[The Phantom of the Opera] The Beast and the Canary

Early the next morning, I hurried to the backstage of the theater in white stockings and a swan skirt.There was a commotion all around, and the ladies in the laundry room were already drying their clothes.

"Miss Geary, it's rare to see you late!" A fat lady smiled while dusting off her costume.

Since I was promoted to a third-tier actor, no one has been called "Little Meg" by the nickname.Probably because the last third-level actor has become the Marchioness.

I exchanged pleasantries with the fat lady, and then my attention was distracted by the boos, exclamations, and frolics coming from ahead.The fat lady curled her lips and said, "I've been arguing all morning, and I won't listen to any scolding."

Walking over, I saw a little girl from the choir sitting on the revolving wooden ladder, with her mouth open in an oval shape, reading the newspaper in her hand with an exaggerated tone:

"A carnival in the music world: Mozart(1) II, the god of music, is coming to Paris!"

An out-of-date actress waved a plush fan, rolled her eyes, and said eccentrically: "These music critics are really not afraid of bad tongues, as long as someone who sings well, they call it 'Mozart II', 'Mozart is resurrected. '."

Everyone laughed.Someone said: ""Drama Magazine" is very unreliable, and the people who can publish news on it are basically rich people."

"Who is this person, will he come to our theater?"

"I guess he is a third-rate composer. Is he able to come to our theater just by saying it?"

At this time, the little girl reading the newspaper turned to the back of the page, covered her mouth in astonishment and said, "...My God, you will definitely regret what you just said, the person who came was Hearst..."

The voice fell, and everyone was silent for a moment.

There is no other reason, Hearst's reputation in the music industry is too great, it is really no exaggeration to say that he is "Mozart II".Even a reclusive person like me can hum a tune he wrote casually.However, what makes me a little surprised is that there seems to be no such person as Hearst in the world of my previous life.

After a long silence, someone asked in a low voice: "I heard that he is still a master architect, is it true?"

"Of course it's fake. How can anyone take care of architecture and composition at the same time."

Hearing this sentence, my heart moved, and the figure of phantom appeared in my mind inexplicably.In the past three years, the number of times he appeared in the theater has decreased year by year, and this year, he only appeared twice, and one time was a lie made up by the night watchman for laziness.

It's not that he didn't ask Mrs. Geary about his whereabouts. Mrs. Geary's answer was: "He is concentrating on teaching Christine."

When I got this answer, I was ashamed and annoyed. I wished I could lose my memory immediately. I never missed this person, but he can always invade my brain in various forms. For example, now, listening to Hearst’s gossip, I think of it again. to him.

"I don't know if this Hearst is as good as Mr. Henry." Henry is the queen composer of our theater.

"I'm not sure about that. I only know that all the actresses who starred in his opera are popular from the principal to the backup dancer. One of them even became a countess at the end of last year."

As soon as the words came out, the crowd flew away like birds startled by the gunshots.

I saw the little girl who was reading the newspaper like a poem a few minutes ago, quickly threw away the newspaper, and ran into the dressing room with her skirt in her hands; Powdering; a few little dancers gathered around, chirping and comparing the styles of costumes.

It was as if a big shot would come to inspect the next second.

I stood by and was shocked.

At the same time, the door of the exclusive principal actress lounge slowly opened a narrow gap, and Carlotta's light voice like a violin string came out:

"No matter how you dress up, it's useless. He came to Paris, he can only come for me."

Obviously, under Hearst's charm, she is no different from these girls who are eager to show themselves.

The commotion ended with the appearance of Mrs. Geary.Wearing the same long black gauze dress, she waved her cane expressionlessly: "Quiet! The rehearsal has begun!"

During the rehearsal, I was a little absent-minded and accidentally jumped in front of Carlotta.

She immediately stopped singing, put her hands on her hips, and glared at me: "Dancing girl, please recognize your position, you have no right to stand in front of me."

During the rest time, she always hated me for walking in the wrong place, and insisted that I get her throat water.I thought to myself, more things are worse than less things, anyway, she will be replaced by Christine soon, so it doesn't matter.

But Christine stopped me and gave Carlota a skirt: "Ma'am, please use moderation, it is not a good thing to be too arrogant and domineering. Miss Giri is a third-level actress anyway, please don't take her as an ordinary girl." Dancing girls treat."

And Carlota didn't pay attention to her at all, and someone mentioned Christine's identity in her ear, so she raised her jaw slightly, sneered shortly, and said, "So you are Miss Daye, The only daughter of the Swedish violinist. I heard that in the past few months, your voice has become like a broken gong, and you have not even passed the fourth-level actor test. Although Miss Geary is not very good at singing, she has at least one well-known ballet Pantomime is close by. Why don't you think about your own future and help her out. "

Christine's tone was calm: "While considering the future, it does not prevent me from speaking for justice, ma'am."

Someone couldn't help it, and said with a smirk:

"What kind of baby is this Christine Daye, dare to talk to the fat penguin like that."

Carlotta's face instantly turned ugly.Although she has excellent singing skills, her figure has been criticized all the time.A well-known music critic commented on her like this: "Carota's breath is so thick that people suspect that her fat is full of air."

It just so happened that Christine's curves were so slender that she could never match in her life.In an instant, her eyes were frighteningly red, almost spitting out flames.

Fortunately, at this time, the owner of the theater rushed over with two new bosses, which eased the tense atmosphere here.

I quickly pulled Christine to my side: "Silly girl, what are you trying to do with her?"

Christine blinked and blinked, as if waking up from a dream: "That's right, Meg, do you think she will retaliate against me. I'm so scared."

I:"……"

I seriously suspect she is teasing me.

While speaking, there was a sudden loud applause.I saw a handsome man with blond hair and shawl walking over surrounded by the crowd.He was wearing a gentleman's three-piece suit, a sky blue shirt, and a grape purple bow tie. He nodded to us politely and casually.

I was going to say to Christine, look who that is.

Another person came.

A person who does not appear in memory at all.

He wore a windbreaker coat on his arm, a black shirt with a complicated neckline, and a black vest with diagonal stripes; his lower body was long and slim black leather boots.The short dark blonde hair is brushed back, the bridge of the nose is straight, and the jaw line is beautiful and neat.To my great shock, he was wearing a pure white mask on the right side of his face.

But soon, he took off his mask, revealing his facial features that were so beautiful that everyone was amazed.And he seemed to be used to being praised, he bent his amber eyes and smiled indifferently.

"Meg, he seems to be that Hearst."

I stared at the mask in his hand, my heart was beating violently, and I replied in a daze, "Ghost? What ghost?"

Christine was helpless: "I hope he didn't hear your words. It's Hearst, not some ghost. Meg, the theater ghost hasn't appeared for a long time, so you don't have to be so sensitive."

Maybe I'm just too sensitive.When Christine said "The Phantom of the Theater," he seemed to give us a nonchalant glance.

In fact, it is very simple to find out whether he is a phantom, but the method is a bit shameless.But at this moment, I can't control that much.Dragging Christine to his side, I cupped my face in both hands, pretending to say obsessively: "Christine, look at Mr. Viscount, he is so handsome."

Christine was puzzled: "Ah, yes, but I think Mr. Hurst is more handsome."

Me: "..." Why didn't you follow the script.

Just about to make persistent efforts, at this moment, I suddenly felt a cold and oppressive gaze.

Turning around, I saw Hester who was smiling just now, but there was no smile in his eyes.As if offended, he gave me a very nonchalant glance, disgust written all over his face.