The Alchemists

After an hour Jean decided to get up and walk to the nearest village. Because his face was well known, he deliberately wore black sunglasses, a scarf that covered almost half of his face and a sports hat. The temperature had begun to drop that autumn, so his completely covered up appearance did not attract any attention.

In the center of the village, which consists of various restaurants and shops, there was a huge crowd. Many people wore traditional clothes and there were lively musical performances. Jean saw large prints at various locations "Hyacinthe Village Oktoberfest Festival".

Oktoberfest is a festival throughout October that had become a tradition in Germany where people hold crowds and drink a lot of beer. Apparently, that tradition also reached this village, because some Swiss residents were of German descent. Although it was still late September, it seemed that the festivities of Oktoberfest had begun.

Jean's dark mood lightened when he saw people partying and chatting happily while enjoying their beer and snacks. There were also many tourists from other countries who enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Jean sat in an empty chair and ordered a glass of glow wine. The waiter seemed to frown because it was the Octoberfest festival! Various beers of the best quality were issued at the promotional price but this one guest ordered glow wine instead! How weird.

"Normally we don't sell glow wine on a month like this, but you are lucky because the restaurant owner is looking to make it, so this week we provide glow wine," commented the waiter.

Jean smiled, "Thank you."

After the servant left, Jean observed the people around him. Some were engrossed in conversations while others enjoyed the music performances. He felt happy because he had decided to come here.

He thought that it would be a good idea for the people in the mansion to come to the village to enjoy the festive mood so that they would be less depressed. He took his cellphone and sent them a message.

[In the Hyacinthe Village there is an Oktoberfest celebration, come here to have fun.]

He sent a message to the group.

A few minutes later there was a reply from Caspar.

[We can hold an Oktoberfest ourselves at the mansion. Tonight at 8 p.m. before everyone leaves.]

Jean could only roll his eyes. He knew how much Caspar liked privacy and did not want to mingle with ordinary people. The man was far worse than Hollywood celebrities who hid their personal lives. Caspar would only eat at a restaurant if he could close the restaurant to the public.

Jean felt sorry for the Schneider children who could not enjoy lives like normal people and mingle with commoners. But given what had happened to Aleksis, he could understand Caspar's stubbornness not to allow his children to live in the outside world.

As a very well-known actor, Jean himself must hide and often disguise himself if he wanted to walk among the crowd so as not to be chased by his fans. But he still preferred to disguise himself rather than distance himself from other humans.

"Excuse me, is this seat empty?" suddenly a crisp sound interrupted his reverie. Jean had been too preoccupied with his own world and, after finishing three glasses of glow wine, he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings anymore.

The girl had apparently questioned him three times before Jean finally heard her. Jean turned and saw a very beautiful girl with shoulder-length hair and a pair of beautiful cat eyes. Looking into her eyes made Jean feel like he was looking into his own eyes.

He smiled and shook his head, and invited the girl to sit. "Please."

"Thank you." The girl sat down and signaled to the waiter, "I want glow wine too."

After the order arrived, the girl enjoyed her wine fervently. She and Jean did not talk to each other for several minutes.

"I'm heartbroken," the girl said suddenly after she finished her glow wine. Jean turned his head in surprise. He was not sure if she was talking to him, so he looked at her with a questioning face. The girl shook her head sadly. "Sorry, I'm talking to you like this. I shouldn't have bombarded strangers with my personal problems."

Jean did not reply. He did not know how to comfort a girl who was heartbroken.

He slowly took a sip of his glow wine.

"Have you ever loved someone but your love is unrequited?" asked the girl again.

Jean didn't want to discuss his personal life with someone he didn't know, so he didn't reply. But the girl did not seem to care much about Jean's answer anyway. She continued talking.

"I have never loved anyone else, only him. But after being rejected so many times, I still cannot see it. Today I finally realized that he would never ever ever reciprocate my feelings. I feel like I am not a real woman. How can I be so insensitive and didn't get that he was just not into me?"

The girl turned to Jean and leaned her face close to his so that their noses almost touched. Her pair of cat-eyes stared fixedly at Jean's eyes that resembled her own.

The atmosphere became a little awkward for a few seconds, but before long, tears started pooling on the corner of the girl's eyes and it made Jean feel so sympathetic. He blinked and subconsciously wiped the girl's tears softly with his thumbs.

"Don't cry," he said gently. "Being insensitive is not a sin. You are too in love with the wrong person. You will find someone who will love you as much as you love him."

The girl pursed her lips in tears, "I am not a weak woman. Many people are afraid of me, but only one man can make me cry like this. I hate being this weak."

Jean smiled at that. He acknowledged that love did make people do things that they sometimes didn't understand. He studied the girl carefully and regretted how such a beautiful and attractive girl had to shed tears for unrequited love.

His hands were still framing her face because he was still wiping away her tears, and they were still staring at close range. Passerbys who didn't know the situation would probably think they were lovers.

"Hmmm, usually people don't know what they've got until it's gone," Jean said finally. He then smiled to himself remembering something. "You want to know the best way to get back at that person?"

The girl shook her head. "I want to avenge him, so that he will regret rejecting my love. Tell me, how do I do that?"

Jean had never done this before, but seeing how deeply she was grieving, he could not bear to see her cry. He really wanted to help the girl.

"I can pretend to be your boyfriend and you can take me to meet him. That way he sees that you can get someone better than him."

The girl was speechless for a short moment, then her face frowned as she retorted, "There is no one better than him!"

Jean was puzzled for a few seconds then he laughed out loud. "Gosh, you are a hopeless case. I give up."

Seeing Jean laugh freely, the girl slowly realized what was so funny. She really was pathetic, she thought. Even though she was heartbroken, she still defended the man who had rejected her love multiple times.

Finally, she also laughed.

Whether it was because they were influenced by the several glasses of glow wine they had consumed, or because the general atmosphere was quite romantic, they both looked at each other and smiled wryly. The girl narrowed her eyes and brought her face closer to Jean's face and touched his cheek.

"I like your eyes," said the girl, smiling.

Jean nodded. "Your eyes are beautiful. I feel like I'm looking in the mirror and seeing my own."

When their faces were again so close, subconsciously Jean pulled down the scarf that covered half of his face and brought his lips closer to hers, and kissed her. The girl was rather surprised, but then she closed her eyes and returned Jean's kiss.