[Phantom of the Opera] In Praise of Iris

With a weak body and incomplete memory, she couldn't even be sure whether this was a paradise for ghosts or a prison carefully crafted by that "compatriot".To make matters worse, food was limited in the tunnels, and she didn't feel capable of sneaking food down to the surface without showing her presence.Maybe my old self could.Thinking of this, Li Ailin couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.Yes, now she has begun to refer to the stunning silhouette drawn by her previous soliloquy with "self" instead of "original owner".In view of the kind and natural Chinese and the more friendly language habits when the girl talks to herself, it shows that the former Irene is inextricably linked with her.

Maybe I actually traveled through it long ago, but it was just a coincidence that I lost part of the memory after the time travel, so I thought I had just traveled through it?A girl's inadvertent thought touched the truth, but it just passed through her mind lightly...

What?You ask why only some, not all?Because Li Ailin still remembers everything about going back to Shani's house, remembering Brother Raul and the "kind and capable" fellow Rand; even, she still has vague memories of her childhood experience before entering the opera house.She always vaguely feels that something is missing or distorted, but "memory" is really a magical thing - as long as there is a rough outline, it can automatically complete and refine all the blurred parts for you So much so that she didn't have too much doubt about it before.

But after spending half a month with the living example of Phantom, she couldn't help being afraid of Rand's methods.

According to the old bequest from me, that guy seems to be very good at playing with memory.The girl frowned in thought, but immediately burst into a smile: Long live the old me!How dare you break that guy's wand!Speaking of which... that guy probably doesn't know how to cast spells without a stick, right?

Li Ailin was habitually diverging her thoughts, when she suddenly heard the "snuffling" sound around her, she turned her head and chuckled, "Eric, are you awake?"

"Little Carol? Is this your secret paradise?" Eric's voice was hoarse when he woke up, maybe it was the thick quilt on his body, maybe it was the voice of his lover who gave him enough sense of security. Sitting up on the wooden plank bed, his sleepy eyes are like delicious cupcakes.

Erin suddenly found herself craving cake.

"Not yet." The girl leaned closer to the ghost's exposed face, and skillfully printed a tender kiss on his eyelids; Eric lowered his head slightly, very cooperative.

"Tell me, my little apprentice, what mistake did you make to bribe the instructor like this?" The soft touch of the girl's lips was fleeting.Eric felt a little regret in his heart, but was surprised to find that he didn't feel overly excited and urgent.Perhaps, it is the conviction that such tender love is always within reach, so there is no need to deliberately recollect it?

And for Li Ailin, in this isolated world where there are only two people, isn't it the most normal thing to hug a former idol for warmth?Besides, that idol obviously wasn't as invincible as she knew.For this reason, the girl's heart has long been filled with an endless sense of responsibility.

As a fan girl, of course we must do our best to help the idol out of the predicament!Li Erin thought.

As a fan girl, of course you must fully believe in the ability of idols to break the game!Li Ailin thought again.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that my instructor will dislike me for being obsessed with machinery and using the spirituality of art in the wrong place." So, the girl smiled brightly——half a month is enough for her to quickly experience fear, confusion, and sorrow. A series of psychological changes came to the final period of numbness.And after the mood is "calm", Li Ailin, who is an optimist, of course only shows her smile in front of people.

Eric let out a deep and thick laugh, and Li Ailin snuggled into his arms, feeling the regular tremors in his chest as she wished.See, I'm so used to playing the phantom's lover.The girl hid her face in the shadow between her chest and head, concealing the slight bitterness between her brows and eyes.

Yes, I'm afraid you think I'm not as alert as I used to be, and I don't have the same blazing love for you as I used to.The girl's thoughts flowed into the river of time, and it was washed away in a blink of an eye.

"Eric, some things are too troublesome to explain, maybe you would like to take a look at this?" Li Ailin also looked calm when she withdrew from the ghost's embrace.The girl's white palm didn't match the rough straw paper, but Eric didn't pay attention for the time being—all his attention was taken away by the deep and shallow ink marks on the paper.

"So, maybe we and I haven't found peace yet?" Eric focused on the content that Li Ailin had specially marked with wax paint, and unconsciously tensed his back.

"Soon." Li Ailin said, then sat down on the bed and kissed Eric, and handed over the ghost's clothes and mask, "Even if you don't like me being obsessed with machinery, you have to admit my talent in this area— — Work harder today, I will be your best apprentice."

Eric did not answer, dressed in silence, motioned to the girl to lead the way, but flashed in his mind when he first met, the younger girl mentioned the eyes that seemed to glow when she was learning machinery from him.

