Chapter 381: Chapter 146: Nighttime Visit to the Villa
Mussen and Tina’s studio is located in the basement of this building.
Unlike other areas of the mansion, this place is locked. The key is usually kept by Olson himself, and only handed over to Housekeeper Dennis when he goes out.
Fortunately, Pello ran into Dennis tonight; otherwise, he would have had to put in more effort to successfully enter the basement.
Since Olson Manor is situated on undulating terrain, the villas are built on high ground. Thus, even though it is a basement, in reality, it is equivalent to the first floor of a civil dwelling, and with the villa on the left facing the sunshine, without any tall trees around to block, even on cold nights the basement still retains the scent of afternoon sunshine. This is also the reason why Tina, who knows how to enjoy life, chose the basement as her studio.
In contrast to the lavish decor found throughout the villa, the basement is simply modest. Mussen’s tools for diamond polishing, along with various pens and papers Tina uses for drawing design blueprints, are all spread out on two sturdy maple tables.
Besides this, under the tables, there is a container resembling an incense burner, which holds pine charcoal used for dehumidifying.
Pello walked to the tables and flipped through the papers on top, where there were still unintelligible drawings scribbled by Little Pello. Pello’s memories didn’t contain much about this studio.
"Everything here remains as it was," the old housekeeper lit the green-shelled work lamp. Over a decade ago, the Earl and Countess created the world-famous "Mussen’s Blessing" right here. Back then, the Munsen Family might not have been as wealthy as they are now in Europe, but undeniably their reputation was something that money could not buy.
"Are the design blueprints for that set of jewelry still here?" Pello started searching on the table. If the layout of the studio remains unchanged, perhaps those blueprints are still here somewhere.
Housekeeper Dennis joined Pello in the search, but they scoured the entire studio and did not find those blueprints.
"I remember it was Tina who designed them; she liked to hand-draw with charcoal sticks and hardly used any modern tools." Pello could still remember how Tina, after taking off her social gown, would immediately tie up her hair and immerse herself in drawing under the green-shelled lamp. The memory was so vivid that he could clearly recount how a few strands of her hair unknowingly fell over her forehead as she bent over her work.
"Indeed, the Countess disliked using tools like compasses or rulers and would spend a lot of time drawing drafts by hand. Each of her drafts was unique," Dennis recalled the night when "Mussen’s Blessing" was completed, how the excited Countess, ignoring the Earl’s objections, would knock on her door "bang bang" asking him to find a bottle of celebration wine.
"Such drafts wouldn’t be discarded casually," Pello believed that Olson, who also worked in the jewelry business, wouldn’t destroy those precious drafts lightly.
Actually, Pello also wondered why, with Olson’s current status and wealth, he would want to collect "Mussen’s Blessing". Color diamonds are rare, but Olson, who owns a vast amount of diamond mines, could presumably find suitable diamonds and recreate a version of "Mussen’s Blessing."
"Young master, nothing in this studio, not a paper nor a fraction, has been touched," Dennis assured, as he pulled out a few pages of paper that had begun to yellow, "Look, even these papers, they were left from that time, never moved by anyone."
Pello recognized those papers too. Unlike newly-made modern paper, old paper is a bit darker in color, but its ink adherence and durability are much better than that of modern paper extensively treated with sulfur.
"Wait," Pello took the dozens of old papers. These papers must have been constantly used by Tina, hence the multitude of pen traces etched into them. Tina’s hand was strong, and even through several pages, the original marks on the drawing paper showed through.
The design drawings of Mussen’s Blessing were stacked on top of each other, making it impossible to distinguish the designs on each paper accurately. But the handwriting was there, a neat row of script running from the upper left corner down to the lower left, a full eight lines of text.
Pello turned up the light of the green-shelled lamp, while Housekeeper Dennis was careful not to neglect the outside, on guard for a sudden pass by security or someone else.
"Mussen’s Blessing," Pello’s voice lost its usual composure due to excitement, and he felt discomfort in his throat, a choking sensation welled up.
"Red Love... passionate; Orange Love... desire; Yellow Love... rebirth; Green Love... fame; Blue Love... independence; Blue Love... revenge; Purple Love..." The writing here seemed to fade as if the person writing suddenly lost strength, and it became unclear.
"This isn’t Tina’s handwriting," Pello put down the stack of papers; it was Mussen’s handwriting. Bold and wild, that was Mussen’s style.
Tina’s designs for jewelry combined with Mussen’s written blessings, they seemed like Mussen’s self-evaluations, only what remained at the end was Purple Love, which intended to indicate what. What was the final definition Mussen left for this "inheritance"?
Pello sat down between the work desks of Mussen and Tina, clutching his hair in his hands, his eyes fixated on the piece of paper. He wanted to know, his father’s final attitude towards Tina.
Was the revenge hinted at by Blue Love at the end, a choice his father had also made?
The lights of the left villa stood out abruptly in the night as Pello contemplated. At the same time, in the main villa, a room lit up somewhere.
Su Ziceng didn’t expect to wake up in the middle of the night. She was sleeping soundly when suddenly a sharp pain in her head roused her.
She casually turned on the light; the unfamiliar room, the unfamiliar bed, even her own shadow cast on the wall by the light seemed so foreign.
Everything in the room gave her an uncomfortable feeling; the villas became somewhat icy at night.
Su Ziceng pulled over the new robe and draped it over herself, opening the door. She walked to Pello’s door, wondering whether or not to wake him. She actually had a lot to ask Pello.
She always felt that being in this house, Pello would be more panicky than her.
After her hand fell, no knock sounded, the door gently opened, the room was empty, filled with the night, no one inside. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian () to cast your recommendation and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)