Next morning, as the ship anchored against the port, all the slaves and the porters walked ahead, to welcome their European guests, to carry their load or to simply trade. Some carriages waited outside the port for the travelling nobility and messengers to the emperor. Junks and dhows crowded the harbor, their sails painted with the hues of far-off lands. Merchants from China, Europe, and the East Indies haggled over porcelain, silk, and tea, their voices a symphony of languages mingling in the salty air. Streets lined with warehouses and tea houses pulsed with activity, while the scent of spices, dried fish, and incense wove through narrow alleys. Scholars and traders debated over cups of hot cha, the clink of coins punctuating their negotiations.

Maks got down, then Aleksei. Ariel got down next and reached out his hand for Jevelene. She held him and got down. Everyone seemed busy, people looked different, wore different clothes, spoke a language they couldn't understand, and the sky was of a different colour. People travelled in wheelbarrows. Maks handed the luggage to a local porter and talked to him in Potunghua, "我们的牛车就在那条街的对面。这需要多少钱?" They began talking to each other while Jevelene looked at them in awe.

She turned towards Aleksei, "You shall teach me your language too! I would love to learn,"
"Is that so?" Aleksei smiled, "I will tell Maks to teach you once we are home,"
"Are you taking us to your house?" Ariel asked.
"My humble abode. Yes, I am. You can leave anytime you wish to,"
"I wouldn't want to. I cannot understand anyone here,"
"I told you, you wouldn't,"

"Do they understand Italian? Or Swedish? How is your Italian so good, Mr Aleksei?" Jevelene asked.
"They do not understand any other languages, at least the lower classes don't,"
Maks walked up to them, "My lord, we shall follow the porter to the cart," They walked behind the porter and talked, "As per for my Italian, I travel frequently, thus I must learn various languages to communicate with my clients,"
"Just like my father,"
"What did your father do?"
"He was a merchant,"

They chatted as they sat in an ox-driven cart. Jevelene looked at birds in the sky, it reminded her of Milo and his sad end. Ariel tried to comfort her by holding her hand. Once they did reach Aleksei's house, they found that it was nestled on the edge of the bustling town. It stood modest yet distinct. Its wooden beams and clay-tiled roof were weathered, but protective talismans adorned the doorframe—red paper charms inked with bold black characters to ward off malevolent spirits. A small stone altar near the entrance burned fragrant incense, its smoke curling into the air like whispered prayers. It had a strange calmness to it.

Maks carried the luggage inside, and everybody else followed him. The interior was dimly lit, illuminated by lanterns casting a warm, flickering glow. The main room served as a place for consultation, where villagers from nearby villages came seeking remedies for hauntings and ill omens. A low wooden table held inkstones, brushes, and stacks of yellow talisman paper awaiting the exorcist's calligraphy. Shelves lined the walls, crowded with jars of dried herbs, strange bones, and ingredients for concoctions. Bundles of garlic and sprigs of wormwood hung from the ceiling beams, their scents mingling with the sharp tang of vinegar and aged parchment.

"You both shall live here with me before I can find a home for you. Now, there are some rules which you must follow strictly if you are to live here," Aleksei told them as they stood outside a big room, lit up red from inside. It was a separate chamber that housed the tools of the exorcist's craft: bronze mirrors to deflect spirits, swords engraved with sacred symbols, and drums used to summon protective deities. Statues of Daoist immortals stood in reverence, flanked by candles that seemed to flicker with a life of their own. A worn prayer mat before a simple altar suggested hours of meditation and chanting.

Maks was busy opening the luggage boxes, putting clothes away to wash, and arranging all the concoctions that they had carried to Italy, back to where they originally were.

