Neverland

On April [-], the weather was fine.

The Robert Manor has never been so lively. The white roses in the manor were blown away by the evening wind overnight, and the rich fragrance of flowers enveloped every corner of the manor.

The maids washed their hands with expensive soap, and carefully lined up with silver plates and silver scissors into the rose bushes, and cut every blooming flower from the flower branch.

No one cares about the broken bones that have been mixed with the soil. They are deeply trampled into the mud, and the dew from the roses falls, trampling these flesh and blood into a road.

The maids and cooks were busily busy preparing for the dinner, and those delicate white roses were sent into the castle, wrapped around every candlestick, and quietly invaded every corner of the castle.

Robert's originally lifeless castle took on a new look, and it seemed that it was only at this time that the castle finally had some "hostess" atmosphere.

Inspector Smith wakes up late, having stumbled upon a good bottle of wine the night before and drinking it by moonlight until 02:30 in the morning.

The headache after the hangover made him feel dizzy and irritable. He leaned against the wall and stood up. In the bathroom, he splashed two handfuls of water on his face and wiped it with a towel. It was considered as the completion of washing.

The gramophone in the castle has been playing a vinyl disc continuously since nine o'clock in the morning. This disc is probably a favorite of the countess, and Smith has heard it more than once in the past few days.

The assistant who lived in the same room went somewhere, and the bedding was neatly folded, and there was no residual warmth on it.

Smith cursed, and finally found his breakfast in the hallway of the door.There was a palm-sized bone china plate on the silver plate. Instead of using a knife, he used a fork to randomly roll up the cooled fried egg on it and stuff it into his mouth.

The cooled fat condensed into a thin layer of oil coating on the fried egg, and the taste was very hard to swallow. Smith dropped the fork, picked up the teacup next to it and drank half of it, and swallowed the fried egg and tea together.

After eating this breakfast, Smith seemed to wake up with his soul and body together. He wiped his face, pretended to straighten his wrinkled collar in front of the full-length mirror, and was about to go out to congratulate the Earl and Countess hospitality.

It's just that Detective Smith's eyes were not completely blinded by the alcohol, and the full-length mirror not only reflected his appearance, but also the dinner plate behind him.Just now he was in a hurry to prepare breakfast, and he didn't realize that there was an exquisite card tied with a ribbon on the dinner plate.

Smith turned around suspiciously, took the card out of the tray, and tore off the light blue ribbon knot on it.

The cover of the card was printed with gold foil, and a rose petal was stuck to the lower corner. I don’t know how it was treated, but it looked very fresh. If you touch it with your hands, you can feel the dry touch that is different from the fresh petals.

Xu Muzhou was standing in front of the large wooden window of the master bedroom, looking at the fragmented rose bushes outside.

Behind him, Song Yan was leaning on the head of the bed, while reading the morning newspaper, while stuffing freshly baked cookies into her mouth, she seemed as leisurely as a tourist.

Yan Cen disappeared early in the morning, probably to deal with Robert's relationship.

Xu Muzhou looked at the servants coming and going in the manor, and asked, "You don't seem to be worried at all?"

"What are you worried about?" Song Yan turned over a page of the newspaper, swallowed the biscuit in her mouth, and then continued: "Worried about not being able to complete the task?"

"Brother Yan said that until now, the guests in the manor don't know that Catherine is gone, so what is he going to bring out for the dinner party?" Xu Muzhou said: "It is the countess' last wish to tell everyone that this banquet is coming to an end." ?"

"Xiao Muzhou, have you seen dramas from this era?" Song Yan asked.

"Huh?" Xu Muzhou turned his head: "...community animals don't have this kind of leisure."

"That's right, your cleaning tasks are like cats chasing dogs every time. How can you do this?" Song Yan shook the newspaper in her hand, refolded the paper according to the creases, put it on her knees, and said solemnly Said: "On the stage, many situations are uncontrollable. Even if the field personnel have checked all the details, there will still be many problems during the official performance. Sometimes a tungsten lamp is broken, and sometimes The times are when the curtain is halfway up and it gets stuck in midair."

Xu Muzhou didn't quite understand why she mentioned this.

"But no matter what unexpected circumstances arise, the performance will continue. As for how to continue...it depends on the experience and ability of the actors on stage." Song Yan said, "I can probably understand why Yan Cen didn't The process of completing the task will tell you, because since we have already left this drama early, the less we know, the more suitable it is for him to play."

"That's right." Xu Muzhou sighed, "Anyway, it's only tonight."

The closer the evening came, the more lively the castle became. The vinyl disc downstairs was changed to the third one. Wind lamps were lit everywhere in the manor, and even the lampposts in these manors were covered with stems and leaves of white roses.Xu Muzhou smelled the scent of flowers for a whole day, but now he still feels a little nauseous after smelling this.

