Belle quietly left the bookshop with a new book in hand; head down in her book to cover the blush creeping over her cheeks. The dearest love of her life had proposed to her, and in a moment of great weakness, she dared to say yes! It felt magical and exciting, but the longer she dwelt on it, the more impossible it seemed.

'Papa would never allow us to marry,' she thought to herself.

These heavy thoughts carried her home as she poured through her book. It was a tale much like her own of a maiden who was destined to never marry her true love. Both she and the lady vowed to never love again if they could not have their secret love.

She carefully stepped into the house, avoiding random odds and ends strewn about the small cottage. She was the daughter of an inventor as it happened, and such clutter had ceased to bother her. Gracefully, she maneuvered her way around coils and cogs, stopping at the steps to her room when she heard her father's voice from his workshop.

"Is that my darling daughter so stealthily avoiding a hug from her aged father?" He called out in a cheerful tone.

The young girl laughed and set her book on the steps, making her way into the workshop. She brushed away a loose strand of hair, a sweet smiling crossing her lips.

"Of course not, papa. I was merely going to set my book down."

She crossed the room to give her father a gentle embrace, resting her head on his shoulder lovingly. It saddened her to know that if he knew what his daughter was up to, he would not be so kind and loving. At least, that is what she feared her father would become. She did not know his feelings upon the man she loved purely because she had never introduced the two out of fear of an incident. Nevertheless, she knew she'd have to say something soon.

"Papa, I-…" She was cut off as her father quickly stood up, chuckling softly.

"Belle, I've simply got to get my things in the wagon for the invention convention. I have to leave right away. I do hate leaving you this way, but you know this is how we get money on the table. Would you like me to bring you something?"

Belle thought about this question long and hard, sighing quietly. She could ask for something obvious like a new dress or even a new bed set, but her mind quickly decided on something easier. Something that would perhaps ease her father into a good and gentle mood, and had the subtly that she herself was living under.

"A rose, papa."

A rose was just the perfect gift, because it was beautiful but it also held sharp thorns just like the thorn inside her heart when it came to her truest love.

"I think I can manage that," her father smiled, chuckling a bit as he quickly loaded his items into the wagon. "I shall be back before the week is up, I promise."

"Goodbye, papa!" Belle calls out, waving affectionately as her father climbed upon their horse Phillipe and rode off to begin his journey.