When Meg left the room, I stayed there alone. Of course I knew that I should finally face the rest of the cast and tell them I would be leaving them soon... but I was too afraid to do it. I did not regret my choice and was not about to change my mind. I knew I was going to do exactly the thing that would make both me and my Angel happy. Right now, we were each other's world. We needed nothing more than that – and his music.

I was not going to miss my fame that was about to begin. I did not want to surrender my whole life to the career that would soon fade away. I wanted to be happy. To do exactly what I wanted, and there was only one place where I was completely free, and there was just one person who would let me unfurl my wings.

The fact that I wanted to learn to sing was not because I wanted to be famous. I simply wanted to give life to beautiful music, even if there would be just an audience of one. But this audience would be more precious than any other. He was the one I wanted to serve. All of me belonged to him, I had since the moment he had first uttered my name. Back then, he had already got me with my body and soul, and soon after, he had taken my heart away, too.

I heard someone knocking on the door. My heart skinking, I turned my head towards the door, not sure whose face I would see once it swung open.

"Come in," I said playing with the ribbon of the rose. Until now I had not even noticed I had picked it up again.

"Meg told me you haven't left yet," whispered Madame Giry who had just entered and quickly locked the door behind her. I protested but she seemed not to pay too much attention to me. Her eyes once again were stern; it was the kind of look I really did not like her giving to me. "I need you listen to me, and no-one can disturb us."

"Madame, I beg of you –"

"You will listen to me first," she demanded, frowning as she glanced at my hands still holding the rose. With a quiet sigh, she reached to it and slipped it out of my grasp. "So you are still not finished with this absurd..."

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was slightly afraid that Madame might do something all of us would then regret. How to stand up to her? She was like a mother to me but no longer could I listen to her as her advice had not been making me happy lately. Yes, I knew that she had been doing her best to keep me safe, but that was not what I needed.

"I am certain you are aware of the fact your place is now here, Arlette," she spoke after a moment. "The director was simply delighted. He has never seen the audience being this enchanted, and you are the only one who could ever achieve that. Your career is at its beginning, my dear, and you should do your best not to let it go in vain."

I could not believe in what I could hear right now. I stared at her in complete shock, realising that my Angel's warnings now turned out to be true. This world truly tried to keep me for itself whereas I wanted to go back to where I belonged: the kingdom of music. The kingdom where my Angel made me feel like a queen.

Why could Meg understand what I felt and Madame could not? I would swear Madame had always understood me just like a mother, and right now... right now it was almost as if did not try to do it at all. She had my future prepared for me...

Future I did not want.

"Madame... as much as I am thankful to you for all your care... for everything, really..." I started hesitantly.

"Oh, good God, stop this nonsense!"

Never before had I seen her in such a state; she knew I was about to leave but it did not mean that she would let me. Until now, she had always had me in her grasp, and now... I wondered why she was so afraid to let me go. My Angel was her lifelong friend, was he not? How could she consider him her friend if she did not trust him enough to know that he would not hurt me? He was not that kind of person... if he had made a promise that he would never let me get hurt, he would keep his word.

"He has almost got my daughter killed, now I am not going to get you get hurt as well, Arlette. Besides, this is what you have always wanted. Your only chance! There will never be another. You have been practicing for years. For years! Years of sacrifices and difficulties. You have finally reached this far... are you really willing to let it go? To waste your only chance to catch what already is in your grasp?"

With the last word, she snapped the rose in half and threw it away into the bin nearby. My heart froze for a moment as I stared at her in shock.

"It was a gift from him..."

"It was a sign of your enslaving, Arlette. No longer are you bonded to any man. You can do something you have dreamt of. You are not in his grasp anymore, girl, finally, you are free. You are on your own."

"No, Madame," I replied, my voice strangely empty. Just like my heart. I did not even feel anger, even though I realised that I should be furious. Never would I have expected her to do such a thing. Never. "It is you who are trying to enslave me. You want me for yourself..." Of course, I did know that it was not a bad thing; she loved me, just like I loved her... it was obvious we were going to miss each other. "But I don't belong here. This is not my world anymore. I love you, Madame... You have always been like a mother to me. Like the best of mothers... but I cannot stay here. My dreams... they have changed..."

"No, they have not. It is him... who messed your thoughts..."

"No, Madame!" I repeated, feeling tears in my eyes. I wanted to catch her hands but she quickly stepped away from me, looking at me as if I were a stranger to her. It was like a knife piercing right through my heart.

"You are supposed to get back to the dormitories tonight. If I cannot find you there by midnight, I shall find you, and you may believe me that you shall regret your choice."

