The Alchemists

"You're the only woman I love in this world," he said, and from her eyes and her deep longing, he knew he was also the only man she had ever loved in this world. Both had endured such painful separation and now they would never want to be apart anymore.

They kissed passionately in the alley connecting the hall to the west wing, not caring for anyone anymore. The servants who passed by pretended not to notice and immediately rushed off, not wanting to ruin the two's moment. And when the two lovebirds were done, they kissed again.

The married couple who had been separated for so long, finally, intimately held hands as they went to Aleksis' room, like lovers who had just fallen in love for the first time. Their gazes were only on each other, and anyone who saw them could feel how great the love between the two was.

Earlier, they had to refrain from showing their love and longing for each other. Their reunion was too sudden, so they had to care for the feelings of Aleksis's family, who knew nothing about Alaric and even came to Grosseto to attend her wedding to Nicolae.

They also had to think about Nicolae's feelings. The man must have felt heartbroken because the woman he loved and was going to marry turned out to have been married to his own brother, and Alaric, whom everyone thought had died, was still alive.

Now that their family members had returned to their hotels or went to the east wing, Aleksis and Alaric could freely hold hands and kiss whenever they wanted to. The servants were also understanding enough to give them privacy.

"Welcome. Sorry, my room is a mess..." Aleksis opened the door to her spacious room and invited Alaric to enter. "The children sometimes come to sleep with me, so a lot of their belongings are scattered here."

Alaric nodded with a smile. His own house was very neat and tidy, but he wouldn't mind if it were to become messy because of the presence of the two children. Instead, he couldn't wait to see his house become messed up and filled with Altair and Vega's laughter and tears as they both live and grow up with him.

Aleksis cleaned up the scattered toys and books and arranged them in the cabinet. She then sat on a sofa and patted the side, inviting Alaric to sit.

"When did you arrive in Grosseto?" she asked when Alaric sat next to her, "I didn't know you've met Altair before."

"Hmm... This afternoon. I arrived early and went sightseeing around here. I met him when he was chasing butterflies." Alaric smiled as he recalled his first meeting with Altair, when the child tickled him to speak so Altair could see lavender. "Uhm... He said my voice looks like lavender..."

Touched, Aleksis tilted her head and smiled, "Aww... really? Lavender is my favorite flower."

Alaric nodded slowly. Soon, his face turned gloomy, "I didn't know your favorite flower. There are so many things that I don't know about you, like your birthday, your favorite food... what makes you sad and what makes you happy... "

"Shh... Don't say that. None of that matters. We have a lifetime to know about each other's little things. I'm a very simple person..." Aleksis framed Alaric's face with both hands and lovingly gazed at her husband, "I'm sad when you're not present, and I'm happy when you are. Very simple, isn't it?"

Alaric was stunned. He recalled the events from ten years ago when he had just met Aleksis and was touched by how much she loved him so deeply and unconditionally.

He had never felt so loved by anyone. In the end, the defenses he had built for decades to not open his heart to any woman collapsed, and he had let himself fall in love with Aleksis.

He didn't even think twice when Aleksis asked him to get married. For the very first time in his lonely life, he found someone who understood and accepted himself the way he was.

And now, that person had returned to his life after being gone for ten years.

They stared at each other for a long time, satisfying each other's longing for their beloved's face. Aleksis affectionately stroked Alaric's cheeks, her face showing a look of awe.

"You're so… handsome. I never expected you to be this handsome..." she whispered. "I thought you were an old man with a disfigured face."

Alaric closed his eyes to enjoy Aleksis's caress on his face. He let her trace every line and curve of his smooth and handsome face.

"Thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for not caring about how I look... I'm the luckiest man in the world," he whispered. He then opened his eyes and looked at Aleksis with an apologetic look. "If I could turn back time, I'd like to be honest with you from the start, so that we don't hide from each other and misunderstand, so all the complications never occur..."

"So do I... I'm really sorry. If I had known from the start that you were Uncle Rory's son... He would definitely be happy, and we could've immediately gotten his blessings..." Aleksis uttered in an apologetic tone. "Now that everything has passed, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that you're here with me, and we won't ever part again."

Alaric nodded and pulled Aleksis to his chest. "I won't let that happen."

He was elated when he felt Aleksis's heartbeat resonate with his own. Aleksis' breath slowly began to become irregular, and Alaric realized that his wife felt a deep emotion because she had received zero intimacy from him for a very long time.

