The Alchemists

"I don't like crowds," Alaric complained as he washed Aleksis' back inside the large marble bathtub in her bathroom. "Can we just run away?"

As a punishment for making them late, Alaric took responsibility for bathing the two of them. Yet Aleksis immediately regretted giving him such work because it turned out that Alaric was deliberately slowing them down.

"Jeez ... you did it on purpose, huh?" she grumbled, turning her head to face Alaric who was now looking at her with his pair of purple eyes that glimmered like a puppy's. For a moment Aleksis was stunned. She had never seen this side of him before.

Gosh ... how could her husband be so adorable, she wondered in amusement. Wasn't Alaric famous for being so cold and indifferent? But in such a short time, Aleksis saw him smile, laugh, and now he was even teasing her by pretending to sulk.

She really liked this new Alaric.

"We ... are too late, Honey," Aleksis persuaded him, her hand caressed his face, which was sporting a rather sullen expression. "I promise, this is the last one. After this party, we can live in solitude and we don't have to meet anyone else. There would only be you and me and the children."

Finally, Alaric relented and ten minutes later, they were back in their room, preparing to attend the wedding their family had prepared for them. Alaric's clothes and other necessities had been delivered to her bedroom so he immediately dressed up.

He looked even more dashing in the casual party get up adorned with various badges and emblems from the Linden, Lewis, and Baden families. His face looked moved when he noticed a Medici emblem and badge in his clothes. It must be Lauriel who pinned it there.

Ah, yes ... he was actually a royal from the Medici family. Now he had found his family.

The bride and groom were not supposed to see each other until the wedding day, but both of them refused to separate even if only for a brief moment. Because the two were already married, they did not feel the need to follow traditions.

Aleksis also refused the help of the servants to help her dress up, so she wore her wedding dress with the help of her husband who happily buttoned it up and put on her shoes for her. 

It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon when the two finally walked out of the room, ready for the occasion as they strode forward arm in arm.

"The young miss is out," a servant reported to the Schneider couple who were enjoying wine with Lauriel, Ned and Portia. The five of them almost gave up expecting their children to come out and attend the wedding party prepared for them.

"Gosh ... finally," Portia exclaimed, looking amused. She looked around the garden and saw that the guests who were eating and drinking while chatting happily. "I think the guests are very nervous."

Finland just sighed. "Luckily we have Aldebar's party refreshment, a lot of people are entertained ..."

Aldebar's party refreshment had indeed become very popular among the Alchemists who had never had an idea of how it was like to get old. In the last hour, many drank it and had fun showing each other how they would look like if they were to age and get wrinkles, like ordinary humans.

***

Nicolae and Terry soon became the stars of the party the moment they arrived. Many people recognized the handsome Terry as the current president of the Schneider Group who had already repeatedly won the World's Most Eligible Bachelor award. Since Nicolae was already taken, all the girls wanted to be his girlfriend instead.

"Why did Nicolae come together with Terry to this party?" Many people wondered about the Medici heir's unusual entrance. "Isn't he the one getting married today? Why is he not appearing with the bride?"

A group of beautiful girls who had been watching them summoned their courage to intercept the two dashing men. 

"Good evening, Nicolae and Terry ... how are you?" Alexandra asked, representing her friends.

The girl was very beautiful. She had a sexy slender figure with curves in all the right places. Her long hair which resembled honey in color, at first glance, would make her look like Aleksis. She had a pair of brilliant heterochromatic eyes, a combination of green and gray colors, rendering Nicolae in a daze. Alexandra blushed at the man who was staring at her with a complicated look.

Terry immediately elbowed his best friend and whispered, "You're giving her false hopes. Don't look at other girls like that."

"Ah ... well, how is it your business?" Nicolae ignored him. He knew the only reason he was paying attention to the girl in front of him was that she resembled Aleksis, but he did not feel the need to deliberately avoid Alexandra because she looked like the girl he loved. He nodded at the woman and smiled, "Good evening. Sorry, we don't know your names yet."

Alexandra exchanged glances with her friends. They giggled flirtatiously and flashed sweet smiles at each other, "Uhm ... my name is Alexandra, and these are my friends, Shekina and Lyana."

Oh, even her name is similar, Nicolae thought, shaking his head. Terry also realized what was happening. This girl, Alexandra must have thought Nicolae liked her. Yet in actuality, Nicolae was just amazed upon seeing someone appear rather similar to Aleksis.

Terry was not at all interested in his younger sister's look-alike. But the one named Shekina seemed pretty decent, he thought. Shekina looked very beautiful and her body was tall and slim, like that of a supermodel. Physically, she was exactly like the type of girl he liked.

"Hi, Shekina, nice to meet you," Terry said, gesturing to the waiter to bring them drinks. He didn't bother to greet Lyana, who had freckles, and Alexandra whom he saw attracted to Nicolae.

"Ahh, thank you ..." Shekina smiled as she took the glass of wine that Terry passed to her. The latter fetched her the drink from the tray of one of the servants.

The five of them now stood together under several rose trees that were filled with flowers. They enjoyed drinks together, accompanied by the envious gazes of many other girls who regretted not approaching Terry and Nicolae first.

"Uhmm ... is this really a wedding?" Shekina asked after their small talks. "I don't understand why from the very beginning of the party, none of the hosts looked like they had prepared a wedding ... there isn't even a word about the marriage ceremony at all. It's quite confusing ..."

Terry only gave his best friend on his behalf and then responded to the girl who just spoke. "Uhm ... actually we also don't know whether there will be a wedding or not. The bride and groom are missing."

"What?" The three girls looked very surprised.

"Wait, you guys are from the Schneider and Medici families, right?" Lyana asked, looking confused, "I thought you were the one getting married. Does the Medici family have other sons? Or did the bride run away so the party is going to be canceled?"

Nicolae shook his head, "No, it will not be canceled. You must be patient. Terry was just joking. The bride and groom are getting ready."

"Oh ..." The three girls still appeared puzzled. They had originally thought that Nicolae was going to be the groom. However, he instead came over as a guest, which meant that either the wedding was going to be canceled, or it was actually not for Nicolae ...

Did that mean the Medici family have another son?