“A little touch-up here, a change of color there...” Before this, Li Yue had never realized her hands were so nimble. She held up the doll; it had blood-red eyes and snow-white hair, bearing a slight resemblance to herself. In truth, the materials she had bought that day were insufficient, so Li Yue had gone out twice more to purchase what she needed.
“All done.”
Li Yue summoned little Clo and handed the doll to her. Although she was only a familiar, upon seeing the small object, she joyfully fluttered in circles through the air while holding it.
Though she didn't want to admit it, Li Yue felt a sense of heartfelt happiness and delight.
She stretched. It was currently the time for evening activities. Not wanting to eat in the cafeteria, she simply threw on some clothes and went to the activity grounds to look around.
It was like a small square where scattered snowflakes were still falling. Many people were moving about freely; to them, this brief period of bitter cold was far less important than freedom.
Li Yue didn't take the initiative to approach any group, merely walking aimlessly across the square. In her mind, she replayed the music Roland had written. Whenever she drew near, the people around her would steer clear, avoiding her as if she were the plague.
A faint, melodious tune drifted over from a distance. Li Yue hummed a bit out of tune as she looked curiously toward the source of the music and slowly walked over.
There weren't many people gathered here. A girl with her eyes tightly shut was hidden behind a rock, playing the violin. She seemed completely unaware of Li Yue’s approach, focusing all her attention on playing her melody.
Li Yue crouched down to the side, trying to hear something within the rhythm. However, she currently couldn't even perceive her own emotions clearly, so she naturally couldn't hear much sentiment. She only heard waves of sorrow within the tune.
After a short while, the music ended, and the girl opened her eyes. Her gray eyes glanced at Li Yue, but she didn't seem to have any intention of speaking. Her black hair fluttered in the cold wind, yet she seemed unable to feel the chill.
She originally intended to switch to another piece, but when her gaze accidentally caught Li Yue’s eyes, she paused her movements. She stared at the corners of Li Yue’s eyes, watching intently for a long moment as if pondering something.
Li Yue let her look. To be honest, she really wanted to hear what the girl’s next tune would be. She also wanted to know if she could hear the emotions contained within it.
Sometimes, she was tormented by her own empathy, but at other times, she felt a sense of peace, as if the joys and sorrows of the world had nothing to do with her and were merely boring.
The girl played another piece. The melody of this one was even more sorrowful. Li Yue sat to the side and listened quietly, noticing that the girl didn't seem to have any sheet music; she was performing entirely from memory.
This feeling... is so similar to Mr. Roland’s Blues, but it feels like something is missing.
Li Yue sat in the snow, hugging her knees, until the music ended and she exchanged another look with the girl.
After a moment of hesitation, Li Yue took out the sheet music Roland had given her from her ring. Looking at Roland’s handwriting on it, she felt a recurring pang of pain in her heart.
She handed it to the girl, who didn't resist and calmly took the score from Li Yue’s hand. The girl looked at it for a long time against the setting sun. Shock, disbelief, and a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes.
A few minutes later, Li Yue saw the girl shed tears. She pointed at Roland’s signature in the top right corner of the sheet music and spoke with great effort, a blurry word escaping her lips.
“Wh... wh... who?”
“He was...” Li Yue hesitated, lowering her head in deep thought for a long while. “Roland, my teacher.”
“He wrote this for me before he passed away.” A hint of regret flashed in the girl's eyes upon hearing this. “Can you play it for me?”
“Okay...”
The girl nodded. She spent over ten minutes looking at the score, humming the melody under her breath as if familiarizing herself with the passages. Li Yue waited patiently until the girl took up the violin once more.
Waves of music drifted out. Blue notes seemed to leap from the sheet music, echoing in the air. This was the power Roland had left on the score after pouring his emotions into it. Li Yue listened quietly. The girl also opened her eyes, and they gazed at each other in silence. Li Yue remained expressionless, and the girl’s face showed neither joy nor sorrow.
When the piece ended, the girl returned the sheet music to Li Yue. She packed away her violin and the papers and pens that had been scattered about, slinging them over her back. It seemed her brief period of free activity was coming to an end.
She waved at Li Yue and walked away without looking back, muttering to herself in fragments.
“Is it... because... I... didn't... play it... well... enough? Why... didn't... she... have... any... reaction... at all?”
Not far away, Li Yue stood in a daze. She tucked the sheet music back into her ring and sat down against a corner, burying her head in her arms. Her eyes flashed with a brief flicker of blue before quickly returning to blood-red. Two lines of tears slid down her cheeks.
Confused, she wiped away her tears, but more soon fell from the corners of her eyes. Through the crystalline tears, she seemed to see a girl wailing loudly, the corners of her eyes already red, but her pupils a watery blue.
.....................
In the vast wind and snow, a figure slowly emerged. Her hair flew in the gale, and she held one hand in front of her flushed cheeks. It was impossible to tell from the expression on her face whether she was in pain or crying.
This was Diana.
The clothes she wore weren't tattered, but they looked as if they had been patched many, many times.
She knocked on the door of a house. The houses here were incomparable to the matchbox she called home. She didn't dare look through the windows at the happy lives of any family; she only hoped that a girl who liked to wear pink pajamas inside the house would open the door for her.
She waited for a while, but there wasn't the slightest movement. She looked through the window into the dim interior and seemed to confirm that no one was inside. Her expression turned slightly disappointed, and she stuffed a piece of paper she had prepared beforehand through the crack under the door.
She turned around. The violent wind and snow lashed at her body as she struggled to move her feet through the gale. The tear tracks at the corners of her eyes froze to her face, stinging her numb skin with an itchy sensation.
With a hint of despair, she set off on the road back home.
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