Paris, 1925
It was a cool and clear evening in the city of Paris. Citizen filed through the street with their own business. Workers of the middle-class walked down the path to their home, some decided to stop by somewhere for dinner while some decided to take a break in a bar with some friends. Shopkeepers were preparing to close their shop and called it a day.
Even though dusk was already at bay in the city, the streets were as lively and busy as ever. Near to the city centre stood the majestic building which people had come to know it as the famous Paris Opera House. The building's design was just simply exquisite and artistic, decorated with a fountain and multiple stone statues only enhanced its appearance. People of the upper class society arrived the place in horse carriages, dressing glamorously just for the sake of tonight's event. One-by-one, they entered the doors into the theatre. A poster was just next to the entrance, featuring a beautiful young woman in her twenties and the theme of tonight's play.
From his carriage, Francis Bonnefoy smiled at the sight of the beautiful city coming into life as night fell. Paris has always been his favourite place, its art, its culture and everything that makes it beautiful. The carriage came to a stop in front of the opera house. He paid the chauffeur before getting out of the carriage, thanking the man for helping him opened the door. He had a quick glimpse of the building before him. Even though there was a fire disaster years ago, most of the building was still intact and unharmed. Francis grinned in satisfaction that the managers make full use of the money he sponsored on maintaining the opera house well before he joined the crowd and entered the theatre.
In his office, Matthew Jones was busy calculating and recording the tickets they had sold for tonight. Once he was done with his work, he wiped the sweat on his brows before leaving his office to meet his brother. The other manager, Alfred Jones was standing near the entrance of the theatre greeting the audiences.
"There's going to be a lot of people tonight." Matthew said, standing next to his brother. "Like as much as two thousands."
"We have been on a tight budget recently." Alfred said. "Let's hope that this new production will boost our income this year."
"Lady Hedervary is a great singer. I'm sure we will have a good catch tonight." Matthew winked. His violet eyes scanned the crowd before he caught sight of Francis. "Oh hey, there's Monsieur Bonnefoy." He said while giving a wave.
Francis returned back with a wave as he made his way to the brothers. "Bonjour, mes amies, it has been a while since we last saw each other."
"Francis," Alfred smiled, "I have not seen you for two years. How have you been?"
"I have been busy with my business trip, but that does not mean I will stop my financing the opera house for great production." Francis grinned.
"Thank you for your patronage, monsieur Bonnefoy. We really appreciated it and I will make sure that we put this money of yours into good use." Alfred said, giving Francis' shoulder a pat. "Let's go to our private seat to talk while waiting for the show to start."
While the three headed to their private box, a little girl no more than 10 was running among the crowd trying to find a seat. But she was too short, to see around the crowded area, she hit onto Alfred's and fell down. The trio saw this and quickly went to help her up.
"Oh hello little one," Alfred greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see the opera show." The girl said.
"You're quite young to attend something like this." Matthew commented.
"I admire Miss Hedervary." The girl replied innocently. "She sings like an angel. I wish that someday I can be as good as she is."
Francis smiled back at her in a friendly way. "You will be, one day." He said. "As long as you practice, someday you will be a great singer."
"Merci, monsieur." The girl laughed before she left to her seat. Alfred, Matthew and Francis turned into the staffs' corner and climbed a staircase which took them to their box just above the theatre. Alfred scanned across the theatre, beaming in satisfaction that many people had come for tonight's occasion, this is just going to be great.
"Sings like an angel, just like the angel of music?" Francis quoted the words, his mind in deep thought.
"Something in your mind, Francis?" Matthew asked in concern.
Alfred went to sit next to Matthew as he said knowingly. "He must be thinking about what happened three years ago."
"You mean him, right?" Matthew said softly. "Haven't you heard anything about him?"
Both Francis and Alfred shook their head in unison, obviously disappointed with the result. "No luck at all. But I believe we will meet eventually." Alfred said.
Francis drew a long sigh. "It has been three years already." He said.
Their thoughts were soon interrupted when the lights were dimmed, except for the chandelier that hung on the centre of the room being the only source of light. At the middle of the stage stood Elizaveta Hedervary, the lead singer of the night. With a strong voice, she sang along the music, capturing everyone's breath at such melodious tune.
As the primadonna continued to sing for the rest of the performance, the managers and the patron were all lost in their thoughts, letting the song brought them back to the event that happened three years ago. Under the faint chandelier light, memories of the angel of music began to resurface, a story of love, pain, joy and heartbreak that led to a train of unfortunate incidents…
Hello everyone, it's AriaYuuki and welcome back to my third long story. For today, I decided to focus on the story of The Phantom of the Opera which involves our Hetalia characters. I already had this story in my mind years ago, but my busy life won't allow me to write it until today. I also find that The Phantom of the Opera story is one well-favoured by many Hetalia fans, so I decided to give it a try. Of course, I'm not going to follow with the plot of the original story, I decided to go with some twist, so I was hoping to hear your opinion and views on this story which will in turn decide how this story ends up with.
Are you ready for this? If you like this, don't forget to leave a review on your thoughts on this story. I will gladly appreciated it as my inspiration to write the story as what you wish it to be. Thank you for reading, I hope to hear from you all.