"You must keep yourself clean, every morning, you wake up before sunrise and bathe yourself. The sun should touch your clean skin. You also must not leave this shrine after sunset, the bamboo forests outside are beautiful during the day, but at night, they are out of bounds. You both will be assigned separate rooms, do not visit each other at night. Abstain for any activities that would force me to put you out of my shrine. Remember, this is a holy place, you must treat it as such. The villagers, you can talk to them but do eat anything they give you, it could be an evil spirit disguised as a villager, bringing poison.

The room behind, its my ritual chamber. You may not enter this without my direct permission. I suppose that is all, Maks?" Aleksei looked at Maks, "Yes, my lord,"
Aleksei nodded, "If there is anything else, I shall inform you timely,"
Maks handed them their clothes, "You may take a bath, clean yourself and put on these washed clothes. Maks has boiled the water for you,"

While Jevelene was away to her bath, Maks showed Ariel's room to him. The entire house carried a stillness, broken only by the occasional chime of wind-bells outside or the murmured incantations of its owner. It was a place caught between worlds—where the mortal and the mystical met, and where the unseen felt unnervingly near. Ariel could feel the air was somehow different, always fragranced with incense. He wasn't used to such peace and calmness.

He looked at Jevelene walk into her room with the open creak of his door. She wore a ruqun, embroidered with images of clouds. Over that, a cloak, adorned with various patterns of flowers and clouds. His own clothes were now different. His shirt, breaches, stocks and shoes were put away. Instead, he wore a Chángpáo. Every morning, they would wake up, bathe and pray. Have their meal and go out for a walk. Once they returned, Maks would teach them various things like Chinese, Mathematics and Geography. They learned how to make tea, how to sit and how to make talismans.

Seasons passed. They got older. They looked different. Ariel sat before a table and wrote an essay. Jevelene sat beside him and worked on a flower arrangement as she sang softly.

"Your father died, what about your mother though?" Ariel interrupted her.
"She is no more either," It was quiet, "What about your mother, Ariel?"
"She was a Greek goddess, I heard. Aphrodite is his name. I don't care about her because she abandoned me the moment I was born; so she can just disappear and I would not care. I wish she was dead,"

"Wishing death upon your own mother is cruel,"
"And wishing death upon your own son isn't? I didn't choose to be born, it was her responsibility as my mother to take care of me. But she didn't. And I am here now in this oriental monastry, killing my youth away writing essays and letters that nobody will read," The flowers turned to water and splashed everywhere, "Ariel! Why must you be so upset?" Jevelene began cleaning the water.
"Because I don't like writing, I don't want to be a scholar or an exorcist!"

"What do you wish to be then?"
"A warrior. Serve in the king's army! But Aleksei says I am too young for that, and I must wait,"
"But that would mean you would have to kill people!"
"I am not afraid of that"
"And what if you die?"
"I am not afraid of death either,"
"Are you afraid of anything at all?" She got up.
"Yes. Mediocrity,"

She shook her head, "I don't understand it. Wasn't this the peace you always wanted? A home? Some love?"
"What I wanted? Since when did you choose what I want? I don't want this. I want freedom! You are so coy and docile, it irks me. Have you never thought of revolting? How could you obey when you know that you are so much stronger?" The table turned to stone and rose up like a mound.
"I can only be me,"

Ariel turned the table back and got up, "You are right. Maybe something is the matter with me,"
"Could I help you?"
"Yes. I want you to..." His cheeks flushed into a bright red hue, his face felt hot, "Could you make me some tea?"
She smiled, "Of course, I could,"

Jevelene seemed to enjoy herself, she grew to love her new family. She told him that she would like to become an exorcist herself someday. But Ariel, he did not like the repetitons and the monotony of such a life.

Everything felt like a performance.

Surely, he grew closer to Jevelene, as they studied together, ate together, played together and lived together. But this proximity was not enough. Something was missing, something crucial, something that he cared about. And that made him feel very guilty. Perhaps that was because they were growing older. He was sixteen. He had desires, he didn't know if she had them. But he did not want to do something that would jeopardise both him and her future with Aleksei. It was better if he left.

-To be continued