In the Beast's PoV

The village girl Belle had some courage to defy me this way, I wasn't used to being questioned, as the Master of my Castle. But then again, she was a country girl, not knowing nor respecting the rigid rules of a palace. She was probably the kind of free-spirited and free-thinking town girl, not raised in a noble family like me. If truth to be told, I despised Princesses, Duchesses and those Ladies-in-waiting, in one word : those noble ladies. She was different from all of them, since she didn't even mock me. But I reminded myself : "She hasn't seen my full-face yet, she has only seen my beastly body. My disfigured and scarred face with horns will disgust her or even repulse her." I didn't want her to see my full-face, but it was unavoidable, now that I've invited her to dinner with me. Speaking of which, why wasn't she down to dinner by now? It was almost 7 and I told her to be on time. "And what's taking her so long anyway?"

While I was asking myself these questions and waiting for her, impatience started to boil in me first, and then it quickly became anger. I knew I had a very bad temper, but I just couldn't control it and especially ever since the accursed enchantress came in my home and cursed my body. Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick… Cogsworth was slowing ticking and it was 7 o'clock sharp and she wasn't there yet. "What's she doing? Why is she taking so long? I want to see her now and have a romantic dinner with her. Yet as an animal I didn't have any manners anymore, even though I told her to call me 'Your Highness', I didn't see myself as a Prince anymore. Then why did I care so much when she didn't call me 'your highness'?" Because she was defying your authority in your palace, that was why, came the answer from a voice above me. I didn't know who this was and thought it could be the enchantress playing mind tricks on me again.

"Who is it?" I asked, startled by the voice coming from outside of me.

"Your Highness, there's no one else than myself, Cogsworth, Mrs. Pott and Babette." Lumiere answered me.

I liked Lumiere because he was frank and loyal and always cheerful, regardless of being transformed into a candlelight by the enchantress. Cosgworth was my valet, and Babette my personal maid, all very loyal to me, and they had to suffer the curse because of my own selfishness. But it wasn't my fault that I was selfish, because my parents the King and the Queen, spoilt me rotten as a kid. I didn't know why they were always so indulgent towards me then, I was too young to understand my true background and why the whole court mocked me from behind and when they talked about me, called me a "bastard".

And indeed, I was the King's bastard kid, and the Queen being kind-hearted and everything, didn't hold it against her husband my Father, for being unfaithful to her, since she, got many lovers as well. It was very common and still very much so, for wealthy women and men in position of power to have lovers and illegitimate sons and daughters. I was lucky because my father's wife treated me like her own child, despite me not being her blooded son.

Much much later, on my adoptive mother's deathbed, she told me why when I insisted and forced the secret out of her. She told me Babette was her illegitimate daughter too and she made a deal with my father to hire her as a maid in the palace, not too far from her. Then I understood why I was able to live as a prince, because my own father threatened to reveal my adoptive mother's adultery and to burn her at the stake. It wasn't anything surprising to me, since I knew my father's temper : the same as mine. When she was almost dying, I asked her who was my real mother and she said she didn't know, only my father the King knew. Before knowing all that, I had so much respect for the man and looked up to him much and dreamt and aspired and hoped to be like him, but I was never going to be like him, a glorious and respected king, because of my birth's low background. And I grew into a brat anyway, so I was a very difficult child and my temper was unchangeable now. In my childhood, I often terrorized my servants, either male or female. Only Mrs. Pott, who was my real mother's mid-wife was able to appease me at times like these when I threw tamper tantrums. After my adoptive mother died, I asked Mrs. Potts who my real mother was and she told me it was one of the Queen's Lady-in-waiting.

But I wasn't telling you all this so you can pity me, no, it's for you to better understand me and why I got to be the way I was now. And why I was getting impatient because she wasn't there to dinner with me. The she being Belle, she was the only person in my whole Kingdom who perhaps didn't look down on me, and neither was she scarred of me. So I was anxious to see her again. Although as Cogsworth was ticking, ticking, ticking and ticking, she didn't show up yet. My impatience, no my frustration at not seeing her was getting into me. I knew I should calm down and breath, breath, breath, breath. But I just couldn't control myself much when I was getting angry at someone or something. As I grew up, I learnt about myself that I could be angry at someone, either myself or someone else, or at something, some unlucky things in my life and etc. Now though, I was getting frustrated at a certain someone, and that certain someone not coming to dinner with me. I couldn't help but ask my servants who were all there around me :

"Why isn't she coming down?"

