Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121 - Portrait Of Titus (2)
Chapter 122 - Visitor From The Desert (1)
Chapter 123 - Visitor From The Desert (2)
Chapter 124 - Visitor From The Desert (3)
Chapter 125 - Visitor From The Desert (4)
Chapter 126 - Rookie Of Boston Red Sox (1)
Chapter 127 - Rookie Of Boston Red Sox (2)
Chapter 128 - Buddhist Scripture Written With Gold (1)
Chapter 129 - Buddhist Scripture Written With Gold (2)
Chapter 130 - Buddhist Scripture Written With Gold (3)
Chapter 131 - Chaebol, Painting, And Happy Tears (1)
Chapter 132 - Chaebol, Painting, And Happy Tears (2)
Chapter 133 - Chaebol, Painting, And Happy Tears (3)
Chapter 134 - Enemies Are Everywhere (1)
Chapter 135 - Enemies Are Everywhere (2)
Chapter 136 - More Paintings (1)
Chapter 137 - More Paintings (2)
Chapter 138 - To Florence, Italy… (1)
Chapter 139 - To Florence, Italy… (2)
Chapter 140 - To Florence, Italy… (3)
Chapter 141 - People Who Are After The Masterpiece (1)
Chapter 142 - People Who Are After The Masterpiece (2)
Chapter 143 - People Who Are After The Masterpiece (3)
Chapter 144 - The Medici And The Aristocrats (1)
Chapter 145 - The Medici And The Aristocrats (2)
Chapter 146 - The Medici And The Aristocrats (3)
Chapter 147 - The Medici And The Aristocrats (4)
Chapter 148 - The Medici And The Aristocrats (5)
Chapter 149 - Drawings In The Charity Auction (1)
Chapter 150 - Drawings In The Charity Auction (2)
Chapter 151 - Drawings In The Charity Auction (3)
Chapter 152 - Drawings In The Charity Auction (4)
Chapter 153 - Drawings In The Charity Auction (5)
Chapter 154 - Now, To London… (1)
Chapter 155 - Now, To London… (2)
Chapter 156 - Now, To London… (3)
Chapter 157 - Now, To London… (4)
Chapter 158 - Seeing The Light Again (1)
Chapter 159 - Seeing The Light Again (2)
Chapter 160 - Seeing The Light Again (3)
Chapter 161 - Seeing The Light Again (4)
Chapter 162 - Uninvited Guest (1)
Chapter 163 - Uninvited Guest (2)
Chapter 164 - Uninvited Guest (3)
Chapter 165 - Uninvited Guest (4)
Chapter 166 - Dark Shadow (1)
Chapter 167 - Dark Shadow (2)
Chapter 168 - Dark Shadow (3)
Chapter 169 - Change And Progress (1)
Chapter 170 - Change, And Progress (2)
Chapter 171 - Change, And Progress (3)
Chapter 172 - Appraiser Talks Through Appraising (1)
Chapter 173 - Appraiser Talks Through Appraising (2)
Chapter 174 - Appraiser Talks Through Appraising (3)
Chapter 175 - Appraiser Talks Through Appraising (4)
Chapter 176 - Appraiser Talks Through Appraising (5)
Chapter 177 - Inheritance Left By The Parents (1)
Chapter 178 - Inheritance Left By The Parents (2)
Chapter 179 - Inheritance Left By The Parents (3)
Chapter 180 - Inheritance Left By The Parents (4)
Chapter 181 - Star Appraiser (1)
Chapter 182 - Star Appraiser (2)
Chapter 183 - Star Appraiser (3)
Chapter 184 - Terms Of Return Of Artifacts (1)
Chapter 185 - Terms Of Return Of Artifacts (2)
Chapter 186 - Terms Of Return Of Artifacts (3)
Chapter 187 - Terms Of Return Of Artifacts (4)
Chapter 188 - Terms Of Return Of Artifacts (5)
Chapter 189 - Artifact From North Korea (1)
Chapter 190 - Artifact From North Korea (2)
Chapter 191 - Artifact Match (1)
Chapter 192 - Artifact Match (2)
Chapter 193 - Artifact Match (3)
Chapter 194 - Artifact Match (4)
Chapter 195 - Artifact Match (5)
Chapter 196 - What Happened In Austria (1)
Chapter 197 - What Happened In Austria (2)
Chapter 198 - What Happened In Austria (3)
Chapter 199 - What Happened In Austria (4)
Chapter 200 - Bait To Catch The Big Fish (1)
Chapter 201 - Bait To Catch The Big Fish (2)
Chapter 202 - What The Depressed Man Left (1)
Chapter 203 - What The Depressed Man Left (2)
Chapter 204 - Where The Faith Leads Him To (1)
Chapter 205 - Add Painting To Painting (1)
Chapter 206 - Add Painting To Painting (2)
Chapter 207 - Add Painting To Painting (3)
Chapter 208 - Finally, To There… (1)
Chapter 209 - Finally, In There… (2)
Chapter 210 (End) - Epilogue
Categories Genre: All, Completed, Fantasy, Supernatural Status: Completed ______
Total Chapters in book: 210
Estimated words: 468205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 2341(@200wpm)___ 1873(@250wpm)___ 1561(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 468205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 2341(@200wpm)___ 1873(@250wpm)___ 1561(@300wpm)
______
LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 210 Page No. 209 Page No. 208 Page No. 207 Page No. 206 Page No. 205 Page No. 204 Page No. 203 Page No. 202 Page No. 201 Page No. 200 Chapter 72
Chapter 72: Louvre Abu Dhabi (1)
“How are you going to make him give you a Degas’ painting? And wait, there’s a Degas’ painting in
the Arab Emirates?”
