Thenceforth, Flora lived in the little cottage in the forest with Diana and Prince Benjamin, she took over all the housework, which was not a hard job for Flora, who had been a princess' maid prior to her change in appearance. Now that she was a beast, she discovered that her strength has increased greatly, so hard work, such as lifting a bucket of water out of the well, which would have previously been difficult for her, was now as easy as lifting a cup of water.
從此以後，阿花就和戴安娜和班傑明王子住在森林的小木屋裏，並扛起了做所有家務事的重任。這些對阿花來說一點兒都不困難，因為她之前是公主的丫鬟。現在變成了一隻野獸後，阿花發現她的力氣比以前大的多，所以像是以前她會覺得吃力的工作，比如說提水，現在對她來說根本毫不費吹灰之力就能完成。
As the days went by, Flora gradually began to take on a liking for the haughty Prince Benjamin. One day, when she was cleaning the windows, she perceived, through the window frame, the figure of the Prince Benjamin. "Actually, he looks quite handsome from the back!" Flora, who had always considered the prince ugly, thought to herself quietly.
一天過了又一天，阿花漸漸地對驕傲的班傑明王子產生好感。有天，她在擦窗戶時，看見了班傑明王子在屋內看書的樣子。「其實，他從背影看起來還可以嘛！」之前一直覺得王子長得很醜的阿花想著。
Suddenly, she could hear her heart thumping in her chest like a stampede of buffaloes, and it was as if there were butterflies inside her stomach. "What is this feeling?" Flora thought, "I've heard from Princess Arabella before that being in love creates strange sensations as such as I am currently feeling. Could it be possible that I am in love? But with whom? Certainly not Prince Benjamin?"
突然，阿花感覺到了自己的心跳加快。「這是什麼感覺呀？」阿花心想。「我從阿拉貝拉公主那裡聽過如果愛上了別人就會這種感覺。難道，我戀愛了？對象該不會是班傑明王子吧？」
That afternoon, whilst Flora was washing the clothes and Diana was watering the flowers beside her, the latter spoke. "Flora, this morning, I have heard from Prince Benjamin about his past. It has been so many years that every time I hinted about it, he would just walk away with a sigh and refused to talk about it. But today, whilst you were out picking strawberries, he told me that he was a prince in the neighbouring kingdom in the North, and one day, he angered a wicked witch, who turned him into his ugly looks as we see him now. His father, the king, who was persuaded by one of his kinsman that he should feel ashamed of having such an ugly son, banished him into the forest so he could be eaten alive by wolves. He wandered into the forest, encountered my cottage, and thenceforth lived with me. It has been such a tragic story that I......"
那天下午，阿花在洗衣服時，戴安娜正在她旁邊澆花。「阿花，」戴安娜開口說。「今天早上班傑明王子中於開口說出了自己的過去了！好幾年了他都不願意提到往事。但是今天早上你去採草莓時，他跟我說他以前是位於北邊王國的王子，但是因為激怒了邪惡的女巫，所以被變醜了。他的父王被奸臣煽動將他放逐到森林裏。他走在森林裏時看見了我的小木屋，然後就住在這裡了。真是個悲慘的故事.....」
Diana didn't have time to finish when Flora, with tears of pity rolling down her cheeks, dashed into the cottage, pulled Prince Benjamin up from his seat behind his desk and gave him such a tight hug that would have suffocated him if Flora hadn't quickly realised her own strength.
戴安娜還來不及說完，淚流滿面的阿花就衝到屋內，將班傑明王子從椅子上抓了起來，給他一個大大的擁抱，害班傑明王子差點兒喘不過氣來。
The tears rolled onto the hair of the prince, and suddenly, the usually calm Diana screamed.
眼淚從阿花臉上流到了王子的頭髮上，突然，向來平靜的戴安娜尖叫了一聲。
Flora, after wiping the tears away from her eyes, perceived the cause of Diana's action, also let out a scream herself. In fact, she perceived that the appearance of Prince Benjamin had suddenly changed, instead of being ugly, he was now a handsome prince!
阿花擦乾了眼淚後，才赫然發現，原來是戴安娜因為看到了王子的容貌改變了才會尖叫的。王子從醜男變帥哥了！
In reality, it was the tears of true love which had trickled from Flora's face onto the prince's hair which had broken the sinister spell of the wicked witch.
事實上，是真愛的眼淚從阿花的臉上流到了王子的頭髮上才破除了邪惡的詛咒。
Without warning, to Flora's utter astonishment, Prince Benjamin kneeled down in front of her and said, "My dear Flora, I have been hesitating these days on how to tell you this. But, from the moment I set my eyes upon you, my life had changed completely. I was no longer the wretched prince who was banished by his own father, instead I am a happy man who is in love. I had been reluctant in my proposal as I feel unworthy of having you with my ugly appearance. Only now that my looks have returned to me do I feel worthy of your love. Pray, do not be indifferent to my sentiments. Flora, will you marry me?"
這時，王子突然無預警地跪在地上說：「親愛的阿花，這幾天我一直猶豫著該如和告訴妳才好。從我第一次看到你以來，我的人生就改變了。我不再是個被自己父王趕出王國的可憐王子了，而是個開心的人。我一直因為我的容貌而不敢向你表白，但是現在詛咒已破除了，我終於感到我值得被你所愛。阿花，妳願意嫁給我嗎？」
Flora, speechless from the abrupt proposal of the prince, did not know how to react. A thousand thoughts seemed to appear in her head all at the same time. "Is this real? Has he gone mad? Is he mocking me? What am I to do? I know I love him, but now that his good looks had returned to him, I am sensible of being completely unworthy of him." Flora concluded.
阿花被王子突然的表白嚇得啞口無言、不知所措。頓時，阿花的腦海裏充滿了疑問。「這真的是真的嗎？難道他真的瘋了？我該如何是好？我很愛他，但是現在他變帥了，我卻感到自己根本配不上他。」阿花心想。
What will Flora decide to do?
阿花最終會答應王子嗎？
~To be Continued~
～待續～
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