The Alchemists

The three people were too preoccupied with their minds to notice how much they were the cause of a great commotion on campus. The two young men idols, who were usually bitter enemies, were now walking together in harmony with a girl, the controversial transfer student.

The new Queen Bee had raised herself yesterday and openly challenged Anjali.

They still remembered that yesterday Aleksis brought her own table to the cafeteria and acted like a queen bee to incite Anjali and her cronies. No one thought that today the girl would unite Nicolae and Terry.

News of the three soon filled the gossip room at the Splitz social media group of the University. There were so many pictures of Aleksis walking with Terry and Nicolae on each of her arm, and it made so many girls on campus green with envy.

Some actually were impressed by Aleksis because she managed to make the two ideal husbands, who were known to be fierce competitors, walk together, and so their fans could enjoy looking at the two beautiful humans at once in the same frame.

Aleksis' admirers, on the other hand, became even more excited to get close to the girl.

Ian was an example. He knew for sure that Aleksis and Nicolae had no special relationship because he had heard them arguing and Nicolae called himself Aleksis' fake boyfriend.

Ian just smiled as he read the gossips on Splitz, and instead of being grumpy, he prepared another party at his father's hotel to invite Aleksis. He had to make sure that next time Aleksis could really come.

***

Shortly after breakfast, when Alaric finished reading in the library, he received an SMS from Pavel.

[I've found Ms. Aleksis. Apparently, lately she's quite famous in her university Splitz group.]

Alaric raised his eyebrows and curiously opened his phone and entered the Splitz social media which was owned by his subsidiary. He had explored this social media before and did not find any accounts belonging to Aleksis, so he knew that Aleksis did not use social media. Then why could Pavel say she was famous on Splitz?

Alaric quickly found the information he was looking for. Hundreds of photographs had been taken from a distance or close range, and it showed Aleksis with two really handsome young men on campus. Alaric was a little surprised to see how perfectly the three people stood together.

When he first saw Aleksis in her original appearance, he thought to himself, that he had never, in his long life, seen a woman as perfect as Aleksis. Her face was beautiful with a pair of brilliant blue-green eyes that were glowing with happiness.

She had perfect symmetry lines on every curve of her body that seemed to be carved by the Gods. She also had a pair of long legs and a really beautiful face..

Now he saw Aleksis' perfection becoming more complete as she walked between two equally attractive young men. For some reason, Alaric's chest trembled slightly at how friendly Aleksis seemed to be with the two men. He thought he was the only man in Aleksis' life, but apparently he was wrong. Aleksis looked very close with them.

Was this feeling jealousy?

This was a strange feeling because Alaric had never experienced it before. He had never romantically loved a woman before. Aleksis was his first.

"Pavel, who are the two people who are with Aleksis today?" Alaric asked in a cold voice when he called Pavel. Subconsciously, bitterness could be heard in his voice. As a professional assassin, who had never involved his emotions in anything, this time he failed to regulate his heart to stay flat.

He had been trying to call Aleksis earlier, but the girl could not be reached. Wasn't it Aleksis who asked him to contact her every day? Then if indeed the girl was having problems so she couldn't be reached, why didn't she contact Alaric or Takeshi?

From the pictures he saw at Splitz just now, Aleksis did not seem distressed. She looked as happy as always, and was so friendly with those two very handsome young men ...

Who were they? What was their relationship with Aleksis?

His hand subconsciously gripped the edge of the table while waiting for Pavel's answer.

"Uhmm ... both of them are final year students at St. Mary University, Sir. They are among the most popular students on campus and even in Splitz. There is nothing odd about both, they are just ordinary students."

"When did Aleksis meet them?"

"Since her first day in school. One of them is the teacher assistant who teaches a class attended by Miss Aleksis. Aside from that, they have also met several times around campus." Pavel then cleared his throat, "Oh, by the way, Mischa said that the man with the long hair was the one who fought with him and Takeshi yesterday."

"Hmm ..." Alaric then ended the call.

He sat down and pondered. He thought about this friend of Aleksis, who yesterday succeeded in injuring Mischa, one of his best assassins. He was definitely not a reckless person.

Alaric then remembered his conversation with Aleksis some time ago, when Aleksis asked what he would do if Aleksis fell in love with another man, and left him.

Alaric's answer at that time was that he would support Aleksis' happiness with that man, especially if Aleksis really preferred someone else over him. At that time Alaric believed that love was liberating. He wanted to show Aleksis that true love was the love that was not selfish.

But now, when he saw the photos of Aleksis with other men, and learned that one of them fought hard yesterday to defend Aleksis, he realized that his love was not the unselfish love he had originally thought.

He was not willing to see Aleksis with another man, after all. No one could protect Aleksis better than him. Therefore, the best place for Aleksis to be was with him.

While he was busy with his various thoughts, Sophia entered the palace's right wing lobby and waved to him.

***

On the way back home, Terry and Nicolae fell silent. Several times they stole glances at each other to ensure that the annoying person whom they thought was the enemy was actually their good friend on cyberspace.

Aleksis just smiled at them both. She was no longer upset since Nicolae said that he could copy the code on her broken chip and make a new one. She was eager to talk to Alaric immediately. They hadn't spoken with each other for only a day, but it felt like it's been a very long year!

They arrived at the basement of the Continental Building and immediately headed to the 100th floor. Lauriel, who did not expect to see the three of them before lunch time, looked bewildered. Especially seeing Nicolae and Terry's awkward attitudes towards each other.

"What's wrong with you guys?" he asked.

"Ugh ..." Terry shrugged, "Apparently Nicolae is Wolf ... This world is very small."

"I didn't know you were Billie Jean ..." Nicolae said with a frown.

Aleksis shook her head, "Uhm ... that's because you don't know Terry's parents. I'm not surprised that he used that nickname in cyberspace."

"I thought she was a cool girl who loves Michael Jackson's songs," Nicolae said with a snort.

Aleksis and Lauriel just laughed at the two of them. They then shrugged and left Terry and Nicolae at the living room. Lauriel went with Aleksis into the kitchen to make drinks.

Nicolae looked at the departure of her father and the girl he liked with an envious look. He was still not used to seeing their closeness. Although he was Lauriel's biological son, he had only met his father after almost 100 years.

During this time, Aleksis had occupied most of his father's heart as his favorite child, even though the girl was not his biological daughter. Seeing how they acted very warmly with each other, seemingly living in their own world, he felt a little jealous.

Terry, who saw what Nicolae was looking at, finally felt sympathy. Subconsciously he patted the young man's shoulder, "Ssshh ... don't be jealous. They do seem to have their own world together. Aleksis' relationship with Lauriel is indeed very close, even her biological father is sometimes jealous because he could never be that close to Aleksis."

Nicolae looked at Terry in surprise, because the young man seemed to be able to read his mind, "You see that too?"

"You can't be jealous. Aleksis is the reason why you can meet your father now. Twenty years ago, Lauriel no longer had a purpose in life. He had decided to take Death." Terry smiled at Nicolae's shocked expression, "To live forever without his family and loved ones was very hard for him. Lauriel had decided to end his long life and follow Princess Luna, your mother, and you, because he thought that you died while still in the womb. When he suddenly met Aleksis, he found a new purpose in life, and he loved Aleksis as a replacement for his child that he had never seen ... So, you need to consider it this way ... if it weren't for Aleksis, when we found you, Lauriel would have long died."

Nicolae was stunned by Terry's explanation. And slowly he had to agree.

***