The air was cold but the light breeze was pleasant against Gaston’s face. He sat on the short balustrade and gazed at the sky, whose hue almost perfectly matched the Beast’s coat. It felt like this was a sky made just for him and the Beast.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4GqsCmQyx
The Beast hesitantly sat next to him. Gaston raised his legs onto the balustrade and leaned back against one of the stone vases. It didn’t take long for his weight to accidentally knock the vase off the balcony. As he fell back, he immediately expected the Beast to save the vase, but instead he grabbed Gaston’s hand and pulled him up before his head could hit the stone.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcLMrQ48Ag
‘Are you okay?’ the Beast said, holding Gaston up to his chest with his hand still clasped around the other man’s.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxtw4mURad
Gaston peered over the balcony but couldn’t see the vase in the mass of darkness below. He gulped. His face flushed before he could even say the word, the one word that felt the most alien coming from his mouth.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnJVsaz3y5
‘Sorry.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXsq9yiNxS
‘That wasn’t an answer.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja3wQtfGW6
Gaston swivelled until his feet were on the balcony floor, letting go of the Beast’s hand. His hand suddenly felt icy cold by itself.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuOJjznmCX
‘I’m fine,’ he said. A chuckle left his lips. ‘You know, for a beast, you sometimes forget to act like one.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS1UcKiZon
The Beast’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, but then his expression softened. ‘I wasn’t always this way.’ He bashfully ran a hand through the fur behind his head.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQK5IBMYWAd
‘Wait, you mean you used to be more of a jerk, or you used to look like a normal man?’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsaHpFgVZa
‘Both.’ The Beast raised his paws to the sky and stared at them. ‘I made some foolish decisions and wound up with this curse. I’ve spent the last few years waiting for a cure while telling myself every day that I don’t deserve it. I got myself into this mess, and now I’m a monster.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1l8O18JbG8
Although the Beast laughed, his frown showed little amusement. Tears welled up in his eyes but he refused to let them spill. ‘I guess I always was one. This curse held a mirror to my face and told me no one could ever love someone as monstrous as me.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMjHFnExkk
Gaston put one leg on the balustrade and rested his arm on it, looking over at the forest beyond the balcony. His sigh floated in the cool air.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJh5YY8UFi
‘I wonder what a cursed mirror would tell me. Would it tell me that Belle would never love me? Huh, ridiculous!’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVO4z8EkWQU
‘Belle?’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsa93hPY3x
Gaston whipped his head towards the Beast and saw the creature’s body tense up until it shook. Gaston couldn’t recognise the emotion that pulled his heart down. The closest thing he could compare the feeling to was when he had an unsuccessful hunt.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJORk8NjhTe
‘Yes… Belle. The most beautiful girl in town.’ The more he spoke, the more his voice withered. ‘I haven’t seen her in so long. I…’ He looked into the Beast’s eyes, still shiny with potential tears. He immediately looked away and coughed. ‘I miss her,’ he said with a more commanding voice. ‘I wish I could see her one last time.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wp72o1bG4
After a few moments of deliberation, the Beast slowly exhaled. ‘Speaking of mirrors… there is a way for you to see her.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJW2rzNI6Z
Gaston raised a puzzled eyebrow, matched by the other when the Beast led him to the West Wing. He searched for words until the Beast picked up a mirror beside the wilting rose on the table.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSorfUNGLKx
The Beast handed it to Gaston. ‘This mirror will show you anything. Anything you wish to see.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TDjeT4BYA
‘I… I’d like to see Belle,’ Gaston said. The mirror did nothing. ‘Please.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsU6rSzNxm
The mirror glowed green and the glass showed the moving image of Belle, surprisingly enough, talking to a male villager. The two stood close to each other. Perhaps too close. Gaston’s blood boiled.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtsfJQQb20
‘What do you see?’ the Beast asked.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiQZQEmFfk
Gaston held the mirror against his chest to hide the vision. ‘She…’ He did the dastardly act of thinking. ‘She needs my help. I must rescue her.’ He looked up at the Beast. ‘But…’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Aa21rf20P
A million emotions clawed at each other to take control of the Beast’s face. ‘Go, rescue her,’ he eventually muttered, his voice as hollow as the glass case surrounding the floating rose.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdzpyQQL8x
‘But you said-’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42sKk6xkTn
‘You’re free.’ The Beast finally settled on a small but comforting smile. ‘You’re no longer my prisoner.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30XQuHHl8F
Prisoner. That word sounded like a relic of centuries past to Gaston’s ears. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. Something pulled his heart down again.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVCUr4bTP2
He took the mirror to his room, where he changed back into his regular attire. He hopped on Maurice’s horse and rode it into town.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9y4c5NXD2
The Beast rested a paw on the table and slumped over it. Cogsworth, Lumiere and Mrs Potts entered the room as if on cue.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqZdgPhLou
Upon seeing his body language, Lumiere asked, ‘Where is your amoureux?’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8IsBOHIoU
‘I… I let him go…’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LMetHBovJ
Mrs Potts gasped. ‘You WHAT?’ the three servants shouted simultaneously.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOCVj7RYUJ
‘He loves another. It would be better for him and this… Belle… to be happy together.’ He uttered Belle’s name like it was the name of a recently discovered, invasive species of flower.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcE2azZpWx6
Lumiere and Cogsworth looked at each other with wide eyes before casting them down in perfect sync. Lumiere, unsure what else to do, reached out to Cogsworth, who writhed away from him and bolted out of the room.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAr2hDUWvl
The second-last petal fell onto the table. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t save us,’ the Beast said.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2d1zwD92Dk
After a few solemn moments of contemplation, Lumiere crossed his arms behind his back, straightening his back like a good servant.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1PiQnJ95k
‘Well, I suppose there is nothing you could have done,’ he said.
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSsQEQ30NC
Mrs Potts chimed in with, ‘If he did not come to love you, you can’t change that.’
166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZf0Qt5tp43
To the servants’ surprise, the Beast smiled. It was a half-smile accompanied by eyes narrow with exhaustion, but they figured it still counted.166Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEyExopXir
然後按「加至主畫面」