Ch2 - “Bill and Water Lilies”

Morel had a nightmare from all the worrying. His body was damp with cold sweat.

The train abruptly lurched forward and the steam whistled like a strange beast. Jolted from his sleep, he shook his didi awake and held his hand as they followed the crowd off the train. 

The sea breeze accompanied by the freezing rain rammed against them and caused Hania to sneeze multiple times.

A horse stepped into a puddle and splashed murky water on the two children before trotting away. However, none of the two children minded much. This was their first time at the biggest harbor of the English Channel.

A luxurious merchant ship was anchored among the black sailboats and mist shrouded the crisscrossing masts like a layer of velvet. The countless lamps on the merchant ship shone proudly and the evening sea breeze took their brilliant lights, scattering them across the glittering and crystalline ocean.

Hania rubbed his eyes and was enamored by the new sights. 

Morel clearly wasn’t as excited. He carefully observed the ship and its fluttering flag…no doubt, this was the French merchant ship. He saw well-dressed gents and ladies, burly laborers, sailors in blue uniforms, and…a large quantity of grape wine being transported. Wine barrels…his eyes lit up.

He pulled his didi and paced back and forth in front of the grape wine barrels.

An hour later, a person was caught trying to board the ship without a ticket. It made a large ruckus and Morel used the chance to stab the wine barrel with the dagger. After draining the wine inside, he made his didi go inside first before jumping in himself and closing the lid.

It was a great time to be small; they infiltrated the ship without a hitch and the drunk laborers found nothing wrong with the barrel of wine. However, the smell of grape wine was far too strong and it made the two children tipsy like they had drunk it instead.

The wine barrel was stored in the warehouse and soon after the ship set sail, the sailor guarding the warehouse wandered off. Although Morel was unbearably hungry, he chose to wait for a spell before emerging from the barrel. When he confirmed that the coast was clear, he helped his didi out of the barrel.

“Gege, it’s so dark. I’m scared.”

Hania had always been afraid of the dark. The warehouse didn’t have a single window and everything was pitch-black. The rumbling sound of machinery sounded like shrieks of monsters…it was really quite frightening.

Morel squeezed his didi’s hand. Although he also felt a little scared, he still comforted his didi, “It’s alright, gege is here!” 

He spent a long time groping blindly before finding a wooden plank. He soaked the head of the plank with wine and lit it with a match, and instantly, a red flame burst to life. They could finally see the things around them!

“Gege, I’m so hungry…”

Hania’s voice was on the verge of tears.

Morel’s heart was in distress. 

He couldn’t remember the last time they ate a proper meal. He turned around and hugged his didi, “Hania, stay here and wait for gege, okay? Gege will go find something to eat.”

Hania shook his head even harder. “No! Hania wants to go with Gege!”

Morel was helpless against him. He could only take his didi along as he attempted to find the exit in the messy warehouse. Fortunately, his didi was very cooperative. He mimicked his gege and darted around like a nimble mouse.

They found the exit not long after and headed upstairs. 

Morel locked onto his target. He told his didi to stay put and ran into a room. He came out moments later with a bunch of clothes in his arms.

Their clothes were dirty and stinky and had wine stains on them. If people saw them like this, they would definitely be suspected as stowaways. If they wanted to get something to eat, they had to dress the part first.

He stripped his didi quickly and helped him put on the white shirt, the navy coat, and the light-blue checkered pants. He then hurriedly changed his own clothes. He threw on the white shirt and the matching silver coat and pants, but he couldn’t figure out how to do the necktie. In the end, he took it off and threw it to the side.

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After he settled this, he brought his now well-dressed didi outside. He found a source of water, washed his didi’s face, and then his own. A kind lady saw them, smiled, and asked in flowing French, “Where have you guys been playing at to end up so dirty?” After speaking, she even took out her handkerchief and helped the two children wipe their faces and hair.

