Artifact Reading Inspector - Chapter 148

Chapter 148: The Medici and the Aristocrats (5)

The place actually was the shadow of the ball which the blue cat was playing with.

“What’s in there?”

Rachel couldn’t understand, she was confused as she couldn’t see anything strange with the ball.

Haejin then lightly pushed Albert aside and pointed at the bottom of the ball.

“Look at the shade of the ball. Can you see the long line that is stretched out between this smudge of water, with the sunlight reflected on it, and the shade?”

“Wait… huh?” Rachel stared at it for some time and then looked at Haejin with surprise.

“Anyone who knows Jan van Eyck’s unique signature wouldn’t think that the thin and beautiful line is just part of the floor. Right?” Haejin was asking Albert, but someone else answered instead.

“Does that make any sense?” Florence couldn’t take it anymore. Or maybe she thought that speaking for her brother wasn’t enough. Either way, she elegantly walked to the front.

Actually, there was nothing she could do about it, but she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.

“Whether it makes sense or not, that is not up to me. Jan van Eyck drew this painting and Hubert van Eyck envied him. I am just appraising their actions,” Haejin explained.

“Envied… that is a very dangerous choice of word,” Florence commented.

“He wouldn’t have ruined this painting if it hadn’t been for that, and Jan van Eyck knew that. He anticipated this painting wouldn’t be appreciated. That is why he didn’t let his brother hide his signature entirely.”

Jan van Eyck used the sunlight that came through the window to touch the shadow of the ball. It was so delicate.

When the other parts were overpainted, they wouldn’t have been easily seen; however, the reflection of the sunlight on the water was clear and bright. Therefore, if that had been overpainted, anyone would have seen it.

So, Hubert van Eyck covered the signature by overpainting the shadow of the ball with paint that had less varnish in it, but because of that, one line of the signature remained in the painting.

“You might as well be writing fiction. Can you prove it? What are you going to do if you can’t?”

She was provoking Haejin, but he didn’t fall into her scheme.

“I cannot prove Hubert ruined this painting because of jealousy. That is only my guess based on Ms. Butler’s answer. It’s not like I was there at the time. How can I prove it? However, I can prove one thing. Have a sample of the paint analyzed, and if it were really overpainted, have it restored and remove the overpaint. Then, Jan van Eyck’s signature will be revealed.”

“…” Florence couldn’t say anything.

Haejin then gave the final blow, “This is Jan van Eyck’s painting. That is the only thing I can prove here. Isn’t that enough?”

Her eyes were shaking now, but then they heard a cheer.

“No! That is enough! Thank you! Thank you…”

Edmond was crying in joy and ran into Haejin’s arms.

“Oh, okay… I just did my job…” Haejin said while patting him on the back. When the boy finally left, his sister hugged Haejin with teary eyes.

“Thank you so much. You let us know that the only thing our mother left us isn’t fake. Edmond will never forget this.”

“Oh, okay… khmm…”

Eunhae was glaring at Haejin, so he looked away and let her go. By then, people were already surrounding him.

“That was impressive. I am Leonardo Vancelot. I really admire your skills. May I invite you to my mansion?”

“I’ve been through many amazing occasions, but I’ve never seen such a dramatic and thrilling thing in my life. I’m Ed Harper. If you ever come to Liverpool, let me know. I have many questions to ask you.”

Haejin was now so famous among those aristocrats that before he knew it, he was shaking hands with all of them.

After that, Eunhae, Haejin and the Butlers were the only ones left in the room.

“When did the Harrington siblings leave?” Eunhae smiled while asking.

Rachel then said, “They must have been really ashamed. I’ve never seen him slouching like that before… his sister couldn’t even say anything to him. She just followed him. I didn’t know they would leave like that.”

Haejin then said, “I thought he was going to shake hands with me and say he made a mistake but will do better next time like a man… was he that shocked?”

Rachel gave him the answer, “Mr. Harrington has been rarely frustrated till now. I heard that he couldn’t appraise one of the Medici’s artifacts but that wouldn’t be shocking as it was the Medici he was appraising for. But this time…”

Rachel didn’t finish the sentence, but both Haejin and Eunhae knew what she was trying to say.

“He doesn’t want to admit that he has been defeated by a commoner from Asia. Well, I don’t want to criticize him for that. He must have been living thinking that he is different and better educated than others. However, I do not pity him. What should I say… good riddance? Hahaha!” Haejin continued for her.