The carriage that Yan Cen arranged for them arrived at the manor at seven o'clock, and at six fifty, Xu Muzhou and Song Yan went downstairs from the side stairs on time.

Most of the guests had already entered the banquet hall to start their daily communication, and no one noticed that these two guests had quietly left the castle.

And Yan Cen was sitting in front of the gate of the manor waiting for them.

Today he was wearing a dress that was exactly the same as the one in the oil painting, with a very heavy foreign dress on his knees. The dress was neatly ironed, and the jewels on the neckline and shoulders were also wiped clean and bright.

On this skirt, there is a delicate and beautiful white rose.

"Is this for Catherine?" Xu Muzhou asked.

"It will be used later." Yan Cen replied with a smile.

Song Yan carried the suitcase into the carriage, and got into the carriage without saying goodbye to Yan Cen.

The steeds of the stagecoach walked all day, shook their heads in boredom when the carriage moved, and were scolded by the groom for tightening the reins.

Xu Muzhou looked up at the castle behind Yan Cen. The phonograph was replaced by a band. The sound of the violin could be heard far away, even standing at the gate of the manor.

"Has Dean finished writing the song for Catherine?" Xu Muzhou asked again.

"Not yet." Yan Cen replied patiently: "He will revise this song at the climax of the banquet, and then this song will carry Catherine's wish...for a hundred years."

After Yan Cen finished speaking, he took off the hydrangea from his wrist and wrapped it around Xu Muzhou's hand again.Only a thin layer of obsession remained on the hydrangea, as if it could be erased with a single touch.

"After a while, when the task is completed, you can end this task." Yan Cen said.

Then he picked up the rose on his knee, carefully shaved off the thorns on it, and pinned it on the brooch on Xu Muzhou's chest under Xu Muzhou's suspicious eyes.

"The clothes are for Catherine." Yan Cen said, "This one is for you."

Then Yan Cen stretched out his hand to brush Xu Muzhou's shoulder like a normal farewell, and said with a smile: "I will never see you again."

Xu Muzhou obviously had other questions to ask, but seeing Yan Cen's calm expression, he felt that he couldn't ask anything.

So he also imitated Yan Cen, smiled relaxedly, and said: "...I will never see you again."

Xu Muzhou turned around as he spoke, and walked towards the carriage not far away.

Of course, the specifications of the stagecoach were not as good as those of nobles. The narrow doors of the carriage required bending over hard to squeeze in, and one would even knock off one's top hat if one was not careful.

Xu Muzhou stepped on the pedals and was about to lean in, but when he lowered his head, his eyes fell on the rose in front of his chest.

This flower is full of vitality, blooming like a work of art, probably the most beautiful one in the rose field.

——Catherine said before that she wanted these roses to decorate today's banquet and castle, but now Yan Cen pinned the most beautiful flower to his chest.

Xu Muzhou paused, subconsciously turning his head to look in Yan Cen's direction.

Yan Cen was still sitting on the spot, watching his movements go away, seeing Xu Muzhou turning his head, he waved his hands lazily at him.

Xu Muzhou: "..."

The brightly lit castle falls behind Yan Cen, and the thick night envelops him. The red flames and dark blue ink are like an oil painting spread on paper, outlining Yan Cen's shadow and separating from him. Bell" identity, the casual smile on his face.

For some reason, Xu Muzhou suddenly remembered many scenes that had nothing to do with this situation.

For example, the suitable pair of moccasin boots on his feet, or the cold sweat dripping from the corner of Yan Cen's forehead that day in the dark dungeon... and the way Yan Cen looked at him all the time.

"What?" Seeing that he hadn't moved for a long time, Song Yan asked puzzledly, "Aren't you going to get in the car?"

Xu Muzhou woke up as if he had just woken up from a dream. With great force, he jumped off the pedals, turned around and walked towards Yan Cen with strides.

Before Yan Cen could ask, Xu Muzhou had already walked in front of him.

"Brother Yan."

Xu Muzhou bent down, supported Yan Cen's wheelchair armrest with both hands, and narrowed the distance between him and him.

Yan Cen raised his eyebrows.

Xu Muzhou's heart beat like a drum, beating very fast.

"Brother Yan."

Yan Cen saw his Adam's apple rolling up and down, which was Xu Muzhou's performance when he was nervous.

"Do you like me?" Xu Muzhou asked.

Yan Cen was only stunned for half a second, and the smile on his face spread.As if he couldn't control his good mood, he smiled so hard that his eyes curled up.

It was rare for him to smile so sincerely and heartily. Xu Muzhou couldn't wait for his response, and squeezed the armrest of his wheelchair nervously.

Yan Cen looked at himself in his eyes, smiled and stretched out his hand to hold the back of his neck, pulling Xu Muzhou further closer.

In the next second, something cool fell on Xu Muzhou's forehead, and the touch was very gentle - it was Yan Cen's superficial kiss.

"When I return to Neverland this time, I will tell you the answer." Yan Cen said.