Just giving you readers a heads-up, this chapter is a little shorter than the usual chapter.
As Henrietta, Sagittarius, Sapphire and the other ranks went into the dining room, the servants brought lunch out. Henrietta and Sagittarius were wondering where Adam could be.
"I wonder where Adam could be." Henrietta said.
"It's not like him to be late." Sagittarius added.
"If you like," Sapphire added, "I'll go look for him." Henrietta nodded her head 'yes'. Sapphire got up from her seat and went to the door, but when she opened it, there was Adam. He didn't seem too happy.
"There you are." Sagittarius said.
"I'm sorry I'm late." Adam said as he and Sapphire went back to their seats. Henrietta noticed that Belle wasn't with him.
"Where's Belle?" she asked, Adam made a small groan before he answered.
"She has locked herself in the library...and she isn't allowing anyone in there."
"Maybe she rushed herself out of bed." Sagittarius said, but because nobody was looking, Nanette was smiling to herself. She was smiling because her plan to separate Belle from Adam was working.
"That might be one possibility." Adam said, "I really wasn't expecting her to even be here for breakfast, to be honest."
"Excuse me for asking, your highness," Danton said, "but why haven't we met her earlier when we first came here?" As soon as that question was asked, Sapphire dropped her silverware and started beating her head against the table.
"Sapphire," Sagittarius quickly said, "you're going to hurt yourself!"
"I deserve it." Sapphire said, finally stopping.
"Belle...uh...had an injury that broke her legs." Adam finally answered.
"Then, why is Sapphire...?" Danton tried to ask.
"I'm the one that caused her to fall down the stairs." Sapphire said, Sagittarius couldn't believe what came out of her mouth. He was about to say something, but his mother beat him to it.
"I'm sure it was just an accident." Henrietta said, she was also giving Sagittarius a look telling to keep his mouth shut. The look was enough for Sagittarius to make sure he didn't leak anything out.
"Well, falling down the stairs can lead to serious injury," Adelaide added, "no wonder her legs broke."
"What about that arm of hers?" Danton asked, "I noticed that she wasn't using her right arm during breakfast."
"She broke that as well." Adam said, "She landed on it just right to break it at the elbow."
"Well, that certainly explains everything." Adelaide said, "There's a chance that she wanted to rest, probably from pushing herself out of her bed."
"Belle's stubborn," Adam said, "but she knows when she's feeling better."
"Well, we can't make someone to do something if they don't want to." Henrietta said, "Let's eat lunch."
"I wonder how long we'll have to deal with this?" Mrs. Potts said as she was cleaning the dishes in the kitchen. Lumiere and Chef Bouche were also helping her with the dishes.
"I hope not much longer," Chef Bouche answered, "I can't stand this much longer."
"You usually like to make plenty of food, Bouche." Lumiere said.
"I usually do," Bouche explained, "but not every single day for every single meal!"
"He has a point," Mrs. Potts said, "making so much food every meal for everyday drains the castle of food and requires us to get more all the time."
"I wonder how the Mistress is doing." Lumiere said.
"Chip told me that he saw her in the library." Mrs. Potts said.
"Impossible!" Lumiere said, "We all saw the injuries she obtained."
"Do you think...the dream all the servants had...was true?" Bouche asked, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts stopped cleaning the dishes. Chef Bouche was referring about the dream all the servants had about a woman in white telling them that Adam and Belle would become a sorcerer and sorceress. The woman in white also warned them not to tell anyone outside the castle gates...or they were going to get punished.
"We have to be careful talking about that." Mrs. Potts said.
"Sorry." Bouche said.
"But...I think Bouche has a point." Lumiere said, "What if it is true?"
"Then it would mean that Queen is alive as well." Mrs. Potts said, "If she is, what will she do to us?"
"What do you mean?" Bouche asked.
"If the master's mother is alive, then what will she do she finds out...what happened ten years ago?" Lumiere helped clarified, "We all broke our promises we made to her."
