The Alchemists

After his laugh subsided, the man took a towel and threw it at Aleksis. "You are so cunning, huh. Last night you pretended to remember your name, so you could sleep on the deck with me, and now you pretended to drown, so I jump into the sea with you. Tsk tsk tsk... I've never met a girl like you."

Aleksis caught her towel and began to dry herself while continuing to frown. The young man took another towel for himself and dried his wet hair. He then took off his soaked shirt and hung it on the deck to dry.

"Because of you, I ruined my favorite shirt..." he complained.

"I'll buy you 100 shirts like that," said Aleksis without feeling guilty. She was about to add that she was even able to buy the company that produced the shirts, when her words left hanging in the air. She saw so many scars on the man's body, and when he turned to face Aleksis, she saw a scary looking dragon tattoo on his right chest. Unconsciously, Aleksis exclaimed, "Hey... you're Prince Siegfried!"

The young man was stunned by Aleksis' unexpected words. "Wh... what did you say? Who?"

Aleksis smiled broadly as she pointed at the dragon tattoo, "Prince Siegfried! He is the prince of German mythology who defeated and killed the dragon..."

The young man looked at Aleksis for a long time and a memory suddenly reappeared in his head.

Ah, Prince Siegfried...

"Do you still have the cellphone I gave you?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes, why?" Aleksis asked.

"Please get it, I want to borrow it."

Aleksis obeyed. She went down to the cabin and took her cellphone from the bag and gave it to the young man. She then returned to the cabin to change her clothes, dry her bathing suit and take the fish she had caught from the bag.

The young man pulled out his cellphone from his bag, and then with two cellphones in hand, he seemed to be working on something.

"What are you doing with two cellphones?" Aleksis asked in amazement. She was showing off a fish in front of the young man, "Isn't it big, the fish I caught?"

"Hmm... it is big. You did well," the young man looked up and nodded in agreement. "Can you clean the fish? I'll cook for us."

"I can." Aleksis then took the fish to the kitchen and began to clean them, while the young man opened Aleksis' cellphone and deleted the phone number he had put in last week.

Then he opened his own cellphone and looked for a telephone number. He typed the telephone number into Aleksis' cellphone and sent an SMS.

[You still owe me one million dollars. I want to collect it now.]

Five minutes later the SMS reply came.

[Send your account number. I'll transfer it.]

Hmm... the young man stroked his chin and thought for a moment. He had kept that number for 10 years and had never used it. His meeting with this girl suddenly reminded him of the incident that happened ten years ago, when he had a fight with someone who thought that he had kidnapped his child.

The man simply said that he was willing to compensate him for a million dollars. He also gave him a bottle of medicine which turned out to be very effective in treating wounds.

He remembered the little girl calling him 'Prince Siegfried' after seeing the dragon tattoo on his chest, just like what the girl he saved did just now. That made him wonder whether they were the same person. Therefore, he tried his luck and contacted the man.

[Do you know Uncle Rory?]

Thirty seconds after the message was sent, the person immediately called him. The young man was not willing to talk to anyone, so he rejected the call.

[How do you know that name?]

[I will not respond before you answer my question. If you answer, I'll consider writing off your one-million-dollar debt.]

After a few minutes, he finally got a reply from that person.

[I am Uncle Rory. Where did you hear my name?]

The young man let out a sigh of relief. They were really are the same person, he thought.

[From a girl with blue-green eyes who is very good at catching fish] A smile etched on the young man's face as he texted it. [She is also good at playing Go game.]

In Colorado, Lauriel, who was preparing dinner, was suddenly stunned to read the SMS from this unknown number. He immediately suspected something had happened to Aleksis, and the girl was with a stranger.

He hurriedly called Caspar.

"What happened to Aleksis?" he asked quickly.

Caspar, who did not expect Lauriel to call him to ask about Aleksis, became nervous, "Ah... Aleksis is missing. We are still trying to find her..."

"MISSING...!??" Lauriel's voice instantly rose. "How long has it been? Why wasn't I notified?"

Caspar didn't think it was necessary to tell Lauriel that Aleksis was missing. He has broader access than Lauriel and he still couldn't find any trace of his daughter, what could Lauriel do from America?

"It's been a week..." Caspar answered in a troubled voice. He also blamed himself because until now he had not managed to find Aleksis.

"Where are you?" Lauriel asked impatiently.

"We are in Singapore, at the Continental Hotel."

"Hmm..." Lauriel immediately cut off the phone call, whch made Caspar wonder.

Lauriel hurriedly sent another SMS to the person who found Aleksis.

[Please return my goddaughter, I'll give you anything.]

[I don't need anything. Don't overreact. I pity her and took care of her for a week, but she doesn't remember who her family is, so I can't take her home.]

[Oh, I see. OK. Please send Aleksis to the Continental Hotel. Her parents are waiting there.] Lauriel hurriedly sent another SMS, [Thank you.]

[You have lost this child twice. Parents who cannot take care of their children should not have children.] retorted the young man curtly.

At the other end of the line, Lauriel felt his heart pierced. He had no children because his girlfriend died in the war while pregnant with their child. He raised Aleksis with affection like his own daughter, but the young man's words really hit him hard.

It seemed to justify why he did not have children of his own. Maybe he was not given the opportunity to be a father because he was not good enough.

Lauriel could not be angry, because after all the man had saved Aleksis twice.

[Please take good care of Aleksis and send her to her parents. I will be indebted to you.] Lauriel said one more time. He no longer had the appetite for dinner. He instead took the strongest bottle of brandy and poured himself a glass.

The young man closed his cellphone and became pensive. This was indeed the same child, he thought, and her name was Aleksis.

It was funny, too. He first met this child when she was two years old, and now again, when she was twelve.

Could it be that they would meet again in the future? If they did meet again when this girl was 20 years old to compete in a Go game match, she would surely be able to remember him, and she would be confused by the fact that the young man did not age.

These thoughts made 'Prince Siegfried' feel upset.