19: His Curse
Beta'd by SnowyEgrett
Lin FenXiang slowly clenched his hand into a fist and stared at his hand.
So, now he was having hallucinations, huh?
His hand trembled as it dropped to his side and desperately tried to dry off the wetness in his eyes.
Lin FenXiang sucked in a deep breath as he dragged his feet away from the church street and made his way back to the museum.
By the time, he returned to Oxford, sun was close to setting and the exhibit itself was set to be closed in a few hours.
As the curator, Bai XiNian's duty was far from over. So, when Lin FenXiang re-entered the exhibition hall, Bai XiNian quickly rushed to him and frowned when he noticed the slight puffiness and redness of his eyes, the curator opened and closed his mouth before speaking.
"What happened?" He whispered. "Did you cry?"
Lin FenXiang nodded slightly, "Yeah, this all was a bit overwhelming for me. When's the concerto again?"
Bai XiNian gently squeezed his shoulder and answered. "Three days, in three days. Will you be able to adjust your state enough to endure the show?"
Lin FenXiang nodded, whispering. "Yeah, I guess." He couldn't afford to miss this show.
It was probably the only chance for him to feel the closest to his late lover.
As prickly as the bastard was, his love was warm as the tides of ocean in summer day. Unrelenting and always approaching.
Lin FenXiang chucked at the thought and broke away from his best friend. As he stood at the door of the hall, he saw Tristan and Charles whispering to each other with soft smiles.
Lin FenXiang closed his eyes.
He didn't want to see people being affectionate with each other whilst he was here, grieving for the loss of his one and only.
Being tormented alone in his grief was his atonement.
He sighed as he leaned into the door frame and felt his phone vibrate inside his pocket. Gently tugging it out of his pocket, Lin FenXiang turned the device on, only to see Weibo blowing up his notifications.
As if he had time for these things.
Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to calm down and opened the social media app.
In the hot search, 'Ode of Faith'’s photos were trending.
The first most trending was, obviously, Bai LiuYao, followed by Wang YiZhou and then surprisingly Lin FenXiang himself.
Raising a skeptical eyebrow, he clicked on the forum and saw high definition pictures of Bai LiuYao, Wang YiZhou and himself posing in the classic leading trio manner.
He could not help but feel a trace of pity for the viewers for the one hell of a plot twist that would give them a whiplash.
Who would dare to think of their beloved character, whom they believed to be the second male, would actually turn out to be the main antagonist of the drama.
He shook his head, a slight trace of amusement in his eyes.
Exiting the forum, his eyes travelled down the hot search list before stopping on one particular topic.
#Last Symphony Orchestra— London tour tickets sold out#
Followed by:
#Musical Prodigy Yan Hansheng will be conducting the orchestra#
Lin FenXiang's eyebrows twitched slightly at the mentioned of the orchestra. There was once a time when Adrastus led this orchestra, now with the changes of time, he had changed as well.
How the tables have turned.
Disheartened, he ignored the hot topic and turned off the phone. He then raised his head and started observing people. His gaze lingered on Tristan and Charles for a moment before he tore his eyes away from them.
Then looking at his paintings hanging on the wall, he noted that, indeed, Avoidless Choix wasn't here. Unable to suppress his urge to ask, he stood straight and walked to Bai XiNian who finally seemed to catch a break.
Striding closer to his best friend, he asked in a low, deep voice.
"Bai XiNian?"
Bai XiNian turned around and faced him with a questioning look.
Lin FenXiang cleared his throat and steered his best friend away from the visitors with an apologetic smile.
"What happened, FenXiang?"
"Um, where are the paintings from Avoidless Choix?" He asked tentatively. Bai XiNian visibly slumped at the question.
Wringing his hands, the art curator bit his lips and answered softly.
"They aren't here," he shook his head. "I doubt they will ever be."
"What?"
"Look, FenXiang, I really didn't want to concern you about this. But," Bai XiNian casted a superstitious glance around them. "No one has ever even seen those paintings since the fire."
"What?" Lin FenXiang asked blankly. "Fire? What fire?"
"The very same fire which killed Duke Esmeray of Yorkshire," Bai XiNian answered, saddened. "Somehow, as by a miracle, the incomplete paintings survived the baptism of fire. Though, of course, the Duke himself died, presumably in the process of trying to get them to safety."
Oh, dear lord, what?!
"It's entirely too strange for those paintings to have survived that incident, perhaps it was fate," Bai XiNian continued unaware of Lin FenXiang's dilemma. "But safe or not it makes no difference—" he shook his head helplessly. "—no one has ever been able to bring them out of their resting place." He looked grief-ridden.
"Wh, why?" Lin FenXiang asked hoarsely, spiralling into hyper ventilation.
Bai XiNian glanced at 'Persephone', one of the marble statues and answered after an ominous silence.
"Because whoever tried to touch the paintings died within three weeks of doing so, without exception."
"... Dead?"
"Yes," Bai XiNian finally looked at him, straight in the eyes. "All of them. Each and every one of them. There's no telling how or why? Because on the surface, they look like simple accidents, illness and occasionally some freak accidents. Government tries to cover it up. They have, on several occasions, tried to get rid of those paintings, but to no avail. But no museum or organisation takes them for the entire art industry knows and believes that—" he paused.
"—That?"
"That those deaths aren't accidents, far from that. They are the result of his curse."
Lin FenXiang stilled, his heart thundering against his chest. In his mind, Father William's words repeated in a relentless echo.
'I would have told you something more, but you are not ready for it, not yet."
"Whose curse?" He asked, his words coming out as mere whispers.
Bai XiNian looked down, as if he suddenly found the flooring interesting.
"XiNian," Lin FenXiang whispered, desperate to grasp even a thin tether of hope.
Hope for his existence.
"Whose curse?"
Looking up, Bai XiNian pursed his lips before answering.
"The curse of Duke Esmeray of Yorkshire. The evidence of his resentment against his untimely death."
And in spite of himself, Lin FenXiang saw hope tearing through his grief.
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Author has something to say:
Xiao Xiang: Something, something had to be there.
Adrastus: So, I became a roasted noble, huh?
Author: We gonna crash and burn~