The sensation caused by the name was a long time ago, and the person who created it was a puppeteer.

At first, it was due to his beloved wife, a dancer named Fei Ling, who was incapacitated due to an acquired illness.

After losing her legs, Felling was depressed when she was no longer able to carry out the dance career that had been so important in her life.

Unable to watch his wife go on like this, the puppeteer invented the Mask Doll.

This is a device that allows people to express their actions in the form of puppets, and in the end, they are called marionettes.

What was originally made for his beloved wife became an innovation in the history of theater, and it became very popular.

However, given the difficulty of making mask dolls, there are fewer and fewer puppeteers who master making mask dolls, so much so that they are almost extinct.

——

Rootsville is a beautiful natural capital surrounded by greenery.

It was a day surrounded by high-altitude mountains, and the streets below the foothills. For those who are wealthy in the sacred snow country, it is famous for its summer resorts and holiday villas.

Spring is a time of great flowers, summer is a time of historic waterfalls, autumn leaves rain and the world is silent. It is a land with four distinct seasons, and when you visit it during the tourist season, it is beautiful enough to pleasing to the eye.

At the foot of the hill, wooden houses of various sizes and painted with various colors of paint have been built along the streets. The low prices here are quite expensive, so the construction of a villa here is itself a testament to the class given.

The streets are full of shops for tourists. On days off, the bustling main street is bustling with people and mingled with cheerful and boisterous music. The variety of goods here is so varied that it is not at all like a rural place.

For convenience, most people choose to build villas on the street. Those who build houses elsewhere are considered eccentrics.

At this time, it was autumn in Rootsville. Beyond the foothills, on the edge of a small lake in this much-overlooked tourist destination, a hut swells.

To put it more emotionally, this is a house with a lot of old-fashioned charm. But if you don't say it well, it's just like an abandoned and dilapidated house. Walk through the slightly faded white arches and into the courtyard, which is flooded with weeds and unknown wildflowers, and you'll be rewarded with panoramic views of the cottage.

The brick-red walls seemed to have been broken by a long period of repair, and the roof tiles were full of cracks, and what should have been in order was now in such a miserable state.

Not far from the entrance, you can see a swing entangled in ivy and gecko, which no one can push. This is proof that there was a child in the family, but at the same time, it can be seen that the child is no longer there.

The owner of the cottage was a man in the prime of life named Cornell.

He is a well-known puppeteer, with distinctive red hair and thick black frames. He is much younger than his actual age, and he is slightly hunchbacked. I always wear a sweater because I am afraid of the cold. This is an ordinary man who can't be the director of any story.

The cottage was not built as a Cornell holiday home, but purely for permanent stays.

Not only for himself, but also for living with his wife and young daughter. However, for a family of three, which was already too spacious, he was now the only one left.

His wife and daughter have passed away.

Cornell's wife died of an illness with a complicated name.

The blood clotted in the blood vessels due to the slow flow rate, clogging and causing death, and it was hereditary, and his wife inherited it from her father.

It wasn't until after his wife's death that he learned the truth from his wife's friends – she was orphaned because her relatives had died young.

It may be because she is afraid that she will not marry her who is sick once she knows, so she is afraid of being like this, so that she keeps it a secret from the person she loves the most.

At the church funeral, his wife's friend told him about it. After listening to this, Cornell's mind was filled with countless whys.

Why–

Why–

This kind of thing, as long as you tell yourself, you can spend as much as you want.

Whether it's seeking a cure together or wasting unnecessary money – no matter how much, be willing.

Cornell knew very well that his wife did not marry him for money or fame. His encounter with her took place before he became famous as a theatrical puppeteer, when she was a substitute dancer at the theater he frequented. And, the first person to fall in love with at first sight was him.

- What a beautiful person.

- Her dancing is always beautiful, like her own work.

- While falling in love with the dance and the puppet, he also fell in love with her.

The countless times the why echoed in my mind, and finally faded away.

His wife was a very friendly man, and while he was devastated by her death, she did her best to take care of him and his young daughter, who could have gone a day without eating or drinking, preparing hot food and braiding his daughter, who was crying for the loss of her mother.

Perhaps, there is some admiration in mind. At that time, when her daughter, who was sleeping soundly due to fever, suddenly began to vomit repeatedly, she was also the one who was taken to the hospital.

Therefore, she knew earlier than this father that his daughter was happy with the same illness as herself.

What happened after that, in Cornell's eyes, was like pressing fast forward.

In order not to let her daughter repeat the mistakes of his wife, Cornell visited famous doctors, ran to major hospitals, pleaded with all kinds of people, gathered information, and tried new drugs.

Medicine is inseparable from side effects, and my daughter cries every time she takes medicine. Seeing the appearance of the loved one struggling with the disease, the caregiver's heart is also protected and the pain erodes.

No matter how many new drugs she tried, her condition did not improve. Finally, after all the main forces of the training class and exhausted all methods, the doctor also chose to give up.

Cornell often thought that his wife, who had received a bachelor's degree, called for her daughter because she felt lonely, and then she thought that her idea was too stupid. He went to his wife's grave and begged her not to take her daughter away, but the deceased did not give her any response.

