The Alchemists

When Alexei realized what was happening, it was already too late. The door closed behind him and from the corner of his eye he saw Lauriel walking toward him from the left. His face looked very scary.

"Katia...! What are you doing?" Alexei asked in a choked voice. "Are you betraying me?"

Peach and the twins, Neo and Endo, also walked toward the scene from the right and front. Now Alexei was surrounded by 4 people, and the fake Katia turned to face him with an evil grin.

"Katia is dead," said the girl, this time in a voice unfamiliar to Alexei. Only then did he realize that Katia, who had been with him, was a fake Katia. Her disguise was really great, and Alexei never thought that he could be tricked like this.

"Wedding is a neutral zone..." said Alexei trying to sound calm. He picked up his cellphone and tried to call his men to come, but Lauriel pushed the cellphone to the ground.

"Do you think I care about such ancient rules?" Lauriel said sharply. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

In the hall, a number of Alexei's men, who realized that their master had disappeared, ran toward the door to look for him, but Petra, Jadeith and Esso had secured all exits and shook their heads, signaling them to return to the party.

Caspar approached Aleksei's guards and quickly gave the order, "If you don't make a scene here, I won't punish you after the party is over. Alexei is no longer your master."

The three people looked defeated immediately. Because the wedding party was a neutral zone, Alexei left his security team at the gate, deep down in the foothills. He only brought three staff members who were part of the Alchemist clan. His power was incomparable to Lauriel's crew consisting of a total of 7 immortal adventurers, plus the presence of Caspar and Jadeith.

People who were enjoying the party inside didn't know what was happening outside. Petra drove Alexei's three men back to their table and kept an eye on them so they wouldn't make a fuss.

Alexei, who was cornered alone, had become aware that his position was not favorable. His hand felt beneath his coat and pulled out a gun.

"You guys are cheating... wedding is a neutral zone..." said Alexei again. "You will be punished..."

Lauriel almost laughed at Alexei's protest. In Lauriel's opinion, he did not need to respect any rules if his opponent had already cheated first. Sending Famke to betray Caspar and then poisoning his child was not an act of an honorable person. In principle, there was no honor among thieves.

"You may choose to die quickly or die slowly..." Lauriel said with a faint smile. He pulled out a small bottle from his pocket and toyed it between his fingers dramatically, "I've removed myself from worldly affairs for 70 years, and I can do it again."

Alexei seemed to think hard. He stared at the small bottle in Lauriel's hands and the besiegers alternately, as if calculating his chances of getting out of there alive. Finally, he took a deep breath.

"I will make a deal with you... my life, exchanged with Sophia's..." he said later. "Caspar promised her to give her protection. If you let me go, I will release Sophia..."

Lauriel shook his head, "I have nothing to do with your agreement with Caspar. I don't care about Sophia."

"You..." Alexei looked worried. He aimed his gun at Lauriel. "My men will chase you to the ends of the world if you kill me. They will torture and kill all those you care about."

"I won't make the same mistake," Lauriel said coldly. "Your threat is of no use. Now... please choose, a quick or slow death...?"

Alexei snorted in annoyance. "All right... You forced me to use this method. You made this personal among us. I swear, my men will capture your girlfriend and kill her before your eyes... You will always be reminded of this day, the day you decided to kill me..."

"I don't have a girlfriend..." Lauriel said coldly. "Luna is dead."

Alexei narrowed his eyes with a sarcastic expression, "We did find many corpses in the building, my mother and father included, and the woman we thought was Lady Luna. All were buried in the family mausoleum. Twenty years ago, when DNA testing was available, we tested all the bodies and found that the girl was not Lady Luna. We have been searching for her for decades and kept it a secret from everyone..."

For a moment Lauriel's eyes flashed dangerously. He did not believe that Alexei would use such a dirty method; using the name of the woman he loved. But in the corner of his heart, there was a speck of sadness that hoped Alexei was indeed telling the truth.

"I don't believe you..." Lauriel said still in a cold tone.

"Please test the ring that you are carrying. The blood stuck there won't match Portia's blood nor mine. As Aunt Luna's relatives, you can compare our DNAs..." Seeing Lauriel's expression turn sad, Alexei felt hopeful. "I already have a lot of information that can take you trace Lady Luna's whereabouts. If you kill me... I will carry that information to my grave."

