Deep blackness surrounded him, accompanied by an infinite silence. There was nothing around him, no clue as to whether he was standing or lying down, whether he was in a tiny room or an endless expanse. He considered taking a step into the darkness, but that didn't seem like a good idea. After all, who knew what was lurking there?

"Hello? Is... Is someone there? Hello!"

Nothing. Only silence surrounded him. He wasn't even sure if he was really shouting into the blackness or if his voice was nothing more than a thought. It was probably pointless wasting his strength on this. But what else could he do?

He couldn't see the hand in front of his eyes, but he could definitely feel his body. So he was definitely here, even if he didn't know where this "here" even was.

Where was he here anyway and where were all the others?

How had he got here and, most importantly, what had happened?

What had happened...

He tried to recall the last memories he could find. There was the curse... No, the curse had been lifted, thanks to the charming Belle.

"Princess Belle!", he corrected himself.

All right, what had happened after that...

The curse had been lifted, they had all regained their true form and were living their lives as before. Well... almost. Many of them were still struggling to find their way in their new, old lives months later, even if these problems mostly "only" seemed to consist of strange habits and mild anxiety.

Months later... Three months to be exact.

"Three months, four days, eight hours..."

He had to control himself not to count the minutes and seconds too! Another "tic" he had retained from the curse. He could date an event precisely and calculate time intervals down to the second. And that in a fraction of a second.

What's more, he sometimes didn't even have to look at a clock to know exactly what time it was. He simply knew. He had probably just been a clock himself for too long... Actually, he realised, these abilities weren't even a bad thing. It was just that they were sometimes a little scary for him...

But suddenly the majordomo came to a realisation and admonished himself:

"You're rambling! Concentrate!"

What else had happened? ... They had been celebrating! Oh yes, they had had a lavish party, but not just the prince and princess, with invited guests from the nobility, oh no! Everyone from the village had been invited, despite everything they had done. The princess had insisted on it and in the end the inhabitants of the castle were able to forgive them for what they had done. And the castle residents themselves, every servant of any rank was invited, it was a glittering party! The music, the dancing and, last but not least, the food!

Cogsworth's mouth was literally watering at the thought of all the delicacies that had been served that evening. The kitchen crew under the leadership of Chef Bouche had outdone themselves, all the cooks, especially Lumiere, who...

LUMIERE!

The memory hit him like a blow. The day before, the crazy guy had danced around in the rain just to feel alive again! On the evening of the party, he had exhausted himself with work, dancing and partying, and on top of that, he had drunk a bit too much. The next day he had been tired and pale and the following night...

Oh, he remembered exactly how he had been woken up in the middle of the night by one of the servants because Lumiere was in such a bad way. And how right they had been...

And then? What happened then?

Cogsworth realised that he was getting a headache from all the thinking. But he had to find out what had happened, because that was probably the answer to the question of how he had got into the strange situation he was currently in. But thinking seemed to become more difficult with every passing moment. It seemed as if the darkness surrounding him was gradually spreading to his mind. And with this realisation came a terrible thought: Was he dead?

Or worse still, was he dying and experiencing the last moments of his existence? No, that couldn't be! He couldn't just die! He was still... Well, you couldn't call him "young" any more... But he was nowhere near old enough to die! He couldn't... He didn't WANT to die!

His heart began to race due to anxiety, he felt the rapid pounding in his chest and heard the blood rushing in his ears. His breathing became faster and faster, but he had the feeling that he was getting less and less air. He felt like he was suffocating!

Panic gripped him and only made the whole thing worse.

"I don't want to die... I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"Take it easy, Cogsworth, take it easy!"

What was that? Where did that voice come from?

"Easy, calm down, just calm down!"

He didn't know where it was coming from, but somehow... It sounded familiar. But the voice sounded strangely muffled, as if it was coming from far away. Nevertheless, he could understand every word clearly, as if the person was standing right next to him. Strange... But even stranger was the fact that he was actually slowly calming down. The noise in his ears became less, his breathing calmer and slowly, very slowly, his heartbeat returned to normal. And there was still that voice...

"There you go. Take it easy, mon ami..."

Mon ami? Wait a minute... There was only one person who addressed him with that phrase.

"Lumiere? Lumiere, is that you?"

His pulse began to rise again, but this time because he realised that he was not alone. Lumiere was here, he was somewhere here in the darkness! He was... He was alive!

Another memory struck him like a lightning bolt.

The night when Lumiere was fighting for his life.

The terrible storm that raged that night.

His quarrel with the prince and his escape from the castle.

The wild ride through the forest and the conversation with the doctor.

His way back and... And then? What had happened then?

He didn't know and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember it for the life of him. But he knew one thing for sure: What he had done had been successful. Lumiere was alive! But... Where was he? Monsieur Cogsworth heard his friend's voice, but he still saw nothing but darkness. Impenetrable darkness...

"Lumiere! Lumiere, where are you?"