Obviously the memory still stays in the moment of fighting with Rand Cemetery, but Eric suddenly felt a little melancholy: It seems that it has been a long time since he shared a beautiful singing voice with little Carol, and it has been a long time since...examining each other's souls.

Or, he has never seen little Carol's real soul?The thought sent a chill through him.

"No. 13 times." It was just a short pause in the footsteps, and the girl's voice had already sounded, with a faint smile, but without hesitation, "The soul of the Phantom of the Opera flows in an unparalleled melody. Carol, no, where's Erin's?"

"Do you really think that there is such a wonderful coincidence in the world: I, the rich and magnificent soul I used to be, happened to be devout to music?" The girl's words faintly revealed a cold meaning, which made the ghost one step away from the living world. .

"Little Carol, the name you gave to the former me means 'a cheerful and melodious song', right?" At this point, the girl simply turned to face Eric; A smile, but that smile can't make people who see it feel a little bit of warmth.

"Happy and sweet, isn't this what you expect from me? Didn't you leave the right to cry to Christine? Why do you blame me for not expressing my sorrow to her father like that devout Christian?" The girl's voice Still soft and graceful, Eric couldn't help taking a small step back—he had a premonition that some unbearable emotion was about to burst out.

"Listen, whenever you remember my singing voice, I will sing for you devoutly; if you ask me those cute stupid questions again, I will answer with singing as you wish." The long-lost singing voice is clearly lively and lively, but it faintly reveals a cruel omen, "You gave me music that is my life, and the part of my soul that belongs to music has long been willing to kneel under your music throne."

"You mean, I have at least more of your soul?"

"Maybe." The girl was noncommittal. She once let the ghost's amazing voice reveal deep-seated resentment. As for whether this overly intense emotion should belong to her current self, she was too lazy to distinguish: "However, in your opinion, which part is it? My more soul?"

"Wealth? Status? Power? The 'Pearl of the Loire' reputation? Or... music?"

"It's music, you regard it as life, sacred music?" The softest voice, but the most intense tone.It's not that she didn't see the gradually turbulent waves in Eric's eyes, but Li Ailin still spoke according to her heart.

Anyway, tomorrow he will forget about it.

"When you started singing, I heard your pure and stalwart soul wandering in the music." The girl simply turned around and wrapped her arms around the phantom's shoulders, with a drunken smile floating on her fair cheeks, her eyes fell on her lover's face with bewilderment , It is also light and weightless, "I listen to your singing devoutly, and regard it as a bridge to spy on your soul. When I respond to you diligently, I try my best to make my soul cross this bridge."

"On the bridge of music, only the musical part of my soul is allowed to pass. And that, my dear Eric, you must know, is not most of my soul." Irene, formerly or Now, it seems that they all like to use contrasting techniques—how gentle the girl's tone is, how cruel the meaning is, such an undisguised answer, even a ghost who is used to dealing with maliciousness will inevitably be stabbed.

"How much I want you to see my whole soul." The last dreamy sigh fell into his ears, and Eric stared closely at the face of his lover who was close at hand, feeling that the wound he hadn't had time to hide seemed to heal quickly. It was as if she had gently scratched down more bloody marks.

"Where is your soul?" Such an embarrassing question would never be really asked at any other time, even if it had been hovering on the ghost's tongue for thousands of times.But at this time...

Anyway, I'll forget about it tomorrow.

Have to admit, memories doomed to be forgotten is an excellent excuse.

"I said, not in the music I share with Christine." Seems like a meaningless repetition, but the deliberate stress of the word "shared" stands out against the smooth, mellow French rhythm.

"Listen to me, those cold guys are not as interesting as you think..." Eric was silent for a moment——in the past, as a mentor alone, Ghost could let go of his mood in the face of the arrogant request of a new apprentice who knew nothing about the sky and the earth At this moment, as a lover, facing the equal soul that he passionately loves, although Eric frowned, he could only dissuade him patiently.He didn't notice that besides music, his versatile little apprentice had many other talents worth mentioning, such as his acrobatics which were praised when he was a child, or his dazzling aristocratic academic achievements as "Miss Shani"... But he even Without the slightest hesitation, he decided that the machine was the real soul of the person in front of him.

Probably, I have noticed it a long time ago, but I just refused to admit it.

