The Alchemists

After reading the report and making a few notes for half an hour, Alaric rested and stretched his body.

"Aleksis, it's rare that you haven't made me coffee," he said. Usually, after half an hour, the assistant would automatically arrange for the coffee machine to have a cup of fresh coffee for Alaric. But almost 40 minutes had passed and he still hadn't smelled the usual scent of coffee.

"Sir, Lady Portia said she needed to talk to you." Aleksis ignored Alaric's question.

"Hmm... What's up?" Alaric asked.

"How would I know? I'm not programmed to read people's minds," Aleksis grumbled

Alaric just shook his head when he heard that. He then pressed the Virconnect button on his desk, and a moment later, he saw the magnificent living room in the Lewis palace he was extremely familiar with.

"Good afternoon, Mother. My assistant said you needed to talk?"

He could see Portia's expression. She looked as though she was shocked, angry, disappointed, and surprised all at once. Portia isn't usually like this, he thought.

"I just got a wedding invitation." Portia's voice trembled when she showed an exquisitely carved card in her hand. Alaric became even more curious because of Portia's strange attitude.

"Then?" he asked patiently.

"This is the wedding invitation for the son of Lauriel Medici and daughter of Caspar Schneider!" Portia exclaimed in irritation. "Does Lauriel have a child with another woman?"

Alaric was stunned to hear Portia's words.

His father... had a son besides himself?

"I didn't know the clan leader had a daughter," Alaric commented when he heard the news of the wedding. "When I met his family four years ago, they only brought his two sons."

"Maybe their daughter was too young to be announced," Portia shook her head impatiently. "Who she is doesn't matter. But if Caspar's daughter really marries the heir to the Medici family, Caspar would be able to get support to transfer his position to the child. The Medici family has a powerful influence because of their history. In this case, you'll have difficulty getting full support..."

Portia was still grumbling while Alaric dissolved into his own reverie. This was unexpected at all. He hadn't cared about Lauriel when he heard that his father had withdrawn from the world after his mother died.

Alaric couldn't forgive Lauriel who refused Luna's pregnancy on the grounds that he wasn't ready to become a father with his life as an adventurer, causing Luna to decide to return to Germany to stay at her sister's place.

I don't need a father like that, he thought.

All possibilities for Alaric to change his mind had been lost when Lauriel actually hunted him down, resulting in his 'death'. The only reason Alaric didn't take revenge was because he couldn't find his reclusive father.

After four years, his revenge gradually eroded into ignorance. He didn't care about anything else in this world except for his work and his great goals.

"So what will you do?" Portia's question moved Alaric from his reverie.

"What do you want?" Alaric asked in return.

"It's stated in the invitation that the event will be held at Medici Castle... Meaning you can be sure Lauriel will be there. I want to meet him. I want to beat him up for what he did to you."

"Hmm..."

Ned appeared behind Portia and tried to calm her down. "Don't throw a tantrum in someone's house. Lauriel didn't know Eli was his son."

Alaric only faintly smiled at his words. There was no way Lauriel didn't know, he thought. He remembered the moment he poured out his heart and opened all his secrets to the fake Aleksis. That damnable woman knew who he really was. She must've told Lauriel what happened after they killed him.

During this time, Lauriel didn't look for him nor showed any remorse. And now, he even announced a son from another woman.

His desire to have revenge that had cooled down and turned into indifference, slowly re-ignited in his chest. Lauriel never wanted him - not because he wasn't ready to be a father, but because Lauriel didn't want him. Evidently, he could be a father to his son from another woman.

Alaric felt that he had allowed this injustice to continue for too long. Lauriel must accept the consequences of his actions to Luna and Alaric. Alaric would expose everything that happened, so people know what kind of person Lauriel really was.

"Alright, I'll come," Alaric finally answered.

"Good." Portia took a deep breath. "The event will be held in two weeks. We'll come on the 2nd, when the bride will celebrate her birthday with relatives, before the wedding on the 3rd."

"I'll come directly to the wedding and humiliate him in front of all the guests. I'm not a relative, there's no way I'll attend a family event," Alaric said nonchalantly.

Portia looked at him wistfully, then nodded. "Alright. I can't force you to come to a family event."

"Hmm..." Alaric nodded in understanding. "See you in Italy."

After the connection ended, Alaric sat in his chair for a long time. He'd finally meet face-to-face with his father and his stepbrother. For decades, he had always thought that he was alone.

Unexpectedly, ten years ago, he found his relatives, then later found out that his father was still alive. And now, it turned out he also had a brother.

He still had a family.

But for some reason, he still felt alone.

"You look sad," Aleksis commented. "Maybe you should come to the family event and fix your problems with your father."

"Shut up, Aleksis." Alaric turned the off button on his watch. He wasn't in the mood to hear his fussy assistant's voice.

***

Sophia was furious when she heard the news of the wedding which was going to be held at Medici Castle. She wasn't invited at all.

"Aaaahhh!!! Dammit!! You want to humiliate me by not inviting me to an event attended by all members of the clan?!!" She screamed while throwing her phone against the wall. It broke into pieces, but Sophia became even more furious.

"Don't think I'll stay silent being humiliated like this..." she hissed, clenching her fists. After closing her eyes and calming her breath for a few seconds, Sophia finally began to think calmly.

Aleksis was actually alive, and she was going to marry another son of Lauriel…

They didn't know the girl was still married. Alaric didn't know his wife was still alive.

She frowned as she tried to think of the best way to hurt the people of both the Medici and Schneider family.

Alaric certainly still loved his wife, and it could be seen from his cold attitude towards all women. Meanwhile, Aleksis turned out to have moved on, fell in love with Lauriel's other son, and was even going to marry him.

Sophia could imagine how angry Alaric would be, feeling cheated. With his ruthless character, Sophia was sure that Alaric would bring chaos and forcefully take his wife.

Hahaha... Aleksis wouldn't be able to marry her new boyfriend.

And Lauriel would be humiliated.

Caspar would be humiliated.

On the wedding day, every guest would be able to see how shameful they were, because there would be no wedding…

Ughh... Just watch!

I'll come even if you don't invite me because I want to be there to witness all those chaos...

Her eyes were still filled with wrath, but now her lips had a thin, wicked smile. She really wanted to see the commotion at Medici Castle tomorrow. It should be quite a show...