They were silent for a while. Gaston kept thinking about what to say, he was very surprised that the prince was, how shall I say it... not a fighter. He wasn't going to fight at all, and it was confusing. This was not right. The hunter looked out at the lake, its surface glistening in the sun like jewels. He spoke softly, as if speaking to himself:

"I always won, always. At first I did my best to be first, then at some point I realized that everyone expected me to win. I could no longer come out of the woods without prey, I could no longer... I don't know, at least relax somewhere, be a regular person. The whole town called me a hero, and I had to live up to it. But even a town hero can't always win. Then somehow I gradually began to simplify my life, where I could - I won, where I could not, or something required more effort than usual, I tricked. Catching an animal in a trap is also successful hunting, right? But in the most important thing for me, I was wrong... If I hadn't tried to rush things, if I hadn't tried to win at all costs, maybe things would have been different. Belle was difficult, and I didn't want to bother. I wanted to make her mine as soon as possible. And now everything is poisoned by the way we started our marriage. It's like cheating at the beginning of the game, even though it comes up trumps. It's still unfair. If she'd been with me from the beginning, I wouldn't be telling you all this. But now I'm the reason she can't know true love."

"You should be talking to her, not me," the prince looked at the water too.

"There's no point, I'm telling you. It's like you can't hear me. You see... When I married her, she was different. As if she'd lost herself. She stopped reading."

"She stopped reading?" His Highness bent down and picked up a book from the ground.

"She's... how do you say it? Like the saying to make lemonade out of lemon. Trying to find herself in housework, giving up everything she cared for and trying to love me. I even for a moment believed it was true... But here we are back and she's crying again when she thinks I can't hear. Now I understand why, and I can't let her be unhappy. I can't deprive her of her true love."

Prince Adam retreated two steps back down the path, shook his head and splashed his hands:

"That's it, that's it, that's enough, I told you not to talk about it! " He shook his head once more. " Are you all right in the head? You're telling me your family squabbles, why should I know? Go and talk to your wife, that's the only thing I can advise," the prince turned around and walked down the path through the forest towards the castle.

"But why don't you want to fight?" Shouted Gaston at his back.

The prince turned on the heels of his shoes:

"Fight who and what for?"

The hunter came closer to him:

"Fight me. For your true love. Don't you want to be happy? You are unhappy."

"You only have to fight with yourself to be a man, not a beast. What makes you think I'm unhappy?"

"But you're not with Belle."

Prince Adam pressed his lips together as if trying to hold back some words. His blue eyes were staring off into the distance:

"Of course I love Belle. She's become my angel... I... I was desperate, completely desperate. I was a hideous monster, not just on the outside. Inside, too. I was tormenting the servants who wished me well and who were cursed because of me. And she... She taught me kindness, love. And she taught me that sometimes you have to sacrifice your feelings. It's hard, but it can and should be done for the person you want to sacrifice it for. And it didn't make me unhappy. When I let her go, I realized that my love is always with me, in my heart. My love made me different. And I became a man," he was silent for a moment and said quietly. "If someone is willing to let go of the one they love, then they truly love. And if Belle wanted to leave, she wouldn't be kept from her promise. I know that. Look, go home, she probably wasn't crying because of me, she was crying because of you, you fool. Don't worry your head so much."

He turned his back and walked down the path to the castle again. Gaston stared at him puzzled. This was wrong. It was strange. The prince was clearly not saying what he thought. He was overpowering himself, that was obvious. If he was happy, why would he keep the book Belle was reading to him?

The fact that both Belle and Prince Adam were so careful not to try to see each other again or somehow let him, Gaston, know that his marriage was now only a pathetic formality made them strangely similar.

Gaston chased the obvious thought from his mind, but it looked exactly like they both felt sorry for him and didn't want him to suffer. Yes, yes, he usually gave something generously to other people, shared his surplus, and now two people who obviously want and need to be together, have both the strength and desire to do so, were purposely refusing to do so.

The prince has decided to be honorable, not to take away a simple man's wife. Or believes he has sinned too much previously to be entitled to happiness. Belle has chosen to be true to her marriage vows. Belle has sacrificed herself for her father so often that she has made it a habit to do things for others.

But that's not what he wants at all. No. No way.

As Gaston stood on the path, eyebrows shifting, realizing that now he would have to talk to Belle and only Belle, the prince stopped, as if remembering something, and turned to him.

"I forgot to ask you something," Prince Adam's soft voice was suddenly hard. He stepped closer to Gaston and spoke. "Don't call that girl that name again. Okay?"

"What girl? Call her how? Gaston was surprised.

"The new maid, Paulette. I will not allow you to insult those who serve me. Those who serve me are now under my protection."

"Wow!" Gaston whistled. "You already know her name. The girl will go far."

"I asked you to!" Prince Adam clenched his free hand into a fist. "You are out of line," he said quietly, then added indignantly. "A man should not insult a defenseless girl. She cried so hard when you left."

"Look, I'm just calling her that, and you're making her a whore," Gaston argued.

His Highness fell silent, trying to find the words.

"What did you say?" At last he said.

- But you understand it yourself!

But apparently he did not understand.

Gaston sighed:

"Look, this is a small town, almost a village. We all work hard to feed ourselves. Some go to bed hungry. Taxes, all that stuff, you know those words? Paulette is a girl of low birth, she can work all year and not even earn one button on your camisole. Then she gets to the castle, even her maid's dress is silk, she wipes gold candlesticks, walks on expensive carpets. She helps set the table, where dinner is not just bread and cheese. She is getting used to luxury and to the men around her who are noble and rich. Do you think she will marry a simple miller, baker, barber now? Will she buy eggs by the piece at the market? No, she already sees another life. But she has nothing but a pretty face and a good figure. No aristocrat will marry her, but of course they'll pay attention to her. If she's nice, they'll give her a dress, a bracelet, feed her. And so on. She could, of course, become the new Madame Pompadour, but that's unlikely. Usually the end of such girls will be poverty and disease."

"I.. I somehow didn't think about it," the prince whispered shocked. "But still, don't insult her anymore."

"All right, all right," Gaston shrugged, scrutinizing the prince even more closely. He was as if from another world or time, so strange, as if he had been sitting in some hole for ten years and was completely unaware of real life.

The prince was leaving for the castle, and Gaston stood there wondering how he could talk to Belle. He came up with nothing and walked out of the woods towards the town.

All decisions were left to him, Gaston. No one demanded anything of him, no one resented him.

He could just move on with Belle, that's all. Nothing would change. But he couldn't agree to that. The happiness that had been snatched away by deceit and blackmail was not for him. He couldn't deny Belle the chance to be with her true love. Not anymore. Belle couldn't be truly happy with him. It would be something like if he married Paulette. She'd adore him and he'd probably be grateful for it. Gradually he'd get used to her, maybe even have a normal family life. But it still wouldn't have been Belle, it still wouldn't have been the same feelings. It was the same with Belle and Prince Adam. They understood each other and, even in the guise he was in, he interested Belle so much that she read her favorite book to him. And, as the prince himself said, taught him kindness and love...

Passing by the china shop again, Gaston looked at his face for the umpteenth time. But this time without admiration or narcissism.

"Gaston, you are positively primal," she had once told him so.

Prince Adam's refined face flashed before his eyes. Now he knows what a "primitive" is, something like a savage. A savage, exactly. Why does she need a savage when there's the handsome prince she's always dreamed of?