The Alchemists

Rune couldn't focus on his dinner. He also didn't have an appetite. London and L who were hoping to distract him from his sadness by talking about their family and the upcoming events for the holiday finally gave up and let him be.

They discussed Finland's and L's pregnancies. They predicted that L would give birth in spring and Finland would give birth in summer. Both husbands were so excited about the new addition to their families and were exchanging tips and support.

"I can't wait for our year-end holiday together," Caspar commented. "Next year we will have two new family members."

"Who knows.. maybe Uncle Lauriel and Rosalien will have a kid too next year?" London responded. "They will have a spring wedding, right?"

Caspar rubbed his chin. He didn't know if Loriel or Rosalien wanted children. Loriel already had two sons from his late fiancee and he loved them to bits, but when Luna was pregnant, he was not expecting to have children and that was the reason why Luna left him.

However, maybe things had changed now? Gosh.. Caspar needed to meet Loriel again talked to him. They had not met for a long time.

"Do you think Lauriel wants children?" Caspar turned to Rune who was sipping his wine absentmindedly. The young man was zoning out because the conversation at the dining table was around babies and weddings.

He was reminded of his own failure. He, too, would love to get married and have children, now that he had found the woman to anchor his heart.

However, if the woman didn't want the same thing and preferred to be with another man, Rune could only swallow his disappointment and stop thinking about her altogether.

"Uncle Lauriel?" Rune furrowed his brows and his mind wandered to the moment he and Lauriel had the conversation in Amazon interior about his relationship with Rosalien. It was there that Lauriel shared with Rune about his plan to marry his girlfriend of 15 years.

"Yes. You traveled with him for two weeks to Amazon. Did he say anything?" Caspar asked again. Rune shook his head.

"I can't really remember, sorry," he said.

"Ah, it's okay. I will ask Lauriel myself," said Caspar and he immediately changed the topic. They continued talking about the planned holiday.

Everyone always looked forward to the opportunity to gather in a complete formation since they all lived in different parts of the world and were busy with their respective lives.

As usual, they would spend it on F Island since it was located in the tropics and they could escape the cold winter for two weeks.

After dinner, Rune went to his room and told his family he needed to finish some work. Once he was alone, the man checked his phone and see if Rose had sent him a message.

There was none.

It's been twelve hours. This couldn't be a coincidence. Whatever Rose was doing with Leon, it must have ended now. If she still didn't send news to Rune, it must be intentional.

Rose didn't send Rune any message because she didn't want to.

***

THREE WEEKS LATER

"This is the best holiday ever," said Altair in excitement as he rose from his seat and raised his glass. "I am so happy to see everyone present. JM and I have an announcement to make."

Everyone gasped in unison. After dating since they were 16, would Altair and JM finally tie the knot? It had been more than ten years and the couple seemed to be more in love than ever.

Just look at them exchanging glances with big smiles plastered on their faces! 

The whole family met in F-Island as usual. This time there was a new addition to the big family. Vega gave birth to a new baby in spring this year and now both she and Mischa was holding a child in their arms. They looked the happiest they had ever been.

Altair knew from the way JM gushed about his niece and nephew all the time that his girlfriend had started to think about motherhood. So, this got him thinking of that too.

Wouldn't it be nice to have his children grow up together with Vega's adorable children? That meant, he and JM shouldn't wait for much longer.

JM had enjoyed 12 years of a fulfilling career as a model and traveled the world. She was now ready to leave behind the fast pace lifestyle and settled down somewhere nice and quiet.

Meanwhile, Altair thought he already needed to show off his wife since the tabloids kept posting fake news about him dating this model or that actress. It's time to put those gossips to rest.

That's why, he decided to talk to JM about getting married and the girl couldn't be happier.

"JM and I want to get married next year," said Altair with a broad smile. "We plan to hold an intimate wedding here. So, I hope you don't mind coming back here in summer."

"No, of course, not!"

"Whoaaa.. congratulations!"

"This is amazing news!"

Everyone present clapped and congratulated the couple. Marion wiped the tears from her eyes. She couldn't believe that her Little Monkey had grown up to be a bride and would soon build her own family.

Gosh.. when did time go so fast?

JM got up from her seat and locked hands with her fiance. She turned to him and smiled broadly.

"That went well," she whispered to him. 

"That went well," Altair replied. He kissed her lips and hugged her. "I love you so much!"

Rune forced a smile and he sipped his wine, pretending this scene didn't make him think about Rose. 

If only things had gone according to plan, Rose would have been here with him, attending his family event in F-Island. Unfortunately, fate said otherwise.