"We can't blame ourselves for that." Mrs. Potts said, "The master wouldn't allow us to keep our promises, but we continued to try despite everything that happened. We can't let it eat us up." Lumiere and Bouche weren't too surprised that Mrs. Potts was trying to keep a level head, she made sure everyone did that, even Adam. "But as I said, we need to be careful talking about this!"
"Yes, ma'am." Lumiere and Bouche said at the same time.
After lunch was done, Adam decided to check in on Tintement and Maurice.
When he knocked on the door, he was expecting Maurice to open the door, but Maurice wasn't at the door! It was Celia, his half-sister!
"Get yourself in here!" She said as she grabbed Adam's jacket and pulled him into the room. When Adam was in the room, he saw Maurice with a smile on his face, but what shocked him the most was seeing Tintement. She was no longer bed-ridden with heavy casts on her arms, she was back to her normal-self, she was walking and moving around like she never broke her arms and left leg.
"Nice to see you, Adam." Tintement said.
"It's nice seeing you standing." Adam said.
"Thank my sister." Maurice said, "She gave Tintement some medicine that made her body heal immediately."
"Don't make me take all the credit." Celia said.
"Well, it is nice to you feeling better, Tintement." Adam said.
"Thanks," she said, "how's things going with your aunt?"
"Well," Adam said, "things are going as they can be. I just found out that I will get my father's crown. Aunt Henrietta plans to spend another day here, then leave the next day, the same goes for my cousin and Sapphire."
"Well, that's really good to hear." Maurice said, "What about my daughter?"
"She surprised me this morning," Adam answered, "she somehow got out of bed and join me and the other ranks for breakfast."
"Celia, did you have something to do with that?" Maurice asked.
"Maybe." Celia answered, she didn't say anything else after that.
"Though, I haven't seen her since breakfast." Adam added, "I think she's resting in the library and locked herself in there so she won't be disturbed."
"Belle loves her books." Tintement said, "You can't keep her away from them."
"Well, I just came to check on you to give some news to Belle." Adam said, "I'll let you three get back to whatever you were doing."
"Are you planning to introduce us to your aunt?" Tintement asked.
"I would like to," Adam added, "but I don't want the Comtesse or her daughter saying any rude remarks towards the two of you." Celia then cleared her throat. "Sorry, three of you."
"Well, that's a good enough reason." Tintement said, "Go on and get back with what you doing before your aunt wonders where you are." Adam just nodded his head and left the room. When he closed the door behind him, he was surprised once again because, this time, Mystique was leaning against the wall across from Tintement's door.
"What are you doing here, Mystique?" Adam asked, with a tint of anger.
"I swear on my life, your highness, I wasn't spying or overhearing anything." Mystique quickly said.
"Then why are you here?" Adam said, walking away.
"I wanted to see if...your fiancee was with you." Mystique said, walking next to him.
"Why?" he asked.
"I fear...that my mother will do something to her." She answered, "Something is telling me that she's not happy hearing that you're marrying...well..."
"I know what you mean," Adam said, "I don't care what anybody thinks of her, I love her more than life itself."
"Believe me, your highness, I don't have any intention to break that up. I just fear that my mother will do something that will."
"I'll make sure that doesn't happen."
"I wish you good luck and happiness, your highness." Mystique said, she then turned and went towards her room. Adam still didn't know what to think at this point, he decided to go to the library and see if Belle will let him in.
When Adam got to the library, the doors were wide open. He walked in, but he didn't see any sign of Belle. Now Adam was starting to wonder what Belle was up to, it felt like she was avoiding him. As Adam was looking around, he felt like he kicked something. He looked down and saw a book, he picked it up from the floor and noticed...it was the very book Belle made for him during their first Christmas. He placed his right hand on the cover and started thinking about the extremes Belle went through...for him to be happy again.
'Don't lose her!'
Adam jumped when he heard a male whisper, he thought that someone was in the room, but he couldn't see anyone. He didn't heard anything else after that whisper, he went and sat down in the couch that he and Belle shared together. He read the book Belle made once again, he wanted to feel her brave independent spirit again. While he read the book, he continued to wonder...why Belle was avoiding him.