Work Text:
Belle wonders how the heck she’s supposed to do this. No book had prepared her for the possibility of having to run an entire kingdom at the right hand of her husband. Nothing she had ever encountered in her entire life gave her the experience needed to be decisive in this manner – though, naturally decisive, she was good at calling out liars and cheaters of all stripe. It’s all experience that she’s going to be able to use later on in her life. One that she hopes will be long and won’t involve too many singing dishes.
But Belle tries to take to ruling the way she’s taken to any other lesson she’s been given. She gives out land, prepares salaries to the proper levels, and is constantly sure that she’s at least trying to help. Yet the whispers – about her father, about her peasant origins – still get to her. But Belle’s strong – and even more importantly, determined not to embarrass herself when it comes to protocol. She vents her concern to him and he just wraps an arm around her shoulder.
“Belle, you’re intelligent, and you know exactly how to help out someone who’s struggling. You can’t do worse than I have,” Adam points out.
“Oh, I can imagine what you did.’ At least his temper is improving. She’s making sure of that, and they work on the rough edges every single day.
“Well, it wasn’t all smooth sailing even before I was transformed. I did once threaten to eat a man who displeased me. To be fair to me I was sixteen…”
She pats the back of his hand. Well, that’s one misstep, but they have plenty of time to get over it in the upcoming years. “With you sterling example hovering over me, I’ll manage,” she said, and took his hand in hers.