Rose grew up into a beautiful little girl, who enjoyed a very happy and carefree life. Belle and Adam, unusually for a royal couple, were very involved in her life, as they agreed that Rose was an extra special exception to any written rule in the book, that they, as her parents, would raise their child, not a stranger but would call on help if needed and Belle loved having her daughter with her always.
It was a common sight to see Adam riding Rose on his shoulders, swimming with her in the lake and pushing her on the swing in the garden, Belle reading to her, giving her lessons, teaching her to ride Phillipe, the three of them enjoying a picnic in the fields together, playing in the snow in the winter and every night, they were always there to tuck her into bed and give her a goodnight hug and kiss and Belle would always read Rose a story- Rapunzel being her favourite.
Although she had everything she could ever want, she was not spoiled, selfish or unkind. She was not demanding, never threw any tantrums, was very easy to please, had very good manners and was happy and kind to everyone she knew. She also had a bit of her father's temper, but was able to control it far easier than he had done and it rarely showed.
Rose was also very modest, not really liking much attention and when the royal family visited the village, she would play with the children and gave them and those less fortunate toys and clothes she didn't need or want.
She was loved and adored by everyone, not just in the castle but the kingdom and the court at Versailles as well, when she and her parents were summoned to attend. Even the stiffest and stuffiest nobles were won over by her beauty, charm and manners- so much that many princes much older than her offered marriage proposals, egged on by their mothers, who were eager for their sons to marry her!
All in the castle loved her- in fact some of the biggest fights the servants had were over who would get to help take care of her, some even physically hurting each other. Mrs Potts-Gravois (her new name since marrying Maurice, but was still called Mrs Potts, since many found it a mouthful to say), along with Maurice, mostly helped Belle and Adam with the care of the princess, being her step-grandmother, known as 'Nana' to Rose.
Katrine, in addition to her dressmaking duties, was her handmaid. She was responsible for dressing the princess for the day, getting her into her nightgown for bed, doing her hair and helping her pick out a dress to wear for the day, one of the many beautiful garments that Katrine worked long and hard on for her.
Rebecca made her four ragdolls and a few porcelain ones, dressed in outfits that Katrine made for them. Rose liked them all, but her most favourite doll was Rebby, a ragdoll that Rebecca made for her first birthday and she named it after her. The name was chosen for when she learned to talk, that was how she tried to pronounce Rebecca's name.
The arguments were soon resolved when it was agreed that everyone could have a fair share in taking care of Rose but not before Rebecca almost had her arm broken by Babette when they were fighting over who should give the princess her bath.
But Rose loved all the servants and regarded them as family, with the senior servants being seen as uncle and aunt figures and the younger servants were like big sisters and brothers. She was also best friends with Chip, now in his teens, although he was technically her step-uncle, was like a big brother and Sophie, who was Raymond and Amelie's daughter who had been born in the castle and was two years younger than Rose.
The trio would spend many happy hours playing games in the garden, chasing Sultan and Lila, Rose's pet cat which she received two years ago at Christmas, watching Sultan chase Lila, listening to Belle reading them stories, throwing snowballs (mostly at Cogsworth) and ice skating in the winter, helping Mrs Potts and Rebecca in the kitchen, making cookies and cakes, painting and making clay sculptures with Sophie's parents in their studio and exploring the castle, daring each other to go into forbidden areas.
They also caused harmless mischief around the castle, much to the dismay of Cogsworth, who often had trouble keeping up with them.
'Rowdy young things,' he muttered when he found them trying to sneak into Adam's study in the West Wing.
