In the village, something was different. The first thing Gaston noticed barreled towards him and grabbed his hand.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0wy9pXq8E
‘You’re back!’ Lefou shouted, jumping up and down. He almost looked the same as usual, except his arms were swollen with muscles that made his jacket appear uncomfortably tight. ‘Where have you been? Was crazy old Maurice telling the truth?’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxqAw7XMHp
The two were standing in the middle of the street, in front of the water fountain. Onlookers surrounded them, cheering on Gaston’s homecoming.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LLgQRSkuQ
‘I’ve… spent some time with a beast. Lefou, you look… different!’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiZREjfZKO
‘I eat five dozen eggs every morning, just like you always said to!’ Lefou’s face carried the hopes and dreams of thousands of children on Christmas Eve, with Gaston being the present.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA2LVnunc5
Gaston ignored him, looking around for Belle. As expected, she was strolling home with a book in her hand. He strode towards her, restitching the overconfident masculinity that the Beast had unknowingly unravelled.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡialLFqRb5B
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, leaning down towards her. At first, she scowled, but then her memories pushed context to the front of her mind.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eX1fveUbm
‘Thank you. Maurice is safe and well.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfn5UtStJzg
‘So, where do you want the wed-’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJVDaPsheG
‘I simply couldn’t say yes.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDCKzoRDgu
‘You-’ Gaston raised a hand but stopped himself. Belle had already dodged him at this point, now standing a few steps away from him. He lowered his hand and sighed.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEapP2MzpqC
He tried to look into her eyes but he could barely see through the image of the Beast’s eyes. The Beast’s pools of nocturnal skies, vast and strange and yet the most painfully human things Gaston had ever witnessed. As he attempted to gaze at Belle, a question, the most dangerous of all thoughts, inserted itself into his brain.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyu43LMWq8B
Did he ever love her?
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzo9sITPLE
This thought sent Gaston stumbling backwards, his vision blurry like he had just drunk five jugs of ale one after the other. He barely noticed himself tripping over his heels until a big arm cushioned his fall. He whipped his head towards his saviour and was greeted by Lefou’s confident expression. It was a look so unexpected from Lefou, yet Gaston somehow found it familiar.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp24JIFZ1re
‘You’re losing your touch, Gaston! I think you need a rest. Or did that beast put a curse on you?’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKqNtnzAkN
‘The Beast would never…’ he didn’t finish that sentence but it was enough information for Lefou to knit his brows. Gaston gulped. ‘He’s too kind.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVOIFbi87x
Lefou helped him up. ‘Kind? But isn’t he a hideous-’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6wjigscDQ
‘Oh, he is completely hideous. He is covered with fur and has horns on his head that are all bent. He’s got sharp claws…’ Gaston remembered the Beast awkwardly trying to not break a bow. ‘... and sharp teeth that stick out of his mouth…’ He recalled messily eating together with him. ‘... but his eyes…’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC5G6tIX0l
His heart felt like a magnet in a compass. It was pulled away from this poor provincial town towards that dark but beautiful castle. The sensation overwhelmed him, forcing him to grip his shirt as if reaching for his heart. He momentarily forgot to breathe. Lefou looked at him with suspicion, followed by anger. Gaston shut his eyes. ‘H-his eyes are black and lifeless.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn3NSUxyqG
‘See?’ Lefou asked the crowd that had gathered around them. ‘This ugly monster attacked Maurice, then Gaston! What do you think he will do with your children?’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMCjIHTnk9
A choir of gasps bounced between the buildings in the town. Gaston almost protested but kept his mouth shut and his head low, holding onto the last morsel of his pride between his clenched teeth.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8saaBFTpsn
‘I say we kill the Beast!’ Lefou declared. The crowd chanted a chorus of ‘Yeah!’s before rushing to their homes to pick up torches and pitchforks.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUIutTMwlE
Gaston grabbed Lefou’s arm. ‘You… you can’t-’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3m9Wzbbzju
Lefou took his hand and gave it a gentle rub, gazing into his eyes with that same look he gave the day Maurice’s horse was found. Now Gaston was finally starting to recognise it.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyJvELh024
‘It’s okay, Gaston. I’ll protect you.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9kOQGdOY3
A chill ran down Gaston’s spine. How long had Lefou been looking at him like that?
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntue3E5tYn
Gaston jerked his hand away, eyes wide with terror. After seeing this reaction, Lefou’s fiery glare matched the lit torches behind him.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sC8zgvz2M
A line of flames bounced up and down and around the town. Lefou ran to the front of the line to lead the way.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQQtBTgJrg
Only a few people stayed in the village, including Maurice, Gaston and Belle.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJJtnSF941
Gaston turned to Belle. ‘You’re not going?’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKf2MucPrcJ
Belle cast her eyes downward. ‘I’m not one to do a witch hunt.’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLsd2Eev7r
‘Could you help me-’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8hmohzvch
Belle shook her head. ‘He still hurt my Father. I can’t forgive him. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own.’ Despite saying this, she looked up in curiosity. ‘What are you planning to do?’
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyusEmRGbYU
Gaston didn’t answer, which was itself an answer. He simply looked up towards the castle, just barely able to see the tip of the tallest tower over the trees.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5R1shO4If
He headed home, picking up all the daggers he could find in his bedroom. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find a single gun. Lefou’s confident smirk entered his mind.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmgAZn7t6X
‘That good-for-nothing-!’ He took a deep breath. Think, Gaston, think!
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VIIg99iM3
He figured breaking into Lefou’s house would be easy. He may have gone soft hanging around the Beast, but he surely hadn’t become that much of a softie.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7n9Z1ia7fm
He was correct. One kick to Lefou’s door was enough to get in. He found his guns hidden all around his room: in the tiny wardrobe, inside his chest of drawers, beneath his pillow (much to Gaston’s discomfort). Also under the pillow were a few arrows. A bow was under the bed.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybQePKVkWc
On his way out, he pushed away a thought that had slithered into his mind.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyamB7BOXX
Who was he going to have to shoot?
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4UpjOY5w1
Before he could even reckon with the implications of this, the Beast’s oceanic eyes burst through his mind’s walls, flattening any doubt under the weight of their beauty. He grit his teeth as the description of the Beast he had given to Lefou repeated in his mind.
431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUd6C8f9Lg
He shoved the guns into the same satchel that housed his daggers and ran to his horse, leaping onto it and tapping it with the riding crop to get it galloping.431Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjT9T2HDGt
然後按「加至主畫面」