Neverland

Catherine's piano room is in the attic upstairs, and it is not connected to the grand staircase. It needs to go up the small stairs from the back of Robert's bedroom alone. It is a completely private space that is not open to guests.

The small stairs leading to the piano room were low and narrow. According to Xu Muzhou's height, he had to bend slightly to climb up.

The maid only led the two of them to the bottom of the stairs and didn't dare to go up, so Xu Muzhou walked in front, holding a small lantern given to him by the maid to light up, and Song Yan followed behind him.

The inexplicable silence was too embarrassing, Xu Muzhou wanted to talk to Song Yan, but he opened his mouth but didn't know how to call it, so he hesitated: "Sister Song?"

"It's fine, anyway, I'm older than you." Song Yan smiled: "You can call her by name, you can call her Sister Song, Sister Yan."

"I can't tell." Xu Muzhou said casually, "You look a few years younger than me."

"Sweet mouth." Song Yan said, "Brother Yan and I have been colleagues for who knows how many years."

As soon as Yan Cen was mentioned, Xu Muzhou's memory from the morning came back again. He glanced down at Song Yan with some guilt, filled in his heart with a sentence, and finally said it pretending to be casual.

"Brother Yan, I feel that he is quite a nice person." Xu Muzhou said, "Is it comfortable to be a colleague with him?"

"Fart." Song Yan blurted out: "On the list of Quan Yong Wu Xiang's temper, your brother Yan is ranked first because of his lack of temper."

Xu Muzhou: "..."

Forgive him for being a science student, this comprehension ability is really lacking, Xu Muzhou thought inexplicably, he really didn't understand at once, whether Song Yan was praising Yan Cen or scolding Yan Cen.

So he could only laugh dryly, and said, "...Does Neverland still have this leaderboard?"

"He is a typical desperate player." Song Yan said with a smile, "literally."

Xu Muzhou: "..."

He suddenly wondered what kind of work standards the colleagues in Neverland have. Obviously Song Yan seems to be the most familiar with Yan Cen, but he didn't expect this mouth to be so unforgiving.

"Don't be afraid." Song Yan was afraid of scaring the new employee, so she waved her hand at him: "He is afraid of trouble and doesn't care about his own business—whether good or bad, there is probably no such thing as being helpful and doing things smoothly in the dictionary of life. Two words. As long as it has nothing to do with him, he won't pay any attention. So most of the time, as long as you don't recruit him, he is just like air."

Xu Muzhou was even more confused - because he felt that he and Song Yan seemed to be talking about two people.

He even wanted to ask Song Yan sincerely, is there a second person named Yan Cen in Neverland, but he still has reason, so this sentence was swallowed.

This narrow staircase is not long, and after climbing it is the attic door. Xu Muzhou handed the lantern in his hand to Song Yan, and then took out the small key Yan Cen gave him from his pocket.

Since Catherine's death, the piano room in the attic has been locked, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. The key is kept by Robert himself, and it is the first time it has been seen again until now.

The lighting in the attic is better than downstairs. The two wooden windows provide enough light for the piano room. The piano stands quietly by the wall, and a thin layer of dust has accumulated on the carpet on the floor.

Song Yan wiped the blanket with her fingers, and then rubbed the thin ash on it.

"No one has come to this place for a long time." Song Yan said: "It's not just three days, at least ten days."

The decoration of the attic is very gentle, and it is a private space that can fit the character of "Mrs. Gentle" at a glance.Although Xu Muzhou's only impression of Catherine was the horror at midnight last night, this did not prevent Xu Muzhou from imagining her.

Due to the structural problems of the building, the attic is not very big, and most of the area is occupied by the piano in the corner.There are no bookshelves in this room, only some scattered manuscripts scattered on the carpet, Xu Muzhou picked them up and looked, and found that they were all urban novels.The words used in the translation were extremely translated, Xu Muzhou felt complicated after reading only two lines, so he put it down for the time being.

Xu Muzhou originally thought that he would find some clues about Catherine's strong personality in the piano room, but after searching around, he found that Catherine was not like Robert, who had the habit of keeping a diary. Xu Muzhou could only find a few clues at best. Correspondence letters.

The contents of these letters are ordinary, just Catherine's daily friends letters, and there are no unusual clues in them.

"Catherine—" Xu Muzhou sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the wooden window, and asked, "What kind of person is she?"

Last night, they had made an appointment with Song Yan to exchange intelligence information, but they were interrupted by Catherine's matter and forgot about it, and Xu Muzhou didn't remember it until now.

"I heard from the servant that he is a good old man." Song Yan locked the door of the attic and sat on the floor with Xu Muzhou.

