When word had gotten out about Leon and Madeleine returning, the villagers, having been prepared for this moment, had immediately dropped everything and raced towards the cottage, despite Jean-Luc's efforts to stop them and get to Leon first, only to be called a traitor for finding out the secret plan and for telling him, not to mention they were also furious at Martine for telling him first instead of Amandine.

Now, regrettably, there was a large crowd, armed to the nines with weapons and, ready to do the dirty deed and for Amandine's admirers, they were now her thugs, doing her bidding and Leon was shocked at seeing them enraged, yet they put on fake smiles, as not to arouse his suspicion and concern.

'Nice to see you in one piece, Duplonk!' Henri said, with fake sincerity, 'I guess that beast didn't devour you then, considering it was holding you captive in its castle!'

'And look how healthy and well-fed you are!' said Pierre, 'I thought that you would be skin and bones or starved to death in the dungeon! Did that beast feed you bread and water or the finest food it had?'

'Do you know about the plan, Duplonk?' said Beauden, nastily, 'Did that traitor Jean-Luc tell you about Mad Maddie and how she has gone insane? Because she was raving like a lunatic in the tavern about a so-called beast and that you were its prisoner!' to the laughter of the crowd.

'Well, yes, I was her prisoner at first,' Leon said, faltering, 'but once I got to know her better, I saw a different side to her, a kind and gentle side and we have so much in common, more than I ever had with you lot and we did many things together..'

'A likely story, Duplonk,' said Henri, 'beasts, if they do exist, don't befriend people, they eat them! Now where is Mad Maddie, anyway? Antoine is on his way to throw her into the Maison de Loon, so we can be safe from her, as according to the plan!'

'What plan?' Leon said, 'Jean-Luc, what is going on exactly and how did you find out about this plan and who is behind it?'

'Martine told me,' Jean-Luc said, 'I saw her running to the tavern, so I met her halfway and asked where she was off to in such a hurry. She told me that Amandine was planning to throw your mother into the Maison de Loon when you two came back to the village and made her sit in the freezing cold to look out for you.

I know, because I spent a night with her, plus I saw her and Amandine with the cart and with Antoine and put two and two together, so I came to warn you, hoping that I would have gotten a head start but everyone caught up with me.' Jean-Luc said.

'It's true, Leon,' Martine said, guiltily and rubbing her head where Amandine had hit her repeatedly, for telling Jean-Luc the plan first, knowing that he would warn Leon and for them becoming a couple behind her back.

'Amandine,' Leon growled under his breath, 'I should've known she was behind this!'

'Guilty as charged,' a familiar sickly sweet voice said, followed by a pair of ice-blue eyes, unlike the warm, loving ones of Rose and a blur of violet and Amandine pushed her way through the crowd and threw herself onto Leon, who quickly pushed her away, disgusted.

'Hello, my dearest, did you miss me?' Amandine said, stroking his arm, 'and how unfortunate that you had to come home to the news that your dear old mother has gone insane! But don't worry, my love, Antoine is on his way to put her in the looney bin so she can come to her senses and never hurt another living soul again!

I guess you found out the hard way, no thanks to that back-stabbing frog-face and her little boyfriend who I had forbidden her to see! And what do they do? Become a couple behind my back!' she hissed, staring at her soon-to-be former sidekick and her traitorous boyfriend.

'Get off me, Amandine!' Leon said, flicking her hand away, 'and my mother is definitely not crazy! You believe me, don't you, Jean-Luc?'

'Of course, I do, but they obviously don't. It's them you have to convince, although your mother's behaviour and Amandine's influence make for a very convincing case against her,' Jean-Luc said and Leon knew he was right.

With his mother's ramblings about a figment of her imagination, his reputation for being odd and the power Amandine had over them, what simple-minded villager was going to believe that without any proof?

Then, a squeaking of a cart could be heard, as Antoine approached the cottage, walking up the steps as he headed towards Leon, a feigned smile on his face hiding his nervousness and reluctance to do what he had been told to, but with his new found wealth, courtesy of Amandine bribing him and everyone watching him, he had to carry it out.

'Leon,' he said.

'Antoine,' Leon replied, surprised to see him out of the asylum, since he never left it, but dreading the reason why he was here, even though he knew why. Antoine took a deep breath, already regretting what he was about to do, and said,

'I've come to collect your mother,' as if she was nothing more than a dirty rug about to be thrown away, which was true in everyone's eyes.

'Thank you for your concern, Antoine, but my mother is not crazy and she doesn't need to be in the asylum.' Leon said.

