The Alchemists

A staff member entered and approached Caspar. She whispered something by Caspar's ear and he immediately stood up and excused himself from his entourage. He would soon officiate the wedding of Ned and Portia.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the wedding procession will begin soon. Please, let us all go to the inner garden. You may follow me." A girl in black appeared and asked all guests to move to the procession.

The large door on the inside opened and revealed an open garden which was very spacious and was decorated grandly with thousands of flowers and candles. It looked really beautiful and romantic.

There were dozens of luxurious chairs arranged nicely in two sections on a thick lawn and in the middle there was a small path decorated with white roses for the bride to walk.

Finland, Jean, Lauriel and Aleksis were invited to sit in the left row, which was reserved for Potia's family and friends, while Alexei and Katia sat in the right row with Ned's family and friends. Finland and Jean held their breath when they saw that two British royal princes were present at the event.

Finland immediately recalled Caspar's words that the Lewis family was the real ruler of England and representatives of the British royal family would attend the wedding. She didn't know that it was really the prince who would attend.

"Does the royal family know the secrets of the Alchemist?" Finland asked in a whisper to Lauriel.

The man nodded. "Yes, the Lewis family have ruled from behind the scenes since 300 years ago, and the Mounbattens represented them in public in the same way as all Caspar's public affairs are represented by the Van Der Ven family."

"Oh..." Finland understood right away. She glanced at the two princes and almost held her breath. It turned out that these Alchemists were truly the aristocratic rulers of the earth, and she accidentally became part of them. Jean too.

Finland and Jean looked at each other. They knew that they had the same thoughts in mind.

Finland actually felt rather sad because she had to wait 7 more years before she was able to get the immortality potion from Aldebar.

The only thing that made her a little relieved was that because of her half-Asian race, her appearance had not changed at all even though three had years had passed since she left Caspar. Lauriel even said that Finland would not look aged until she was in her 40s.

Twenty musicians were present on the stage behind a small gazebo decorated with thousands of roses where the groom was standing by his sister. Caspar had taken his place in front of Ned and his eyes were very twisted.

"Caspar is only wearing normal tuxedo... doesn't he need to wear a fancy robe or something?" Finland asked in amazement. When Aldebar married them off, Caspar's brother wore pretty complicated gears and looked very majestic, just like a king.

But now Caspar was only wearing the tuxedo he wore from the hotel. He held a sapphire-headed stick that was very beautiful, but other than that there was nothing special about his appearance.

Lauriel shrugged, "Caspar has different fashion tastes than Aldebar. His younger brother prefers a very old and traditional fashion, while Caspar is more casual."

"Oh..." Finland thought that the clan leader had a certain uniform, but apparently she was mistaken. There were so many things she had to learn about this Alchemist society.

She looked around and realized that the people present all had their own dress style. Some, just like Aldebar, were into the old-fashioned, majestic, and intricate appearances, while others liked simple and modern clothes. Whatever they wore, everyone looked very beautiful and the clothes they wore fit them perfectly.

The music then played a very beautiful song Finland had never heard it in her entire life. The air slowly turned magical and people fell silent, enjoying the magic of the beautiful song.

Slowly, the bride walked into the path in the middle of the guests, who immediately stood up and welcomed her with a look of admiration.

Portia was the most beautiful woman Finland had ever seen. She had purplish hair that fell down beautifully to her hips. She had a small body and her movements were smooth like a fairy. Her face looked radiant with a smile that made her glow.

Finland had to pinch herself to make sure that Portia didn't emit a halo from all over her body. She again felt like she was in Rivendell, and Portia was the elf queen.

When the bride passed Lauriel's chair, she turned around with a surprised but happy face and covered her lips in surprise. Lauriel smiled and nodded to Portia, who responded with a tear in the corner of her eyes.

Lady Portia was the cousin of Lady Luna, Lauriel's late girlfriend, and she felt very sad after Luna died. Today she felt touched because Lauriel took the time to attend her wedding, even though the man hated crowds.

After Portia arrived beside Ned, the two looked at each other with loving eyes and Ned held his future wife's hand.

Gosh... after 200 years together, they were still so filled with so much love for each other.

Finland and Jean were very impressed. It was the uniqueness of the Alchemists that fascinated them. One day, Jean would fall in love and get married, and he imagined himself and his wife living happily ever after with so much love for each other, just like Ned and Portia.

The only woman he had ever loved was his best friend, Finland, but the girl now belonged to someone else, and even had a child with him. Jean knew he had to open his heart to another woman.

Jean felt grateful because a few years ago, Finland was in dire need of money, so she was forced to sell her eggs to the fertility clinic. Jean had to come along because he was requested by the clinic.

They forgot about it until they found out that they had a biological child together, Terry. Even though Terry was born and raised by other people, they were able to bond even more as best friends and Terry's biological parents.

