man beside her. "You have a lot of love affairs, don''t you?" asked she.

"Why do you ask that?" The painter looked at the petite curiously.

"They''re all talking about you. You''re good-looking. Ladies get easily infatuated with you."

"Which girl would come close to a penniless boy like me?" Andre shrugged.

"Here we go again," Edith shook her head disdainfully. "I always feel that you sound a bit hypocritical when you say things like that, but I can''t explain why."

They walked towards the center of the bridge.

"There''s still some time before real sunset. Here, you can paint for a while. The view from here is magnificent."

As the painter set up his easel, Edith leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance. The view from the top of the bridge was vast. At the far end, the grandest and most majestic castle could be seen. However, up close, the scene was chaotic:

Along the street and beneath the bridge arches on the opposite side, there were ragged children begging for alms, while disheveled bottom-tier pros-titutes flinged themselves at passersby.

Yet the wealthy with their swollen bellies hurried past, while ornate carriages carrying powdered and bewigged aristocrats rushed by, only turning a blind eye to the surroundings.

The rich and the poor, the beautiful and the ugly, the light and the dark, were all mixed together in a chaotic swirl of colours. This was the panorama that could be seen from high above this city.

Edith found this sight peculiar when she first arrived in the