The Alchemists

Jadeith knocked on the door carefully. Caspar, who was typing something on his laptop, raised his face and signaled his guard and nephew to enter.

"What is wrong?"

"There is bad news. Ms. Sophia disappeared from the safe house we prepared for her. We tried to track her down, but without success."

Caspar frowned. He had not seen Sophia for several months because he did not want to meet anyone. Last week Sophia begged to meet him, but he refused, and now suddenly the girl has disappeared.

"Did the Meier family take her?"

"We suspect so..." Jadeith said quietly. "What should we do?"

"Alexei is friends with Ned. Maybe if Ned asks, Alexei will listen to him. He can't possibly kill his own sister," Caspar said. "But I can't bother Ned now, he's getting married soon. This is a very big event."

"Alexei hasn't surfaced for several years. I suspect he is preparing a new plan," Jadeith said.

"I suspect he will come to Ned and Portia's wedding. They are both purists and he definitely needs their support."

"Uncle... is... is Lauriel really coming? I heard rumors that Lauriel will attend Ned and Portia's wedding too. This is great news that is attracting the attention of many people."

"Yes, he will come," Caspar answered. "If he comes to take the position of clan leader I don't mind giving it to him. I have no interest in managing the clan anymore."

"Then what will uncle do?" Jadeith asked in surprise.

Caspar didn't answer.

***

Jean, Finland, Kendrick and Silvya couldn't contain their happiness when they heard from Dr. Chou that the test results were positive. Finland could be a bone marrow transplant donor for Terry. They hugged each other in tears.

"Oh... thank goodness... Terry has hope..."

"We will soon prepare for the bone marrow transplant surgery. That means Miss Finland must stay in the hospital..." said doctor Chou.

"Alright, doctor..."

Finland and Jean prepared everything for Finland to be hospitalized for the process of bone marrow aspiration. Jean accompanied her in the hospital so that Finland did not feel lonely.

Jean's presence at the hospital immediately caused a stir. Even though they had asked for privacy, there were still people who took photos of him and in a short time their faces graced various media on the internet.

"It's not fun being famous..." Jean complained as he scrolled through the news about them on his phone.

Finland just smiled. "You really wanted to be famous, you know. You always told me that bad publicity is good publicity. Why has that changed now? You don't like being famous?"

"I like the famous part, but I don't like it when my personal life is disturbed. You shouldn't be involved. What will your fate be if people find out you have something to do with me? You will also be disturbed by these people. I have security guards, you don't... "

Finland thought of the first time she ate Liao Fan's chicken rice with Caspar. People were also secretly taking photos of him, even though he was not a celebrity. He was just very handsome and many people thought he must be a movie star. Caspar had to mobilize his bodyguards to restore order and erase his photos from their phones.

The thought of Caspar made her miss him again. Ned and Portia's wedding party was only 2 weeks away. She couldn't wait to see Caspar in Scotland soon.

[We have landed in Singapore. Where did you stay last night?]

A text from Lauriel came in when Finland was busy with her own thoughts.

Ah, she had forgotten that Lauriel and Aleksis where scheduled to land today from Brazil.

[I need to stay overnight at the hospital. They will take my bone marrow tomorrow. We stayed at the Raffles Hotel.]

[Alright, Aleksis and I will go to Raffles then. Tomorrow, after the operation, I will bring Aleksis to visit you.]

[Thank you.]

"Lauriel and Aleksis have landed..." Finland told Jean. "After I get discharged from the hospital, we will treat you too..."

Jean took Finland's hand and nodded. Soon, everything would return to normal.

***

Lauriel carried Aleksis on his shoulder while pushing their suitcase. For the sake of practicality, he bought a four-wheeled suitcase in Brazil to make it easier to carry all the ingredients he collected.

He wore a thin white shirt, khaki pants and sunglasses. He looked as if he was sunglasses model from the magazines came out into the real world. The women in the airport couldn't help but hold their breath as he passed by. Especially after they saw the beautiful little girl who was busy babbling on his shoulder.

Both of them seemed engrossed in conversation. The conversation seem to have started at the butterfly and sunflower garden at the Changi airport terminal, until they exit the terminal.

"Uncle Rory, where is Mummy?" Aleksis asked, playing with Lauriel's long hair. "How come she doesn't pick us up?"

"Mummy is in the hospital. We will meet her tomorrow. She is helping your brother."

"Brother? What's that?"

"A brother is another human who has blood relations with you, it could be because it comes from the same mother or father."

"What is Father?"

"Father is a male parent. Mother is a female parent."

"So Mummy Finland is my mother, means Uncle Rory is my father?"

Lauriel did not answer. He just ruffled Aleksis's hair which had become messy like his own.