His comment, which was also used to describe the younger servants, was met with rebuffs such as-
'It's just harmless tomfoolery!' Raymond (which was his favourite expression)
'You're only young once!' Lumiere
'They were just curious and no harm was done. And they are well-behaved children who seldom cause trouble' Mrs Potts
'Oh loosen up, Cogsie! You're such a stick in the mud! Didn't you do anything like that when you were their age? God knows I did!' Remy (who used nicknames for everyone, which annoyed them, with the exception of Belle and Adam, of course)
'I know, Remy, I was unfortunate enough to witness it when we were younger and I was always the one to bail you out when you were in trouble.' George
'It's not like they messed anything up, so it's no use getting worked up about it and the master won't be any wiser.' Amelie
'This is Cogsworth we're talking about, he always gets worked up about everything. He makes a mountain out of a molehill.' Katrine
Cogsworth just sighed. Sometimes the servants really tested his and the masters' patience with their inability to work together, the constant arguments, accidents and broken objects caused by Raymond, him arguing with Lumiere (nothing new), Rebecca and Katrine whispering and giggling together late into the night and having to tell them to be quiet, to name a few.
He had hoped to retire after Belle and Adam married but his loyalty to them and the arrival of the new servants who needed his guidance in the first few weeks of their employment made him stay and he was fond of Rose, even when she caused mischief.
He also allowed her to keep Lila, when it was discovered that he had an allergy to cats, sneezing when exposed to Lila, after seeing how much his young mistress loved and took good care of her cat. Lila could stay, provided that she and Cogsworth were not in the same room at any time and that she earned her keep, which she did by being a very good rat catcher.
As for the servants, Remy was the main cause of the problems due to his loud, brash, immature, rebellious, mischievous, carefree and obnoxious behaviour. George, the sensible and weary foil to his younger brother's antics, commented that
'He hasn't aged a day since seven! He may be twenty-five now but he has the maturity of a child! It's like he never grew up!'
Remy's behaviour was a constant source of annoyance to everyone, as they hated him calling them nicknames that they didn't find amusing, he would rig card games- twenty-one being his favourite- that he played with the men in their chambers after doing their duties for the day, had a very loud voice that could be heard all around the castle and they felt that he was a 'complete idiot and blabbermouth', sans for Rose, Chip and Sophie who were amused by Remy's antics, jokes, harmless pranks, silly facts and stories.
He had been summoned to Adam many times due to complaints from Rebecca, whom he had a crush on but she did not return his affections.
She found him annoying and repulsive when he tried to hit on her and, along with the others, thought that he only loved her for her beauty and her excellent culinary skills, but he insisted that his love for her was genuine.
He usually escaped punishment, as George had promised Adam, Belle and Cogsworth to keep Remy on his toes and prevent him from acting up, which was easier said than done.
Also, Remy constantly clashed with and picked on Lumiere due to them having similar personalities. The younger man was jealous of him having a relationship with Babette and being able to get women when he couldn't, being unsuccessful with Rebecca and taunted him about getting on a bit age wise while he was young and vibrant, yet Lumiere was still suave and charming, in total contrast to Remy, who was annoying and childish.
The poor maitre'd was often on the wrong end of ridiculous bets that the young launderer placed on him, often losing money or doing humiliating and demeaning things.
The day Rose was born, Lumiere lost a bet placed by Remy on the baby's gender and had to wear one of Babette's dresses for an entire week, which resulted in him being laughed at, teased and mocked for days and him swearing vengeance on Remy.
'Never make a bet with Remy or you'll end up regretting it for the rest of your life,' George would say, yet it fell on deaf ears and Lumiere would always be the hapless victim of Remy's bets, no matter what he tried to beat him.
Despite his many faults, Remy was a good soul at heart and cared for his older brother and those he loved, showed respect to his masters, not calling them nicknames as expected and was good at his job, although he found it embarrassing and demeaning to be doing a 'woman's job', even though he and George had been launderers their whole lives.
Raymond also added to the problems. He was sweet, caring, cowardly but brave when he needed to be, panicky and got easily worried over the littlest things but a very devoted husband and father, who doted on Sophie and never scolded her when she got into trouble (which Amelie would do), yet he was extremely clumsy and accident-prone.
He tripped over things, knocked over objects, fell down flights of stairs, stepped on things, dropped, spilled and broke anything he touched and received many injuries, which Amelie kept track on in a journal, an example would be:
'August the second. Raymond worked on a stained glass window in the Master and Mistress's sitting room in the West Wing. Cut his finger on a piece of glass and needed eight stitches. I had to finish the window myself.'
