Chapter 251: Memorial Exhibition
West District, King's Boulevard No. 2, Kingdom Museum.
"There are quite a few people at the entrance!" Lorne exclaimed, looking at the long queue outside the museum.
It wasn't early, nor was it a weekend, but there was still a long queue at the entrance.
"Sure enough, is it because of the lack of entertainment in this era—"
According to Lorne's own understanding, ordinary workers in this era had almost no personal entertainment time besides their heavy work every day.
As for the relatively affluent middle class, entertainment options were also quite limited, usually just reading newspapers, reading novels, listening to operas or concerts, or visiting parks, attending exhibitions, and going on vacation.
For Lorne, these activities were no match for the internet; if he could, he really wanted to surf the web one more time.
Today, he had an appointment with Fors to visit the Rosell exhibition. On one hand, it was to commemorate this senior Transmigrator; on the other hand, he also wanted to take this opportunity to inquire about some news concerning nobles from Fors.
"Sorry! I'm late!"
A slightly breathless female voice came from beside him.
Lorne turned to look, a little lost in thought.
Today, Fors was wearing a well-tailored off-white long dress, a small light-colored round hat, and carrying an exquisite handbag, completely dressed like a literary girl.
This was completely different from the sloppy homebody image he had seen during their first meeting.
"It's okay, I just arrived too," Lorne replied with a smile, regaining his composure.
"Did you bring your notebook?"
"Of course!" Fors smiled, took out a small notebook from her purse, and waved it in front of him. "This is an excellent opportunity to record material!"
She didn't immediately look away but tilted her head slightly, staring at Lorne's face with an inquisitive gaze.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Lorne noticed her gaze and touched his cheek.
"Nothing," Fors shook her head. "I just didn't expect you to invite me to an exhibition."
"Isn't it normal for friends to go to exhibitions together?" Lorne replied as a matter of course.
"Although we were just pen pals before, we're quite familiar with each other, aren't we?"
"Besides, I also hope you can accumulate enough inspiration as soon as possible. I've been waiting for your new book for a long time."
Lorne's tone was gentle, and his reasons were ample.
"Is that so? I'll try my best." Fors gave a sheepish smile, a little embarrassed, as she felt somewhat lacking in confidence regarding the progress of her new book.
Next, Lorne escorted Fors, shielding her from the crowd, and smoothly entered the exhibition hall, acting quite gentlemanly.
'Too bad there's no incense for sale here, otherwise I'd light a few to commemorate this fellow countryman,' Lorne muttered to himself.
'Should I light a few cigarettes at the entrance when we leave, just for the gesture?' This thought had just arisen when Lorne dismissed it.
'Forget it, this is just an exhibition hall, not a tomb. Doing these things isn't really appropriate. I'll save these things for when I have a chance to go to Intis later.' "Ladies and gentlemen, everything displayed here are everyday items once used by Emperor Rosell."
"Please look, everyone, that is the flush toilet he used, and it is also the first flush toilet in the modern sense!" A young female guide was introducing it to the surrounding tourists with an extremely excited tone.
'This... it's just a toilet, but it's even gilded. This is too ostentatious! Rosell's aesthetic is truly hard to describe—' Lorne complained inwardly, looking at the glittering gilded toilet in the glass display case.
Wait—Emperor Rosell, golden toilet... the two words 'emperor' and 'golden toilet' put together... Thinking of a certain famous meme, Lorne couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Rosell shouldn't have gone so far as to cosplay an emperor sitting on a golden toilet, right?
Unlike Lorne's complaining attitude, Fors, beside him, had shining eyes and was completely captivated by this "imperial luxury." She took out her notebook and excitedly began to record, sighing softly, "Emperor Rosell's life was truly extravagant!"
"He is an emperor, after all," Lorne echoed.
Just then, the female guide pointed to the adjacent display case and said in an even more excited tone:
"This is one of the notebooks left by Emperor Rosell, on which he used a unique symbol of his own creation, one that has not been completely deciphered to this day—"
rosell's diary?!
Lorne's attention was drawn. He came to the display case and carefully examined the open notebook.
"March 6th, damn it, the food here is making me constipated!"
"March 17th, are the ladies of Intis all so open-minded?"
This—
The content of the diary made Lorne's mouth twitch slightly. Especially when he heard the female guide beside him explain in a tone full of romance and pathos:
"Perhaps these mysterious symbols are a unique agreement between Emperor Rosell and the woman he loved most. They used this method to record their mutual longing, but for various reasons, they could never truly be together."
Hearing this, Lorne couldn't hold back any longer.
I think Rosell probably wouldn't discuss issues of constipation with the woman he loved.
Hiss, it seems—these are all rather uninteresting diary entries. Lorne looked at the few pages of the diary displayed in the cabinet, feeling a bit disappointed.
'Moreover, Rosell's handwriting is really quite ordinary, almost like what I'd write with my left hand. The the official collection standards are just so-so.' Just as he was slightly lost in thought, his mind wandering while looking at Rosell's notebook, Fors beside him suddenly spoke in a hesitant and apologetic tone:
"Um, Lorne—I, I did something to offend you?"
"Hmm?"
Fors looked up, staring at Lorne's face: "I accidentally broke the fountain pen you gave me."
"Oh, that? It's fine," Lorne replied subconsciously, not paying much attention.
Wait!
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something was off.
Was his reply too casual? It was as if—he had known about this all along.
"You seem—very calm. Don't you care at all?" Fors keenly caught this, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment at not being taken seriously, mixed with a trace of inquiry.
Is a Author's intuition that strong—Lorne's heart suddenly trembled, and he quickly controlled his expression, showing a gentle smile:
"Since that fountain pen was given to you, it's your possession. It's nothing if it was accidentally damaged, and I believe, Fors, you absolutely didn't do it on purpose, right?"
Hearing this, Fors stared at Lorne for two more seconds, making him feel a little uneasy, then she smiled brightly and nodded slightly, saying, "It's good that you can forgive me."
"I was afraid you'd think I didn't cherish the things you gave me."
"Of course not, we're friends."
The two continued the conversation about the fountain pen, chatting briefly. The atmosphere seemed to have returned to its previous harmony.
'That was close! I almost revealed a flaw without realizing it,' Lorne secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a touch of helplessness.
'I was planning to take the opportunity of visiting the exhibition to inquire about some news from her, but it feels like I was the one being probed, sigh—'
As the two conversed, not far away, a lady wearing a girlish goose-yellow cake dress, but with an old-fashioned black soft hat that completely clashed with the dress's style, silently observed Lorne and Fors beside him through the fine mesh veil.
"It seems the rumors about Monqi Brando's womanizing on the high seas are not unfounded."