With those words being said, she left the room. Still not believing in what she had done, I approached the bin and saw the halves of the rose. Never before had I felt such a rage... especially not towards her. After all, she was like the best of mothers. She had always made sure I would be safe and happy, and now...

As I sat down, I hid my face in hands, but no tears rolled down my cheeks. I could not cry. Right now, I was tired and disappointed; that was not the picture of Madame I wanted to bear in my mind forever, and if that was how we were to part...

"Arlette..."

The voice soothed my mind once again. It sounded the same as months before, and yet, so different. So quiet and gentle, yet so full of emotion. How could I not smile?

"I am here, Master," I answered quietly, raising my eyes.

My Angel had just entered the room, looking at me with pride and happiness I had always wanted to see upon his face. It made my heart hammer in my chest, even more as his gloved hand reached for my cheek, caressing it softly.

"You did well tonight, my dear," he spoke, leaning in to place the softest of kisses on my forehead. "I am so proud of you."

I felt so bad knowing that the rose I had got from him lay there in the bin, snapped in half. It was good he had not noticed it just yet... but he for sure would – or at least he would notice I did not have it anywhere with me. What then? I did not want him to think I had done it, but at the same time if he got to know it had been Madame's doing...

"Come. We must return. Otherwise they will find a way to keep you here," he said gently, pushing my hair away from my face.

Unwittingly, I closed my eyes and gently leant my head into his touch. It was something I loved so much that I could not resist. My heart kept beating so fast, even though I knew we were not doing anything indecent, but it was way too pleasant...

It was yet another moment when the time stopped for me. The whole world seemed to cease existing; as long as my Angel was there with me, nothing and no-one else mattered. At that moment, I had almost forgotten about the argument with Madame... about the rose... about everyone who wanted me to stay there.

However, it was then that I realised one more thing.

"But... Master... the entrance to your kingdom..." I spoke quietly, forcing myself to get back to the reality, even though his hand was still touching my skin through the thin layer of the glove. "It has been destroyed."

To my surprise, I realised a smile arose upon his slightly deformed lips.

"It would be unthoughtful of me not to have another one," he replied quietly, then reached for my hand. "The one to your room I built as soon as I made the discovery... a wonderful discovery of your voice. I needed you with me all the time; that was why I created that path. Sometimes when you practiced I sneaked in and watched you from behind the curtains, listening to your voice of an angel..."

"No longer will you have to sneak in, my Angel," I told him, returning the smile. "I will only sing for you. From now on..."

He surprised me when he took his hand away from mine and averted his sight.

"Am... am I taking you away... against your will, my child?" he asked, and I felt my heart sink. It could not be happening.

"Why would you think such a thing, Master?" I whispered, feeling as if some cold hand was clenched around my throat. "Why would you say it?"

"When I look at you... I remember that people like you belong to this world," he explained gently. "That is why they want you here... with them... your dreams are here. You have been wanting to learn how to sing to perform. To give your voice to the public..."

Had he met Madame? I had such a feeling... they had probably talked, and Madame had somehow managed to convince him that I did not want to leave... but it was a lie. He had to know that. Had I not shown that to him? Had I not been showing that to him during all those months I had spent with him in his kingdom?

"It was so, but it's in the past, my Angel!" I replied fiercely, gripping his hands tightly. He looked at me, shocked, but it did not make me let him go. "My dreams have changed. I have only one now, and..."

Somehow I found myself at lack of words. To my surprise, my Angel stepped closer to me, bringing my hands to his cheek.

"And what, my child?" he prompted me on.

"And... and it is you. It... it has been you since I heard you for the first time," I replied finally. Was there any point in lying to him? Now, as all of me belonged to him, how could I deny him the truth?

"But you do know that if... if you go with me this time... there is no going back, Arlette?" he asked in a whisper. "From now on, you shall belong to me, and only to me. You shall sing for me, serve to my music..."

It really did sound like my dreams coming true, even though not so long ago I would have considered it a cage.

"This is exactly what I want, Master," I answered just as quietly. "I have already made my promise."

The ring on my finger stayed just where he had put it before: on my finger, twinkling happily as it reminded me of his words. That he would finally take me away and make me his bride. Was it not the kind of story I had dreamt of? A great story of love? I may have not deserved it, but there it was for me to grasp.

"You will swear it once again... that one time which will make us one."

My heart skipped a beat as soon as I realised what he was talking about. I kept my promise. Now, he was about to keep his.

"Come to me... Angel of Music..."