Since they became a family in a way, and Jean did not feel the need for another family. This was enough.

The beautiful music stopped playing and the atmosphere became very solemn. Caspar raised his staff and smiled at the bride and groom.

"Ned and Portia. As the representative of all the people in our clan, I, Caspar Alexander Sebastian Heinrich von Schneider, take the power bestowed in me to give you our blessings in your union, Ned and Portia, as husband and wife, before men, heaven and earth, and all the elements in the universe. May your perfect union lead you two into greater happiness. Do you, Ned, accept and love Portia as your only companion to live this life, with all her strengths and weaknesses, and promise to love, protect, care, and nourish her as you would yourself?"

Ned nodded and looked at Portia deeply and smiled happily, "I do."

Caspar continued, this time turning to Portia.

"Do you, Portia, accept and love Ned as your only companion to live this life, with all his strengths and weaknesses, and promise to love, protect, care, and nourish him as you would yourself?"

"I do..." Portia answered in a voice as soft as a nightingale. A tear streamed down her cheek, which Ned quickly wiped with his fingers lovingly.

"Before the heavens and the earth, and all the elements in the universe, let the love of the bride and groom endure a never-ending stream of time, and that they live forever in infinite happiness, until death do them part." Caspar then touched his staff to Ned and Portia's shoulder alternatingly," I now declare you husband and wife, now and forever."

"Now and forever." Ned said firmly.

"Now and forever." Portia's voice shook as she made her promise.

Ned then took Portia into his arms and kissed her lips softly. The guests cried out loudly, "Now and forever," as they threw flowers in the air. The orchestra was again playing a beautiful and hypnotizing music.

Caspar turned to Finland and smiled at her. He was thinking about their own wedding 3 years ago. Finland looked down and blushed. She was thinking the same thing.

Ned then picked up Portia and entered the main hall which was showered with flowers from the happy guests. He and Portia had been together for 200 years and this little ceremony was just a procession to make a public acknowledgment that the two decided to become one.

With the union of Ned and Portia, the Lewis Family and the Baden Family also united.

Inside the hall, a new celebration began and the host generously presented world class entertainments and the best food and beverages in the world.

One by one the guests raised their glasses and delivered words of praise and congratulations to the bride and groom. The atmosphere was so warm and festive.

However, there were two opposite poles with equal coldness across the big hall: Caspar's group and Alexei's group who sat by their respective tables. They were polite to all the other guests, but it was very clear that they were watching and hating each other.

"I want to thank our friends who took the time to come here from all over the world. Even Lauriel is present... We are truly honored. We have all our five families here. There is, of course, our leader from the Schneider family, a group from the Baden family, the Lewis family, the Flamel family, and Alexei from the Meier family." Portia, who was standing to deliver her speech, seemed to realize that there was someone missing from the party, "Why isn't Sophia here?"

Alexei smiled and shook his head slowly, "Sophia sends her regards to you. She met an emergency that she couldn't postpone."

"Oh... too bad." Portia sighed. She was sad because she was quite familiar with Sophia and had not been able to contact her for several months. "Who did you come with? I don't know the girl next to you."

Finland was dumb footed; apparently Portia did not know Katia.

"I'm Katia Jannsen..." Marion, who was disguised as Katia, stood up and greeted the noble lady style by bowing gracefully. "I am a converted Alchemist. I obtained the immortality potion from Caspar 50 years ago..."

Usually commoners who got the potion of immortality were people who entered the Alchemist society through marriage. Jean was a unique case because Caspar gave him the potion when he was dying to save his life.

Caspar had told Ned and Portia about Jean when he asked for an invitation for Jean to attend their wedding. However, Katia, who had received the immortality potion from Caspar but did not marry him, was unknown to the host. That really made the situation a bit awkward.

Everyone there knew that Finland was the wife of their clan leader because he announced their marriage to the public 3 years ago, but only a few knew Katia.

Caspar felt pressured to save the situation and hurriedly stood up and raised his glass, "Katia was my best friend for decades. Even though we are no longer friends, I always hope the best for her... There is only a few of us left, I hope we can respect and protect each other. Now and forever. "

The people nodded and did not want to prolong the problem. They raised their glasses and drank together.

Marion turned to Alexei and whispered curtly, "Why didn't you defend me? If you had introduced me to Portia, I wouldn't have to explain my relationship with Caspar... I came here with you anyway."

Alexei looked at her contemptuously, "Who do you think you are? I don't have to do anything for you."

Marion looked very offended and angrily she took a glass full of red wine and poured it on Alexei's face. "You jerk!"

The man was stunned for two seconds while Marion walked with long steps out of the hall. Tears were streaming down her eyes. All guests looked at the scene in surprise.

After he got over his initial shock, the angry Alexei wiped his face wet with wine, and ran after Marion, planning to teach her a lesson.

Lauriel quickly slipped through another door to take him down outside.