How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 29 - It was probably just… PTSD from Erik (1)
In any case, she was able to take a hot bath.
The hotel's bathroom was bigger than she imagined. The bath water was splashed with essential oil, and a strong scent of lavender was wafting from the steaming water. Various toiletries were placed next to the bathtub: scented soaps, hair oils, sponges, big towels, face towels, combs, moisturizing creams, colognes, and perfumes.
Bo Li used the sponge to rub the perfumed soap onto her skin. She scrubbed for over an hour before coming out.
This was the first time she felt her pores were clean since transmigrating. She felt like had lost 1.5kg.
As she dried her wet hair with a towel, she pondered how to get Erik to take a bath. However, when she returned to the room, she discovered he was gone.
She had gotten used to his sudden appearances and disappearances. She didn't think too much of it and only hoped that he wouldn't drag another person back in the middle of the night.
Anyways, she finally saw this body's appearance. This body looked very similar to her body in modern-day. They could almost be identical twins. Her father was French, and she inherited his high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, fair skin, and also a few inconspicuous light brown freckles on the nose.
The only difference between her modern-day body and this one was that she had black hair, and this body had red hair.
To be more exact, it was ginger hair. Under certain lighting, it took on a flashy red hue.
Bo Li could now guess why this body crossdressed. Red-haired people, especially red-haired women always suffered discrimination.
Chekhov even wrote in one of his novels that "red-haired women are cunning, hypocritical, vicious, and insidious."
Although he meant it sarcastically, it proved there was prejudice against red-haired women at that time.
Bo Li wasn't sure why the original owner's mother dressed her as a boy, but she was willing to believe that she did it to protect her and not because she wanted a son.
The dresses that she had purchased were spread out on the bed.
Bo Li picked up a printed dress and put it on.
Her hair was very short and didn't even reach her ears, but it didn't look out of place with the dress. On the contrary, it gave off the feeling of tidy wildness.
She put on the feminine-style tweed hat and tied the strings under her chin. She felt that if she walked out of the room, no one would guess that she was Mr. Clermont.
In this era, there were women that openly wore men's clothing, but these women were all performers in theaters or circuses. It was considered indecent for women to wear men's clothing. A true lady would never wear pants.
For them, pantalettes had to be hidden under their skirts and dresses. It was absolutely taboo to leave them exposed.
Wearing only pants was like exposing your thighs in public. Only women dancing the can-can would reveal clothing that was considered undergarments.
This was why audiences loved to watch beautiful women dressed as men in shows. The women on the stage were dressed neatly like female gentlemen, but in the eyes of the audience, they were practically naked.
Unfortunately, Erik wasn't here. She wanted to test his attitude towards seeing her in women's clothing.
He knew that she was a girl, but he hadn't seen her dressed as one.
Perhaps, the effect of her kisses didn't have much effect on him because he hadn't seen her dressed as a girl?
Bo Li hated herself for deleting Phantom of the Opera from her phone instead of saving it after she finished reading it.
Otherwise, she could take notes while re-reading the book. It would be best if she could write a comprehensive guide lest she forget a detail one day and die at Erik's hands. That would be too unfortunate.
Wait, no. She could still write a guide without the original work as reference.
Bo Li didn't know how long she would be here. She still remembered the details of the original work, but what about after a year, two years, five years… ten years?
Who knows if she could still remember everything by then?
Thinking of this, she immediately opened a desk drawer, found a blank notebook, and started writing with a pen.
She wasn't worried that Erik would be able to read her writing. No matter how smart he was or how many languages he knew, he wouldn't be able to read simplified Chinese.
The origin of simplified Chinese characters was complex. Even though the prototype for modern simplified Chinese characters already existed, there was a gap of one hundred years of development and innovation.
Unless he could find a Chinese person to interpret her notes for him word by word, it was impossible for him to understand her notes.
Bo Li first wrote out the outline of the original work. Then, she noted the differences between the original work, the musical, and the horror movie. Finally, she warned herself: if he wants to kill me, the best way to resolve the conflict is to kiss him, hug him, or any other physical contact.
She thought it over and added:
1.) It is currently the latter half of October 1888. I haven't seen his face yet, but no matter what, I can't show fear, shock, or disgust when I see it. Otherwise, terrible things will happen.
2.) Be as sympathetic to his situation as possible. But remember, he's extremely dangerous and rarely speaks. I have to learn to be indirect and be more sympathetic to people who have similar experiences as him.
3.) This isn't the original work or the musical version. Don't underestimate how dangerous and vigilant he is. He might do extreme things. Even though I've been so, so cautious, I almost died in his hand several times.
Translator Ramblings: Oh Bo Li, why would you do something so stupid? Can't you just silently recite every morning - don't show a negative reaction if you see his face - if you're worried about forgetting?
She's worried about forgetting details in ten years, but she's not taking into consideration that Erik in the original work wouldn't kill long-time friends as long as they don't come between him and his love interest.
As someone who has lived in the US for a while, Bo Li should know it's the land of immigrants. Plus, it's even easier to find foreigners in a major port city like New Orleans. The probability that Erik can find someone who can read Chinese is so high.
And, while Chinese characters were drastically changed in the 1950's, a lot of them stayed the same. For the words she wrote in her three points, less than 10% of those simplified Chinese characters are different from traditional Chinese characters, and those different characters can be guessed by context.
That being said, I think it's safe to assume Erik will not go on a murderous rage if he reads the content of her notes. He already knows that she's lying to him.