The Alchemists

Finland and Lauriel went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. Lauriel and Aleksis attracted a lot of side glances from people along the way from the office to the restaurant. Both of them looked stunning.

All the women who saw them wanted to have a child as beautiful as the little angel who was walking slowly between Finland and Lauriel, chattering happily like a bird. They also wanted to have the handsome man who was walking next to Finland, lovingly holding the little angel.

Finland could only roll her eyes when she saw many women throwing jealous glances at her. She was very happy when they finally entered the restaurant and could hide themselves in a corner of the room.

She thought of Caspar, who didn't like eating out because he loved his privacy. Finland realized that the man must very often attract people's attention because of his good looks, and finally only chose to eat out when he could close the restaurant to the public.

"You're not bothered by people's staring at you?" Finland asked when they were sitting at the table and reading the menu. "Wow... they gave us the wrong menu, this is in Vietnamese."

Finland was just about to call the waiter to ask for an English menu, when Lauriel stopped her.

"I understand Vietnamese. I can translate it for you..." He then read the names of the foods and ingredients written on the Vietnamese menu . "You like soup and noodles, right? Here they have beef or chicken pho. You just have to choose."

Finland was quite shocked to hear it, and involuntarily she nodded, "Uhm... okay, I'll order beef Pho. Thank you."

The fact that Lauriel spoke many languages shouldn't have surprised her. The man had lived for a very long time and had traveled the world for centuries. He was also an expert on plants. It would definitely not be difficult for him to learn various foreign languages during his travels. In many ways, Lauriel reminded her of Caspar.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lauriel asked with a smile. "Did I just impress you?"

Finland was touched and nodded, "I didn't know you could speak Vietnamese. There are so many things I don't know about you..."

"Hmm... I haven't impressed a girl in a very long time. Not bad," Lauriel said with a chuckle. He called the waiter and then in fluent Vietnamese mentioned their order.

The server was as surprised as Finland was and for a short moment she failed to take down the order. After realizing her mistake, she hurriedly apologized. She then noted Lauriel's order and immediately went to the kitchen with smiling face.

"Do you want to call Caspar to arrange for a meet-up?" Lauriel asked when their food was served. He placed the napkin on Aleksis' neck, who sat on his lap, and asked the little girl. "Do you want spring roll?"

"Yes, please, Uncle Rory." Aleksis nodded and took the spring roll Lauriel had given her and then ate very politely.

Finland felt proud because her child, even though she was still so young, understood table manner and did not make a fuss or play with food like most other children. Lauriel really taught the child how to behave like a princess when Finland was busy working.

"Uhm... yes, I want to meet him. This isn't something that can be talked about over the phone..." Finland said softly. "But last year he refused to see me. Maybe if I contact him again he would still refuse. I don't know what the reason was..."

"Hmm..." Lauriel transferred some Pho into a smaller bowl and handed the spoon to Aleksis. "I can contact him for you."

"Are you sure?" Finland asked hopefully.

"Hm..." Lauriel took out his phone and dialed Caspar's number while Finland looked at him anxiously. Every ring that passed made her heart pound even harder.

However, Caspar still didn't pick up the call after ten rings.

Finland could only sigh in disappointment when Lauriel put down his phone.

"Maybe he's in Asia, it's past midnight there now," Lauriel said curtly. "I'll text him to ask for his whereabouts."

They then ate without discussing Caspar again. Finland actually felt very uneasy. She could not imagine what her life would be like if Caspar still wouldn't meet her. Should she tell him everything via email or SMS?

"I need two months to find all the ingredients to recover Jean's memory," Lauriel said after they finished their lunch and were enjoying cold tea. "I have to go to Brazil to look for some of the herbs as they can only be found in the depths of the Amazon."

"So far away..." Finland felt uncomfortable bothering Lauriel in such a way. "Can't you just send someone to look for them?"

"I can't. A stranger can be killed by the primitive tribe there. I've been there several times and I know generations of the tribal chiefs."

Finland pressed her lips with a muffled sigh. "Sounds very dangerous..."

"I am used to living in danger..." Lauriel chuckled. "But you don't have to worry about me, the tribe is very kind to me. I lived for a long time in their place."

"Uhm... okay." Finland nodded doubtfully. "Thank you..."

"I want you and Aleksis to come with me, by the way," Lauriel said again. "I'm afraid that the next time you see Caspar, I'll lose you both from my life. Let me have these two months with you, before I hand you guys back..."

"Eh...?" Finland gasped. She was very scared at the thought of going to the Amazon jungle to meet with primitive tribes. But what surprised her even more was the possibility that she and Aleksis would never see Lauriel again if she went back to living with Caspar.

During these two years, Aleksis had been very dependent on Lauriel's presence. It would definitely be difficult to separate them just like that. "Why do you say that? You will always be Uncle Rory to Aleksis... We can still see each other at any time."

Lauriel shrugged, ignoring Finland's question. He had lived long enough in this world to know that although Finland intended to maintain Lauriel's relationship with Aleksis, he knew that Caspar would never let other men be near his wife and child.

As a grown man he knew better, and he would not bother them after handing them both back to Caspar. He just wanted to make sure that Finland and Aleksis were okay, and after that he could continue with his plan to take Death.

As he told Finland two years ago, he had no purpose in life anymore. Now he lived for Aleksis, but if his goddaughter was taken away from him, there was nothing for him to live for anymore.

"Can you apply for a long leave from your office?" Lauriel asked. "Since this concerns Jean, I suspect you want to be involved."

"Two months...?" Finland tried to imagine various plausible reasons for asking Tony to allow her to take such a long time off work. All this while, Tony had already given her too many special treatments, and she did not want to disappoint her boss. "I've taken one month off, but never two months... I don't know if it will be approved."

"I can buy your company and replace the top management if they don't allow you to take two months off," Lauriel said jokingly. Finland remembered that Caspar once also offered to do the same thing. Somehow these rich people always thought money could solve all problems. She could only shake her head and sighed.