "But why are you-"

"Have you slept with anyone before?"

The young man became confused. "I don't know what you-"

"Have you slept with anyone?"

Noticing her emphasis on a certain word, Adam shook his head, and said, "You know that I haven't yet, Belle. I was saving my first time with you."

Part of Belle wanted to believe him, but the other half was siding with Nathaniel.

"Then, why did your uncle tell me about what happened one night, with you confessing to him that you 'just became a man' after losing your virginity to some princess?"

Adam was about to deny that story when he suddenly began remembering memories from the past, and realized what Nathaniel had been talking about.

"Belle, I... ok, you have to understand that-"

"You told me that it would be an honor to experience your first time with me," exclaimed a visibly upset Belle. "Adam, you just promised that you would not lie to me."

Adam tried to speak, but found that he couldn't, and then, after a minute or so, the young man asked, "Where is he, Belle?"

"Outside still, but-"

Before Belle could finish speaking, Adam went past her, walking out of the castle door, and starting to search the grounds for Nathaniel.

Then, once he found him, Adam asked, "What on Earth did you tell Belle?"

"Just the truth, nephew," replied Nathaniel. "A woman always learns the truth somehow, and I am a bit dissapointed that you had to lie to her about something so serious."

Adam clenched his jaw in frustration, and he exclaimed, "You haven't been here for a full day yet, and I already want you gone."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, son," replied Nathaniel. "But your father had strict guidelines and requirements when it came to marrying someone, and for the moment, Belle is-"

"A thousand times better than those girls," growled an upset Adam. "She helped me realize who I truly was... she brought the beauty out of me when I was still a beast, and there is no one else who I would want as my wife than her."

Nathaniel sighed, and he gave a small shrug. "I'm sorry, Adam, but I gave your father my word when it came to-"

Adam rolled his eyes, and he yelled, "Yes, I know, you have to approve if Belle is fit to be a princess, but I swear to God that I will-"

"He... what?"

The young man turned around, and saw that Belle was now in front of them. "What do you mean approve, Adam?"

Before Adam could even speak, Nathaniel said, "You mean she doesn't even know? What else have you kept from here?"

Alright, that's it?!

The next thing that Nathaniel knew, Adam had speared him into the nearby well, unintentionally landing against Belle's invention.

"I.. am going... to kill you!" yelled Adam, as he and his uncle began wrestling with each other.

"Adam, stop!" cried Belle, trying to pull him off of Nathaniel.

Part of Adam wanted to listen to Belle, but the other half wanted to end the life of the person in front of him.

"How Mother ever thought of you as her brother is something that I-"

"Adam, please, just talk to me!"

Unfortunately, Adam lost control of his temper, and he glared at her, shouting, "Shut up, will you?!"

Once she heard those words came out of his mouth, Belle remained silent, and the next thing that he knew, she was attempting to remove her ring.

"Belle, you'd better not-"

But it was too late, for Belle had already taken it off, and before Adam could say anything else, she said, "The person who gave this ring to me... the person who I fell in love with, and came back for... is not the one that I am looking at right now."

She handed it back to Adam, whose anger was quickly fading away, and said, "I'll wear it again once the Adam that I know and love is back."

"Belle, I was..." said Adam, now feeling horrible, but she was already walking back to the castle. "I'm... sorry..."

"As you should be," said Nathaniel. "It would have gotten worse later on, son."

Adam glared at his uncle, and he asked, "Why do you hate me so? Everything was just fine before you came here today."

"I do not hate you, Adam," replied Nathaniel. "I am simply respecting your father's wi-"

"To hell with my father," exclaimed the young man. "What would have my mother... your own sister... wanted?"

Not wanting to hear what his response would be, Adam got out of the water, and started to head back into his castle.

"How often are men happy right before they die... They call it the lightness before death."