Not long after the argument with the Beast, Matthew began to get hungry. He hadn't eaten anything at all since breakfast, and the coffee had only pacified him for a little while. Remembering what Antonio said about maybe having maple syrup in the kitchens, Matthew decide to look around the castle to see if he could find the kitchens and maybe make himself something to eat.
Opening the door and peeking out, Matthew saw that the coast was clear and ventured out into the long hallway. On his way, he passed by a red curtain that hid Francis and Michelle the feather duster, who were both supposed to be guarding Matthew's room, but had ended up…distracted. At least, Francis had.
"Francis! Stop groping me! You singed my feathers last time."
"Non, mon cherie, you are enjoying it, I know."
"You're an old pervert!"
"I'm not old! I am merely well-aged, like good wine."
"Get away from me!"
"Ohonhonhonhonhon." There was a loud smacking sound and Michelle flounced away from the curtain. Francis was about to pursue her, but stopped when he caught sight of Matthew just as he turned the corner.
"Mon dieu! 'e has left ze room!" Francis began following Matthew to the kitchens where Antonio was trying to convince a resistant Lovino to go to bed in the cupboard with the other mugs.
"For the last time, I'm not tired!"
"Lovino, it's your bedtime. If you keep this up, I won't share my tomatoes with you when we become human again."
Lovino finally leapt into the cupboard where he fell asleep almost instantly, muttering "Good night, jerk."
Antonio smiled at the mug before turning his attention to Arthur who was still upset about the fight between Matthew and the Master.
"-and if you want my opinion, he was just being stubborn, after all the Master used the word 'please' for the first time since anyone can remember."
Matthew opened the door just as Antonio was saying, "But if the Master can't be more humble, then he'll never break the cur-"
"Spleeeendid to see you out of your room!" Arthur cried, seeing Matthew and trying to talk over Antonio. "My name is Arthur Kirkland, head of the household-"
He bowed only to be knocked down by Francis who took Matthew's hand (being careful not to burn it) and kissed it.
"-and this is Francis Bonnefoy, the maître 'd, and this biggest pervert you will ever meet." Arthur said shortly.
"Mon ami, clearly you do not remember your drunk exploits."
"Why I ought to-!" Arthur suddenly remembered Matthew's presence and turned back to him. "Anyway, is there anything we can do for you?
"I'm Matthew, and actually, I'm kinda hungry." Matthew stomach rumbled loudly, legitimizing his dilemma.
Antonio was ecstatic. "You heard what he said! He's hungry! Tell the stove to stoke up the fire and wake up the dishes and cutlery!"
"But what about the Master?" Arthur was worried.
"What 'e doesn't know won't 'urt 'him."
"Oh all right, but if we are going to feed him, we might as well feed him the finest cuisine we have. I shall go make some tea and scones.
"NON! Arthur, 'e is a guest! Your food would poison 'im. It's even worse zan prison food!" Francis motioned to Matthew, leading him to a large, empty dinning hall.
"Keep it down. If the Master finds out, it will be our heads." Arthur hissed.
"Oui, of course, but what is dinner without a little…music."
"MUSIC?" Arthur sputtered. He was about to run into the dining room and tell Francis off, but the door hit him as it swung close, momentarily dazing him.
Matthew took a seat at the table as Francis got up on it. "Monsieur, it is our pleasure to let the dining room present to you, your dinner."
In the years to come, Matthew would find it hard to explain what happened next. To put it simply, he was treated to a spectacular cabaret show, as he was served the most delicious meal he had ever had in his life.
(you know what? Take a break from reading and watch the original song here watch?v=ov4tE7XRTUA and replace Belle with Matthew, Lumiere with Francis, Cogsworth with Arthur, and Mrs. Potts with Antonio and you have this part of my story)
When Matthew finished eating, and the song had finished, he found himself applauding. "That was great!"
"Merci." Francis thanked him. Behind him, Arthur was shooing away the dishes and cutlery.
"Yes, yes good show everyone but look at the time, we should all be going off to bed." Arthur pointed at his face, which showed it was nearly half past nine.
Matthew was not in the least bit tired, and he wanted to explore his new home. He also secretly wanted to learn more about the magic he had encountered. By now, he had accepted that magic existed outside of books and judging from what he had seen, the castle, or at least it's inhabitants were under some kind of spell. Maybe if he got a look at that West Wing that the Beast had mentioned, he could find something there.
"Actually, Arthur, I was hoping you could give me a tour of the castle." Matthew figured it wouldn't hurt to flatter him a little. He decided not to reveal his intentions yet. In most of the books he read, victims of spells were not allowed to explain how to break them to those who could break them. "I'm sure you can tell me everything there is to know about the castle."
It worked. Arthur blushed (however it is possible for clocks to blush) and said, "Well, I am in expert in everything related to the castle so yes, I do."
***
Francis yawned as he trailed behind Arthur and Matthew. Once you got Arthur onto a topic that he knew about, he would never shut up. The Frenchman was nearly bored to tears.
Matthew was also bored by Arthur's long-winded lectures about the flying buttresses. So far, he hadn't seen anything that he thought could give him clues as to how to the break the spell upon the castle, or even what exactly the spell was. Matthew noticed that Arthur hurried over an explanation of a flight of stairs leading upward.
