The Alchemists

Rose only watched as Rune left the table to a secluded corner and called his parents. She then turned to the siblings in front of her and tried to understand what was actually going on between the three people.

Rune said JM and Pierre (Terry) were adopted siblings, and JM called Rune 'Uncle' because she was dating Rune's nephew. However, Pierre was also Rune's adopted brother? It's very confusing, to say the least.

Terry pretended to focus on his food, knowing he had put Rune in trouble just now in front of Rose.

Gosh.. why couldn't his brothers fall in love with regular Alchemist girls?

So, they didn't have to go through the hassle of covering their identities and, finally, after the cat was out of the bag, they had to find ways to convince those girls to follow them and become immortals as well...

London went through so much trouble with L, and now, it seemed like Rune was going through the same thing.

Just look at Terry with his lifestyle. He was dating around different Alchemist girls. None of them were clingy or wanting commitment since they had hundreds of years ahead of them to decide if they ever want to settle down with someone.

With regular humans, there would always be that pressure to make a decision and commit immediately because if they waited for too long, the girl would get older.

Caspar Schneider made the mistake of binding himself to Katia before he was sure of his feelings and that caused so much pain and grief in the years to come.

Jean was no different. He was worried that he would lose Billie Yves to old age if he didn't immediately commit. So, he did just that.

Jean was lucky to meet his current wife, Marion, a fellow Alchemist. Things had been smooth sailing ever since.

Now... just look at London and now Rune. So much hassle.

Terry could only pray that Rune wouldn't make the same mistakes as Caspar and Jean.

Rose did look like a nice girl, but there were so many nice and beautiful girls out there. Terry couldn't tell what was so special about this one.

"Hello.. Dad, it's me," Rune pursed his lips when his call was picked up by Caspar.

"Hey, how are you? We tried to call you but your phone was off," Caspar replied on the other end.

"Is Mom pregnant?" Rune asked bluntly. This was such a big shock to him, hearing it from Terry, instead of his parents.

"Eh...? Who told you that? We have only known yesterday. Your mother and I just talked to Aleksis and London about it.  Caspar furrowed his brows in confusion. "Wait..."

"So, you didn't tell Terry?" Rune asked. He sounded a bit relieved. 

"You did?"

Caspar remembered he talked to Jan about taking a three-day leave so he could pamper his wife while they were on break and rest. Finland had been helping him a lot in the office and he thought she deserved to relax.

Jan must have talked to Terry since they were close and Jan often asked Terry's opinion on the company's matter.

"No, I didn't. But I think I know who Terry got the information from," Caspar massaged his temple.

"Who?" Rune finally felt a bit better.

It looked like, his parents didn't consider Terry more important than him. Heheh.

"We talked to Jan Van Der Ven about taking 3-day leave.  You know, I want to give your mother a break and take a short holiday. I forgot to tell Jan not to tell anyone... ahaha. I'm sorry you have to hear it from Terry," Caspar said. "We tried to get a hold of you and Terry today to share the news, but we cannot reach you. Aleksis told me you are traveling to Medion? So, I thought I better let you get back to me."

"Ah, I see." Rune was happy. His parents didn't forget about him when they wanted to share the big news. He was just unreachable earlier today. He thought it must be because his phone was turned off.

"So, how did you end up hearing the news from Terry. Is he in Medion as well? What is he doing there?" Caspar asked again.

"Ah, I see. Well, then.. tell Terry to turn on his phone tonight. Finland and I will talk to him about this. We'd love to hear from all of you," Caspar commented.

"Ah, okay. I will talk to you and Mom later." Rune nodded and smiled, even though his father couldn't see him. "Congratulations, Dad and Mom. I think you will have a lot of fun with this little one."

"Well, thank you. Have fun in Bacilia, then. Your mom and I wish you the best of luck," Caspar was audibly happy when he said those words.

He didn't need Rune to tell him what was going on, but he could kind of guess why Rune was in Bacilia and Caspar knew he would find out everything sooner or later anyway. So, he would let Rune do what he needed to do.

"Ahh.. thanks, Dad. Say hi to Mom. I'll talk to you tonight." Rune hung up his call with a big smile. 

Rose who was observing him secretly could guess that the conversation went smooth. Ahh.. she felt a bit jealous to see how Rune looked so close to his parents. And he even had many siblings? How lucky!

"So, how did it go?" She asked with a smile when Rune returned to their table.

The man scratched his head and grinned. "It's all good. Yes, my parents will have a new baby."

Rose spouted her mojito out of surprise. She didn't expect Rune to be so casual about his parents having another baby at the age of... fifties?

Rose could imagine Rune's elderly parents would be raising their baby at such an age.. it must be too tiring for them. And, if they went out together, people would think the baby was Rune's and not his parents.

It was only natural for Rose to have those thoughts because she didn't know Rune's parents were not in their fifties. His mother was in her seventies, and his father was almost 5-centuries-old. And both of them still looked like they were 25.

Rune, Terry, and JM could only hold back their chuckle. 

"You look so surprised," Rune commented with a smile. He took a napkin and gave it to Rose. 

"Uhm.. yeah, I'm sorry. I just think it must be hard for your mother to have a baby at her age," Rose said sympathetically. "I don't mean it to be offensive. Sorry..."

"Ah, no, that's fine. My parents are over the moon. They actually wanted to tell me the good news but they couldn't reach me," Rune explained.

"Ah, I see." Rose nodded, looking relieved. "Well... I still have so many questions.. but if I asked all of them, I am afraid I will come across as rude. So, I will refrain from doing so."

Rune couldn't believe his luck. Rose didn't press on him to explain his weird relationship with Terry and JM? Whoa... It's true that Rose was a real lady. She was not nosy.

"Well... there is nothing really weird regarding my relationship with Pierre here." However, Rune still tried to explain a little bit in an ambiguous manner, so Rose wouldn't think he was weird. "Our parents are close friends. So, my parents consider him like their own son too. We spent our childhood together."

Now, things started to make sense.

"I understand now," Rose nodded with a smile. "Apparently, it's quite simple."

"Yes... hahaha... it's quite simple indeed," Rune replied. He gave Terry and JM a side-eye, warning them not to put him into more trouble.

The atmosphere turned light and pleasant after the initial awkwardness. One by one the dishes they ordered came and they continued lunch with a light chat about Bacilia and the city's history.

"Ah, can I have a video call with you for George, my friend?" Rose asked JM after they ended their hearty lunch. She took out her phone from her pocket.

"Yes, sure," JM replied with a big smile. 

"Thank you!" Rose opened her camera and dialed George's number. As soon as George picked up her call, Rose turned her camera toward JM. "George! Guess, who is here??"