The Alchemists

Finally, after experiencing a sleep filled with nightmares, Alaric woke up. He felt like his head was about to explode. When washing his face  in the sink, he realized that his eyes had turned darker. He had been researching his own body for years and still couldn't figure out why his body and appearance would change at times.

After forcing himself to eat breakfast, his mind began to calm down. He must act carefully and not be careless. However Aleksis came from a rich family who would surely try their best to protect her. Even if Aleksis was now injured, she would have gotten the best doctor's care.

If it turned out that she was dead ...

Alaric couldn't do anything.

He could only look for her grave.

With that in mind, he went to the living room, closed his eyes, and waited for the arrival of his eight men whom Pavel had called to come.

At 9 am, one by one, the people whom he was waiting for started to arrive. Pavel arrived first with two very beautiful serious-looking girls who were in their mid 20-s. One had long blond hair tied in a ponytail and wore casual clothes and maroon-colored leather boots; the other one had short, curly hair and looked petite in her short elegant dress and strappy gladiator sandals.

"Nice to meet you, Master. It's been a long time," commented the long haired girl while showing a charming dimpled smile.

"Good morning, Livia." Alaric nodded. "Sorry I called you out all of a sudden."

"We are happy to be here," said the short-haired girl excitedly, "We haven't seen each other in five years. You are too busy with that technology company of yours and forgot about us."

"Hmm ..." Alaric didn't argue. "You're right, Rosalien."

The two girls looked concerned seeing Alaric's grim face. They had never seen a negative expression on Alaric's face before. He always looked calm and collected, unaffected, but now they saw that his calmness was only on the surface. His eyes could not lie, and they looked really gloomy.

"Allen, Noel, Fritz and Kai have arrived with Kurt van Der Ven," Pavel said suddenly. He opened the door and invited the 4 men to enter. They forcibly pushed a man in his late 40-s into the living room.

"Good morning, Master. We have brought the person you requested. We are sorry it took so long, but his security was quite tight. We had to go through a brutal chase ..." said a man in his 40s who was bald-headed while pushing Kurt to the middle of the room.

Kurt Van Der Ven seemed to try to remain calm in the face of so many dangerous-looking people around him.

"Good morning, Mr. Van Der Ven," Alaric greeted Kurt politely. His voice sounded very tired. "I won't hurt you, but I need information on Aleksis' whereabouts."

Instantly Kurt's face turned pale. He immediately connected the incident that caused Aleksis' accident with this dangerous looking group of people. He watched Alaric intently and tried to guess who this man was.

"What do you want from her? Aleksis is sick," Kurt said firmly. "Please do not disturb her."

He was somewhat surprised to notice that for a moment, Alaric's eyes flashed in concern. Was he not mistaken? This man was worried about Aleksis? Who was he, really?

"Sick ... where is she?" Alaric asked again. "We won't hurt you. I'm sorry for bringing you here by force, but I have no choice."

Kurt looked around and noticed that there were at least 10 people who surrounded him, some of which had weapons clearly displayed on their waist and hands. The rest, even though they weren't possessing any weapons, looked just as dangerous. He knew he would succeed if he insisted on escaping.

"She had an accident on campus due to shock after being threatened at gunpoint. She is currently treated at a hospital in Singapore," Kurt answered cautiously.

It wouldn't hurt to tell them where Aleksis was being treated in Singapore, because by now Caspar would have taken her away from there, thought Kurt. He raised a hand, signalling that he wanted to show something. "Can I show you the diagnosis?"

Alaric nodded and Kurt slowly went to his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He then handed it to Alaric. The man received Kurt's cell phone and studied the picture of a hospital document containing Aleksis' diagnosis and the doctor's note.

His face, which was rather grim, turned expressionless.

"All right. Then I want you to make an order to move her to the place of my choosing," Alaric said softly.

