The Alchemists

Seeing Alaric's sad face, Aleksis almost hugged him, but she soon realized that there were many people paying attention to them and they were waiting for an explanation about what had happened. She had no choice but to restrain herself.

She also caught a glimpse of Nicolae looking at them in confusion. The man was very kind. Even though he was Aleksis' future husband, he did not forcefully approach when Lauriel asked not to be disturbed. He patiently stood in the corner with Vega who was in his arms.

"Your wounds have been treated. Tomorrow you should be able to walk like before." After a while, Lauriel finally said.

"Thank you, Uncle Rory," replied Aleksis.

"Thank you," Alaric also nodded. He still didn't have the heart to call Lauriel father.

Now the awaited moment arrived. The moment of truth.

Lauriel stood up and glanced around the hall. He then gave a signal for everyone to come closer. With faces full of questions, they gathered around them one by one, taking the various comfortable chairs nearby for themselves.

Caspar and Finland's gaze was immediately affixed on Alaric who was situated next to their daughter. Both of them recognized Elios Linden from four years ago, but they had no idea why he was sitting beside her.

Nicolae stepped forward and approached Aleksis. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and asked softly, "What's going on here?"

Aleksis could only hold his hand and rub the back of Nicolae's hand slowly. The man was her best friend, somebody who almost became her life partner. If her husband had not appeared today, she would be married to Nicolae tomorrow...

"Nic ..." Aleksis couldn't find her voice when she spoke. She just paused while holding Nicolae's hand. He remembered how badly broken-hearted he was ten years ago. Learning about her marriage to another man had made him decide to leave for more than five years ...

Of course, the truth that would be revealed today would be very hard on him. The two of them had been together for four years and were almost married ... but now she would have to leave him again since there was no way she could marry him. This was why Aleksis subconsciously kept her grip on his hand.

She hoped to at least reduce Nicolae's sadness from the news that way, by showing him that she was still his best friend and would always be there for him.

Alaric saw the anxiety from Aleksis' eyes and tried his best to refrain from showing negative emotions. He did not want to make her worried once he became angry in front of many people because his wife touched the hands of another man. He could only look away and take a deep breath.

Lauriel noticed everything though and felt sorry for his two children. Who would have thought they would fall in love with the same woman?

"I have important news to announce..." he began. Portia and Ned looked at him. They could guess what he would be saying. It seemed Lauriel already knew that Alaric was his son, they thought.

Everyone looked attentively at Lauriel.

"In 1945, Luna and I talked about the future and then had a fight about something. Luna wanted to settle somewhere whereas I still wanted adventures. At that time she misunderstood my words and thought I didn't want to stay with her to build a family. At that time, the world was hit by the second world war. I just wanted to wait until the world became peaceful again.

She then left me to be with her family. At that time, I didn't know she was pregnant. I just found out from the letter she left me but by then it was too late for me to catch up. Endo and Neo had been trapped in Manchuria and their lives were in danger ... so my priority was to save my people.

I thought Luna would be safe in Germany ..." His voice began to crack due to grief, but Lauriel persisted in his explanations. "But then, there was an airstrike in the city and her family's house was destroyed. I also thought Luna died with everyone ... You guys know what happened afterward."

Caspar nodded, "You were devastated and decided to disappear for decades."

Lauriel took a deep breath, "I didn't know Luna managed to escape to Romania and gave birth to a boy there who was then treated by a hospital doctor and raised as his own child ..."

Nicolae bobbed his head. He could not bear to hear the same story from his father again. It was making him very sad, "Father... you do not need to continue, we already know what occurred."

Lauriel shook his head. "I didn't know that Luna gave birth to our child, so for almost a hundred years I lived miserably, without knowing that my flesh and blood was out there, growing without the love and protection of his parents ..."

"Uncle ..." whispered Aleksis. She could see that her godfather's pair of blue-green eyes were starting to glaze over. Lauriel was a man famous for being cold and tough, but today Aleksis witnessed him looking so fragile and sad several times.

"I met Nicolae ten years ago in Singapore and learned that he was my missing child ... But I did not know that after the doctor at the Romanian hospital took Nicolae from the hospital, and rescued him, Luna was still alive and managed to give birth to another child."

Instantly, there was a cry of surprise from everyone present. Even Portia never thought that her cousin gave birth to twins. Sophia widened her eyes. This was not a development that she had expected.

Finland pressed her lips in astonishment. She looked at Alaric who was sitting next to Aleksis and immediately wondered whether the young man was the child Lauriel was talking about.

"This second child grew up in an orphanage and experienced a very hard life ..." Lauriel's eyes glistened as he looked at Alaric, imagining how difficult it must have been for him to defend himself against the odds. It was in the midst of difficult times after the war and he was alone.

Alaric did not appear to be affected. He only stared at his father with a deadpan look. He was not used to showing his feelings. He had only been provoked earlier so his emotions showed, but now he had returned to his calm and unaffected self.

He was touched by Laurel's sad and devastated expression, but it was hard for him to judge whether his father really did not know about him ten years ago or if this was just all an excuse. This was why he didn't react at all.

Meanwhile, his father's words deeply surprised Nicolae. He never thought he had a twin brother.

He looked at Alaric who was sitting next to Aleksis. His mind immediately made crazy guesses ... Was this man ... his biological brother?

Who was he really? Why did it seem like he and Aleksis were in a special relationship?

"Father ..." called Nicolae. He suddenly felt that Aleksis tightened her grip on his hand, so he turned to the girl, "Aleksis ...?"

Nicolae suddenly had a very bad premonition.