The Alchemists

Alaric was busy with his work when Pavel called him to report that he saw Aleksis' brother at Sky Bar. Lately he had been working like a crazy person because, for every moment he did nothing, Alaric would feel stressed and angry.

He needed to channel all the negative energy that filled his head and forget his sadness. His closest staff were also aware of this subtle change. Alaric used to be the embodiment of zen; undisturbed, and calm.

The aura that came out of him had always been peaceful, cool, and collected, just like the bonsai garden he had been maintaining all this time. But now, he looked cruel and filled with anger. Not many dare to get close to him when he was in such a state.

"Sir, Terry Chan has returned to Singapore. We do not know what the definite relationship between the two of them is, but on campus, it is rumored that Miss Aleksis and Terry Chan have a familial relationship. Terry is the son of an IVF embryo donor, so it's likely they have blood relations as a consequence. Do you want me to take information from Terry?" asked Pavel.

Alaric mused over Pavel's question. He was devastated when he heard the news of Aleksis' death and he was eager to obtain information on where the girl was buried. In his opinion, as Aleksis' husband, he had the right to determine where Aleksis' final resting place should be.

He had made preparations to move his mother's grave from Romania to England, on the edge of a beautiful little forest behind the Linden family palace in Yorkshire, and he wanted Aleksis to be buried next to his mother.

"I don't want to use violence this time, you remember what happened last time," Alaric told Pavel. "You can send someone to get the information, but don't touch him."

"All right, Sir. I'll be careful," Pavel answered. "Are you all right, Sir?"

Pavel was aware that his question was related to his boss' personal matters, something he had never done before, but lately he had begun to worry about Alaric's condition. He had followed Alaric for 25 years and had always been loyal to him.

Although he did not particularly like Aleksis, he had to admit that the girl did make his master happy and after Aleksis was gone, Alaric felt very lost.

"I'm not fine, Pavel," Alaric answered curtly.

Alaric couldn't remember the last time he really felt fine. His life had always been hard and filled with bad things. The good things that had happened in his life could be counted with only one hand, and it included events that relate to his mother and Aleksis.

Alaric didn't know if in this life he would ever fall in love again. This one time experience was very painful. When he finally opened his heart to another human being, she was snatched away from him after such a short time. Sometimes he wondered if Aleksis was only his dream or a real person.

He was not sure he would recover from this hurt. When Pavel contacted him and told him that he had seen Terry return to Singapore, Alaric became even more determined to find Aleksis' grave and take her home to be buried next to his mother's grave.

Later, when the time came, whether he died in battle with an enemy or he took his own life, Alaric wanted to be buried between the two of them. These were the only two women who mattered to him.

The door to his study was knocked twice and Sophia invited herself in. The girl's face was adorned with a very bright smile. She walked over to Alaric who was pensive in front of several files that he was studying but he couldn't bother finish.

"What's wrong, Sophia?" he asked in a cold voice.

Sophia was not at all bothered by Alaric's cold and indifferent attitude. After being with him for a few weeks, she had gotten used to it.

According to her, that was just Alaric's personality and she didn't need to take it to heart.

"Do you know who you remind me of?" Sophia asked in a crisp voice. She sat on the sofa right in front of Alaric and looked at the man with a probing look. She waited for Alaric to answer her question, but the answer never came. "You never care about anything, don't you?"

Alaric looked back at Sophia with a flat face. He would not respond to Sophia and her useless quizzes. Finally the girl gave up.

"You always remind me of Lauriel. Your face indeed resembles Princess Luna, but your physical appearance and your personality reminds me of Lauriel. Are you not interested in meeting your father?"

Sophia was very pleased to see Alaric's eyes glow after she spoke. She knew the news she had brought would make Alaric, who had always been indifferent, interested. What child didn't want to meet their biological parents?

"Didn't you say he couldn't be found? Hasn't he disappeared for decades?" Alaric asked.

Sophia nodded, "That is so. If he wants to disappear, then no one will be able to find him."

"I don't like playing guess, Sophia. Tell me everything you want to tell, or stop wasting my time."

Sophia rolled her eyes and sighed in disgust. "You haven't been pleasant at all lately. All right. If you're not interested in the news that I'm bringing, I won't force you either. Sorry for wasting your time!"

He was just like Lauriel, Sophia thought, irritated, as she stepped out of Alaric's study. She had just learned that Lauriel was eager to visit the Linden family palace and that was enough to get Sophia excited.

She hadn't seen Lauriel in a long time, and besides that, she also wanted to extract information from the man about why he and Princess Luna had separated during the second world war, until finally Luna had to deliver her child alone, and pass away after.

And of course, she also wanted to know Lauriel's reaction when he found out that he actually had a son. Sophia was impatient.

She had initially thought that Alaric would be excited to hear this news. But his indifferent response made Sophia feel that even for this one thing her cousin would not be interested. Now she wondered if Lauriel would act similarly bad.

Alaric followed Sophia's departure with a raging mind. Of course he really wanted to meet his father. Although he repeatedly said otherwise, in his heart, Alaric wanted to at least see the man whose blood ran in his body.

He wanted to know what the man his mother loved looked like.

He was a bit curious because Sophia repeatedly said that he reminded her of Lauriel. He wanted to know what Lauriel was like.

***