He had to reach Lumiere somehow, somehow attract his attention. And he had to find a way out of this cursed darkness! If only he knew where to turn... But there was no sign of a way out, nothing!

"Mon ami... I'm so sorry..."

There was his friend's voice again and now it sounded so... Sad. No, not just sad. It sounded sorrowful, almost desperate. Something that didn't fit in at all with the always cheerful, always positive nature of the young man to whom she belonged. But that wasn't the only thing the majordomo noticed. At first he thought it was a figment of his imagination, a trick of his clouded senses, but the longer he stared into the darkness before him and the longer he listened to Lumiere, the clearer it became:

Every time Lumiere spoke, the darkness became a little... brighter. It wasn't much, no more than a spark, but it was a light, a glimmer.

"A glimmer of hope...", he thought, and then a thought occurred to him. He doubted that Lumiere could hear him, but he had to try.

"Lumiere! Lumiere, I... I'm here!"

"If only I could help you..."

"You're already doing that! Keep talking! Just keep talking!"

It was actually absurd. Cogsworth could remember hundreds of situations in which he would have preferred to silence Lumiere with his own hands and now there was nothing more important to him than that he talked. Because by now it was clear that he was not imagining things. The darkness around him really diminished the more Lumiere spoke. It was as if he was creating a path with his voice that Henry only had to follow. And indeed, there was a path, a path of light, right in front of his feet. Should he dare to step onto it? Cogsworth hesitated, but then Lumiere's voice rang out again, even more desperate than before.

"Sacre bleu, I... I would do anything to make you well again, mon ami!"

That was enough to convince the majordomo to take the risk.

"What have I got to lose at this point..."

The first steps were still cautious and hesitant, but before he knew it he was walking fast. On and on, towards a strangely glowing surface that suddenly hovered directly in front of him in the darkness.

"Please, get well again..."

"Don't worry, old friend. I... We'll get through this!"

"I... I'll do anything you want, I'll fulfil your every wish, you..."

Cogsworth had to smile at this statement. What an opportunity! If Lumiere was prepared to do anything...

"I'll cook for you whatever you want!"

The steward smiled gleefully.

"Even if it's that vile pig slop you English call food..."

Now Henry was shocked! He knew how much Lumiere detested preparing anything that was not French cuisine. And he hated English cuisine like nothing else. That he now wanted to cook English voluntarily... Cogsworth was so perplexed that he tripped over his own feet and practically fell into the light. Only one surprised and disbelieving word escaped his lips: "Really?"

It was quiet. An almost unheard of state considering that Lumiere was present. But the usually eloquent, cheerful and talkative man was in no mood to say anything. Quite apart from the fact that there was no-one there for him to talk to. Sure, he could talk to the still unconscious Cogsworth, but no one could tell if he was aware of anything. So Lumiere remained silent while life in the castle went on as usual outside the room.

Lumiere, however, sat silently by his friend's bed and stared ahead of him.

There was nothing he could do to help him and that was what was slowly but surely driving him to the brink of despair. If only he could do something, anything, to...

Suddenly, the silence in the room was disturbed as the majordomo gasped and tossed his head restlessly. For a moment, Lumiere was frozen in shock, then he tried to calm the man, who was obviously plagued by a feverish dream.

"Take it easy, Cogsworth, take it easy!"

The majordomo reared up, his breathing fast and hurried, as if he couldn't catch his breath. Lumiere was horrified. Should he get help? But he couldn't leave Cogsworth alone now! He carefully placed his hands on the older man's chest and tried to hold him down with gentle force, while he continued to talk soothingly to him.

"Easy, calm down, just calm down!"

It helped. He didn't know what had happened or why, but that wasn't important to him. All that mattered was that Monsieur Cogsworth slowly calmed down and sank back onto his pillow. Lumiere breathed a sigh of relief.

"There you go. Take it easy, mon ami..."

He waited a moment, then sank back into his chair without taking his eyes off the injured man. He didn't want to, but he couldn't suppress the tears.

"Mon ami... I'm so sorry..."

Trembling with despair, he moved closer to the bed and looked at his friend, who was once again lying motionless and looking nearly dead. Lumiere's gaze slid over the thick bandages that almost completely covered Cogsworth's upper body and he swallowed. Prince Adam had made sure that Lumiere was never present when they were changed and so he could only imagine the wounds that had almost cost his best friend his life. And that didn't make it any easier for him.

"If only I could help you..."

He felt so helpless! No, not just helpless… Useless. He swallowed.

"Sacre bleu, I... I would do anything to make you well again, mon ami!"

He took the majordomo's hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"Please, get well again... I... I'll do anything you want, I'll fulfil your every wish, you... I'll cook for you whatever you want!"

He chuckled through his tears as he looked down at the hand that lay pale and powerless in his.

"Even if it's that vile pig slop you English call food..."

He laughed as he imagined how his friend would normally have reacted to that statement.

"Really?"

