148. You have to take everything that you will receive.

[The melody that dances with the waves]

After losing his adoptive father, Pernell, Alain stopped eating and drinking.

Even when his lesser colleagues suggested food to Alain, he barely touched it.

Have you ever heard that time heals everything?

The tragedy that occurred on the ‘Ile de France’ was forgotten as if it had happened, and everyone went back to their daily lives.

Pernell’s seat was taken by Ohelliong, who was the most senior, and as always, a performance was held for the passengers today.

“Next is the pride of our ‘Ile de France’. There will be a solo recital by Alain, a genius pianist unknown to the world.”

waaa

After the piano match with Pascal, rumors began to spread, and now it was Alain who gained a lot of fame in France and England.

After a while, Alain appeared.

male voice

“Your spirit doesn’t look well.”

“I feel like I’m about to collapse.”

“Aren’t you working too hard on the boat?”

A lot of passengers whispered at Alain, who did not look good even at a glance.

Alain didn’t care and sat down on the piano chair with difficulty.

The pupil, who had died without power, found a little light in front of the piano.

Skinny twig-like fingers climbed up the keys and struggled to sound the first note.

Ding ding ding

“What song is it?”

‘The moon eaten by the sea’

It was a simple song that even a child who had just learned to play the piano could play to some extent.

However, it was a very difficult song in that it brought out the sadness and emotions contained in it.

The melody flowing through Alain’s hands began to moisten the hearts of everyone on board.

“Ah… it’s good, but strangely, I keep getting carried away whenever I hear Alain play these days.”

“I just look back on my life.”

“Why am I crying… My heart is full.”

Alain’s performance, which made it difficult even for the listeners, came to an end.

“What are you sweating like that?”

He had only played one song, but Alain’s whole body was wet with sweat and his limbs were shaking.

After confirming this, Oheliong hurriedly finished the concert.

“Actually, Alain was not feeling well today, but he said that he wanted to play at least one song for the passengers, so he made a big fuss. I would like to ask for a round of applause for Alain who has worked hard.”

clap clap clap

Lorung helped Alain, who was having a hard time, and brought him to the practice room.

“Alain, are you really okay? You are not in the right state right now.”

With sunken cheeks and dead eyes, compared to Alain just a few months ago, it was impossible to see him as the same person.

“Once we arrive at the port this time, let’s go to the hospital. You obviously have a problem now.”

At Lorung’s urging, Alain shook his head with difficulty.

“Heh heh heh heh.. Gwa, it’s okay. I’m okay. Do not worry about it. Take a few days off and you’ll be fine.”

“Are you thinking of dying? Is it like that!”

Alain’s eyes trembled slightly.

“Do you really think this is what Mr. Pernell wants? If you just die like this, Mr. Pernell, who will be playing in the underworld, is welcome! Do you think you’ll welcome me?”

“It’s not like that…”

“under! I don’t know. Now do whatever you want. Die or not.”

Alain smiles bitterly as he sees the back of Lorung as he storms out.

Juseom Juseom

Alain started to take off the top he was wearing.

Alain’s clothes piled up on the floor shaken by waves.

Alain stood in front of the mirror with slow steps.

Alain indifferently looks at his body, which has dried up to the point where every bone is visible.

Unexplained pain that started a month ago began to bother Alain.

Sometimes it felt like being burned by fire, and other days I felt the pain of being cut all over with a knife, and other days I felt the pain of grinding my bones.

The pain occurred intermittently without any warning, and when the pain started, I couldn’t even move my limbs properly.

Even in the previous concert, he had managed to finish the performance with his teeth gritting at the sudden pain that seemed to set his whole body on fire.

He bit his molars so hard that blood flowed from his gums.

Two years passed just like that.

***

“Song, are you really okay with your health?”

“Yes, no problem. I’m going to steam it again after filming is over.”

“But that’s true… You’re stubborn enough.”

Director Jean Dumont also raised both hands and feet at Kyu-ha’s reading.

In general, it is not easy for a man taller than 180cm to weigh 56kg.

Without strong mental strength and a sense of purpose, it was close to impossible.

However, actor Song Gyu-hara lost nearly 25kg in just two months.

I was very happy as a director because it was a great will and I felt greed for the work, but on the contrary, I couldn’t help but worry about his health.

“Even if I see you, I have to finish filming quickly.”

“There isn’t much time left to shoot.”

The filming of [The Melody Dancing with the Waves] also reached its end after 4 months.

And the most dangerous and famous scene was about to be filmed.

“Are you going to rest at home this holiday?”

“Maybe I will go to Paris for a while.”

“Are you going to Paris again? How come you seem to go to Paris more often than I, a Frenchman, chuckled.”

Just then, Kyuha’s cell phone rang loudly.

“Yes, chief. Okay. I’ll see you then. Yeah.”

It was a phone call from Han Jeong-hee, excited by the news that the old book that Kyu-ha handed over had been confirmed as genuine.

***

French Foreign Ministry Asia-Pacific Conference Room.

Asia Pacific Deputy Director Rafael and Director Yvonne were waiting for someone with an impatient expression.

“Auber’s records are real… I still can’t believe it.”

“Me too. This is a really great discovery. In addition, there are still 17 more books left, and above all, there is even a bronze statue of Michael…”

“The rest of the records and the bronze statue must exist, too.”

“How else should we determine the value of Archbishop Aubert’s 18 records and Michael’s Holy Relic?”

A heavy silence hung over the meeting room.

Who could easily have feelings for such a stupendous artifact?

“The fortunate thing is that they also put forward the return of Korean cultural assets as a condition rather than money.”

