The Alchemists

When he heard Rose's calm reply, Rune's admiration for the girl grew even more. She managed to still say nice things about Leon to the reporters, despite what happened.

Rose was a true lady, he said to himself.

Rune could see that even though their relationship didn't work and Rose's heart was broken badly by the man she once loved, she was not petty and vengeful about Leon.

She sat there gracefully and talked about Leon from a perspective of a good friend.

She still protected the man and didn't air his dirty laundry just to get even.

Rose didn't even act passive-aggressive or make herself look like the victim, in the hope that Leon would read those articles and realized how much he had hurt her.

No. Rose was calm and unfazed. Her smile never left her beautiful face.

This gesture didn't escape the reporters' attention. They took notes of what she told them and acted super polite when they asked their questions.

Rune felt so lucky. If only Leon was not dumb enough to toss away such a precious gem like Rose, Rune would never meet her and fall in love with this amazing woman.

He actually thought Leon could have got everything if he was a bit bolder. When his real father, the king, and Duke Fournier demanded him to take their offer and become Duke Fournier's illegitimate son, so the king could make him his heir, Leon could have said no.

The king and queen would have no choice but to relent since there was really no other male heir that could take the role.

Leon actually had the bargaining power, if he had more confidence in himself.

He could demand to be acknowledged by his real father. And he wouldn't have to become Rose's brother.

That way, they could still be together.

However, Leon didn't do that. He didn't have the confidence to take what was rightfully his, and accepted that bad deal, with the consequences of losing Rose.

He thought he really had to choose and, in the end, he chose the bad deal for himself and hurt Rose in the process.

If Rune was in the same position, he would obviously make different choices. He was smarter than Leon and had more self-worth.

The thing was, that's how Leon and Rune were different. Rune probably would never understand how poverty and being conditioned to live as someone who was deemed not good enough all his life really damaged Leon's self-esteem.

That's why he did what he did, all to get the acknowledgment he had been craving for all his life.

But, whatever, Rune didn't care. It's Leon's loss, and his gain.

"Thank you for your clarification, Your Grace," said another reporter. She continued with her own questions. "How do you feel about Princess Anne? When is the first time you met her and do you have a good relationship with her?"

Rune knew from Rose that she had never met Anne before their encounter in Old Town last week. And that first encounter didn't go well and even left a bad taste on them respectively.

After Leon ended their relationship, Rose was not involved in Leon's life. She immediately left Medion and focused on her life abroad. Rose stayed in Paris for a while before she moved to New York.

And it looked like, Leon didn't want Rose to meet Anne too, before their engagement was finalized. That's why Rose only met the princess once Anne already came to Medion to get married.

However, still with a nice smile on her face, Rose explained sweetly that she would have loved to meet Anne sooner, but they were just too busy and couldn't find time to meet and get to know each other better.

"Princess Anne is a wonderful woman," Rose added. "We met several times when she already came to Bacilia. I can tell that she will make my brother really happy."

"Do you think she likes you?" the reporter asked again.

"Of course she likes me. Princess Anne has a beautiful soul, so she likes everyone... hahaha," Rose replied in a joking manner. "Kidding aside, I think we need to spend more time together so we can build a better relationship. However, I believe, over time she and I will become good friends."

"Have you and Her Highness Princess Anne ever talked about the rumor surrounding your relationship with Prince Leon?" Another journalist asked a question.

"Which rumor? We have quite a lot of them," said Rose, looking sincerely confused. "I don't want to assume."

"Ahem.. what I meant was the rumor that you and her fiance,  Prince Leon, used to be lovers." The journalist cleared her throat and handed Rose her tablet. "We actually have an exclusive picture of you and Prince Leon."

"What picture?" Rose asked, this time she looked genuinely confused. The other reporters tried to take a look at the picture on the tablet, but the journalist quickly covered it with her hand and only let Rose see it.

When she saw what was on the tablet screen, suddenly, Rose's face turned pale.

Rune could take a quick glance as he was sitting beside Rose. He immediately understood why Rose looked distraught.

The picture that the journalist was showing Rose was a picture of her and Leon kissing, taken by a hidden camera.

They seemed to be sitting together on Rose's favorite hill and the picture was taken using telelens from somewhere quite far.

They were either paparazzi or a private investigator.

Rune's blood immediately boiled when he realized someone was really eager to destroy Rose's reputation and took the effort to hire someone to stalk on her and Leon and took their pictures.

With this concrete evidence, no matter what Rose said, it would be of no use. People would think she was lying. Her reputation and Leon would be tarnished forever.

He took a deep breath and his c.h.e.s.t was filled with sympathy for Rose. Now, he was determined to find out who was responsible for it and punish them.

After what happened these days, he thought he could narrow down the suspects. Probably people related to Lisa Bisset and/or Sarah Miller.

Those sore losers.