It was just one word, so faint and quiet that it was barely audible. But it was enough to frighten Lumiere so much that he jumped up with a horrified cry and then stood frozen. Surprised, he stared at Cogsworth, who in turn looked at him in silence. His questioning expression, no less surprised at the younger man's reaction, was one of tiredness and pain, but Lumiere care. Because the moment he realised what had just happened, everything fell away from him. All the pain and worry, the fear and despair of the last few days were forgotten. They were replaced by an incredible feeling of happiness and relief. And it was so overwhelming that Lumiere completely lost his composure.

„'Enry... ... 'ENRY!"

With a cry of relief, Lumiere threw himself at the injured man, who first gasped in shock and only a blink later cried out in pain.

"AHHHH! Lumiere, you miserable..."

"Oh, excuse-moin, mon ami!"

"Get. Off. Of. Me!", the majordomo forced out in obvious pain and Lumiere immediately let go of him.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to... I mean, I just..."

"...gone completely insane?"

"No, I..."

"Lumiere, what's wrong, is there something wrong with Monsieur Cogsworth..."

Prince Adam, who had just rushed into the room in a panic, stopped abruptly and stared at Cogsworth, who returned his gaze in silence.

"Cogs... Cogsworth, you... You're awake..."

It took a moment for the prince to really realise what had happened. Then a glow crossed his face and he shouted at the top of his voice, "You're finally awake!" as he rushed towards the bed. The majordomo feared that he was about to have another very painful friendly encounter, but Lumiere saved him from this by stopping Adam at the last second.

"Stop, stop, mon prince! You should be a little more careful with our majordomo".

Confused, the prince paused in his movement and looked at Cogsworth, who was lying on his pillow breathing heavily and had closed his eyes again from exhaustion. But only for a moment, then he opened them again and looked at the prince with a questioning expression on his face.

"My prince..."

It seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but the last few minutes had simply been too exhausting for him. Adam put a hand on his arm and smiled at his majordomo.

"It's all right, old friend. Get some rest so you can regain your strength."

And as if he had read Cogsworth's mind, he added, "Everything else can wait."

He and Lumiere stood there in silence while the injured man fell back into a deep, peaceful sleep. As Adam turned to leave, he saw Lumiere wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Mon prince, I... Forgive me, I..."

Smiling mildly, he approached him and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"It's all right, Lumiere. You don't need to be ashamed of your tears."

"I... I thought we'd lose him, but... The old stubborn guy just can't be brought down!"

Adam was about to scold the man for this cheeky statement, when he noticed Lumiere's mischievous smile. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, then laughed softly and said: "You're right, my dear frien. You can't bring our good old majordomo down! But come on now, he needs his rest. And you need a break!"

With these words, he pushed Lumiere towards the door. Naturally, the latter wanted to object immediately, but the prince would not tolerate any arguments.

"Don't argue, Lumiere! Henry is fine, what he needs most now is rest."

"Yes, but what if he..."

"No, Lumiere!"

By now they were both standing in the hallway and Adam wondered how he could help the harried majordomo get some well-deserved rest, until he thought of something.

"Lumiere... I heard you talking to Monsieur Cogsworth earlier and... Did you really promise to cook English meals for him?"

Lumiere looked at his counterpart, puzzled, then groaned in exasperation and rolled his eyes.

"Sacre bleu... I thought I'd get round it because Cogsworth didn't hear me, but if you..."

"Are you going to break your promise?"

Adam crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Lumiere a chastising look, but a mischievous gleam in his eyes revealed that he wasn't really serious.

Lumiere, however, gave in and said indignantly, "Mon deau, mon prince, what do you think of me! When a Renard promises something, he keeps it!"

He had assumed a proud and upright pose, but his theatrical gestures made the prince chuckle.

"Well, then I'm reassured. But... Do you know anything about English cuisine?"

"Mon prince! Of course I know all about it, I have..."

Lumiere suddenly paused for a second, then lowered his shoulder and looked at the floor for a moment. Then he chuckled nervously, stroked his reddish-blonde hair in embarrassment and said meekly: "I have no idea about English cuisine..."

Now the prince could no longer hold back, he laughed out loud while he patted the other vigorously on the shoulder.

"Oh Lumiere, you are... But don't worry, I think there are a few cooking books in Belle's library. Maybe you'll find the inspiration you need there?"

Lumiere, ears red with embarrassment a moment ago, was beaming all over his face.

"That's an excellent idea! I'll be on my way straight away and... Oh, maybe Princess Belle is there right now. I'm sure she can help me with my search!"

"I'm sure she'd be delighted!"

"See you later then, mon prince! I have to prepare a feast that our English friend has never tasted before!"

With these words, he disappeared around the next corner, leaving a head-shaking prince behind. But what could he do? Lumiere was just... Lumiere. And Adam couldn't be happier that he was finally back, now that Monsieur Cogsworth was obviously on the road to recovery. Adam took a deep breath and exhaled, then set off to fulfil his duties as prince, his steps almost as sprightly as those of his servant. For he was sure that everything would be all right now. Hoping had paid off.