“They put forward the condition that we return most of the Korean cultural assets that we own. Is that okay?”

Raphael’s complexion darkened somewhat at Yvonne’s question.

“Not quite like that. Although the value of their relics is great, cultural assets such as Jikjisimcheyojeol are extremely valuable cultural assets worldwide. It’s the director’s order to never give up easily. He certainly wouldn’t have thought of it that way either.”

“Then how should we proceed with the negotiations?”

“First of all… there are guidelines presented by the director. We have to negotiate somehow.”

Then he handed a document to Yvonne.

“Eek barely? If you try to negotiate with this, you will jump out of there.”

“Haa… what can I do? If they ask you to peel it from above, you should at least pretend to peel it.”

After a while, four people entered the meeting room.

They were Kyu-ha, Han Jeong-hee, Secretary Son Mi-joo, and Secretary-General Lee Tae-geol.

The six people met again in the French Asia-Pacific conference room after a few weeks.

However, it was a completely different atmosphere from the first meeting.

Son Mi-joo opened her mouth.

“Has it been confirmed that it’s genuine?”

“That’s right. As a result of various evaluations in the laboratory, it is said that it is authentic. Where the hell did you get that book from?”

“Well, I don’t think I need to tell you that far. When the appraisal is over, you have to return the item to the owner, right?”

At Miju Son’s words, cold sweat formed on Raphael’s forehead.

“Ah… Actually, I haven’t received it back yet, as there are still a few more things to check in the lab.”

Son Mi-joo’s face hardened at Raphael’s words.

“What do you mean now? Are you saying that a developed country like France will not give back the things that were only appraised? Did you know that this could turn into a diplomatic problem?”

Rafael sweats and panics as if to explode at Son Mi-joo’s sad warning.

“No way! Absolutely no such thing. Just in case, he said he wanted to do another thorough examination, so stop… I will urge you to return it right away.”

Son Mi-joo’s face softened slightly, probably thinking she had taken the initiative.

“I hope you don’t forget that we still have 17 books of records and bronze statues.”

“of course. Sure. I never thought of anything stupid.”

When the atmosphere shifted to the Korean side, full-scale negotiations began.

Son Mi-joo put a file on the table and pushed it towards Raphael.

“This is our negotiating plan. Details have been added from what I said before. Applying the ‘equivalent exchange rule’ proposed by the French side during the Oegyujanggak negotiations previously, we exchanged 18 records of Archbishop Aubert and the relics of Michael’s bronze statue with 2,000 Korean cultural assets, including Jikjisimcheyojeol, owned by the French side. We request complete transfer of ownership of Oegyujanggak Uigwe.”

“Okay…”

A wrinkle formed between Raphael’s brows.

I expected that the negotiations would not be easy, but it was because I felt more resolute than I thought.

“I admit it. They are cultural assets of great importance in France. However, the ‘law of exchange of equivalent amounts’ literally means that cultural properties of the same value and the same quantity are exchanged. The number of cultural assets requested is too large compared to the artifacts they possess. Isn’t it 3,000 to 19 based on simple numbers?”

At those words, a rotten smile was drawn on Son Mi-joo’s lips.

“If you’re really coming in with that kind of logic, you’re disappointed in the deputy director, aren’t you?”

Son Mi-joo took out another document file from her bag and held it.

“This is a list of successful bidders for relics that have been put up at Christie’s auctions so far. As you can see, from the basic 10 billion up to 100 billion or more, the winning bid was formed. In addition, the records of Archbishop Aubert and the old books of the same year are formed at a successful bid price of more than 3 billion won per book. In comparison, the successful bid price for Korean cultural properties is less than 5/1. Are you still going to carry the number of items?”

Raphael and Yvonne’s complexions gradually turned white at Miju Son’s constant rhetoric.

However, as if something came to mind, Raphael’s face relaxed.

“No, of course I will admit it. However, the value of Jikjisimcheyojeol in Korea overwhelms them. Recently, a thesis was published that the economic value of Jikjisimcheyojeol reached 860 billion won. Even in Korean research institutes. Based on that, we propose an exchange with one Jikjisimche verse, or 1500 cultural assets excluding Jikji. Of course, the list of returned cultural properties is determined by us.”

Son Mi-joo’s face became serious at Raphael’s words.

In fact, it was because a thesis on the economic value of Jikjisimcheyojeol had been published by the Chungbuk Development Institute.

At Raphael’s words, Son Mi-joo asked to leave for a while.

“The first proposal they proposed is an exchange of Jikji Simcheyojeol, and the second proposal is an exchange with 1,500 cultural assets excluding Jikji.”

At the words of Son Mi-joo, Lee Jae-gul, president of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, was outraged.

“No, what are they? And Jikji must be accepted unconditionally. If it is not this opportunity, it will never be like this again.”

“I think so too. But even if we negotiate more here, there won’t be any drastic changes.”

Han Jeong-hee asked Son Mi-ju’s words.

“Why don’t we just bounce our guts? You’re wasting your time by not negotiating. Wouldn’t that make them more anxious?”

“Of course, this could be the case with the logic of general business, but this is obviously intertwined with interests between countries. To be honest, there is nothing good about going to the long game.”

“Then, in the end, the only choice is Jik, but getting it back is the best… right?”

Then, Gyuha, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“You have to take everything you want.”

“Then, of course, it would be nice, but it’s impossible to get them all right now.”

“You can present another card.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Kyuha’s sudden words.

“Yeah?”

“Wouldn’t it be possible to get all of the remains and relics of the saintess Joan of Arc?”

These were the words of Gyu-ha, who once lived the life of Charles VII, who had the closest relationship with Joan of Arc.