The Alchemists

"I-I don't understand..." Rune was so confused when he heard that question from Duke Fournier.

Nobody knew who he was. So, how could some reporter write an article that Rose Fournier was dating Rune Schneider from the Schneider Group?

He only remembered being introduced to the public once, when he came with Terry and London to the Ritz Gala, decades ago. He was 27 back then, still very young.

Now, it had been almost 16 years since the event. Even if people still remember Rune Schneider from back then, they would all think that he was now older. Much older than his persona today.

When they saw him now, they would think he was Rune, the 25-year-old freelancer. He also looked so young.

Nobody would associate him with the Rune Schneider from the past, who must now be in his forties, even if they remember him 16 years later.

"What is it that you don't understand?" Duke Fournier asked him.

He looked confused too. This was too unbelievable.  Why would the reporters write lies in their articles?

Rune turned to Rose and looked at her probingly. He was trying to understand what was going on. Did Rose find out his identity and tell other people about it? 

It didn't seem like it.

Was it Terry?

No, it's impossible. Terry was annoying and he was nosy, but he would never sell his own family. Besides, why would he do it?

Hey... wait a minute. 

Rune asked permission to take the tablet from Duker Fournier's hand. Once he held the tablet, he checked the article more thoroughly and find out more details.

"It says here that the journalist who wrote this article got the exclusive info from Lady Sarah Miller..." He read the text out loud, then turned to Rose. "Did you say anything to Sarah about me?"

Rose let out an angry growl. She was so furious when she heard Sarah was responsible for the misinformation.

"I didn't tell her even your name!" she blurted. "I only introduce you to Leon. I told him your name, but he knew you are not from THAT Schneider family. So, I don't know how Sarah would even know your name."

"Well.. you saw from the incident in Old Town yesterday that Sarah is close to Anne," Rune tried to find the connection between Leon and Sarah, and how the misinformation ended up at the reporter's hand.

"Yes, I think Sarah is intentionally s.u.c.k.i.n.g up to Princess Anne, thinking she could gain benefit from being her friend," Rose replied.

Rose bit her lip. Gosh, at times like this, her mother still remembered to scold her for her language?

She only used the words "s.u.c.k.i.n.g up". They were not even that bad.

Arrgghh..!

However, even though she was annoyed, Rose was a filial daughter. She nodded and apologized. "I'm sorry, Mother."

"I know you are angry. After all that happened, you have the right to be upset, but you are a lady. A real lady doesn't curse," her mother reminded her.

Rose tried so hard not to roll her eyes. She coughed and touched Rune's arm, asking him to continue.

"So, what do you think?" she asked him.

Rune let out a sigh. He took a look at the article again and then looked at Rose. "Maybe Leon told Anne about me and Anne told Sarah? Then Sarah used that information to intentionally embarrassed you."

"What?" Rose didn't understand the direction of his words. "How could she embarrass me by letting people know I'm dating you?"

He added, "After the big scandal, where Sarah accused you of dating your own half-brother, now you are dating an heir of one of the most powerful and wealthiest families in the world. This info would make you look good. So, why would she want you to look good? Doesn't she hate you? I am sure she is twisting this information just to embarrass you."

Finally Rose got it.

So, Probably Leon told his wife-to-be that she didn't need to worry about Rose, since Rose was in love with another man. She was in a relationship with Rune Schneider.

Anne then shared this information with Sarah.

Since Leon knew that Rune was just a regular man, a fixer, that had nothing to do with the Schneider family from Schneider Group, he must have told Anne the same thing, that Rune was just a regular guy.

However, when Sarah heard this information, she might see the opportunity to embarrass Rose further by claiming that she was dating Rune Schneider from the Schneider Group.

The Schneider family was notoriously private, but they wouldn't let some strangers pretend to be part of their family.

And this would become so embarrassing on Rose's side if the family heard about this impostor and decided to blow his cover.

That's why Sarah talked to the reporter, so this would become big news and the Schneider family would soon hear about it.

She couldn't believe Leon would do such a thing, to embarrass her.

But, maybe it was really just Sarah, being the jealous evil bitch that she was.

"I need to call Leon," Rose quickly decided. She ran upstairs to get her phone and quickly dialed Leon's number when she returned to the dining room.

"Hey, good morning, Rose. Is anything the matter?" 

Rose turned on the speaker on her phone so her family and Rune could hear her conversation with Leon.

"Leon, did you tell anyone about me dating Rune?" Rose quickly asked the man, without further ado.

"Yes," Leon replied. "What is this about?"

"Who did you tell about Rune?" Rose kept pressing.

"I told Anne." For a moment, Leon didn't say anything. He let out a sigh before he finally continued. "She was jealous of you. She kept saying that she was worried that I will go back to you."

"Of course not. I know Rune is just a regular man. He told me that he only shared the same last name with them, and has nothing to do with that family," Leon replied. "I told Anne the truth. What is this about?"

"So.. you didn't tell your bride that Rune is from the Schneider Group?" Rose asked again.

"No, I wouldn't lie to her." Leon could hear the urgency in Rose's voice and he asked her what was the problem. "What happened, Rose? Is there a problem?"

"Could you please ask your wife if she told anyone about Rune? I will be waiting," Rose asked again. "This is very important."

"Uhm.. okay," Leon relented.

"When you asked her, send her the link to this article, and ask her if she knows anything about it. Ask her if she told Sarah that Rune is from the Schneider family, or not. I want to know if Sarah made this up herself or if Anne was the one who told her this lie." Rose hang up and send the link to the article to Leon's phone.

She added a text under the link. 

[If you don't get her to tell you the truth, I will not protect you anymore. I have enough of being humiliated.]

She closed her phone and put it on the table. She closed her eyes and massaged her temple. This was really a bad way to start the day.

They might humiliate the man in public for pretending to be part of their family when in reality, he was just a victim of some evil girl's jealousy toward Rose.

Rune didn't deserve to be embarrassed like this, just because he was stuck being with her, in the wrong place and the wrong time.

"Let's eat. Leon will call me back," she said, forcing a smile. "Once we know what happened, I will think of what to do to control the damage."

"Can't we just call the journalist who wrote the article and explain that Rune is not part of that family?" Duchess Fournier asked. "We just need to set things straight."

"Maybe, we'll see," Rose replied. She knew it was going to be difficult to set things straight after the initial misinformation was published.

The public would think she was backpedaling after the article was published and some people called out the lies and tried to do damage control.

Rune didn't know what to say.

The truth was, now he wouldn't actually mind if his real identity as part of the Schneider family was discovered. It would help Rose. She wouldn't be humiliated by the article.

But.... if Rose knew he was actually wealthy, would she still want him to be her fake boyfriend?