He loosened his hands and gently lifted Aleksis's chin, and kissed her lips. Aleksis closed her eyes and enjoyed Alaric's lips on hers for the umpteenth time that day, which somehow didn't feel enough.

She emotionally returned her husband's kiss as tears ran down her cheek. She really missed his body holding her tight, she really missed his lips kissing her, and she really missed Alaric's nice scent and the pleasant touch of his skin.

Alaric was never attracted to other women, no matter how beautiful and sexy they were. Not even to simply satisfy his sexual needs. As one of the most famous 'bachelors' in the world who had unimaginable power and wealth, he had become the target of countless women who were competing to charm him.

Some women even shamelessly spread rumors of their closeness. But truth be told, his cold and hard heart was too difficult to open to love.

He preferred to work and take care of the various future plans he had prepared for the world to take his mind off unnecessary things.

Some of the girls who were swarming around in his life even thought that he was gay, so he wasn't attracted to the opposite sex. Elien Mikhailova, who had repeatedly tried to subtly invite him to sleep with her, almost thought Alaric wasn't sexually attracted to women.

Nobody in this world was perfect, Elien concluded. People who looked so handsome, rich, and powerful like Elios Linden must have their shortcomings behind all their perfections...

Maybe he didn't like the opposite sex. Or maybe he was actually impotent. That's probably why he never cared about me, Elien thought.

Elien had no idea how wrong she was. Alaric was attracted to women, but he only loved one woman in the world. And just as his love didn't come so easily, it didn't go so easily either. Although he thought Aleksis died ten years ago, he couldn't divert his feelings to others.

Now, seeing how the woman he loved had returned to his life and had even become more beautiful over the past ten years, Alaric couldn't contain the turmoil of his long-held passion deep within him. He also felt that Aleksis' body missed him as much as he missed her.

The kiss with Aleksis became more passionate and full of excitement as his tongue entered her mouth. From then on, his every move was filled with lust. A moment later, the two just found themselves intertwined on the sofa with passion and desire engulfing them.

"Uhm ... baby ..." Alaric whispered between his kisses on Aleksis' neck which made her arch her back and moaned in a sultry voice. The feeling of his hot breath on her skin was making her lose her mind. His husky voice sounded very sexy as he asked her in a teasing tone. "Your mother advised us to rest, but I really ... really miss you .. What should we do ...? I will do as you say ..."

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>>>>>>

From the author:

Aw... I feel immense happiness seeing how Alaric finally found his love and be happy again.

By the way, I first wrote this novel on February 18, 2019. Tomorrow, it will be exactly one year ago. Even though I went hiatus for 4 months and switch to Indonesian, the fact was this novel was initially written in English and this was the original version.

I wanted to write about immortal people because I was inspired by Altered Carbon, the TV show on Netflix. It tells a story about people in the future who can live for hundreds of years by preserving their core and just clone their bodies to look young forever. It's an awesome show. Very dark though.

In the beginning, I only wanted to write about Finland and Caspar. It was a simple story about a poor girl who met a prince. A Cinderella cliche, you know. The world-building is even simpler than Cinderella, there was no castle, no stepmother and ugly sisters, etc., it shared the same universe as us.

She was just a regular career woman, working hard to make ends meet, like most of us. The places used as the setting for this story were made as close as possible to the originals, I didn't even need to rack my brain for it... hehe.

But as the story progressed, it changed a lot from my original plan. The story which was supposed to start in 2018 and end in 2019 just kept moving forward that suddenly we are already in 2049.. ahahaha. How did that happen?

After Caspar and Finland's story ended, suddenly Aleksis and her brothers became too interesting not to write about. So I wrote about her and added her prince charming (which was supposed to be Nicolae, but later Alaric showed up out of nowhere).

Uh oh.. by the way, thank you so much for your patience with their love story. Alaric and Aleksis were separated in chapter 336 in November 16, 2019 and only reunited in chapter 533, published in February 11, 2020.

You have endured for three months and 197 chapters for their reunion. Well done!

The waiting was painful, but I hope the reward was worth it. From chapter 533 onward, only good things will happen. There will be some face slappings and heartwarming scenes all the way until the end. Volume 2 will end in chapter 580, including 3 extra chapters about Lauriel and Luna.

So, what's next? A year ago, I didn't know I could write this much. But I guess, never say never! After Volume 2 ends, I will continue with the story of London Schneider. He is quite a funny guy and I am sure you'll love him to bits.

Again, thank you for reading and supporting this book. Tomorrow, let's celebrate its one year anniversary by reading not one but TWO steamy chapters... bahahaha.