'Oh, I beg to differ,' said Antoine, as the mob jeered and chanted 'Mad Maddie,' 'But don't worry, Leon, I'll make sure that she will receive the best care possible. It's for her own good, if the rest of us are to be safe from her. I'm so sorry, but this is not my choice, you see, Amandine bribed me to do it!'

'You little snitch!' Amandine hissed, as the mob gasped, 'I told you it was a secret!'

'So, that's where the housekeeping money went,' Genevieve said to herself, finally finding out the truth about the disappearance of the money she had saved for the winter, having gone to commit a despicable, inhumane act.

'My mother is NOT CRAZY!' Leon practically shouted, outraged and shocked that the villagers wanted to put his perfectly sane mother into the asylum, leaving her to be subjected to horrific abuse while the sadistic staff watched on in delight at her expense!

'Oh, come on, Duplonk, face the facts!' Pierre said, 'She was raving like a lunatic, spouting nonsense about a beast! And that qualifies you for being a total nutter and deservingly locked up in the looney bin!'

'Yeah, Mad Maddie! And you're just like her, a mad mother's boy. That beast should've have eaten you so that you would have gotten what you deserved for rejecting Amandine!' the fishmonger's son shouted out.

'Leon, what on earth is going on out here?' Madeleine said, emerging from the house, having heard all the commotion going on. Even in her feverish state, she was not to be deterred, as she looked at Leon, wanting an explanation.

'It's nothing, Mama, please go back inside, you're in no condition to be out here,' said Leon, but Madeleine ignored him, as she stood on the steps.

'Madeleine!' Henri said, 'Why don't you tell us all about the beast that captured both you and Duplonk? Don't skimp on the details; give us the full description like you did in the tavern!'

'Yeah, Maddie, tell us everything!' LeFou snickered, as he remembered doing the same thing to Maurice, when he was about to be thrown into the asylum when describing the first Beast, hoping to do the same with Madeleine.

'Oh, well, it was..enormous!' Madeleine said, not realising that it was a trap to toy with her and to make her madder than she already was, 'About eight feet tall, with sharp fangs and the ugliest creature I've ever seen! Not to mention that its breath smelled like..'

'See I told you she was insane!' said Henri, as the villagers laughed and Madeleine regretted her words, for not only did the villagers not care about what she had to say, it had proved their cause for her insanity.

'Get her out of here!' came the call of the villagers as two guards from the asylum roughly grabbed the poor woman and dragged her along the ground to the cart, her struggling furiously to the jeers and cheers of the crowd, glad to see Mad Maddie about to be locked up.

Amandine, of course, did nothing to stop them as she simply leaned back on the cottage, watching on with a smirk on her face, while Jean-Luc and Martine watched on helplessly.

'Let go of me, you thugs!' Madeleine shouted, as she struggled, 'I don't belong in the asylum!' but the guards held on to her tighter, taking advantage of the fact that she was weakened by fever.

'Poor Leon, it is a shame that it had to come to this,' Amandine said, with fake sympathy, 'that I had to stoop to my uncle's level when he wanted to marry Belle, by trying to prove that her father was crazy, like your mother is now.'

'Amandine, you know she's not crazy,' said Leon, sounding desperate which pleased her, for he was becoming putty in her hands and all she needed to do now was to get the magic word from him, what she had been planning and wanted all along.

With her sickly sweet smile, she said,

'Oh, my darling, there may be a way that I can clear up this terrible misunderstanding and the price you have to pay won't be so bad, in fact it will be wonderful for both of us and after all, I don't want my mother-in-law to rot away in an asylum for the rest of her life. All you have to do is..'

'Do what?' said Leon, not liking where this was going, much like the proposal fiasco.

'Marry me,' Amandine said, 'If you agree to marry me, the whole thing will be called off and your mother won't be thrown into the asylum. It's as simple as your answer.'

Leon couldn't believe it. Just when he thought Amandine couldn't sink any lower, she was actually blackmailing him into marrying her, just so his mother wouldn't suffer a terrible fate!

'What?' he said in disbelief.

'Come on, Leon, one little word, that's all I want to hear from you,' Amandine said, leaning close to him, eagerly anticipating his answer and for him to throw himself on his knees, saying that he would marry her but that wasn't what she got as he backed away from her.

'No!' he said, which made Amandine recoil in horror as she was about to be denied his heart yet again, 'I'll never marry you!'

'Fine, have it your way then,' she said, clicking her fingers, 'Say goodbye to your mother,' as her thugs continued dragging Madeleine to the cart, her protesting, as Leon watched on helplessly.