"…and the stairs on the right lead to the West Wing. Now if you will follow me…"
For once, Matthew counted on his invisibility to allow him to slip away from Arthur and Francis. He hoped that the Beast wasn't in there but he would have to take that chance. Even though the Beast had said it was his room, Matthew suspected that he was hiding something up there.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Arthur and Francis continue on without him, unaware of his absence. Matthew began climbing the stairs, observing the large amount of dust and lack of care that the rest of the castle showed.
When he finally reached the top, he found himself in a dark hallway decorated with gargoyles instead of normal statues. Every single mirror had been broken, and bits of glass littered the floor. At the end of the hallway was a door with handles shaped like a monster's head. It almost seemed to glare at Matthew as if daring him to go inside. Matthew paused but still opened the door.
The room was or had been a bedroom belonging to someone of very high rank, judging by the gold trimmed hangings, which were torn and drooped sadly. Tables were overturned and more mirrors were broken. The portraits on the wall had long slashes running down then, making the figures' faces hard to make out. One in particular caught Matthew's eye. From what little he could make out, it showed two men sitting next to each other. One of the men had been left alone by whoever had damaged the painting, presumably the Beast. He had slicked back blonde hair and blue eyes and appeared to be annoyed by the other man who Matthew couldn't make out, as the bit of canvas showing his face had been torn off. All Matthew could tell was that the second man had very pale skin.
Matthew looked down, in a half-hearted attempt to search for the bit of canvas that had been torn out when he saw a bright light out of the corner of his eyes, Turning around, Matthew saw that the light was coming from a glowing cornflower levitating in the air under a bell jar. It was a beautiful color, a clear, bright violet instead of the usual blue shade that he had seen on cornflowers. As he moved closer, Matthew noticed that the cornflower was slightly wilted, with a little pile of fallen petals underneath it. As he watch, another petal fell. Next to the bell jar lay a small mirror, the only one he had seen so far that had not been destroyed.
Ignoring the mirror, Matthew stared at the flower. In most of the books he read, there was usually a special item that was tied to the spell. Could this be it? Did he need to destroy it or was it supposed to die on it's own? Maybe the petals were special somehow. Matthew reached out and lifted the bell jar off of the cornflower and began to reach for it.
"Vhat are you doing?" said a voice behind him in a low unsteady growl. Matthew jumped and turned around to face the Beast. The Beast placed the bell jar back over the cornflower and glared at Matthew.
Seeing Matthew in his room staring at the cornflower made Gilbert feel like all of his soul had been bared to the younger man. All of the years of loneliness and pain were left out for him to see in the form of his destroyed room.
"Vhy are you invading my room? I told you specifically to stay avay from here. You could have ruined everyzhing!" he snarled.
"I didn't mean to do anything, I'm sorry!" Matthew apologized.
Gilbert automatically reverted back to his defensive ego-boosting strategy. "Vhatever. Just get out of my awesome presence."
To put it mildly, Matthew was pissed. Even though he normally was not violent, this Beast was so rude and so full of himself that Matthew wanted to punch him in the face.
"Fine then." He snapped, his voice raised for the first time above his usually whisper. "I don't care about my stupid promise. I'm leaving."
The Beast tried to grab Matthew's arm but tore his sleeve instead and scratched his arm. Matthew pulled his arm away. Gilbert saw what he had done and looked at him in horror.
"No…I'm-I'm sorry-" Gilbert tried to reach for Matthew but the latter swatted away his hand.
"Don't touch me." Matthew spat, as years of being ignored and mistreated spilled out of him in the anger that he directed at Gilbert. "Don't worry, you'll forget me soon anyway, just like everybody else."
Matthew ran out of the West Wing to collect his things and almost ran down the front doors as he left to saddle Kumajiro.
Gilbert was stunned by Matthew's behavior. He stood there for a few moments as he replayed what had just happened over and over in his mind.
"I'm so sorry I hurt you," he whispered into the empty space around him. "It's just that there's so little humanity left in me…So little of me left."
Over the years, his curse had driven him almost to insanity, knowing that if he looked in the mirror he would not see his own face, but one that no one would ever imagine could ever experience human feelings. He couldn't hide from himself and his fear of becoming the inhuman beast on the inside that he was on the outside. All of his hopes of ever becoming human again had fled with Matthew and he had no one to blame this time but himself.
How was he supposed to break the curse when he didn't know how to love in the first place? It had been a long time since Gilbert had felt anything close to love. Before the curse, his brother, Ludwig was the only person he had deeply cared for, even if he told Ludwig he thought he was too stiff. From observing the mirror, Gilbert had learned that Ludwig had married an Italian man and was ruling his kingdom with him. The same kingdom that Gilbert was once meant to rule. Had anyone even missed him when he disappeared?
Oh if only he hadn't been so stupid that night! If he had only let that beggar woman in, he could have been living in the castle with Ludwig, teasing him and playing pranks like he had before.
If only he hadn't ruined his chances with the boy. Maybe he could have learned to love him and even be loved in return and set free. But it wasn't to be if Gilbert still lacked the ability to love. For if he couldn't love Matthew, then who?
Now he was gone, riding off into the woods…THE WOODS! The wolves were out and due to overhunting they would be desperate enough to attack a traveler.
Gilbert grabbed the mirror and ran downstairs and out of the castle. It would be his fault if Matthew fell victim to hungry wolves. At this point, he didn't care if Matthew hated his guts, he still had to save him.
"I'm so sorry." Gilbert whispered one last time as he raced into the woods.