My Forever and Always (The Phantom of The Opera)

Chapter 43 - It's Love, It's Drama

Author's Note: Another BIG chapter, and honestly, my favourite so far. ;)

The Chagny manor was decked in glamor and décor. It was a full moon night with slight chill in the air as many carriages lined up outside the gates. Men and women dressed in expensive fashion make way into the biggest party in all of France. It was a party like none other. The grandiose, the scale, the guestlist and the splendour of the event was the talk of the town.

"And then, I heard Sir Callaghan, the British Naval Officer came in with great fortunes in his last expedition to the East Indies. I'm sure that man is done with travelling for life."

"Oh, I heard Madame Lerroux has acquired an estate in time for her daughter's debutante. I heard the houses of Audebert and Badeaux have already received invitations."

"I'm not sure if its even worth attending. London can barely rival any faire la fete we see in Paris."

"My bones hurt thinking of the endless rains in that city. I rather fancy an Italian summer. What about you Ms. Emerson?"

"I'm not very fond of endless monsoon spells either. London has its own charm since the scarce sunny days make them even more special." I replied, already bored out of my mind hearing these unending gossips. I was currently in a group of French ladies coming from reputed families, and their favoured topics of discussions spanned from popular nobles, new fashion trends, household gossips and scandals. When I was finally done with this group, I excused myself and moved on to the next one to greet them.

I met Aziel halfway and we decided we will do the socialisation together. The both of us along with Raoul himself were acting as intermediary hosts in this event. Everyone is anyway aware of our prolonged stay at the Chagny Manor. There were many weird rumours spreading about relations with the Viscount, but most of them subdued eventually because Aziel and I did not hold back our words. We were as truthful and honest to most people we know and were transparent about our friendship with Raoul.

The highest point of the party finally arrived when the Viscount made his appearance. He entered the main hall with Christine. It immediately sent across waves of hushed whispers. They were all silenced when Raoul took it upon himself to make the official announcement.

"Friends and dear ones, I am elated to have your cordial presence at this party. As a host, the Changy Manor is honoured to hold this much celebrated Gala and we are grateful to your support to our estate. I have gathered you all for a special reason that is very close to my heart. I want to officially announce my engagement to this fair lady by my side, Ms. Christine Daae." Raoul said. The crowd went dead silent and Christine blushed as Raoul took her hand and brought her closer.

Raoul continued, "A lot of you may know her as the star performer at Opera Populaire, but we have an history that goes decades before. I count myself as the luckiest man as fate has once again brought Christine to me, and by God's grace I could find my best friend and better half in her. I wish for your blessings to our wonderful union. May you all have a beautiful evening. Let's celebrate!"

The crowd clapped and toasted to the newly engaged couple. The crowd rejoiced and reverted back to its joyous mood. Many important guests one by one made there way to the main couple, Christine and Raoul, to congratulate them. It was great that they have become the centre of the party, because it means I can now slip away without people noticed.

"Go up to your room and take a rest. I'll handle everything here." Aziel assured me.

I finally make my way up to my room. The bed looked entirely to inviting. I plopped on its soft mattress to rest my back. I'll head back down in sometime after a brief rest. I got up to reach for some water when I heard shuffling noise behind me. I look back and see the curtains flowing freely in the wind, as the tall window to the room's balcony laid open, the balcony's cool breeze enticed me. Grabbing the pitcher in one hand, I walk towards the balcony. Right when I was about to cross the threshold, an arm circled around my waist and another covered my mouth.