His heart was very sad when he saw Aleksis' diagnosis. He felt deep regret for going to England, leaving Aleksis alone in Singapore. In just a few days, this horrible tragedy fell on Aleksis and, to his dismay, there was nothing he could do.

At this point, there was no point in feeling regret, because Aleksis already had an accident and was now in a coma. But at least he wanted to be the one to care for Aleksis until she recovered ... if she still had hope for recovery.

Kurt was very surprised to hear Alaric's words. "You can't ... you can't disturb Aleksis. Let her recover without interruption."

"I will not disturb her. I have the best facilities to treat Aleksis," Alaric said firmly.

Kurt shook his head stubbornly, "I will not let you come near Aleksis. At this time she must not be disturbed."

Alaric nodded at Pavel and his confidant hit Kurt's shoulder until he dropped down on his knees. The gun was pointed at his forehead, and Kurt's face turned pale.

"Mr. Van Der Ven ... I respect you as Aleksis' father ... but right now my priority is to find Aleksis. If you don't want to cooperate, I have no choice but to force you."

Kurt frowned at Alaric's words. A moment later he realized that Alaric thought Aleksis was his daughter. He just remembered that all this time Aleksis' real identity was kept a secret and was often associated with his family to dispel suspicion.

At first he thought these people had no bad intentions, but from the way they treated and forced him, Kurt felt uneasy if they discovered Aleksis' secret identity. He must not risk and jeopardize Aleksis' safety by providing them with her information.

"You can't force me, I won't talk," Kurt answered firmly. He closed his eyes as if not caring about the gun pointed on his forehead.

Alaric sighed, then nodded to Livia. The girl immediately walked to the door on the left side and opened it. Two men dressed in black entered while clutching the hands of a woman in her late 30's and a teenage boy. Both their faces looked very scared.

"Dad...!!" the teenager screamed in German. He tried to rush towards Kurt but the man who grabbed him was faster and pulled him so hard he fell to the floor.

Kurt, who was very shocked to hear the familiar voice, immediately opened his eyes and turned toward the voice, "Jan!!"

"Give the order to transfer Aleksis to China, to the place of my choosing ... otherwise your son will receive the consequences," Alaric said in a cold voice, "I don't care about any of you. I just need Aleksis."

Kurt's face turned very pale. He certainly could not give the orders requested by Alaric, because he did not have that authority. Caspar was the one who could give the order.

But if Kurt revealed this secret, then Alaric would know for a fact that Aleksis was not Kurt's illegitimate child but the daughter of the Schneider family...

This was a secret that was far greater than anything, including the rest of his family.

"I ... I can't give that order ..." Kurt answered in a weak voice. He must not reveal the secrets of his employer's family. He knew how tight Caspar protected his family's privacy and looked after his children. He couldn't be the one spilling the beans.

"I will count to ten. If you don't do as I say, your son and then your wife will die."

Alaric placed Kurt's cellphone in front of his face, and gave a signal for Kurt to call the hospital and give orders to transfer the patient.

Kurt stared at the cellphone, then at his wife and son alternately. He could not sacrifice his wife and son, but at the same time he could not violate the Schneider family's trust that had been given to his family for generations.

"One ... two ... three ..." Alaric continued to count slowly. "Four ..."

"Jan ..." Kurt finally made a decision. He turned towards his son with a remorseful look and said in a low voice, "take care of your mother, Son ..."

In a quick second, Kurt snatched Pavel's gun from his forehead and pulled the trigger.

Everything happened so fast that even the best assassins of the world who were present in the room did not have the chance to stop him, because nobody expected Kurt to take such a bold move.

He chose to die rather than obey Alaric's orders!

"Dadddyyyyy... !!!" Jan screamed loudly and ran to his father, who had collapsed on the floor with a large, horrible wound on his head. Blood flowed hard from a shot wound on his forehead and quickly formed a pool of thick blood. Kurt's wife fainted after seeing her husband take his own life before her eyes.

Alaric was shocked by what had happened. For a few seconds, no one spoke.

It all happened so fast ...