Hania didn’t understand at all, but Morel more or less did. After all, his motherland was France. He quickly thanked the lady.

Soon, two grimy children were restored to their original appearances.

The lady smiled, using her handkerchief to dry Hania’s hair, “What a cute pair of children. Try not to make such a big mess the next time you’re playing. Otherwise, if your mommy saw her babies all dirty like this, she’ll be very heartbroken!” 

Hania blinked his large blue eyes. He thought the lady was praising him, so he smiled happily.

The preparations were complete. Morel stood at the door.

He heard classical music playing for a waltz.

He took in a deep breath, his jadeite eyes gleaming. He bent down and said to his didi, “Hania, why don’t we play a game?” 

“What game?” Hania’s eyes shone with interest.

“It’s a role-playing game. We’ll pretend to be the sons of English nobility. Our parents are on the ship with us and we’re exploring the ship right now.”

“Okay!”

“So, Hania, don’t be afraid. Stick out your chest and keep your head high! Just remember, everything inside was prepared for us.” 

The two children were nervous and expectant as they opened the door. The door led to the most extravagant venue on the merchant ship, directly leading to the feast of the nobles.

It was a decadent banquet on water.

They passed through the hall with oak wood walls and the gilded Venetian crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling made the children cover their eyes from its dazzling light.

When their eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, they finally saw the winding spiral staircase and the red roses in full bloom… 

The countless men and women nestled against each other were waltzing on the white marble floor. Among the pleated skirts that were swaying gracefully, the scent of cologne mixed in the air…

And most importantly of all, a dazzling array of food was spread out on the dining table covered in linen cloths. People held a plate in their hands and helped themselves, placing the food they liked onto their plates while chatting leisurely.

It didn’t seem like they needed to pay.

That was the most important point. 

The two children ignored everything else and walked towards the food in a “calm and confident” manner.

They felt like vicious wolves that had been starved for days, yet they still had to maintain the image of being a gentleman. It was such a hard thing to do.

They copied what the adults were doing and took small portions of their favorite food. They then sat down at a round table and copied what everyone else was doing, holding the fork in their left hand and a knife in their right hand, then began eating slowly…

It was pure agony. 

No one had ever told them that meals must be eaten like this. In their entire life, having enough to eat was already a blessing.

Morel was still doing alright, he was quick on the uptake and his monkey’s imitation soon looked convincing enough. But Hania couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t cut his steak at all and felt miserable. He couldn’t wait until Morel had time to help him, so he looked around and seeing no one was paying any attention to him, Hania picked up the slab of meat with his fork and started gnawing at it!

This scene was truly a bit unpleasant to look at.

When the surrounding ladies saw this, some covered their mouths and laughed while others frowned and said “What terrible manners” and “Which family is this child from?”. 

…

As the two children gorged themselves, the auction began.

The crowd became particularly lively, attracting Morel’s attention as well.

He didn’t pay much attention to the name, but when his eyes fell on the canvas, he was hooked by the beautiful colors. He often got the feeling that it wasn’t a painting at all, rather…it was a mirror, one that perfectly reflected the beauty it captured. A sense of flaming passion rose from his heart! 

The auctioneer spoke in French very quickly, and Morel couldn’t even understand half of it. Fortunately, an English lady was quietly discussing the auction beside him and she unwittingly became his translator.

The paintings were the work of the artist Barbizon and they were named “Sunset”, “Dusk”, “Returning Sheep”, and “Afterglow”. Each painting depicted an ordinary, everyday scene but it made Morel feel sad when he looked at them. He couldn’t return to his hometown or the carefree days of herding flocks. That place had been claimed by death’s shadow and his grandma who always waited for him at home was also no longer there!

The more Morel thought about this, the gloomier he got and the slower he ate.

