The Cycle of Fate

Chapter 58: Life Experience

At six o'clock in the early morning of early May, the sky had not yet brightened. The descending red moon and the stars on the horizon cast their glow, thinning the darkness and revealing the outlines of nearby objects.

Lumiere woke up early, washed briefly, put on the semi-formal clothes from the previous day, and donned a wide-brimmed hat. He forced a smile in the glass window, which he used as a mirror.

As he slowly descended the stairs, he heard hurried footsteps from above.

Soon, Charlie's figure appeared in Lumiere's view.

Charlie was still wearing a linen shirt, black trousers, and slip-on leather shoes. However, his once rosy face had turned somewhat pale, and his small blue eyes revealed an unmistakable fatigue.

"Good morning, Charles," Charlie greeted Lumiere with a strong voice.

He seemed quite spirited.

"Shouldn't you have already left?" Lumiere asked with a smile.

He had only gotten up to wash after hearing the church bell chime at six, while Charlie was supposed to leave at that time.

Charlie muttered as he adjusted his clothes, "I drank too much last night and had such a good dream that I didn't want to wake up..."

As they spoke, the two had already reached the first floor, passing through the dirty, dark lobby and heading towards the star-lit entrance.

The door was opened by an elderly couple, both with gray hair, slightly hunched backs, and appearing to be in their sixties.

They were short in stature, with the man not exceeding 1.65 meters and the woman under 1.6 meters. Their dark jackets and yellowish skirts were tattered and greasy.

"Who are they?" Lumiere had expected Mrs. Fels or the stingy innkeeper, Mr. Eve, to be opening the door in the morning.

Charlie didn't slow down as he casually explained, "They wake up very early every day, so Mrs. Fels entrusts them with opening the inn's door. In return, she ignores how dirty and smelly they make their room.

"Do you know? Since I moved in, they haven't changed clothes for seven months, seven whole months!" No wonder they're so dirty... Lumiere could recall his own filthy state during his time as a vagabond, but his cleanliness habits, nurtured by Aurore, made him frown nonetheless.

Charlie quickly walked out of the "Golden Rooster Inn" and asked curiously, "Charles, why are you up so early?"

As they stepped onto the street, a rather bustling scene greeted their eyes: many workers, clerks, and laborers, dressed in gray, blue, black, or brown clothes, hurriedly moving about, occasionally stopping to buy food from street vendors.

Some women, carrying wicker baskets, were less hurried, moving between vendors, comparing prices and quality.

The vendors were scattered on both sides of Chaos Street, blocking half of the street, leaving just enough space for a single carriage to pass through.

They shouted loudly, trying to attract customers:
"Sour wine, apple sour wine, two Rick per liter!"
"Bondy Pond's freshwater fish!"
"Fresh cod, herring, come take a look!"
"Onion bread, 1 Rick, just 1 Rick!"
"Salted meat, delicious salted meat!"
"Soap and wigs imported from Ruen!"
"Buy a bottle of bright-colored soda for your children!"
"Hot sauce, bean paste, small onions, watercress!"

Listening to the sounds rising and falling, feeling the morning vitality of Chaos Street, Lumiere turned to Charlie and smiled, "I couldn't sleep well after just arriving in Trier, so I thought I'd take a walk and see if I could find a suitable job."