The Alchemists

The next day the weather was still cold and snow started falling again. It was a good idea to spend all day at the museum.

Before going to the Louvre museum, Jean invited Finland to stop by a shop to buy her two wool beanies and two pairs of gloves so that Finland would not get cold. He made it his sixth to eighth present for Finland. Finland was very happy.

She had never gotten so many birthday presents before.

They had a really nice time at the museum, and on the way home they passed by the river Seine. Jean took Finland to stop by one of the street painter stands near the bridge. He asked her to sit for half an hour while the painter made her sketch.

That was his 9th gift. Finland was amazed by the sketch result. She was portrayed so beautifully with snowflakes falling from the sky against the background of the Notre Dame church.

"This... this is very nice..." She couldn't take her eyes off her portrait. "Oh, Jean... I love all your gifts!"

"I'm glad to hear that," Jean said with a smile on his lips. He knew that it was actually very easy to make Finland happy. Small gifts like these were enough to make her joyful. He did not need to give her an expensive gift to see the girl's beautiful face shine happily.

"I can't wait, there are still 15 more prizes..." Finland counted with her fingers excitedly. She was happy to realize that there were still many gifts she would receive from Jean.

"One of the most important gifts is in Colmar." said Jean in a mysterious tone.

"Wahhh... what is that?" Finland asked curiously.

"Just wait until we get there."

Finland couldn't wait to get to Colmar. She had searched for information about the city on Google and was amazed by its beauty. Its old buildings with cobbled streets and beautiful canals made it look exactly like a land from Disney's fairy tale. Very beautiful!

The next day, they spent the whole day visiting the Versailles palace just outside Paris. Finland was amazed to see the extraordinarily vast and beautifully designed garden. She thought about Queen Marie Antoinette, a famous woman who used to live in this palace.

When she entered the palace, Finland felt as if she had entered a time machine. She could imagine how the king of France lived in luxury with his family.

Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was beheaded by guillotine when the people rebelled due to social inequality. She was accused of spending the country's wealth on lavish and extravagant parties while many of the French people were starving.

Since then, the French people chose to change the form of the state into a republic and reject the existence of kings and nobles.

"Jeez... this is really awesome. I didn't expect France to be this beautiful..." sighed Finland. She really enjoyed their walk exploring the city of Paris and Versailles during the first three days she spent with Jean.

No wonder Jean liked staying in Paris; he was always surrounded by the beauty of the past. Everything was so inspiring and peaceful, far different from the futuristic and rigid Singapore.

On the fourth day, Jean took Finland to Disneyland and they had a wonderful time in the amusement park. Cold weather did not make them flinch. On the contrary, it made them more excited! The cold weather didn't bother Finland much because after being in Europe for a couple of weeks,

Finland was finally getting used to the cold weather. Jean gave Finland a Donald duck plush toy for his 10th gift. Finland was very happy because Donald Duck was her favorite Disney character as he was fussy and always unlucky.

"You really spoil me..." Finland said, smiling broadly as she accepted the toy, "Next year my expectations will be higher than this..."

"Next year I will go back to giving you flowers again, 25 roses..." Jean replied nonchalantly. "You don't have to be big-headed. I just happen to be super generous this year."

Finland laughed lightly hearing that. She knew that Jean was not serious.

They ate pizza for dinner then went to bed quickly because they were super tired. Their adventure the next day continued in Paris by visiting various important places in the city such as the Notre Dame church, the D'Orsay Museum, and Trocadero.

"I have the next five gifts for you," Jean said as they sat in the cafe enjoying tea and macaroons after exploring all corners of Trocadero. He pulled out five small white cards with gold printed words.

"What is this?" Finland asked curiously. She flipped the cards and saw the same writing on all of them.

I WILL GRANT YOUR ONE WISH

"As it says..." Jean explained. "You can exchange this card for a single request, and as long as I can fulfill it, I will. Whatever you wish."

"Wow... seriously?" Finland asked excitedly. "Does this mean that since there are five cards, I can ask for five wishes?"

"That is correct."

"Whatever it is?"

"As long as I can fulfill it, I will grant it," Jean answered firmly.

"Seriouuussslyyyy??" Finland smiled mischievously. She handed one card to Jean to exchanged her prize. "I want you to wear your glasses."

Jean immediately regretted giving these five gifts to Finland. He didn't like to wear his glasses, because it made him look and feel old.

"Ugh... don't you want ask to me to take you to movie or to buy you something?" he asked sullenly, "You know I don't like to wear my glasses."

"I just want to test if you would really grant my wish or not." Finland shook her head, "Wow... the card doesn't work."

Jean rolled his eyes, but he took out his glasses that he kept in his coat pocket and wore them in front of her.

"I am wearing it. Satisfied now?" he asked.

"Wahhhh... the card works!" Finland exclaimed excitedly.

Jean quickly took the card Finland had exchanged and placed it in his pocket. "You have four left. Please use them wisely. The cards are valid for one year."

"You're more handsome, you know, when you wear glasses like this..." said Finland. "I don't understand why you are so annoyed by your plus glasses. Other people won't know if it's plus or minus glasses. They will only think you look very smart... ahahahaha..."

"I AM really smart." said Jean.

"Smart people don't usually compliment themselves," Finland laughed.

Finland felt touched when she received the five gift cards from Jean. But at the same time, she was really sad. She understood Jean's good intentions to grant her wishes for the next year, but he did not know that their time together would not be long.