The Light in His Lonely Dark Heart [Phantom of the Opera Fanfic]

Ch. 2 Where exactly are we going?

A carriage with a family inside is entering Paris, France. In the coach, a ten-year-old female with medium-length wavy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes name Lucille Bernard is curiously yet excitedly staring out the chilly Autumn air. The blonde-haired female brightly smiled when she sees many historic buildings since she and her family live in the countryside, and the ride to the central city took like a few hours. The young female looks away as she turns her gaze to a thirty-four-year-old gentleman named Raphael Bernard, that resembles the young child in physicality. But the difference between the two is that he has sharper, masculine looks while the young girl has softer, feminine features. 

" Papa! We are finally in the city. Where exactly are we going?" Lucille excitedly asked Raphael. 

Raphael warmly smiled at Lucille as he glanced at his second wife, a twenty-eight-year-old female named Natalie Bernard nee Dubois, who is securely holding their two-year-old son, Adrien Bernard, in her arms.

" We are going to an Opera House called Palais Garnier," Raphael informs his eldest and only daughter. 

" Are we going to see a play?" Lucille innocently asked Raphael as she giggles when she sees Adrien spitting bubbles at her, which made the young child laugh along with her. 

" Not exactly. But we might since we are going to be living there for a while since Papa is going to help design and built a magnificent Chandelier," Raphael explains to Lucille.  

Lucille gasped in excitement when she hears that she and her family are going to be living in an Opera House. The blonde-haired female looks away to stare at the gray sky as she fondly remembers her biological mother, Magnolia Bernard nee Couture, telling her that she used to be a singer and dancer when she was a young lady. The young female's eyes saddened since it has been five years since her mother passed away due to a terrible illness.

Lucille blinked when she feels the carriage stopped moving. The blonde-haired female looked straight as she brightly smiled when she sees Palais Garnier Opera House. 

" Papa! Mummy Natalie! Adrien! Look! Look! We are here," Lucille excitedly tells Raphael and Natalie as she turns her attention to them. " The Opera House looks like a beautiful castle," The blonde-haired female happily smiled at them. 

" Indeed it does," Natalie warmly smiled at her stepdaughter's excitement while Adrien curiously stared at the Opera House. 

" This Opera House will be our home for a few months," Raphael explains to his family as he kindly smiled when he sees the owner of Palais Garnier standing in front of the building with a stern yet motherly female standing beside him. 

The carriage's driver gets off as he opens the door for the Bernard Family. Raphael gets off first while the driver carefully helps Lucille and Natalie out of the coach. Lucille immediately runs up to her father as she stands beside him while Natalie slowly walks up to them with Adrien in her arms. 

" Hello, Monsieur Mercier," Raphael politely greets Beaufort with a handshake. 

" Hello, Monsieur Bernard! I am glad you and your family have made it safely to Paris," Beaufort responded with a handshake as he kindly smiled at the older male.

Lucille curiously stared at the two gentlemen as she blinks when she an older female standing behind Beaufort. 

Madame Giry noticed Lucille curiously staring at her as the older female kindly smiled at the young female since Lucille reminds Madame Giry of her only daughter, twelve-year-old, Meg Giry. 

After the two gentlemen politely greeted each other, Beaufort finally noticed Lucille standing next to Raphael. 

" And who is this beautiful young lady?" Beaufort kindly smiled at Lucille. 

" Hello!" Lucille curtseyed since she remembered her biological mother telling her to bow whenever she comes into contact with an adult. " My name is Lucille Bernard. Daughter of Monsieur Raphael Bernard and the late Madame Magnolia Bernard nee Couture," The blonde-haired female politely introduced herself to Beaufort and Madame Giry. 

Beaufort and Madame Giry stared at Lucille with a surprised gaze when they hear who she is related too. 

" Monsieur Bernard! I did not know you were once married to the famous Flower of Palais Garnier," Beaufort excitedly tells Raphael since his office has posters of famous plays that had Magnolia on it when she was a young female. 

Raphael awkwardly chuckled. 

Madame Giry stayed quiet as she curiously stared at Lucille, who is smiling in happiness when she hears that her mother was once the Flower of Palais Garnier. The older female can't help but wonder if the young female inherited her famous mother's talents.