Raymond's accidents frustrated his wife and the castle physician, Monsieur Hulliot, who often had to treat his injuries and Amelie had to do most of the work, which involved painting portraits, doing sketches, painting rooms, making stained glass windows, vases, sculptures and pottery and restoring and painting chinaware and making new ones if any were beyond repair or couldn't be restored.
He was an obese man who had light brown hair in a ponytail with curls near his ears, tied with a black ribbon, had green eyes, a brown mustache and wore a black beret on his head, sand coloured shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark brown trousers, light brown apron with burgundy trim, white stockings and brown shoes.
Even though she loved her husband dearly, Amelie would sometimes wish that he 'wasn't so clumsy and cowardly!' and she would do some harmless flirting with the men, but it was nothing serious and Raymond would usually be oblivious to it. She was more assertive than him, as he accepted everything meekly (although sometimes he did display an assertive side especially when angry), but was friendly, kind and a loving mother, but was more firm with Sophie than Raymond was.
She was slender with long, blonde hair and wore a blue beret on her head, an orchid dress with rainbow trimming and short puffy sleeves and a white apron with paint splatters.
Sophie thankfully didn't inherit her father's clumsiness. She was a kind, brave, curious little girl, with her mother's blonde hair in pigtails (Amelie wore her hair in a ponytail) and her father's green eyes and nose. She wore a pink top with white trimming at the sleeves, a purple dress with lavender lacing on the bodice and brown shoes. She loved drawing pictures, which she would give to everyone although her drawing skills weren't entirely up to scratch yet, but as her mother would say to her 'practice makes perfect'.
Most of the time, Sophie would be in her parents' studio, drawing and painting pictures, making clay sculptures (she wasn't old enough to make marble and ice ones, and make glass stained windows, even though she wanted to), but would happily play with Rose and Chip, whenever she could, or if she was proving to be a distraction to her parents.
Rebecca, despite her problems with Remy, was content to be working in the castle and although still standoffish, like when she first came to the castle, was able to be friendly, kind and trustful of people again, considering what had happened to her.
When she was thirteen, having endured years of horrific physical and mental abuse from her cruel masters, who took in her when she was orphaned as a baby( her mother died giving birth to her and her father was unknown) and working as an unpaid slave and was beaten in jealous rages by her mistress, because of her looks (she was a beautiful girl with wavy blonde hair, which she wore in a half-ponytail with a pink bow, green eyes, and a slender build), she was desperate to get away.
One night, she stole some of her mistress's jewellery and ran from the house into the pouring rain, wearing nothing but her pink dress and white apron and found the castle before collapsing on the steps. Mrs Potts found her and took in her in, treated her bruises and sores from her beatings, and was offered a job as a kitchen maid when she impressed with her cooking skills.
At first, she was mistrustful of people, keeping to herself but opened up and came out of her shell when she found a surrogate mother and mentor in Mrs Potts, a best friend in Katrine, which she would hang out with, laugh at her metaphors and witty expressions, work with her and stay up late at night whispering and giggling (when Katrine remembered to finish work for the night and go to their chambers which they shared) was promoted to assistant cook and was grateful to have kind, caring masters.
But she had somewhat of a rivalry with Babette, but they got on most of the time and with a scullery maid, Nathalie who was jealous of her cooking skills and promotion and went out of her way to put Rebecca down, but she took no notice of her.
The dolls she made in her spare time were given to the village toyshop, orphans and underprivileged children, for the children who came to the castle's Christmas ball, as well as Rose and Sophie would also be given a few dolls.
For everyone in the castle and the kingdom, life couldn't be any better, the enchantment nothing more than a distant memory hardly ever mentioned and the six who had never experienced it, none the wiser.
But the saying 'those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it' would soon become evident in the year Rose turned eight, an innocent mistake that had devastating consequences for all.