Chapter 37: Pity
After the events at New Years, Raoul was at his wit's end.
There were so many secrets kept behind the curtain of the Opera House, so much hidden in the shadows backstage. It perplexed him, quite honestly. He was an outsider compared to the artists that made the stage their home. He had an estate and a life of privilege waiting for him when he exited the opera house.
Never in his life had Raoul ever counted that as a weakness, but, now, he felt as though it was keeping him from fully understanding just what was happening between the gilded statues and behind painted walls.
It was for that very reason he confronted Madame Giry, hell-bent on finally learning the truth. Who better to ask than the woman who had grown up in the ballerina dormitories?
But the truth that was given was almost harder to understand than the circumstances that prompted it. So, here he was, wandering the wooded grounds of that same estate that kept him so sheltered from the menace that watched over his beloved fiancée every day, trying to straighten out his exact response and wondering how to use this newfound information.
Logically, Raoul knew that the picture Madame Giry had painted with her story made sense, and yet, how could he plan the demise of someone he now found himself pitying so deeply?
Planting a hand on the strong bark of a nearby pine tree, Raoul sought to ground himself, but found it impossible.
Pine: Pity, Hope