Devil’s Music

After finishing their meal, Abigail rushed to the office to print some documents she had prepared for Geon, after leading him to the exhibition hall of the National Gallery in England. Left alone in the circular room, Geon pulled a chair to the center and sat down with his arms crossed as usual, looking at two paintings by Georges Seurat.

"Hmm... from 'Bathers at Asnières,' the thing I should particularly notice is the man sitting hunched over, facing front, wearing red swim trunks."

Geon looked at the man drawn prominently in the center of the painting.

"Surely his hair is red. But more than half of the dots made by pointillism here are black. Half red, half black, and about 10 percent brown dots, yet I still see his hair as red."

Geon turned his head to look at another painting next to him.

"And... the point in the second painting, 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,' is the back of a woman wearing a pink skirt, holding a child's hand. Specifically, her pink skirt. Despite being marked in black and gray, it appears more radiant in pink when hit by light."

Getting up from his chair, Geon moved closer to the painting.

"And this part, closest to us. Though not visible in the painting, people sitting or standing in shaded areas, like under a hill or building, are definitely in darker areas than their background, yet the colors of their clothes are accurately depicted."

Standing in front of the painting, deeply scrutinizing every part with his arms crossed, the sound of the door opening reached Geon's ears, and a panting Abigail approached him with a stack of papers that looked to be well over two hundred pages.

"Here's the thesis you requested!"

Seeing the enormous thickness of the thesis, Geon gave a wry smile feeling the weight of the paper.

"Thank you, it's more than I expected."

Abigail took out another piece of paper from the file as she spoke.

"I also printed out a brief summary just in case, would you like to see it?"

"Oh, thank you. This is very helpful."

Pleased by Geon's words, Abigail quietly stepped back as he focused on the summarized content of the thesis by Michel Eugène Chevreul.

In the 19th century, Chevreul, along with Ogden Rood and David Sutter, wrote about color, optical effects, and perception. Their works translated the scientific discoveries of Hermann von Helmholtz and Isaac Newton into forms that non-scientists could understand. Chevreul's importance to artists of that time was significant, as he created a color wheel of primary and intermediate colors.

Chevreul was a French chemist who restored old tapestries. During these restorations, he realized that accurately restoring the colors around vanished wool depended on considering the influence of surrounding dyes; without knowing what those dyes were, the correct colors could not be achieved. He discovered that when two colors are slightly overlaid or placed very close together, they appear as a different color from a distance—an effect that became the basis for the pointillist technique of the Neo-Impressionist painters.

Furthermore, Chevreul found that after looking at one color, a viewer would see an 'afterimage' of the complementary color. For example, after looking at something red, one would see a green afterimage. This effect of complementary colors—green for red, for instance—is due to the persistence of the retina. Interested in the interaction of colors, Neo-Impressionists heavily used complementary colors in their paintings. Chevreul advised artists not to just paint the color of the object they were depicting, but to add and adjust colors to achieve harmony, which Seurat referred to as 'emotion.'

With the print in his hands, Geon thought deeply.

"Emotion... I'm not sure why he chose this word, but the concept of afterimages is fascinating. The red-haired man and the woman in the pink skirt I'm looking at must perceive colors accurately because of this effect, and it probably relates to the background colors as well."

As Geon looked up at the painting again, Abigail clenched her fist with a tense look.

"Well, it seems I've been of help! It's time to move forward."

Abigail, trying not to break Geon's concentration, said in a soft, calm voice.

"While studying about genius artists, one often hears about 'madness,' but in studying Georges Seurat, one finds not madness but 'scholarly zeal' and 'inquisitiveness.' His research started in the school library and encompassed not only the works of past and contemporary masters but also optical theories, geometry, and the proportions of the human body."

Geon nodded slightly, listening to her story.

"Seurat was interested in the critique of 'absolute artistic symbols' written by Jobert de Schieperville, a Dutch

 painter and printmaker. Schieperville in his 'critique' argued that lines and colors are symbols for expressing human emotions."

