The Alchemists

"JM's boyfriend is Rune's nephew, mother," Rose said suddenly. She remembered their conversation about Rune's weird family dynamic. "His older sister has a.d.u.l.t children and the son is in a relationship with JM."

The duchess was baffled when she heard this. She turned to Rune and assessed the man. It was hard to believe that Rune had an a.d.u.l.t nephew because he actually didn't look older than JM. Both seemed to be in their mid-twenties.

"Ahem.. yes, Rose is correct." Rune gave JM a subtle side-eye. He didn't think there was a need for that girl to gush about her boyfriend because it would just attract further interest from other people, in this case, Duchess Fournier.

"I told you before that my brother-in-law has a good relationship with the Schneider family. He is quite successful and my nephew inherits a lot of money from his father," he explained. "Since he loves JM very much, he often spoils her with nice things."

"Ahh.. how nice!" Duchess Fournier pressed her lips in admiration. Again. Rune's image had apparently gone up by a few notches in her eyes for having a wealthy relative.

Rune pretended to look at his watch and reminded them that it was time to go. "It's almost 8. Doesn't the ceremony start at 9?"

"Ah, you are right," Duchess Fournier nodded. Her attention shifted from the Ballerini dress to her husband. "We should go now."

They forgot about the dress and the fact that Rune apparently had a multibillionaire nephew and got ready to go. They used two luxury cars to go to the Baciilia Central Church where the wedding ceremony would take place.

Then they would all go to the royal palace and attended the reception there. The bride and groom would ride on a golden carriage all the way from the church to the palace so the people could see them and cheer for them.

It would be broadcasted to the whole country. Even many media from other countries were invited to attend and publish or broadcast the event. Medion was working hard to attract more businesses and tourists.

So, the media attention was very much welcomed there. All the esteemed guests could see themselves under the spotlight as soon as the cars they rode stopped in front of the church's main entrance and they got out of the car.

Fortunately, the royal security protocol was very tight and those journalists were also quite respectful, so the attendees could feel comfortable enough getting out of their cars and walked into the church's entrance.

"You can go inside," Rose told JM, Rune, and Terry after they got off the car. "My parents and I have to wait for the bride and groom. We will enter together with them."

In the eyes of the world, the Fournier was Leon's immediate family. So, they were required to come together with him and walked behind the king and queen.

Princess Anne would be walking with her parents on each side and then they would take their place inside the church.

"Please follow me, Sir and Madame," a very efficient official came and bowed down a little to Rose's guests and made a sign for them to follow her.

Rune actually didn't want to leave Rose but he realized that he was a nobody in this kingdom and as part of the royal family, it was part of Rose's duty to do her role. He could only squeeze her hand gently and smiled to show his support.

"I'll see you very soon," he whispered.

Rose smiled back and waited until the three people disappeared behind the church doors. She and her parents immediately turned their attention to the gate as a black Rolls Royce entered and then stopped. 

Leon got out of the car gracefully wearing his regal outfit, which showed his status as the crown prince. For a moment, Rose was stunned to see the man she used to love looked so dashing and royal-like on the day of his wedding.

Never in a million years, she thought Leon would look like this on his wedding day. When they were younger, Rose thought she would marry down since Leon was a commoner, and so she expected them to have a very simple wedding since her parents wouldn't approve of their relationship.

She even thought they would elope somewhere and had a quick and simple wedding just to make it official before they could live as husband and wife.

However, who would have thought that fate was playing jokes on her.

On his wedding day, Leon looked like a prince and she was not his bride. He actually married a real-life princess and their wedding was the talk of the country, even the whole of Europe since the union was also a way for the two countries to merge and became one.  It was quite big of a deal.

"Father," Leone greeted Duke Fournier and formally called him his father. The duke nodded and smiled while his wife couldn't even force a fake smile. Leon greeted her too. "Lady Fournier."

The duchess didn't say anything. Even though soon Leon would be the king of this country and she also regretted how she treated Leon in the past for dating her daughter, Duchess Fournier couldn't bring herself to pretend that she didn't blame Leon for all the negative spotlights that Rose was facing.

Rose forced a smile and bowed down her head a little when she was faced to face with Leon. "You look healthy, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Rose." Leon swallowed hard, and then looked away. He couldn't bear to see the woman he used to dream of marrying now had to stand by his side as a family when he married another woman.

None of them said anything. The royal musician suddenly blew the trumpet and announced the arrival of the monarchs, followed by the bride and her family.

.

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From the author:

I have finally published the new book, which is inspired by Lauriel Medici. The title is "The Cursed King". You can find it by cl.i.c.k.i.n.g my profile and see it among my "Original Works".

Please add it to your library and vote your power stones to it.

In the new book, you will notice so many crossovers with "The Alchemists" and it will be the direct sequel to "The Cursed Prince".

It will be exciting because I can FINALLY combine all my books and make the red thread to connect them all together.

If you read "The Alchemists" (and "The Prince Who Cannot fall In Love") together with "Finding Stardust", you will notice that they share the same universe, even though in FS, the story later moves to another planet.

Well, it was hard to make a crossover with "The Cursed Prince" as it is set in an entirely different timeline, but now with "The Cursed King", I can make it happen!

I will try to end this volume with Rune and Rose's story as soon as possible before I switch my focus to "The Cursed King".

I will change the Privilege Tier prices and make them 1 coin again with a 50%, so you don't have to pay much coin to read "The Alchemists" in May if this book is still not ending by then.

If you really like "The Alchemists" and wish to see my book(s) turned into movies or TV shows... Please support me in Spirity Award 2021 and let's win the competition together.

I couldn't do it without you.