nameless country

Everyone was whispering, "Isn't this their little girl?"

"Yeah, didn't you say you disappeared when you were in the countryside?"

"She is so beautiful. I want to marry her as my wife."

... Countless voices, but William didn't care.Those voices were just the whispers of a bunch of bored people, and he wasn't Bell himself.

"Sorry everyone, this is the end of today's gathering." The businessman led his newlywed wife to the front, "Forgive me, I was just joking for everyone before, and the little girl is only coming back now - because she went to a neighboring country before." As he spoke, he asked the guests to leave.

The other children stood there, motionless.

After all the people had left, the businessman came slowly. "Bell...you..."

William looked at his father's face, the high-spirited happiness made him several years younger, and a middle-aged woman with temperament stood beside him, "Bell, hello." The woman said so.There are fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but it is not difficult to see that she is very temperamental or feminine, just like ice wine that has experienced time precipitation, with a sense of distance.

William said, "Hello,—Father, I am coming back this time because I am about to get married, and I want you to attend my wedding."

"What wedding?" The businessman was a little puzzled, he took William's hand, "Bell, it's great to have you back."

He still wanted to say something, but William gently took his hand away from his wrist, "You don't remember, and the beast. Speaking of which, you asked me to go there."

"Bell, are you crazy!" The businessman looked at his new wife, "Go and make some tea first."

The woman leaves.The businessman pointed to the chair, "Let's sit down and talk." He seemed to have aged instantly again.

"I would like to say a few words to 'William' now. He did me a favor when he left. I would like to thank him specially. After all, I may not have the chance in the future."

"Bell, listen to me, since you have already escaped, why do you go back and marry the beast? The rose with the mark of the beast is gone—wait! Why do you still have one on your head! Quick! Throw it away!" The businessman stared at the rose, which was baring its teeth and claws, "this devil".

"It's no use, Father. Tell me where 'William' is." William's eyes dropped.

"...Uh... Bell, you don't know what's going on these days." The businessman paused, "Come with me."

William followed him to the small room in the attic. The businessman shook his head and sighed, "William seems to have gradually changed after he came back from the country. He used to like dancing and flirting with ladies the most, but now he actually likes men. He has been convicted of sodomy by the court, and I paid a lot of money to release him on bail and lock him up."

The businessman polished the lamp in the attic, "Speak quickly if you have anything to say, and I have something to tell you after you finish." He put down the lamp, closed the door and left.

William walked up to the chained man, who should be called "Bell".He was still a little dazed looking at his own face, but he really found it troublesome to bear Bell's mechanically feminine face.Although I don't belong to this world and it doesn't matter what kind of body I am in, I still don't want the beautiful face of a woman like Bell who will be noticed wherever she goes.

He grabbed Bell's body, "Hey".

Bell stared at him with wide eyes.

"Change my face back, and I'll let you go." He curled his lips, "You may not know, but the beast is a handsome prince. He is just cursed, and you can get rid of it when you go back and marry him." curse."

"I do not believe."

William patted her on the face, "It's up to you to believe it or not. Besides, what good does it do for me to lie to you? I don't want to marry a prince. You have survived for so many years, why don't you go? Just treat it as a face-changing reward gone."

"You—how do you remember..." Bell's lips were pale and bloodless.

"This is beyond your scope of consideration. Now—do you believe it?" William's eyes looked straight at her, as if it could really bring stability.A dark light flashed inadvertently, and even he himself didn't know that his eyes were slowly changing, and then dimmed as if the candle flame of the lantern was about to burn out, returning to a normal state.

Bell nodded, because even if he didn't believe it, there was nothing he could do. He didn't dare to go out with this face at all.Someone outside even proposed to use the stake to burn himself to death, and he lived in fear every day, and his father became increasingly indifferent and disgusted from the original true family affection.In this way, it seems that going to the beast to endure a period of time for the princess who will become a prince after marriage is worth the risk no matter whether it is true or not.

"You untied my hands." Bell spit out this sentence from her mouth, her voice was hoarse, and it seemed that she hadn't drank water for a long time.Now she doesn't have that self-confident and proud figure at all.Her vitality was sucked away, not by other people, but by a ridiculous fate, her own heart that was not willing to be left behind but frequently stopped on the edge and was not tenacious enough.

Not enough to love, not enough to hate, not enough to be persistent, not enough to give up.

So not fully alive.

After Bell's hands were free, she took out the potion and repeated the steps of changing the face that night.Enduring the pain as hard as they could, both of them held back not to make a sound.

After it was over, William looked at his face and smiled with satisfaction despite the pain. "Take these roses, and you will find your way back." He took off the rose pinned to his ear and pinned it on Bell's head.

Bell was about to leave, "Wait, change your clothes before leaving." William took off his outer long skirt, and then put the blood-stained coat that Bell took off on his body.

Bell locked the door to the small attic from the outside.

William sprinkled a handful of ashes on his face, and left through the small attic window.

The real Bell comes down in her skirt and sees her father waiting below. "Bell, let's talk."