"According to the servants, Catherine rarely sees people." Song Yan said: "Even the servants in the castle rarely see her."

"So introverted?" Xu Muzhou was a little surprised.

"It also has something to do with Robert." Song Yan said: "According to the servants, Robert has always felt that the servants are inferior, so they rarely let them contact Catherine, saying that they are afraid of delaying Catherine's recovery. Therefore, they rarely take care of Catherine with their own hands. , if there are any orders, they will be through the door panel."

"It's quite superstitious." Xu Muzhou said nonchalantly, "Then according to his tone, Catherine might as well—"

Xu Muzhou stopped talking suddenly, his eyes glanced at the door of the attic, and then looked around the room, as if he remembered something.

"What's wrong?" Song Yan asked.

"I just thought of something suddenly." Xu Muzhou said, "Since I came in just now, I felt that something was wrong, but I never remembered it."

"Huh?" Song Yan was taken aback, and she turned her head to look at the surrounding scene. Although there are many furnishings here, they all match Catherine's personality, and there is no obvious violation in the attic.

Xu Muzhou thought so too at first, the moment he entered the attic, he automatically assumed the role of Catherine. Whether it was the piano and manuscripts in the house, or the withered rose branches on the window sill, they were all things Catherine liked.The whole attic seems to be born for Catherine personally, it is a personal space completely insulated from the outside world.

—but that's what's wrong.

"Since I arrived at the manor, I have been with Brother Yan most of the time." Xu Muzhou explained to Song Yan: "You just mentioned that the servant couldn't see Catherine, and I remembered that Robert himself is a very possessive man. A strong person, he has a very high desire to control this castle, and he is suspicious, unwilling to trust others, even his own servants."

Xu Muzhou originally only thought that Robert might be a tough man with tenderness, so he was more concerned about Catherine, and he liked it if he liked it. After all, no one can guarantee that a ruthless and twisted general can't really like someone.

But if Catherine is prevented from getting along with the outside world, this thing is not quite right.

Catherine is so ill that she cannot go out, which in itself has blocked most of her external social interactions.Now Song Yan told Xu Muzhou that Robert would prohibit the servants from interacting with Catherine, which would be equivalent to breaking Catherine's last channel of communication with the outside world.

The sunshine outside was warm, Xu Muzhou looked around at everything in the attic, and suddenly felt that this place was like an isolated island.

—The island far from Robert.

Xu Muzhou himself knew that this might be the psychological effect of his changing perspective, but this possibility was tossing around in his mind, and he couldn't get rid of it no matter what.

Robert's love-like diary reappeared in his mind, together with Catherine, who had no complaints about death yesterday, entangled endlessly.Just like reality and personal emotions are going in two diametrically opposite directions, Xu Muzhou stands at the intersection and has to choose who to believe.

"Robert has his own passage upstairs and downstairs. Not only that, whether it's his bedroom or study, all the places I've seen so far are all places that Robert can go by himself." Xu Muzhou said Song Yan said: "Everywhere in this castle has reserved enough space for his wheelchair."

"This shows that he is an extremely suspicious and unconfident person." Song Yan said: "He doesn't trust anyone enough, so he needs to take everything into his own hands. It is difficult for you to determine whether he is conceited or inferior."

"That's right." Xu Muzhou nodded: "I think it's directly related to his injured leg. Robert was used to being conceited and suddenly became disabled. Perhaps his mentality has changed, so that his trust in everything has changed dramatically. Decline, and with it comes increased desire to control."

This is a very reasonable explanation. If Robert has not got out of the shadow of his injured leg, then he must not be in a better mood when he sees the servants with healthy limbs walking around in front of him every day.What's more, Robert himself has always had strict class prejudices. It seems that it is not incomprehensible that people become more and more perverted and violent over time.

"I understand what you mean." Song Yan said: "You want to say that Robert's desire to control his servants and subordinates is still the same, but he will intensify his desire for Catherine, right?"

"That's what it means." Xu Muzhou said: "Robert spent a lot of pen and ink in his diary to write about his love for Catherine. If his possessiveness and suspicion have reached the point of pathology, then his love for Catherine How could he let Catherine have a personal space in his castle and manor that doesn't belong to him at all."

The staircase outside the piano room was extremely narrow, and it was absolutely impossible for Robert's wheelchair to pass through.

In other words, if Catherine was in this piano room, even if Robert condescendingly asked the servants to help, he would not be able to enter this piano room—unless he gave up his wheelchair.

But as long as you think about it, you will know that it is impossible. Earl Robert is so suspicious when he is strategizing in a wheelchair, let alone let him lose this only tool of action.

"—Maybe this is some kind of agreement between Catherine and him." Song Yan said: "A tacit agreement under certain circumstances."