Many other works were shown later as well, and some sold extremely well. Paintings of cathedrals always pulled in the highest price and a painting in particular even sold for 5,000 francs! Morel had never seen so much gold in his life…he fantasized, if he and his brother had that much money, they would buy an endless amount of bread and then…they would swim in a sea of bread every day. How great would that be! 

But the most anticipated work had yet to appear.

Most people here had come specifically for the last item.

A single painting was carefully carried onto the stage by 6 strong men, and they stood to the side, treating the painting like a god.

The host was all smiles, “The next item is our main attraction. The painting, “Bill and Water Lilies”, a work by the Wallace. …As everyone may know, Wallace passed away at the age of 29 and left very few works behind. A couple of years ago, the three major families in France even started a bloody feud with each other over this painting…” 

Although most of the speech was gibberish to him, Morel was certain that he heard the word “Bill”!

He instantly ceased all of his actions.

Disregarding everything, he stood up and squeezed through the crowd like a mouse until he finally got to the front.

When the velvet drape on the painting was lifted, everyone stopped breathing. 

The world instantly appeared duller as if all of its beauty had gathered into the painting instead.

It was a scene of a person bathing.

In the simple background, a man had his back to everyone, his lower body was submerged in the depths of the lake, his head slightly tilted, and he glanced backward with an inscrutable smile.

His long, golden hair draped over his shoulders and glowed with a soft halo. From his forehead to his nose, to his lips, to his jaws, and to his neck, the silhouette was graceful as a swan and emanated fathomless charms. 

The white robe slid down the man’s arms and his fair, delicate skin was exposed in the light. The water was like liquid gold and was erratically dyed with dark and light blue. The pale lilies bloomed quietly beside the man like it had become a part of him…

The unostentatious scenery, the cold but enthralling gaze, the beauty from it was capable of making a person breathless.

Morel had long been pulled into a daze.

But it wasn’t because of the painting’s beauty, but because of the strong sense of familiarity! 

The host was still giving the introduction. He spoke slowly this time and Morel understood him easily, “Why would such a beautiful person be labeled as the ‘devil’, you might ask? Well, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that the young man’s eyes are faintly purple. It’s said that he’s the incarnation of the devil and no one who saw him was left alive. But even so, there are still countless admirers who wish to have a glimpse at his beauty…but other than the artist himself, I’m afraid no one else has seen him before…”

Such a painting was bound to be costly.

The first person who raised their hand already gave a bid of 10,000 francs.

The following bids grew increasingly exorbitant. From 10,000 it raised to 20,000 to 50,000 to 100,000…all in the span of 20 minutes. 

At the sky-high price of 300,000, the bids finally stopped.

Just as the bidder was about to go up and happily accept the painting, a voice suddenly spoke.

“400,000.”

The voice wasn’t loud; it was apathetic and clear. But it felt like thunder had struck Morel’s heart. 

It wasn’t because of the large amount of money, but because of the familiar voice.

Everyone’s gaze gathered on one corner of the auction.

The person was not bothered in the least. After speaking, the fingers gloved in black continued to play with the Venetian wine glass. Air bubbles like golden pearls were still rising out of the pale yellow champagne.

He wore a black top hat, had long black hair, and his gaze looked downward, his face stern and pale. A plain black scarf covered half of his face. But even so, the ladies who saw him all blushed. 

The simple act of crossing his legs made the plain, black leather boots on his feet look like an exquisite piece of art. The outlines of his legs were perfect beyond words.

His chamberlains carried multiple suitcases and quickly exchanged them for the good.

The host was naturally overjoyed to have encountered a rich overlord and rushed over to greet him but was dismissed with a wave of the man’s hand.

The entire process took less than 10 minutes and the chamberlains came back with the carefully-wrapped painting. 

The man immediately stood up, his tall figure leaving his seat, and he turned around to leave.

The only thing left behind was the scent of a unique perfume.

The host was unresigned, he at least wanted to know his distinguished name.

“Mephistopheles” 

After saying this, his figure disappeared behind the closing doors.