'Au revoir, Mad Maddie and good riddance,' she taunted, as the woman kept kicking and protesting to no avail, as the guards held her tightly, preventing any chance of escape, while the villagers chanted 'Mad Maddie', cheered, spat and sneered at her.

'Leon!' Madeleine shouted out to him, 'Let go of me!' to the guards, who simply laughed at her.

'Don't make this worse for yourself, woman,' they said, without a trace of pity.

Leon looked on while his blood boiled in anger as he watched those thugs drag his mother away; much like Rose had done, when she took her away from him in the dungeon on his first night in the castle, but unlike the thugs, she had allowed him to say goodbye to her, rather than just dragging her away without so much a chance to get her side of the story.

He was wishing that he could have done more to prevent this and that he could prove that she was telling the truth, that Rose really did exist and that she wasn't the monster that Madeleine had described to the villagers.

Then he remembered he had her mirror and it could show anything he desired, even Rose herself and that way, he could prove once and for all that his mother wasn't insane and that she was telling the truth, yet he would be betraying Rose and putting her in danger if he was to reveal her existence to the ignorant villagers who wouldn't take kindly to her.

But he had to do it to save his mother and with that in mind, he hurried back inside to his mother's room and picked up the mirror from the bed, cradling it gently, feeling the ache in his heart about Rose and what he was about to do to her, not proud of it, but hoping that the consequences wouldn't be too bad.

'Forgive me, Rose, my sweet beast,' he said, gently kissing the mirror, even though her image hadn't appeared, yet he felt she was in it and was feeling guilty about exposing her, as he ran down the stairs.

Back outside, Leon, mirror in hand, called out to the crowd,

'Everyone, listen to me! I have proof that my mother is telling you the truth and that she's not crazy! It's in this mirror that I have!'

The mob turned towards him, looking at the unusually decorated mirror, wondering how on earth he had gotten it, since it was unusual for a boy to own one, except for Pierre, who had one and constantly looked into it every moment he got and were sceptical that it could prove the existence of an imaginary beast.

'Alright, Duplonk, show us then,' said Beauden in a mocking manner, like it was impossible that a mirror was capable of doing that.

'Yes, Leon, show us this so-called imaginary beast,' Amandine said, while Leon curled his lip, fighting an urge to slap the cruel and arrogant woman, but instead he took a deep breath, hoping that he wouldn't be regretting it later, held the mirror up in the air, as he faced it and said,

'Show me the Beast!'

There was a moment of silence before the mirror obeyed Leon's command and flashed a brilliant green that would blind any idiot who foolishly stood too close to it and as he turned the mirror to the villagers, Rose's image appeared, clear as day, which made them gasp in horror and scream at seeing the hideous creature right before their eyes.

Leon felt incredibly guilty at showing her to them, especially since her miserable roars could be heard, the ones he had caused, as she threw her head back in agony, but to the mob, it looked like she was baying for blood, their blood and were horrified and shocked to see that she did in fact exist and that Madeleine had been telling the truth all along.

'That's her, that's her!' Madeleine said.

'MONSTER!' some women shouted, as the Bimbette cousins and Beaufort twins screamed.

'I don't believe it,' Jean-Luc said, 'Madeleine WAS telling the truth!'

'My God,' some of the men whispered, 'It truly is the work of the devil!'

'Oh, it's disgusting!' Amandine said, recoiling, 'That is the most hideous thing I have ever seen!'

'The rumours are true, the beast does exist!' Pierre said, screaming, 'and it's going to devour us all, just like it did with the royal family!'

'Is it dangerous?' a woman said to Leon.

'Oh no, she would never hurt anyone, I swear!' Leon said, desperately, 'Please, I know to you, she may seem ferocious and blood-thirsty, but she's really not. She's really kind and gentle.'

'SHE?!' Amandine said, disgusted that the creature was a female, 'you mean that hideous monster is a GIRL?!'

'Yes and she's ten times the woman that you'll ever be,' Leon said, sneering at her, which made Amandine curl her lip in anger and disgust.

How dare he compare this terrible beast to her and say that she was better than her! She was far more beautiful than that creature and was furious that she had been able to win Leon's heart, when she hadn't been able to.

'She's my friend, the best one I ever had,' he said, although the word 'friend,' was not enough to describe her. Rose was more than that and he knew this deep down but still didn't realise it yet and Amandine knew it, judging by the loving look on Leon's face as he stared into the mirror and cradled it gently, something that he never did for her.