"How could it be? The pointed vaults of the church and the caryatids in the temple are so elegant and solemn, as well as the exquisite and complicated Rococo style. It is said that you were very partial to it when you imprisoned your dear Christine. Is it?" Seeing Eric's face getting more and more embarrassing, the girl suddenly stretched her expression, and there was a soft smile on the corners of her eyes and brows, "Eric, what we need most now is to understand these cold guys—— After all, only a free soul can fully appreciate the charm of music, can't it?"

What a standard Irene-like rhetoric, euphemistic and reasonable, enough to make anyone happily follow the advice.Eric listened, but only felt an unspeakable depression, as if a pair of intimate souls suddenly drifted away, and would walk on completely parallel paths from then on.

"Eric, please believe that even if you never noticed, you have already possessed all my soul." But immediately, the day that started with a kiss was sublimated into a long kiss.Li Ailin acquiesced to him venting all his anger with a slightly domineering deep kiss, and then continued to explore the underground world, just like she remembered many days before.

Well, it's rare to be so presumptuous today without triggering any strange flags, and successfully appease Lord Phantom. Practice makes perfect, isn't it?Li Ailin silently moved from the position leading the way to Eric's back, looked at the man's gentle back, and couldn't help but sigh: I really like delicate and complicated machinery.Master Phantom is so good at mechanics, why does he hate teaching me mechanics so much?She was not even allowed to ask questions, and for several days in a row, she would show her face whenever she asked... Every now and then, her thoughts fell on Phantom's frightening silence, and the girl couldn't help feeling a little aggrieved.

As for the flattering confession at the end?It is of course a correct answer to say that she is conscientious and has superb acting skills, and that her previous emotions were too stubborn, so she will inevitably be affected... Li Ailin thinks it is not wrong.After all, the joys, sorrows, sorrows and joys of being a ghost lover have been repeated so many times that even she herself can hardly tell whether it is true or fake; Surrounded by affectionate feelings, do you still have the confidence to say that you will never give birth to half-glamorous longings?

Unknowingly, the two stayed in this secret Taoyuan for a full 20 days, and Rand, who was regarded as an imaginary enemy by Irene, seemed not in a hurry to close the trap.

20 days, if it is in a lively opera house, maybe it is not enough for the ballet girls to rehearse a complicated interlude dance; but in this underground secret place where there is no other but each other, it is too long-long enough for Li Ailin to face each other. Phantom's deep affection ranges from aloof and anxious to calm and composed, until she almost forgets that there are all kinds of hustle and bustle from the outside world.

In fact, during the No. 17 days when they settled underground, Phantom took her to figure out every secret of this humble secret realm.

"Rough and cramped, there is almost no merit except a strong enough structure." This is Eric's evaluation after No. 11 days of exploration.

An underground secret realm with a very ghostly style, but it is not the masterpiece of the ghost, and it has nothing to do with his female apprentice. The only possibility is that it came from another person that the ghost once favored——Li Ailin's fellow countryman: Rand. Mr. Chenier.To put it more bluntly: The Ghost and his young lover are now in prison.

For the purpose of understanding the enemy and taking the opportunity to learn, Li Ailin still pestered Eric to "capture" here a little bit.It must be admitted: as a mechanic apprentice, she has active thinking and amazing talent—in the last three days, it was she who relied on Eric's memory of this place forever, using local materials, and quietly making some simple small mechanisms by herself. Offering treasures in front of the teacher.

"When every inch of space here is transformed into what I like the most, it will be great to spend the rest of my life here with Lord Phantom." Such naive and absurd thoughts even popped up in the girl's mind from time to time.

Fortunately, this is only a fleeting delusion in her mind-it's not that she hasn't tried to put this idea into practice, but before she can transform this place into what she likes, the grain bag that is about to run out is already one step ahead trigger the alarm.

If I'm the only one, maybe I really don't want to go out even if I run out of ammunition and food?But, who would be willing to go hungry with Master Phantom?Li Ailin nodded thinking it made sense, and suddenly felt that it was not so difficult to go out alone to find food.

Just think of it as preparations for possible escape in the future.The girl thought, selectively ignoring the possibility of telling the Phantom frankly or at least inviting him to act together.

Perhaps, as a visitor from later generations, there is always some unreasonable fluke or excessive sense of responsibility?Or... Even if the memory is distorted, the previous precariousness has been deeply ingrained in the blood, and she subconsciously wants to cherish Eric, the only driftwood she has touched-naturally, the owner himself may not be The clear expression of intention is much softer than the cold and desperate villa prison of Phantom.

The author has something to say: I secretly added a paragraph, thinking about it, it’s all about the heroine’s thoughts in one scene anyway, so it’s better not to break the chapter... I don’t know how many little angels saw it?