Her father pulled her to sit on the mahogany sofa, "William is really annoying. He got together with a few men and was found in the back street of the tavern. This kind of thing, hey - let's not talk about him, you come back this time just don't go"

Bell smiled wryly in his heart, "There is no love."

She was so disappointed, both herself as Bell and herself as William.After returning from the country, relying on William's identity as a man, he drank wantonly to relieve his sorrows, but was drugged by several people in a bar that day.Under the reaction of drunkenness and drugs, I saw that those men had a hazy love, so I half-pushed and half-kissed, touched; but before the last step, when those men thought they were men, they were rejected. People found and grabbed it.

Letting his father down again, Bell looked at his father's face, even if he could change his identity, some people are still doomed to the same fate—isn't it?I still feel bad for my father, but I don't have the courage to love.

It seems to be like this for everyone: no longer dare to believe, no longer dare to use your heart, no longer dare to pretend to be smart.

Her heart was sharpened by a blunt knife.

"I've made up my mind, Father," Bell snapped.

"Nonsense! Bell, father knows that you are angry, and I regret it too. Don't torture me anymore, okay?" The merchant's eyes became cloudy.

"I have the right to decide. By the way, I don't need to mention how you and your brothers and sisters came back here." She sneered.She was already on the verge of collapse, and she didn't want to hear what the businessman said, so she also missed the sincere fatherly love she longed for.Such close feelings are about to surface, but at that moment, like a fisherman who has been fighting for a long time, he let go of the net in his hand, sighed and compromised with the prey-but who knows that the prey is already at your fingertips?

The businessman tightly grasped the edge of the sofa, "Okay, it's up to you." He sighed heavily, "But you can stay at home for a few days first."

"please."

"No." Bell stood up.

"I just came to inform you."

She walked out, the back was weak but powerful.

Perhaps she didn't even know it herself, only William, who was hiding outside and watching indifferently, knew that the girl's heart was about to wither.

She gently stroked the rose pinned to her ear, and glanced in one direction.That was the direction William was in. She nodded slightly, and walked towards the place where the beast was, the distance pointed by the rose, with the gait of a truly elegant lady.

She had seen the legendary Beast, and surprisingly, the Beast wasn't rude.

Before he could speak, Bell felt something warm covering his body.Reluctantly, she touched it with her hand, and looked at the beast with a simple and honest smile—it was a warm coat.

"... see that I'm wearing... too little?" Bell thought to himself.

"Your complexion is not very good. We will get married in a few days, aren't you happy?" Beast asked hesitantly.

"I'm very happy." Bell said eagerly.

The beast laughed.

"We have a tradition there...that is, unmarried couples cannot live together..." Bell said with his head down.

"Just do as you said, don't be shy." The beast held her in his arms, the warm body temperature made Bell froze all of a sudden, she gently grabbed the hem of the beast's clothes with attachment, and Walk like this.

There was a rustling sound of footsteps in the snow, "It's very comfortable." She even closed her eyes gently, humming a ditty without lyrics.

Just go.

walking.

Before reaching the castle, the beast's ears moved suddenly. He fell on the ground, his back raised high, and he roared like a demonstration.

A group of people gathered around, and the leader was the businessman.

"Bell, come home with me, I can't make the mistake of throwing you to the beast again." He held the torch high in his hand, and the hunters and villagers nearby.

Bell shook her head, and the beast tightly guarded her behind her.The beast was fighting, and he defended himself fiercely, leaving his back to his lover.

There were more and more people, and Bell saw dense scars on his father's hands, and the beasts also wailed for being injured.Her face was also getting paler, and the rose pinned to her ear fell down, burning drop by drop of blood, and became dirty after being trampled in the soil.

She lifted her skirt, trying to help the beast.

There was a sound of "噗呲", the sound of a knife being stabbed into the body.

Because the knife was pierced deeply, there was not a lot of blood gushing out at first, time seemed to stop, and then blood gushed out again.

The blood of the beast kept pouring out, and the hunter took the opportunity to stab the gun into the body of the beast.The beast's mouth was saying something, and he reached for the blood-stained rose on the ground.

Almost, still not enough.

The knife was thrust from Bell's hand into the beast's body.Under the action of showing his back enough trust, the beast was defenseless. He didn't even look back, perhaps because he was afraid of being more sad and desperate.

Bell bit his lip, ready to take his father's hand home.Like a little girl who ran away from home, she returned to her own home with peace of mind.On the surface, this home seems to be able to accommodate everything, it is a sponge; only when you enter, you will find that the sponge will firmly absorb you, and you can no longer escape.

As Bell walked towards his father, the beast on the ground stopped panting.His body was suddenly covered by white light, revealing the handsome man's body.

Then the whole world shattered like glass.

William, who was on the road, looked at the shattered world, and it was dark for a while.

The author has something to say:

Some of the previous parts were re-typesetting, and in order to make the reading smooth, the word counts of the two chapters were changed.

look down!The back is different!

right!It is the finale of this legendary world!