Rose still didn't contact him and Rune finally knew the reason. Last week, he read the news that broke the internet. The crown prince of Medion announced his resignation from all his royal duties and the annulment of his marriage to Princess Anne of Moravia.

He also explained that he was not actually the illegitimate son of Duke Fournier, but the king himself. The news exploded with journalists scrambled to find out the reason for his sudden decision to make this controversial announcement.

They all came to the conclusion that Prince Leon was in love with Rose Fournier.

The royal palace still declined to comment.

.

-----------

From the author:

I have several announcements to make:

If you haven't already known, I have a Discord server where I share stuff about my books, trivia, ill.u.s.trations, etc. Think of it as my home gallery for my works.

I still haven't talked a lot about my books on the server because I am shy... ahahaha. At the moment there are more authors in there (since I make a lot of friends among W e b n o v e l authors) and only a few readers. I promise to have more books related discussions once I have more readers join. So, feel free to join me there. This is the link:

bit.ly/missrealitybites

I also created a P a t r e o n account for my future works. It's still empty now, but once I end this book, The Alchemists, I will start posting there on my P a t r e o n.

So, if you wish to support me directly and read my future works, you can go ahead and become my patron. The support starts at $2 per month.

It's here:

w w w . p a t r e o n. c o m/missrealitybites

Just remove the space between letters.

My book, "The Cursed King" will probably the last book I sign to W e b n o v e l with an exclusive contract. This exclusive contract means they have all the right to make a decision with my story. If wants to boost it or make it into movies, or if they want to keep hidden in the bas.e.m.e.nt and no one will read it, it's totally their decision.

It's like I rent out my house exclusively to W e b n o v e l and they can do whatever they want with it. This exclusive contract is valid until 70 years after I die (basically the contract is valid for as long as the IP right is valid).

My next books will only be signed as non-exclusive. Meaning, I only let them use one room, and I get to decide what to do with the other rooms in my house.

So, if I signed a  non-exclusive contract, I can publish my books to completion on other platforms, not just W e b n o v e l, I can also sell the books directly to readers and even print a paperback by myself and sell them to readers to add to their collection.

With non-exclusive contracts, I get to keep the rights and this is something that I want to have. I also get to keep most of the money generated from my books if readers bought my books.

Right now, with exclusive contracts, I only keep 30% and it's not much especially with the fact that I lost my rights to my own works.

Imagine making $50 per month from Finding Stardust and losing the right to do whatever I want with the book? It's really not worth it.

So yeah.. my future books will be on non-exclusive contracts, except for maybe if I joined next year's W e b n o v e l Spirity Award again. The books for the contest must be exclusive.

I have so many projects planned for the future and everything will be up on P a t r e o n and maybe scattered on many different platforms, including W e b n o v e l.

So, this is how I publish my new works in the future:

TIER 1

On P a t r e o n, for $2 support per month, you will get access to 1 chapter per week for 2 different stories. I plan to publish exclusive new novels there, among a few are "1912-1932", "The Pirate Prince", "The Runaway Empress", and some side stories that are like fanfictions of my existing books.

Some plans in the pipeline for the side stories are: a story about Kaoshin and Arreya (Finding Stardust) when they met in the mage academy, the story of Aldebar's first love, Lauriel and Rosalien's story (we still don't know how they ended up falling in love, right?), etc. These side stories will not be available on W e b n o v e l.

TIER 2

For $5 support per month, you will get access to the above in addition to a comic I'm working on with an artist. I have two stories that I want to turn into comics, but the second artist has a prior commitment and could only start in 5 months.

The first comic is for "The Cursed Prince", and the second comic will be for "1912-1932". I will share with you later what 1912-1932 is about. Tbh, it's my favorite story ever and I would never give the rights to any platforms. I can't wait for you to read it!

If you have become my supporter for 6 months with $5 per month, I will send you the e-book version of the books you have been supporting.

TIER 3

For $10 support per month, you will get all the above, but after you become my patron for 6 months, you are eligible to receive the paperback version of the books you have been supporting. Shipping is not included.

If you just want the paperbacks and don't want to commit to supporting for 6 months, I will announce on P a t r e o n or Instagram/FB how you can buy the books once I have printed a new batch.

By the way, If you don't already know, you can connect with me on Instagram or Facebook page, both under the same handle "Missrealitybites".

All tiers in P a t r e o n, the $2, $5, and $10 per month will also get access to all artworks I commission for my books.

I cannot wait to end "The Alchemists" on W e b n o v e l and embark on a new journey with you in P a t r e o n. I will still write The Cursed Prince, Finding Stardust, and The Cursed King here on W e b n o v e l, until they are finished.

x Vina - Missrealitybites