The Alchemists

Marion had not yet recovered after two months and that made Jean very worried. Voluntarily, he decided to stay at Marion's house to help her manage the house because he could not bear to see the girl living alone in such a bad condition.

Alicia still came to help three times a week, but most of the time it was Jean who fed Marion's dogs and took them out for a walk twice a day. He also happily cooked food for Marion and shopped for groceries. He covered his face whenever he went out so that no one would recognise him.

His relationship with Marion's five dogs became increasingly close and consequently they always slept with him in the guest room.

Jean, who really loved dogs, felt very at home at Marion's house, and it didn't take long for all the occupants of the house to get used to his presence.

One afternoon, it showed unexpectedly when Jean took Marion's dogs for a walk. The weather forecast had not predicted snow and so Jean Jean did bring a thick coat with him. He decided to cut the walk short and head back home so as not to be caught in the cold for longer.

Hmm ... this kind of weather was perfect for making glow wine, he thought as he hung his coat on the wall. He planned to get Marion to talk by offering her some glow wine. He really missed talking with the girl.

During the two months he could count the number of times Marion talked to him with his fingers; only 8 times! And the message every time was the same: for Jean to leave her alone.

The man did not listen, though, and insisted on staying with Marion because he wanted to make sure Marion was OK.

He hummed softly and went to the kitchen to prepare his home-made glow wine. The five dogs followed his every move with their wagging tails.

Jean's humming suddenly stopped when he saw Marion sitting at the dining table, staring outside with an empty gaze.

"Hey ... you left your room. How do you feel? Can I get you anything?" said Jean in a soft voice. He walked over to Marion and sat next to her. "I am going to make glow wine. Would you like some?"

Marion turned and looked at him without saying anything. After thinking for a while, the girl finally found her voice and shook her head.

"I don't want to bother you any further ... Thank you."

"I am not bothered at all," Jean replied, smiling broadly, "I like it here, and your dogs also like me. So, do you want some glow wine?"

Finally, Marion nodded.

Whistling happily, Jean took out all the ingredients he needed and started working on his favorite glow wine.

This was really great progress! Marion finally left her room on her own and talked to Jean. Jean hoped that hereafter, her condition would continuously improve.

After the glow wine was prepared, he served it in two glasses together with some cakes that he bought at a nearby cafe. They sat down and enjoyed the sweet and hot drink while looking at the falling snowflakes.

The atmosphere was very solemn.

"Jean ..." after a long silence, Marion's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Hmm ... what is it, Marion?" Jean asked.

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me anymore," Marion said in a choked voice. She was not fine, but she didn't want to bother the man any longer.

"Hmm ..." Jean twirled his glass, trying to find the right words. He really did not want to leave Marion's house. "Can't I be here even though you're fine?"

"You ..." Marion was at a loss for words.

"I want to be here with you," Jean said again. He turned his chair to face Marion and looked right into her eyes, "If you don't want me, l understand."

Marion stared at Jean's beautiful cat-eyes with a raging mind ... She felt very guilty towards Lauriel and Aleksis for covering up the truth, but at the time of the incident, her only concern was to keep Lauriel from getting hurt for killing his own biological child.

The guilt had eaten away her heart for the past two months and she could no longer live as cheerful as her usual self. Marion knew that Jean had fallen in love with her, for she was intelligent, tough, and very pleasant to be with. But now she felt like that woman was gone, replaced by a woman filled with only sadness and bitterness.

"I'm not pleasant to be with at the moment," Marion said quietly, "you won't be happy with me."

"Let me be the judge of that," said Jean. "It saddens me to see you like this ... I don't know what happened to you at Targu Mures ... Lauriel suspects that they did something bad to you and now he wants to repay them for what they did to you ..."

Marion's eyes glittered in panic, "Don't! Lauriel can't do anything anymore. They didn't mistreat me. In fact, they treated me very well when I was there ..."

Jean was surprised to see Marion panic. He grasped her hand and stroked her softly, "Shhh ... don't panic ... I'll tell Lauriel not to bother them if that's what you prefer."

"Lauriel can't target them anymore. Let it all end here!" Marion said. She shook her head and covered her face with both hands, "Enough had happened that day, and there is no need to add to the sadness ..."

Jean felt like Marion's attitude didn't make sense. Why would she suddenly defend the Rhionen Assassins? Weren't they the cause of her trauma?

He hurriedly hugged the girl to calm her down, "Ssshh ... calm down, I'm here. Tell me what really happened. I won't judge you no matter what ..."

Marion looked at Jean with tears in her eyes and, finally, she spoke with a trembling voice, "Jean ... Alaric Rhionen was Lauriel's biological son ... Princess Luna gave birth to him before she died ... Lauriel does not know he had killed his own biological son ..."

Jean was shocked and for a moment he could not believe his own hearing.

"What ... what did you say?"

"Alaric Rhionen wasn't aware that Aleksis was an Alchemist, nor did Aleksis know who Alaric really was ... they loved each other very much and were married. We robbed her of her husband who loved her so much. Lauriel did not know that he killed his own child ... It was then too late to tell Lauriel ..."

Jean was really out of words.

"Why ... why didn't you tell Lauriel?" he asked in a choked voice.

Marion cried more and more hearing that question, especially since she knew that she should have told Lauriel the truth. But at the time, the only thing that crossed her mind was to keep Lauriel from getting hurt ... she didn't want him to feel the pain he had felt knowing Luna had passed away … and now it was too late.

"I ... I feel so guilty. I threw the boy's body off a cliff so that he couldn't be found ... so that Lauriel wouldn't know that Alaric was his son." Marion cried tearfully, "I couldn't bear to see Lauriel suffer again. He would be devastated if he knew that he had killed his own child ... I did what I did so that he would not take Death."

Trembling, Marion took out a leather string necklace with a silver pendant from under her clothes and showed it to Jean, "Inside this locket is Princess Luna's hair ... If Lauriel were to test her DNA with the Alaric Rhionen's DNA, he would find out the truth ... That is why I hid this necklace and threw away Alaric's body ..."

Jean released his hug and looked at the girl in a shocked face. He didn't expect Marion to go that far.

He thought that Marion was still in love with Lauriel, and so wanted to bear this heavy burden and lie just so that Lauriel would not get hurt ...

"I endured this burden for two months ..." Marion said in tears. "I completely understand if now you think of me as a terrible woman ... I am a murderer ... I hurt Aleksis and Lauriel."

Jean felt very sorry for Aleksis. He could only imagine how sad she was when she woke up from her coma and was told that the man she loved was killed by her foster father ...

No wonder Aleksis ran away from home ...