'Friend?' Amandine sneered, 'This creature is your friend? Well, if I didn't know any better, which I do, I say you have feelings for this monster! You've fallen in love with her, haven't you?'

'Uhh,' Leon said, falteringly, but he knew it was true, not that he was aware of it yet.

'Oh, this is hilarious!' Pierre cackled, 'Duplonk has fallen in love with a beast!' as he started laughing, 'come on, laugh everyone, it's funny,' only to realise that nobody else was, so he stopped laughing, embarrassed.

'The only monster here is YOU, Amandine!' Leon then shouted, which made Amandine and everyone gasp. No one had ever dared to talk so rudely to her and if they did, they risked social isolation forever.

'What?! How dare you talk to me like that, Leon? What is the deal here? I give you all my attention that all the boys would die to get and you reject me for a hideous beast!

I always thought it was strange that you preferred the company of animals, with your pig-kissing and having a horse for your best friend, but this takes the cake! And NOBODY denies me anything for I am Amandine LeGume and I always get what I want!' Amandine said, as she snatched the mirror from Leon's hand and waved it about like a weapon.

'Guess I'm nobody then,' Leon said, 'and you disgust me, Amandine, you're a disgrace to your family's legacy, which was already disgraceful to begin with and I rather hang myself than have you as my wife!'

'How dare you!' Amandine screeched, 'You better take back what you've said, because you do not want me as your deadly enemy and I have the village on my side. Tell me, who are they now going to believe, me or the village outcast who has a reputation for being odd and an insane mother?'

'You little..' Leon hissed at her, trying not to stream out colourful obscenities at the evil woman, who was playing keep away with his mirror and winding up the already enraged crowd with lies about Rose, his love, who was now in danger all because of him.

'Rose,' he whispered, as his heart ached for her, as it had done since he left, 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to put you in danger.'

'He's right, you know,' Martine said, walking towards her soon-to-be ex-friend, anger etched on her face, which was very unusual for the small girl, who never stood up for herself, until now, having finally reached her breaking point and seeing Amandine's true nature for the first time and nearly freezing to death being a lookout was the straw that broke the camel's back.

'Martine, what are you doing?' Amandine said, confused at her behaviour, so unlike her, as was everyone at hearing the girl who couldn't even say boo to a goose, stand up to the person who she had considered her true friend, waited on her hand and foot and basking in her glory just so she wouldn't be teased about her looks anymore.

'What I've should've done a long time ago and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner,' said Martine, 'I used to worship the ground you walked on, Amandine, but after seeing the real you, I wouldn't even spit in your direction! I've had enough of your abuse, your hurtful insults, being hit on the head repeatedly, being called 'frog-face,' and 'doofus,' and not appreciating anything I do for you!'

'Martine, calm down, this isn't like you,' said Amandine.

'Oh, really? Well, looks like you don't know me at all, Amandine! Because I've had enough of being your little pet and your plan, which I had to go along with, because I had no choice, even though I had all these doubts about it and I nearly froze to death being a lookout and yes, Jean-Luc and I are a couple now, because it hurt me that you wouldn't let me talk to him!

But now I can and I don't care if it's taboo, because I love him and I'm not going to be your doofus anymore, as I don't need to hang around with you for people to recognise and respect me, because Jean-Luc does!

So go find another sucker to do your dirty work, because I'm not going to anymore!' Martine said.

'How could you do this to me, Martine!?' Amandine screeched, 'after everything that I have done for you and you throw it all back in my face! How could you be so ungrateful? I let you bask in my glory and assist me so that you would get immunity from being teased and people would know who you are and this is how you repay me?

Well, you know what, fine! Go be with Jean-Luc, for all I care, you deserve each other, since you're pathetic fence sitters who want to be friends with Leon! I don't need you anymore and this plan is going ahead! I've got plenty of pansies who are more than willing to do my bidding right here!' tiling her head towards the boys, who were looking eagerly at her.

Picking up from where she let off before Martine's outburst, now that she had turned against her and stinging from her betrayal, Amandine then said,

'He's just as crazy as his mother!' she said, 'He says this beast is his friend, but we know better! This beast is just as dangerous as the ones in the forest! I bet it was she who slaughtered the royal family and kidnapped the princess all those years ago!'

'No, it wasn't her!' Leon pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears, as he reached for the mirror, but Amandine kept it out of his reach, as she spread more lies about Rose and the mob, already riled up about putting Madeleine in the asylum, were drinking them like water, coming from their beloved goddess.

