The Alchemists

Finland managed to free herself from Caspar's charm before the man could go any further.

"The prize for our bet is only one kiss," Finland protested. She quickly stood up and tidied her clothes, which were a little messy.

On the couch, Caspar closed his eyes and sighed sadly, like a five-year-old who was punished not to play with his favorite toy.

"I just confessed my love to you," he said after he opened his eyes. He stared straight into Finland's eyes which were trying to avoid his gaze. "Does my love mean nothing to you?"

"I'm flattered. Thank you, but I can't accept it." Finland drank her Irish coffee in a hurry. "You're not the first guy to profess love to me. In my experience, bad luck befalls me every time someone professed their love to me... I don't want to take any risks."

"Bad luck?" Caspar asked, not understanding.

"One of the reasons I used to be bullied in school was because the boys who had a crush on me had die-hard female fans. These girls were not happy to know that the boy they liked had a crush on a nobody like me." Finland frowned, her expression looked horrified, "You don't know what it feels like, being beaten and tied to a tree by mean girls."

"Oh, like those girls yesterday?"

"Yeah, that's how it was... That's why I don't have any friends, especially female friends."

"I won't let anyone get to you... I swear." Caspar approached Finland, but the girl dodged. "You don't trust me?"

Finland sighed.

"May I ask you one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Rose Mansion... is that your house?"

Caspar was rather surprised to hear Finland's question, but he answered honestly. "Yes, that's right. I know you needed a place to stay, but you wouldn't want to stay for free."

"So, you bought that house from Mr. Van Der Ven and rent the pavilion to me?"

"I..." Caspar looked hesitant to answer, "Yes, that's how it was..."

Finland looked like she was deep in thought. She suspected that Caspar bought Rose Mansion and arranged for Finland to find the ad and move into the pavilion. She was very close to reject Caspar's kindness and move out of the mansion... but she was in doubt. Finland really liked her current house...

"It's too cheap..." Finland said softly.

"I know you can't pay more, and actually I don't really need your money," Caspar said hurriedly.

"Okay then... I'll stay there." Finland finally decided. "I'm not staying for free anyway."

"That's right. You don't owe me anything. You rented the pavilion with your own money."

"Okay." Finland took her bag from the chair and excused herself, "Then I'll go home now. Thank you for the very nice dinner."

Caspar looked embarrassed, "You still haven't answered my question..."

"Which question?"

Caspar complained inwardly. In his long life, he had never had to profess his love so many times. In fact, for as long as he lived, he had never professed love openly at all.

"I've never fallen in love with a woman like this... or this fast. You have no idea." Caspar approached Finland and held her hand, "You are the first woman to make me believe in my feelings. When I see you, I see the woman I want to marry and share my life with. When I see you, I just want to be with you, forever. "

Finland's eyes widened. She could not believe that this man confessed his love, again. This was truly unexpected.

"Caspar, we don't even know each other that well... We have only known each other for like 2 months and we have met in person just a few times. I don't know you, and you don't really know me..."

"I know you were born on January 15. Your favorite food is anything that contains noodles. When you were young you had two pet rabbits. Your grandmother died just one week before we met at the airport and your mother's name is Laura. You now have 2000 dollars in your savings account…"

Caspar continued mentioning facts about Finland's past and present which surprised her. She pursed her mouth in shock.

"Oh my God!" Finland shook her head and immediately went to the door. "I know you are powerful and you can get whatever information you want, but I didn't expect you to act like such a stalker."

She pressed the elevator button with an angry face, Caspar knew he just made another mistake.

"I didn't mean to act like a stalker. I mean... what I was trying to say is that I know you very well and I love you for who you are..." He sighed deeply, "I know this feels unequal, because you don't have access to the same information... "

"You're right, we are not equal. And you know what I disrespect the most? My privacy being violated."

"Please let me know how I can fix this?" The elevator door opened and Finland quickly entered. Caspar hastily placed his hand on the door to stop it from closing. "Do you want to spend the whole day with me tomorrow to find out more about me? Please give me a chance. If you still don't like me after spending the whole day together tomorrow, I promise I will leave you alone."

Finland closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Caspar, I'm not like you... I think you're too perfect and it scares me. Also, I don't like my privacy being violated. If you want me to give you a chance to prove that you're not as scary as I think you are, I want you to promise me something... "

"I promise..." Caspar quickly placed his right hand on his chest.

"You have to promise me that you will never use your power to stalk me or find information about me. Be like a normal man who would call or text me to ask for my whereabouts. Be like a normal man who would ask me in person what my favorite food is. Stop using your access to find information about me..." Finland looked at Caspar with a very serious look, "and if one day I want to leave you, you can't use your access to find me."

Caspar gasped, "Why would you want to leave?"

"We don't know what will happen in the future. Who knows, we may have a dispute and our relationship deteriorates. I wouldn't want to have a very powerful man like you to be my enemy. It would then be best for me to not deal with you at all, instead of having a miserable life in future..."

"For someone so young like you, your perspective of life is quite cynical," said Caspar. "But I understand. I promise to treat you like a normal man without extraordinary access. I promise I won't look for you if you want to leave me."

"Okay..." Finland finally smiled. "Thank you. I need to work tomorrow. We can meet on weekends to get to know each other. I'm willing to spend the whole weekend with you."

"The weekend is still so far. What about tomorrow? Just take a day off. Or pretend to be sick."

"I'm still on probation. If I take leave, my salary will be deducted."

"I can buy LTX International and change the company's policy so that probation employees like you can also get paid leave," Caspar said quickly. He immediately took out his cellphone and pressed a number, "Stanis, I will send you an email soon. Can you check that company out? Later you can also..."

"Err... no need..." Finland hurriedly took the cellphone from Caspar and turned the call off. "You don't have to be over the top. Normal relationship, remember? Okay, I will take leave tomorrow. I will spend one day with you and judge for myself whether I can get to know you well and whether I will like you after getting to know you better."

Caspar's face lit up in an instant.

"Thank you!" He kissed Finland's lips quickly before the girl could dodge, then released his hand from the elevator door. "See you tomorrow."

Finland was still in shock when she got off the elevator. Caspar just kissed her for the second time tonight. Ugh... if each kiss were equivalent to one company, Finland would have lost two companies already...

In the penthouse, Caspar clenched his fist into the air, feeling very happy.

"Finland must like me too! She is willing to take leave tomorrow even though that means her salary will be cut. She only thinks about money, so if she would sacrifice her salary for one day, it is a sign that she returns my feelings for her."