Rachal smiled and nodded, “Haha! Yes, Edmond and I are delighted, too. We have been looked down on because of this painting.”

“But let me ask, why on earth would they ignore you just because of a painting? Aren’t you all aristocrats? Is there some kind of ranking among you?”

Rachel, however, shook her head and puffed up her cheeks. She looked cute.

“Hmm… it wasn’t like this at first. After our mother died, Edmond showed the painting at the funeral to remember her, but Albert announced it as fake right there at the funeral!”

“Oh…”

Haejin could now see why Rachel and Edmond were so obsessed with it.

“Almost all the European aristocrats were there, and because of that, we turned into fools who didn’t know anything about art. Of course, the elders in our family scolded Edmond for his recklessness. He is the heir of the family, so they couldn’t openly criticize him, but they kept protesting about how we managed the family business.”

“But he is just a child…” Eunhae murmured in pity, but Rachel looked at her and shook her head.

“No, we cannot make mistakes, especially Edmond… that is our burden. Anyway, he couldn’t believe what Albert said and has had the painting appraised again and again. But… as you can guess, no one said Albert was wrong.”

“They had their reasons…”

Rachel stroked the painting’s frame and smiled, then she said, “It was that difficult, right? Ha… I get it now. At first, I thought they were lying because they didn’t want to oppose Albert. But a while ago, I started to think it was fake, too. Everyone said so, therefore I couldn’t insist on it. I just… I just thought maybe we just wished for it to be real so that our late mother wouldn’t be a liar, but thanks to you, we could keep our honor. Thank you.”

“As I said, I just did what I was paid for, I didn’t appraise to help you. If I hadn’t found any clue, I would have said it was fake, too,” Haejin explained.

“But you did find the truth. That’s what matters. Anyway, you made your splendid debut even before the Medici’s charity event. Congratulations.”

“There were only about a dozen people. Calling it a splendid debut would be a little exaggerating,” Haejin replied.

“However, if we were to put together the wealth of the people who were just in this room, it can rival the wealth of an entire country. They have great power. Oh, and this is my business card.”

Surprisingly, the card read Director Rachel Butler of Butler Cook Airlines.

“You are a board member of an airline company?” Haejin asked.

“It is one of the companies of our family. If you come to England in the future, don’t buy plane tickets. We will provide you, and this beautiful lady here, with first class tickets as long as the company stands.”

Haejin thought they would give him something in gratitude, and they really did.

“Wow…”

“You will also, naturally, get your fee. Do you like it?”

“Yes, I do.”

Edmond then poked Haejin’s side.

“Hehe… our airline companies are really good. The food is… a little bad, but the first-class service is good. It is the best service between all the airlines in England. Really.”

“Then, I will enjoy that great service. Oh, and… are you going to restore the painting? A masterpiece will be born again if you remove the overpaints.”

Rachel looked at her brother and smiled. Edmond knew what she was thinking, he smiled and nodded.

“I think they would want us to keep it as it is. So, we are not going to restore it.”

“I see, you made the right choice,” Haejin commented.

The past, which Haejin had seen through magic, was not that beautiful. There was an older brother who was tormented by the talent of his genius younger brother, and the younger brother had no choice but to pretend to be ignorant of it. It was almost tragical.

Hubert’s jealousy and despair eventually ruined Jan’s painting, but he didn’t blame or hate his brother.

However… Jan had known Hubert was going to ruin his painting, so he made another one. And unfortunately, the Butler siblings didn’t have it, so Haejin didn’t talk about it.

After that, the time at the mansion was surprisingly comfortable and new.

It was comfortable because everything was of the best quality, and it was new because so many people asked to meet Haejin as if he were a celebrity.

At first, he thought that being stuck there for three days would be boring, but he enjoyed his time more than he expected.

Time flew fast. It was the day for the charity event, so in the afternoon, Haejin and Eunhae went to the outskirts of Florence. Then, they saw a giant mansion and some facilities.

The mansion was five minutes away by car from the huge entrance. The building charmed the people with the unique elegant style of the city.

Many people were already going in and out, and Haejin couldn’t even guess how big the event was. Their driver took them inside so they could go in without losing their way.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Park. I’ve been expecting you.”

And at last… they could meet the famous head of the Medici family.