'This beast will make off with your children! She'll come after them in the middle of the night!' Amandine said, as the villagers gasped and put their arms protectively around their children, 'We can't let her wander in the village and wreak havoc! We need to lay siege to her castle and kill her before she does any damage! I shall do what Uncle Gaston never could.., I say we kill the beast!'

'Kill her!' the villagers chanted, even though they were sceptical that a beautiful and delicate, fragile beauty would be capable of leading such a dangerous mission, but Amandine had the LeGume blood flowing in her veins, which was enough to persuade them and the boys perked their ears at hearing Gaston's name, for this was their chance to prove themselves worthy of wearing his jerkin and to be real hunters, by protecting their village and killing a dangerous, blood-thirsty beast.

'And not only that, I bet the beast has riches and possessions we can steal so you can no longer worry about providing for your families, because you'll be very rich and I will have a beast fur coat and her head on a pike, which will make a lovely trophy on the wall in the tavern, right next to Uncle Gaston's portrait, so that he can finally get his victory over a beast through me!' Amandine said, to the cheers of the mob.

'No, I won't let you do this!' Leon shouted, trying to reach out for the mirror, only to be restrained by Amandine's admirers, who held him in an iron grip, as was Jean-Luc, who had already turned against his former friends, but did so of his own accord for he was fed up with them and pretending to be something that he wasn't and now wanted to help Leon and be his friend and Martine's boyfriend.

'I won't let you hurt her, you evil, conniving witch!' he said.

'Try and stop us!' Amandine said.

'If you're not with us, you're against us!' Henri said.

'Poor Leon,' Amandine said, with fake sympathy, as she watched Leon struggle, trying to get the mirror, taunting him with it by waving it in his face, as he saw the sad and miserable figure of Rose, before it faded completely, 'You never really were one of us, weren't you? But now it looks like you're about to become our new famous resident!

Bring the woman!' she commanded, snapping her fingers, as some of the boys opened the basement doors, and the guards who had still been holding Madeleine, roughly pushed her inside, not caring if she broke her neck when she landed.

'Get your hands off me!' she said, as she was thrown into the basement, miraculously landing on her bottom on the ground. Less than two minutes later, Leon joined her, as he too was thrown in the basement, next to his mother.

'Throw him in too! We can't have them running off to warn the creature!' Amandine said, as Leon pounded furiously on the door.

'Let us out, Amandine!' he shouted, before the door opened again and Jean-Luc and Martine also became prisoners in the basement for their betrayals.

It no longer mattered now that Jean-Luc was one of the best hunters in the village, he had proven many times that he was unworthy to wear the jerkin of Gaston and had turned traitor by siding with Leon and turning against his so-called friends, that were never his to begin with, only using him for his skills and free beer.

'And throw the traitors in as well!' her voice rang out, as the doors closed and Leon kept pounding on them, only for his pleas to be let out to fall on deaf ears, as Amandine ignored him, satisfied that the traitors were locked up and were not going to interfere with her plan to rid the village of the hideous creature that had taken what was hers.

'I'll deal with those traitors later,' Amandine said, before turning to the mob, 'now; we shall rid the creature that took what was mine and also to avenge my poor father and uncle for their cruel fates and to do what they never could! Do it for Uncle Gaston!

Who's with me and wants a chance to prove themselves, as the descendants of the mob who had failed to kill the first beast, to do what they couldn't? Who wants to kill the Beast and have many fine riches so that you will never go poor again?'

'We do!' Henri, Pierre, Francois, Beauden and Stephane said.

'We do!' a male villager said.

'We do!' the baker, blacksmith, candle maker and fishmonger said.

'Do it for Gaston and Amandine!' the mob shouted, as they gathered up their weapons and horses, ready for the kill and for Amandine to lead the way, excited at the thought of raiding a beast's castle, stealing her riches and possessions and killing her, like the first mob had tried to do before them and failed and now they, as their descendants, would get that chance.

'You won't get away with this, Amandine!' Leon shouted from the basement, as she opened the doors, a sickly sweet smile on her face just to taunt him about losing the love of his life.

'Oh, but I already have,' she said, 'now, say goodbye to your sweetheart, because soon she'll be nothing more than my new lovely fur coat and her head will make a charming trophy on the tavern wall!' as she laughed evilly, before closing the basement doors again and locking them, as Leon resumed his pounding to no avail as he heard the mob gathering outside.

Led by Amandine, now changed into battle gear, on her horse, the mob headed towards the castle, chanting and baying for Rose's blood and as they walked past the the royal family memorial, the candles were blown out.

Oh dear, it's not looking good for Rose, is it?

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