The Alchemists

"All right ... sorry, if I asked a lot earlier. I just wanted to make sure that Rune is a good man," said Duchess Fournier finally.

"Ahh .. Mom, take it easy. Rune here is a decent man. He also has a good personality and is very smart. I found everything I look for in a man in him. So ... Mom, please don't worry, okay?" said Rose again.

"Very well .. I'm sorry," said Duchess Fournier at last. "I just want to get to know Rune. That's all. He is your boyfriend after all."

"We can talk more later," said Rose. "Now, I want to take Rune on a trip to the old town. Later tonight we can have dinner with father too. I will officially introduce Rune to the whole family."

"Uhm ... by the way, I forgot to tell you, but tonight we are all invited to have dinner in the palace to meet Princess Anne of Moravia. She just arrived yesterday and today King Henry will officially introduce her to the nobles in Medion," said Duchess Fournier. Her expression changed and she looked at Rose sympathetically.

"Do I have to go? I thought I just need to come to the wedding reception, don't I?" asked Rose in a choked voice. 

She had just arrived home and still wanted to calm down. But tonight she must immediately enter the battlefield and face the enemy. Ahh ... it was so hard.

Rose was not ready to face Leon and ... meet his bride-to-be.

"You are part of the groom's family, of course, you must come ..." said Duchess Fournier sympathetically. "I'm sorry, honey. But if you don't come, the reporters will gossip."

"Can't you tell them I'm sick?" Rose begged her mother. "I can come to the wedding and meet them .. but not now."

"Uhm ... well .. I will try," said Duchess Fournier at last. She then tried to change the subject and asked Rune to pour more tea for them. "Rune, can you please pour us some more tea?"

"Of course, Ma'am," said Rune with a smile.

He noticed the change in the atmosphere around him. It now had turned gloomy. Rune could understand what Rose was feeling.

Even though Rune had never fallen in love before, he had never been heartbroken and seen his loved one marry someone else, he could imagine that if Rose chose to marry Leon and leave him dry ... he must be feeling very disappointed and distraught.

Because of this, he could sympathize with Rose and try to make her burden as light as possible. Rune was determined not to make things hard for her.

"I've seen plants that look like this one," he said, pointing to a pot filled with large plants with tiny leaves and white flowers.

He added, "But the flowers are purple and very poisonous. People usually would think it is a beautiful plant for decoration. In fact, just touching the flowers is enough to make people dizzy and then passed out."

"Oh really?" asked Duchess Fournier with interest. "What is the name of the plant?"

"It's called the Citadela plant," said Rune. "It is endemic in the Balkans."

Duchess Fournier now seemed impressed by Rune's knowledge. She admitted that her daughter was right. This man was indeed very smart and he knew many things.

"You seem to know a lot about plants," said the Duchess. Rune smiled broadly when he heard her compliment.

"I just happen to accompany researchers studying various plants sometimes," he said humbly.

The conversation then turned to the topic of various unique and distinctive plants from all parts of the world.

Duchess Fournier was even more impressed by the fact that Rune now talked about all the interesting plants he had discovered or researched.

Their conversation made Rose think that this tea invitation had turned into a lecture on plants.

Fortunately, Rune did have a great deal of knowledge on the topic and was able to convey the information without sounding patronizing at all.

The girl glanced at Rune and threw a grateful smile at him. She was relieved that they were no longer discussing Leon and his future wife.

Half an hour later, Rose finally stopped their conversation with the excuse that she wanted to invite Rune to take a walk around the Old Town.

Duchess Fournier, who was enjoying her conversation with Rune very much about the various attractive ornamental plants, was forced to nod.

"All right. You have fun, okay? We'll have a chat with your father when we return from the palace tonight. I will find an excuse for your absence," said Duchess Fournier.

"Thank you, Mom," said Rose, her face looked relieved. She then got up from her chair, went to her mother, and kissed her cheek. "Rune and I are going now."

"Have fun," said Duchess Fournier again.

Rune also stood up and he bowed respectfully to the Duchess. "Thank you for the tea and the chat, Ma'am. I feel very honored to meet with you and have this lovely chat."

"Bye." 

Rose pulled Rune's hand away from the porch where her mother was sitting and hurried to the car garage.

As soon as she felt they were far enough away from her mother, she whispered into the man's ear. "Thank you for saving me earlier back there. I was so uncomfortable. I don't want my mom to keep talking about Leon."

"I understand," said Rune.

Rose turned to the man and let go of her grip. Their two pairs of eyes met each other.

Before Rune could guess what Rose wanted to do, suddenly the girl kissed him on the cheek.