The Alchemists

"I want you to go back to doing those things that you like. I want Aleksis to be the old Aleksis: cheerful, always happy, fearless, and love to live in the wild." Nicolae was really caring and always thought of Aleksis' interests. He could even guess that she really missed going on adventures, but was holding back because she was worried about her children. That's why he made her this offer. "Why don't you and the kids go with me to Iceland to see aurora?"

"I don't want to stay at the ice hotel." Finally Aleksis answered, frowning.

"Okay, we will not stay at the ice hotel, then." Nicolae nodded. "Hmm ... how about we also go to Trinidad? You haven't been to the Caribbean in a while, right? My father gave me a treasure chest for my 100th birthday. It is buried somewhere in the middle of a deserted island in the Caribbean. We can bring the twins and go on a treasure hunt. I'm sure they would love that! What do you say? "

Aleksis' pair of blue-green eyes sparkled with joy. She held Nicolae's hand tightly and exclaimed happily, "I would love that!! It would be really fun !!"

Nicolae laughed softly at Aleksis' excitement. Aleksis was an amazing young woman very much filled with enthusiasm and explosive emotions.

Aleksis was still very young. She gave birth to her two children when she was not even 21 years old, which was very young considering that she was an Alchemist. Being a mother demanded her to grow up more quickly to show a calm and graceful nature in front of her children. However, at heart, she was still the excited young Aleksis everyone knew.

"Why don't we go in October, to celebrate your birthday?" Nicolae asked again.

"I will be very happy," Aleksis answered happily.

"All right. In that case, it's been decided."

The first adventure of Aleksis and Nicolae, together with Altair and Vega, was such a success that they couldn't wait to plan their next adventure. Aleksis was really happy because she was able to be her old self: the carefree and happy girl in the nature she loved.

Nicolae knew he was doing it not only for Aleksis but also for his sake. He had his own selfish reasons to invite Aleksis and her children on an adventure. He wanted Altair and Vega to like him more and get used to his presence.

Lauriel gave Nicolae a hand-made pirate map which showed the directions to the treasure chest. The children's astonished and happy faces upon finding the treasure chest Lauriel buried in the middle of nowhere was a reward worthy of Nicolae's hard work organizing their journey and protecting the small family throughout their adventure.

"Uncle Nic, can we come back here next month?" Vega asked cutely while trying on the various pearl and gold jewelry from the treasure chest. She looked like a cute little jewelry shop owner.

Nicolae kept laughing at the innocence and cuteness of the little girl and took so many photos to send to Lauriel.

"Hmm ... we can go on another adventure, but let's go to another place. What do you think? There are so many amazing places on this earth." He turned to Aleksis, who was busy removing all the jewels from Vega's head for fear that her daughter would be strangled by the gold necklaces. "Where are we going after this?"

Aleksis looked up, "Eh? Are we going again?"

"Only if you want to," Nicolae smiled as he took a photo of Aleksis sitting next to the treasure chest. He could not help but praise the girl, "You're so beautiful."

"Ahaha ... Uhm ... maybe next month we can go to Africa?" asked Aleksis. "I haven't visited Uncle Rory's conservation in Kenya for a long time."

"It's settled then, next month we will go to Africa." Nicolae nodded. He shrugged Altair and Vega's shoulders. "Africa."

"Wow ... how exciting, Uncle Nic !!"

That November they traveled to Africa and stopped by in Turkey to ride a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, before returning to Stuttgart.

Then, as planned by Nicolae, in December they would go to Iceland to see the Aurora.

"But I don't want to stay at the ice hotel," Aleksis said repeatedly.

"Yeah, we won't stay at the ice hotel." Nicolae did not tire of responding.

"Then, where will we stay?"

"I bought a house there, so we don't need to stay in any hotel," Nicolae answered.

"Eh? What ...? When?" Aleksis asked in amazement. "You bought a house in Iceland just for us to see the Aurora?"

Nicolae nodded.

Aleksis shook her head in amazement. Nicolae often reminded her of her father. The young man, just like Caspar, often did unexpected things for the people they loved.

Since she had accepted Nicolae's presence in their lives, Aleksis was always protected and pampered. Although their relationship was still limited to a close friendship and had not evolved romantically, deep down Aleksis knew that one day she would definitely accept the young man's love and marry him and they would become life partners.

"Alright ... then, Iceland it is."

Nicolae arrived to pick up Aleksis and her children to leave for Iceland just when Caspar allowed London and Rune to attend the Ritz Gala.

***

Iceland was one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights, also called Aurora Borealis. Aurora Borealis got its name from Aurora, the goddess of dawn from the Roman civilization, and Boreas, the Greek name for the north wind.

On a clear and bright winter night in Iceland, people could enjoy Aurora Borealis dance in the night sky. Everyone who had ever seen it would agree that the lights were one of the most spectacular performances by mother nature.

Aleksis had hunted the Aurora with Lauriel several times before and only managed to see it once and it was an unforgettable experience for her.

That night, the entire clear night sky was adorned with billions of stars, and at the horizon in the north, there were flashes of green and orange lights dancing in the sky. The experience really took Aleksis' breath away.

Aleksis really wanted Altair and Vega to feel what she had felt that night. So, this trip to Iceland made her really excited. To provide the complete experience, Nicolae and Aleksis intentionally flew to Iceland on a commercial airplane belonging to the Schneider Group and mingled with ordinary people, as what she was made used to by Lauriel.

Two bodyguards had been prepared to guard them from afar, to protect them in case something happened. Aleksis did not want her children to get used to a life of special treatments and so she was more stringent in asking her bodyguards not to show themselves.

Especially since she was spending more time with Nicolae, who was very good at self-defense, she believed that it was safe even if their bodyguards were at a distance.

They got off the plane at Reykjavik airport and were ready to start their adventure in Iceland.