"Your Highness, she's a girl, she needs to pamper and make herself up before dinner." That was Babette.

"But it shouldn't take so long, almost 1 hour more than I gave her, why?"

"Give her some time still, Master. She's perhaps crying for her father, might even be resentful towards you because you made her lose her papa today." Cogsworth my valet explained.

"But I want to see her now and talk to her now, not later and I freed her father already, so why?" I roared, scarring all my servants, well all except good old Mrs. Potts, who said to calm me down :

"Tone it down, Sire, you might scare the girl. You know she could be the one to break the spell and all. And how are you to win the girls' heart, if you're so rough like a beast!"

"Since I'm not a man but a beast now, I shall live like one!"

"No manners, and no charms…" Began Lumiere.

"You know, girls aren't attracted to these things now. Girls love handsome, good-looking men and want rich men as well. Although I am rich, I am nowhere near handsome or good-looking."

I only said that because all the girls I've met at my court were like this and Belle, she was the only one who wasn't, and wasn't terrified of me. Well, I could tell she was slightly scared of me, but didn't scream when she saw me and neither did she run away from me, and that was why my heart was set on her upon my first meeting with her. Although I didn't know what she thought about me. It mustn't be very positive anyway, since I locked her father in a prison cell and asked to stay forever her in exchange of his freedom.

"Oh, don't demean yourself like this, sweetheart." I only let Mrs. Potts call me this when I was in need of comfort.

"Then why isn't she in the dinning room with me now?"

"Why don't I go and ask her about it, sweetie."

"And I'll be going to the West Wing to get my magical Mirror, Mrs. Pott. I'm sure she doesn't want to see me right now, not after I locked her up in a cellar." I said dejectedly.

"Wait for my good news, Sire." Mrs. Pott said as she went to her room.

While my surrogate mother went to ask about her, I went to the West Wing to get my magical Mirror, given to me by the enchantress, with which I could see anything or anyone I wished. Right now I wanted to see her so much again after my first meeting with her. So after I got quickly my Mirror, I went back again to the dinning room to wait for her. In the dinning room, I asked my Mirror :

"Show me the girl, please."

At my asking, the Mirror did so at once :

The girl was in her room, in tears when Mrs. Pott my old maid went in and asked :

"May I come in, Belle?"

"Who is this? I don't want to see anyone now, I want to be alone."

"It's Mrs. Potts, the teapot."

"Who?"

"The teapot you saw at the Castle's entrance, Mademoiselle."

"I don't remember seeing you, just remember Lumiere and Cogsworth?"

"I was in the background, Miss Belle."

"Oh call me, Belle, please, Mrs. Potts."

"Very well, Belle it is. Can you stop crying for a second and listen to me?"

"About what?"

"Not a what, a who, my Master."

"I don't want to see him at all, Mrs. Pott."

"You know what, despite him being hot-tempered, he really is a good man deep down." My faithful Mrs. Pott tried a different approach.

"Well, I certainly haven't seen his better side yet." The girl retorted hotly.

"Nevermind that Belle, you must be very hungry by now, why don't you come to dinner?" My servant entreated her again.

"No, I'm not hungry! I'm not eating tonight!" Belle's voice was raising up several octaves.

"Not so loud, please! Master might hear you."

"I don't care, I hope I never see him ever again. I'll lock myself up in my room forever."

As Mrs. Pott was coming to see me again, I despaired, so the girl didn't want to see me ever again, just like I guessed. "Well, I'll make her wish come true, she won't have dinner this evening and nobody is to give her anything to drink or eat either. She'll starve tonight for her insolence."

"But your Highness—"

"No Lumiere, you heard what I said, no foods nor drinks for her, or else everyone's going to pay." At that, no one dared to object against my decision again.

The whole night I was thoroughly humiliated by her refusal to dine with me. "Why I am like this, so crushed? I've been rejected before by girls at my court, then why do I care so much about hers?"

"Because you care for her while you didn't for all the others." That same voice from above again answered me.

After I got my magical Mirror back to the West Wing, where my Rose was too, I felt terribly and so horribly guilty about it : I sent the girl who could break my spell to bed starving. I also was torturing myself in my bed for the night : "Is she hungry? Or is she too angry at me to be hungry? Well, I won't eat anything either until she wants to see me again." I told myself this to assuage my conscience. "My conscience? Since when I did have one as a Beast? Oh yes, since she walked into my life so unexpectedly." And then it was darkness for me.

R&R, please!