“There is one now.”
Of course, Eric understood what that meant.
“Anthony. He sold Degas’ painting to Prince Sahmadi. Then, what were the other two?”
Haejin didn’t plan to hide anything from Eric, so he continued speaking.
“Two paintings from Gogh. One of them belongs to Gogh’s Sunflowers series, and the other was a
painting of the riverbank with the sunset. The riverbank painting was Gogh’s very last painting, so it
has great value.”
“Gogh’s very last painting?”
“Yes. It is especially valuable because it has Gogh’s last words to his brother, Theo. So, he sold two
Gogh’s paintings at fifty million dollars to Prince Sahmadi.”
Eric shook his head.
“How much does that old man have to earn with the paintings to be content… anyway, thanks. You
told me what kinds of paintings there were, so I’ll find out the rest.”
Would that be enough? Haejin couldn’t help but think about the wail of the family which he had seen
through magic.
“I heard Anthony murmuring to himself…”
Haejin couldn’t pretend to be ignorant and spoke. Eric immediately replied.
“What did he say?”
“I think he said the paintings were too good for ignorant Irish hicks… but I’m not sure.”
Eric crossed his arms and thought about it. He seemed to not have heard about the part about Haejin
not being sure.
“Irish hicks… were the paintings’ previous owners from Ireland? Oh, can you explain me in detail
about the paintings?”
“I cannot explain, but if you can stop in front of a stationary store, I will draw some sketches of them.”
“That would be great.”
They looked for a stationary store on their way, but they couldn’t find one until they arrived. Haejin had
to tell Eric that he would draw for him later.
The place they arrived at was a huge building called Abu Dhabi Export Public Corporation. Prince
Sahmadi probably worked here.
They went to the lobby where a young man was waiting for them. He led them to the top floor. In
there, the white appraiser was waiting for Haejin.
“We meet again. But this is?”
He hadn’t seen Eric at Burj Khalifa Hotel, so he politely stopped him and asked.
“Nice to meet you. I am Eric Holton, director of Face Note. I wasn’t present at the deal because it was
Anthony’s deal. However, I am very close to the appraiser Park Haejin here, so I came with him. Of
course, if the prince doesn’t want me to be here, I’ll wait downstairs.”
The white appraiser looked at Eric for a while and turned.
“Please, come in.”
They went in. Prince Sahmadi was watching the three paintings he had just bought and smiled at
seeing Haejin.
“Please, sit.”
The low, charming voice came from the prince. As he spoke in English, Haejin was surprised as he
sat down. Prince Sahmadi also sat and spoke.
“I know some simple English, but I don’t bother to show it in that kind of meeting. Anthony Goldberg
probably knew I know a little English. He just pretended to not know.”
He said simple English, but he was speaking long sentences with perfect grammar.
“Well… I am embarrassed by what happened earlier. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Park
Haejin from Korea. I appraise artifacts and run an art museum.”
“You appraise and run an art museum, that’s interesting. Anyway, nice to meet you. You also don’t
have to be embarrassed. Even if I hadn’t understood it all, Mat Vellin here would have told me
everything.”
The white appraiser’s name was Mat Vellin. His name matched his looks.
“Didn’t you blame me earlier? You had to spend tens of millions because of me.”
Prince Sahmadi waved his hand and spoke warmly.
“Not at all. If you hadn’t told me the true value of the paintings, it would have remained as one of
Gogh’s many paintings. As you know, I am rich. Although the price was high, I can afford to not
degrade Gogh’s painting. I think I bought the painting at a reasonable price. I am also satisfied. So,
you don’t have to think like that.”
He had spent more than ten million dollars than he had thought, but he was saying it was okay. Was
his confidence made through the wealth of the royal family? Haejin had met a few wealthy people, but
this kind of force was new.
“That’s good as I was worried. And, this is Eric Holton.”
Eric politely bowed at the prince.
“I am Face Note’s director, but I am more interested in paintings than running the company, so I
collect paintings for my collection. I happened to meet Mr. Haejin here, and I introduced him to
Anthony Goldberg. So, I got to follow them here from Hong Kong.”
“Oh… then Mr. Haejin is not Anthony’s personal appraiser. You introduced him to Anthony.”
“That’s right.”
Eric shrugged as if saying, ‘I did well, right?’.