Turning his gaze back from the painting to Abigail, Geon organized the thoughts springing to his mind, but seeing him intently focused, Abigail lost her composure.

'So, sexy!!'

A man deeply engrossed in thought has a beautiful expression. Even more so when the handsome Geon was frowning slightly and sorting his thoughts while looking at her made Abigail's mind fly away. Briefly turning her gaze to the ceiling and rolling her eyes, Geon spoke to her.

"Could you explain a bit more?"

"Yes, yes? Oh! Yes, yes!"

Embarrassed, Abigail hurriedly opened her file, causing papers pinned inside to fall to the floor.

"Ah! I'm sorry."

Crouching to pick up the fallen papers, Abigail heard Geon's question as she struggled to gather them.

"An ascending diagonal represents disturbance, agitation, explosion, and its color is red; a horizontal line represents balance, peace, order, and its color is white; a descending diagonal represents seclusion, depth, shadows, and its color is black, is that so?"

"Yes, Seurat's last work, 'The Circus,' reflects these theories well."

Geon pursed his lips as he looked back at the paper.

"That piece, 'The Circus,' it wouldn't be at the New York Metropolitan, would it? Is it at the National Gallery here?"

"No, that work is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It's an unfinished piece, so they don't lend it out for other exhibitions."

"Ah... Georges Seurat was a French painter, right. I remember now."

Pouting his lips for a while as he looked at the papers, Geon pulled out his phone and searched for Georges Seurat's 'The Circus.' Zooming in on an image that appeared, he noticed a man in a black tuxedo in the painting.

'This man's black tuxedo trousers, though yellow and black are combined, it's clear they're black lit by yellow light. It's confirmed. I need to study this person's work.'

Seeing Abigail standing a bit away, trying not to disturb him, Geon smiled.

"You've been a great help today. I'll continue looking at the paintings, so you can go on. You don't have to stay right next to me."

Abigail wanted to stay by his side even if nothing was happening, but she didn't want to disturb him either, so she nodded slightly.

"I'll be nearby. Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you, Abigail. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

"Meal, you say?"

"Yes, would you mind?"

"Oh! No, not at all! I'd, I'd love to!"

"Great, I'll make an appointment then."

"Yes, yes!"

As if a retainer distancing from a king, Abigail backed out of the room. Left alone in the circular room, Geon placed the thick thesis on his thigh and began turning the pages one by one. Only the sound of flipping pages echoed in the quiet room, and silence roamed the room until a ghostly pale face arose from the wall between the paintings.

The white face appearing between the walls looked eerie, yet as handsome as a sculpture placed among the paintings. As half of the face revealed itself, the face of Amdusias from Geon's dream appeared. His eyes opened, and his pupils fixed on Geon's back.

'Four emotions. That is the limit of a human. If you surpass that limit, I might have to take your power. Stay within the line, child. Even Lord Gamagin may not be able to protect you if you cross it.'

The playful yet deep look in Amdusias' eyes suddenly turned a bit frightening as he stared at Geon's back, and his eyebrows abruptly raised, hiding his face behind the wall. At the same time, the door to the room where Geon was burst open. The sudden noise broke Geon's concentration, and he looked up with a startled expression.

"Huh? Director Lin? How did you get in here?"

Unlike usual, Lin stood holding the doorknob, glaring sharply at the wall behind Geon. Puzzled by Lin's strange behavior, Geon turned to see only the paintings on the wall and stood up in confusion.

"Director?"

After scanning the room again, Lin looked at Geon with an unusual, stern expression.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Seeing Geon, Lin suddenly smiled brightly.

"I have something to discuss. How about a cup of tea?"

Watching Lin smile suddenly, Geon approached her with a curious look.

"Right now?"

"Yes, it's about business."

"Oh.. what time is it now?"

"It's nine o'clock."

Geon looked surprised at the stack of

 papers on the chair.

"Wow! Already? I thought I was just looking... Abigail must have had a hard time today because of me. Let's go then."

Geon picked up the papers and left the room, leaving Lin alone in the circular room. She glared at one side of the wall until the door closed behind her.