The Alchemists

The girls were not the only people who were puzzled. Most people in attendance thought Nicolae Medici was the groom since they knew he was Lauriel's son, the only successor of the Medici family. But now, he was standing in the party as one of the guests.

Was he not the real groom?

Then why the invitation said it was the wedding between the son of the Medici family and the daughter of the Schneider family?

Who was this daughter? Why was she ever announced? And who was the son that was about to marry her if it was not Nicolae? Was there another son in the Medici family?

Who was he? How mysterious!

Both the bride and the groom were like pieces of a puzzle that were making everyone curious.

Meanwhile, Kit Blue, who was sitting with her father and mother, looked very agitated. She had seen Ned and Portia among the guests but she had not seen Elios Linden.

He was supposed to come with Ned and Portia, wasn't he? Or was he not invited?

But that should not be possible!

It had been a long time since Kit met Eli and she really hoped that this time she would get another chance to speak with him. Maybe after this wedding, her family could once again urge Ned and Portia to formalize her engagement with Eli. Kit had been waiting for four years and her patience was running thin.

Kit finally could not take it anymore and forced her mother and father to approach Ned and Portia who seemed to be having a conversation with the host family.

"Good evening, Lord Ned and Lady Portia," Kit bowed like a royal princess before Ned and Portia, smiling sweetly. "I hope you are both well."

Ned nodded at Lex and his wife. Portia also smiled and hugged Kit. "We're fine. How have you been?"

"We've been good too." Kit then looked around her, pretending that she just noticed the situation, "Hmm ... is Eli here, Lady Portia? We haven't seen him around."

Portia raised one of her eyebrows and almost grumbled about the guy in question in front of the Blue family since he seemed to be taking his sweet time to make an appearance, but she held back. "He's already here. He should be out soon."

"Ohh ... I can't wait to see him!" Kit exclaimed enthusiastically.

The girl's voice caught Lauriel and Finland's attention. They realized that Kit had feelings for Alaric but did not know that the young man she liked would formalize his marriage this afternoon.

"I remember you," Lauriel commented, "You also came to a party at this place four years ago, didn't you? At that time, I was announcing my son, Nicolae."

Kit turned to the man and nodded. "That's right, Lord Lauriel. How's Nicolae doing? I met him several years ago at Reykjavik airport together with ... what's her name, the girl who has twins ..."

"Oh, you mean Aleksis?" Lauriel asked.

Kit Blue immediately frowned. She really didn't like remembering the lowly girl who had taken Nicolae away from her.

"Oh, is her name Aleksis? Sorry, I'm not used to remembering the names of servants," Kit said apologetically. "Yes, maybe she's the one."

"Servant?" Finland frowned and turned to Kit Blue's face, giving her a look of dislike. "You said, Aleksis is a servant?"

Her voice sounded very cold and it shocked Kit. She hurriedly apologized, because she did not want to offend the host. "Ahh ... I'm sorry, Mrs. Schneider. I just came to that conclusion. At that time she was serving guests and arranging the servants."

"Of course she catered to guests, because she's the lady of the house," grumbled Finland. She was very annoyed hearing her daughter subtly insulted. Her impression of the girl before her just reached an all-time low. "She's not a spoiled brat who could only order people to do things for her."

Portia patted Finland's shoulder to calm her down. "Please don't get offended... this child is stupid, forgive her ignorance. Let's welcome Aleksis. They have arrived."

She pointed at the front door of the castle where they could see several servants signaling that the bride and groom were ready. Caspar and Lauriel looked at each other and smiled broadly.

"They are indeed a strange pair. Alaric should have waited for his bride in front, while the bride would march in the aisle with her father." Lauriel commented.

"I thought they wouldn't ever come out," Caspar replied with a laugh. "But, alright. At least, the wedding can proceed."

He gave a sign and Aldebar who was on a small stage in the center of the beautiful garden immediately nodded. He ordered the musicians to get ready and start playing the wedding march. It redirected the guests' attention to the wedding again.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. We, from the Schneider and Medici families, are very thankful because you all so graciously allotted us some of your time to witness our children's wedding." Aldebar seemed very happy seeing that most of the guests were enjoying the party refreshments he made. "Actually, our children have been married for quite a long time, so today's event is just a feast to celebrate their wedding and to announce it publicly ..."

The guests immediately showed a deep interest in what Aldebar announced.

The supposed bride and groom were already married? Why hadn't they heard of it before? They didn't even know that the Medici and Schneider families had other children.

Caspar signaled Nicolae, Terry, London, and Rune. They all nodded back at him. The four young men immediately moved to take their place as the groomsmen.

"Please, excuse us. We're getting ready for our part," Terry said, bowing slightly to Shekina and her friends. Nicolae just waved to them and followed his friend towards the front of the stage.

In the original plan, when Nicolae was still supposed to be the groom, Terry, London and Rune would be the groomsmen, but now, the situation changed. Alaric was the one going to marry Aleksis. Nicolae could only take the role of the best man for the groom, his own brother.

When the four handsome young men lined up neatly before the stage and the musicians began to play wedding songs, the guests promptly realized that the wedding was about to begin.

The garden within the Medici's vast and very beautiful castle had been prepared exquisitely for the wedding. At the center, there was a small stage with a beautiful pergola adorned with thousands of roses and lavender flowers that they still somehow managed to find in this early autumn.

There were dozens of musicians making a semicircular arc behind the pergola. Hundreds of party chairs were arranged into two rows on the left and right side of the beautiful aisle decorated with flower petals. Candles and lanterns were spread throughout the garden, making the atmosphere very romantic.

Kara and Jadeith came in with Altair and Vega. They approached Finland, and then together with Ned and Portia they moved to sit in front of the wedding altar, on the side meant for the bride's family.

The twins themselves already attracted so much attention from the guests. People were wondering why they were sitting with the host and who their parents were.