“Actually, I don’t know much about Korea. However, I think I just got a very good memory about Korea
today. I gave you that number because you greatly impressed me. I was shocked as if Gogh himself
had come back from the dead to tell me the painting’s secret. So, I wanted to talk to you. But… Mat
told me you want something?”
He didn’t believe about the exhibition contract, either.
“I told Mr. Vellin about the exchange exhibition between my museum and the artifacts owned by your
country.”
“I’m aware of that. However, would that be enough? With your skills, I think you could have tried to
sell Degas’ painting at ten million dollars… is the exchange exhibition worth ten million dollars?”
The prince’s eyes had curiosity in them.
“Actually, it was not only about that. I do want something else, but I don’t know if you can…”
“Tell me first. If it’s something I can do, I’ll do my best to help you.”
Usually, when provoked like this, people would get mad or redden their faces, but the prince remained
calm. It was impressive.
“I know that a huge museum just opened here in Abu Dhabi.”
“You mean the Louvre Abu Dhabi?”
Arab Emirate’s Louvre Abu Dhabi was the first international branch of France’s Louvre Museum.
It was an awesome building. Its exterior alone was enough to make your jaw drop.
“Yes.”
“I don’t think you want to look around the museum. Do you want something from there?”
“I know that there is an artifact of Shinra, an old Korean country, exhibited there. I wish to get it back,
would it be possible?”
Prince Sahmadi was shocked, his mouth was wide open. Mat Vellin answered instead.
“We do not own that artifact. It is not about power. It is just impossible.”
The Arab Emirates paid 525 million just to be associated with the Louvre name, and an additional 947
million to loan artifacts from the Louvre for 30 years.
So, although the museum was in Abu Dhabi, the exhibited artifacts belonged to the Louvre. They
couldn’t just give them away.
Of course, they couldn’t understand why Haejin was making such a request.
“Haa… it is impossible, just as I thought. I just wanted to bring my ancestors’ artifact back. You must
know the humiliation and exploits suffered by weak countries.”
Prince Sahmadi nodded.
“I understand. I am also enraged about European countries exhibiting artifacts of the Middle East
which they have stolen. If the valuable artifacts from Korea had been stolen, of course, you should try
to get it back. However, I cannot help as it does not belong to us. I’m sorry.”
The prince was wealthy. Even Anthony couldn’t mess with him. However, he was apologizing politely
to a stranger. It showed what kind of man he was.
“Hu… I understand.”
Haejin shook his head to show his disappointment and thought about how to get Degas’ painting
which he had sold at a dollar, but then the prince spoke.
“Then, how about this? Although I cannot give you your country’s artifact, I will give you the Degas’
painting that I bought at a dollar.”
“Really?”
Haejin was wondering how he could get it without offending the prince, but he was offering to give it
before Haejin even said anything about it. Haejin was delighted but also confused.
“Degas’ paintings are indecent. They won’t be welcomed here, especially for religious reasons.”
“Well… I guess that can happen.”
Unfortunately, Edgar Degas forever hated women because of his childhood trauma.
This is what happened. When he was young, his mother was having an affair with his uncle, his
father’s brother, and it got busted. Edgar Degas’ father forgave her to protect the family.
However, Edgar Degas couldn’t forgive his mother. And soon, she fell ill and died.
That was hard enough, but his father couldn’t forget his wife and turned into a ruined man. Edgar had
to watch all that. His anger toward his mother grew and eventually, he started to hate all women.
Because of that, his self-portraits were always full of emotionless expression and a sarcastic attitude
with suppressed anger. He couldn’t love any woman till he died.
But strangely, his paintings were mostly about criticizing bourgeois snobs who thought of women only
as sexual objects.
As he himself hated women, he probably thought he was different from those snobs.
“Met Vellin told me that the man watching the ballerina from behind is waiting to sleep with her after
the show… with such a meaning, I cannot keep it and watch it.”
At Degas’ time, ballerinas were mostly daughters of the poor workers. So, after shows, they were
forced to sell themselves to bourgeois.
It is thought that Degas didn’t look at those ballerinas as his hateful mother but as victims like himself.
“I see. Then, I’ll take it with gratitude.”
Haejin wanted to cheer, but he tried to keep a straight face. Then, the prince spoke again.
“If you are not busy, why don’t you stay here for a few days?”
“Oh… actually, I went to Hong Kong spontaneously and didn’t plan to come to Dubai, so…”
Haejin couldn’t say yes, not because spending two days in Dubai was a problem but because he was
worried about the prince asking him a tricky favor. However, the prince continued speaking with
bitterness.
“There is a museum we are preparing to open. It is as important as the Louvre Abu Dhabi. However,
there is a problem. I think Allah might have sent you to me because of that.”
Total Chapters in book: 210
Estimated words: 468205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 2341(@200wpm)___ 1873(@250wpm)___ 1561(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 468205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 2341(@200wpm)___ 1873(@250wpm)___ 1561(@300wpm)
______