The Alchemists

Finland and Caspar enjoyed their meal while updating each other about the events that happened when he was away. Caspar asked Finland about her meeting with Jean and Katia. He held his promise and did not find out information about her using his extraordinary access, so he had to ask her directly to find out what happened.

"Jean has returned to Paris; Katia too," Finland said. "Actually, Katia took me to dinner the other day and we talked a little about you... She said that she still loves you."

"That's her problem," Caspar responded. "I don't love Katia and I admit that what I did to her was wrong. I thought the feeling I had for her 50 years ago was love, but I was never sure. When she left me 6 months ago I became more convinced that what I felt for her was not love. After I met you... I know for sure that I never loved her. Finland, you are the only woman I've ever loved."

Finland sipped her wine slowly as she heard Caspar confess his love for her for the umpteenth time.

"How can you be so sure?" Finland asked him.

"I am sure, because for the first time in my life, I have never thought of other women beside you. I have met thousands of women in my long life and no one has ever made me suffer like you..." Caspar said. "Since I met you, I've never been with other women. Now I see other women differently. It's like seeing trees, or chairs, or cars. I look at them as if they are inanimate objects."

"How do I make you suffer?" Finland asked, not quite understanding what he meant.

"You make me suffer because you are always on my mind, while we know I am never on your mind. It's been so long and you still haven't responded to my love confessions," Caspar answered with a slight protest.

"Maybe that's the reason... you have never actually been rejected by a woman before. All the women you were interested in fell in love with you almost instantly and wanted to marry you... So now, when for the first time you meet a woman who didn't fall for you right away, your heart feels interested and challenged. It wants to conquer the only person who didn't fall in love with you and doesn't want to be your wife... " Finland said again. "It's also not love. Because in that case, once I return your love, your heart will feel satisfied because you managed to conquer me like those other women, and the feelings you have now will disappear..."

Caspar looked at Finland for a long time. He did not deny the girl's words. He had never met a woman who had not fallen in love with him. Finland was the first girl who didn't give him that adoring look and wanted to be his wife...

But he was very sure that what he felt for her was love, not just a desire to conquer.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how to convince the girl...

"I don't know how I can convince you..." he said then with a sigh.

Damn you, Karma! he thought, irritated.

Caspar tried to change the subject. He did not want to linger on topics about Katia and how many women he had hurt in the past four hundred years.

As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words, so he was determined to prove that he really loved her. He would stop talking about it and he would start showing his love.

"I can buy a lot of things that I like," Caspar said, raising his empty glass. A waiter quickly came and swiftly poured more champagne, "I bought Continental Hotel because I like the food at this Moon Restaurant. So far the return on investment is good."

"Is that so? It must be really nice to be able to buy whatever you want," Finland said jealously.

She thought of all the things she wanted in life but could not afford, even though they were cheap.

She was reminded of her school uniform that was already too small, shoes that had holes, a school bag that was too old to accommodate her school books... all those things showed her pauperism when she was in school and made her the bullying target of the rich girls...

She could only swallow hard as she tried to forget the bad experiences of her past.

"Unfortunately, not everything I want can be bought..." Caspar said. "Often, the most valuable things in life cannot be valued with money."

"For example?" Finland could not think of anything that could not be bought with Caspar's wealth.

Example? Your heart, Caspar said to himself.

Caspar did not reply her question and only kept that thought in his mind. He did not want to sound cheesy.

"Do you think my decision to buy this hotel is good or not?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know. You said that the return on investment of this hotel was good. Doesn't that mean that your decision to buy the hotel was a good decision?" Finland answered. "Have you ever bought anything and regretted it?"

Caspar frowned at the question. "Hmm... I have never regretted buying something, but indeed not everything I bought made a profit. For example, I once bought a house at a price that was too expensive just because I was annoyed by the people who lived there. It belonged to an annoying couple who often played music loudly when other people wish to sleep."

"Oh..." Finland smiled at that. Rich people's problems, she thought.

It's true, no person had a perfect life.

She was just about to ask for her glass to be refilled when a man from the table at the other end waved at her. Without her realizing, he had been watching her for some time.

Finland squinted to take a better look and realized that it was Noah, the guy from Atlas Corp who was trying to flirt with her during dinner at De Lune. Apparently, he and his two colleagues from Atlas were having dinner at this restaurant. Finland nodded to them for courtesy.

She did not know what to expect when Noah and Jonathan started walking towards their table.