Lauriel's blood boiled with anger. He could not imagine what had happened to his girlfriend almost 80 years ago. Luna was pregnant when she left for Germany and her condition was certainly very difficult. If she hadn't died in the bombing of the mansion where she was staying with her sister's family, then where was she now? Why didn't she look for Lauriel? Did she die somewhere else? Did something happen to her that she could not find Lauriel?

Was Luna still alive...?

Those thoughts made him sad and depressed, and Alexei could see Lauriel struggling with his feelings.

"Don't be so stubborn. I know you're a logical person. If you let me go, I will give you all the information I have about Lady Luna, and I will free Sophia. Two lives exchanged for my freedom..." Alexei looked at Lauriel closely. "Or you can kill me and all that will be brought to my grave. Plus... my men will find Luna first and kill her to avenge me."

"Lauriel..!" Marion walked over to Lauriel and held his hand, "Don't be fooled by this snake. He will say anything for his freedom."

"Fifty-fity, Lauriel... are you a good gambler? Will you risk finding the whereabouts of the woman you love?" Alexei closed his eyes again and acted as if he was ready to die. 

BANG!

Marion, who was impatient, had taken Alexei's gun from the ground and shot his chest.

Everyone was surprised by Marion's unexpected action. Alexei fell unsteadily while clutching his chest and his pair of purple eyes were visibly shocked.

"You... you? How dare you...!" he hissed furiously. "I can't be killed by a lowly person like you..."

"Marion!" Lauriel snatched the gun from Marion's hand and looked at her with eyes that flashed furiously, "Since when did you elect yourself as the Wolf Pack leader? Why did you take action on your own?"

"You've become weak..." Marion chided. "You almost forgave Katia and did not want to get your hands dirty with her blood. If I hadn't acted, surely you would also let go of this snake just because he sold the story of Lady Luna being alive. Everyone knows that Luna is your weakness and he is exploiting it! Don't tell me you believe what he said?!!"

Lauriel closed his eyes to hold back his mounting anger. When he opened them, he looked straight at Marion and held up his finger, "Marion... I don't need a team member who feels like they can disobey me as they please. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."

"You... are you kicking me out of the team because of this snake?" Marion covered her mouth in shock. She didn't think that Lauriel would exile her like this.

Peach, Neo, and Endo looked at each other in surprise. They also didn't expect Lauriel to behave so harshly. They knew that Marion was Lauriel's favorite crew member and so far Lauriel had always tolerated the girl's actions, which were sometimes very rebellious.

Lauriel removed Luna's white ring which he had hung around his neck as a necklace and squeezed it softly. He approached Alexei and knelt beside him, "I will heal your wound and keep you alive until I can prove your words about Luna. From now onwards, you are my prisoner."

He patted Alexei's neck and the man fell limp. Lauriel gave a signal to Neo and Endo to carryAlexei and move him out of the palace courtyard. Peach covered his body with a large coat and quickly they disappeared from view.

Lauriel picked up his cellphone and called Caspar.

"We are going to the hotel now. There was an emergency and we need a doctor."

"I'm a doctor. Who's hurt?" Caspar asked anxiously.

"I can handle it for a while. You come as soon as the event is over. Please apologize to Ned and Portia on my behalf. Also tell them that Alexei had to leave in a hurry. Something came up."

"All right..." Caspar could guess what had happened so he didn't push any further. He had to act as if nothing happened as to not arouse the suspicion of Ned and the other guests. They would take care of Alexei later in Germany.

When Lauriel was about to leave to follow his men, his hand was held by Marion, who was in tears.

"Lauriel... you're not serious, are you?" the girl asked quietly.

"Marion... I don't like to repeat my words." Lauriel let go of Marion's hand, which, even though was done gently, hurt Marion in ways he could not imagine.

Luna had been Lauriel's weakness since a long time ago. Alexei could easily exploit her name to affect Lauriel's decision making, Marion thought bitterly. Now Lauriel would think that Luna was still alive somewhere and was waiting for him...

Marion, who had loved Lauriel for a long time, couldn't take it anymore. She had been waiting for Lauriel's heart to recover for decades... but now, just by mentioning Luna's name, Alexei managed to rip back his heart that was almost healed...

"Lauriel..." Marion could only sit down and cry when she saw Lauriel disappear into the darkness.