Cornell's spirit was gradually pushed to a desperate point, but the first to die was his wife's friend who had always come to take care of him. Tired of caring for her unstable daughter, she stopped coming to the hospital before she knew it. In the end, there are really only two father and daughter left. Because of long-term medication, my daughter's rose petal-like cheeks pumped into white milk also became sallow, emaciated and haggard.

The honey-colored hair, which seems to have a sweet taste, is also falling out.

Just looking at it, I can't bear it.

In the end, after repeated pointless arguments between Cornell and the doctor, it was decided to only give her daughter sedatives from now on. Because I don't want her short life to be full of pain.

After that, a few peaceful and warm days were passed, and my daughter also showed a smile that she had not seen for a long time.

They maintain what little happy time they have left.

The weather was fine when my daughter left.

It was a sunny autumn in a world where the colors were fading. Through the windows of the hospital, you can see the red and yellow trees outside. Fallen leaves float quietly on the fountain in the rest area of the hospital.

The dead leaves drift away, fall on the surface of the water, and gently shake with the waves, gathering together as if they are attracted to each other, and even if they lose their lives, they are still beautiful.

The daughter looked at them and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful."

"The blue of the water and the color of the fallen leaves are really beautiful. Well, if you step on those fallen leaves, you won't fall off when you walk on the pool, right?"

Childlike thoughts. In fact, because of the gravity of the body, it will definitely sink. But Cornell did not deny her daughter's words.

"If you have an umbrella, it's more likely to take advantage of the wind. ”

He said jokingly. Even if it's just a little, he wants to pride a child who is already at the end of his life.

When the daughter heard this, her eyes sparkled and she smiled happily. "I'll let you see it someday. ”

On that lake next to our house.

When the autumn leaves float on the water.

Someday.

I'll show you someday.

After that, the daughter coughed violently for a while and suddenly died.

But at the age of eight.

The inanimate body is very light to hold. Even if the soul is gone, it is too light.

My daughter is actually still alive, I just had a long dream, Connell thought in tears.

After burying his daughter in the graveyard where his wife lived, he returned to the home where three people had lived, and sank ever since.

Cornell already had the financial ability to survive without working. The mask dolls he made were used in theaters around the world, and with the insurance system implemented by the Queen of Tea and Grey, she would not starve to death until she ran out of her savings. After several years of mourning for his wife and daughter, Cornell received a commission from a former colleague to create a puppet.

It was the request of a theater worker, and for Cornell, who now has only a body left in the world, this is probably one of the few things he can do.

Lazily, self-willingly, indulging in sorrow to live every day.

Human beings are easily bored creatures, and neither sorrow nor joy can last forever.

So he made up his mind.

Immediately agreed to the commission, ready to pick up his puppet tools again.

However, new problems have arisen.

In order to escape the harsh reality, Cornell often drank heavily and took drugs that allowed him to indulge in happy dreams, and with the help of doctors, he overcame his dependence on alcohol and drugs, but he fell into the sequelae of shaking hands.

Whether it's assembling a mechanism or sewing with needlework, there is no way to make a more perfect mask doll in the current state.

What you want to create, it really exists in your mind.

Then it's about how to assemble it, how to form something that can be seen and touched.

So when she talked about it with her partner, she was told 'a good thing'.

"Perhaps...... Iris can help you. ”

"Iris, who is she?"

"You don't know anything about the world...... Or the degree of remoteness from reality is really worrying, very famous, the flower girl of Rootsville, she is a kind child, she only needs to pay a low salary, she can do her best to help those in need. ”

"The Flower Girl...... Can you help?"

"She's a very special girl. ”

Just listening to the name, Cornell must be an ordinary girl.

This is where his encounter with her begins.

The girl walked on the mountain path, her long silky hair tied in a bun with crimson ribbons, and a snow-white bragi dress decorated with ribbons wrapped around her slender body.

The silky corners of the skirt swayed rhythmically with the steps, and the emerald brooch on the chest shimmered.

A white skirt is worn over a dark red tight blouse.

With cocoa-brown leather boots on her feet that had been darkened by long-term wear, and a heavy-looking trolley bag in her hand, she walked through the white arch of Cornell's house.

When she stepped into the courtyard, there was a sudden autumn breeze beside the girl.

Red, yellow, and brown dead leaves swirl around the girl as if they were dancing.

The withered leaves fell like a curtain, and the vision in front of her eyes was disturbed, and the girl suddenly clenched the brooch on her chest. She whispered something softer than the rustling of dead leaves, silently melting into the air.

After the mischievous wind had stopped, the girl put the dangerous atmosphere behind her, and without hesitation, she walked to the entrance and pressed the buzzer with her fingers wrapped in brown gloves.

The buzzer made a screeching sound that sounded like hell, and in a few moments the door opened. Cornell, the red-haired owner of the house, poked his face out. I don't know if he had just woken up from his sleep, but in any case, his messy dress and appearance at this time were not suitable for receiving guests. Seeing the girl in front of him, Cornell showed a somewhat surprised expression. Her outfit was too different.

Or maybe it was too amazing, whatever the reason, he held his breath for a moment.

"You are...... Iris?"