The Alchemists

London finally felt the downside of being a new father. That night, Lily woke up 5 times because she was hungry and once because she pooped. He didn't think such a tiny baby's body could produce so much waste. Luckily, he had practiced changing a baby's diapers well, so he didn't have too much trouble.

What made his task difficult was the fact that his sleep was a complete mess. He had only slept for an hour when the sound of weak crying from his side would make him wake up.

His phone connected to the baby translator machine indicated that Lily was hungry, so he hurriedly carried Lily so the baby would stop crying then tiptoed into the kitchen to warm a bottle of milk.

Lily initially refused to drink the milk from a bottle, but because of her father's persistence, the baby finally relented and s.u.c.k.e.d the milk from the bottle. While drinking, her eyes never left her father's face, and her nimble hands rubbed his cheeks as he stared back with a look of admiration.

After ten minutes of drinking milk, Lily would lie comfortably and unconsciously release her lips from her milk bottle. Her sleepy father would wake up immediately and take her back to her room and lay her very carefully in the baby cot.

London would go back to sleep, and two hours later, just as he was about to sleep, Lily would cry again because she was hungry. After the third time, London had moved almost automatically like a robot when he carried Lily into the kitchen and prepared her milk. Lily would repeat this routine nearly every two hours.

Inwardly, London was grateful L only gave birth to one child. He couldn't imagine the inconvenience experienced by Alaric because he had to take care of the twins at once. It must be really tiring, he thought. No wonder his brother-in-law now didn't want to take care of his business and handed over everything to his four foster children.

***

"You didn't sleep last night?" L asked when she woke up in the morning. She noticed the dark circles under London's eyes. "Was Lily very troublesome?"

London opened one eye and shook his head. "Not at all. Lily is the sweetest baby in the world."

He then went back to sleep.

L just giggled when she saw him go to sleep. She then took Lily from her bed and took her out to sunbathe. With Lily sitting on her l.a.p in the middle of their garden, L sang a number of songs with her beautiful voice. Lily seemed to really enjoy her mother's voice. Her gaze never left L's face.

London, who heard L's voice from outside, felt like he was being lulled. His sleep became increasingly deep.

He just left for the office when it was very late. His mother and Rune had come to help at his home. They had ordered digital household assistant system. In addition, he also needed help to cook fresh and healthy food for L so she could produce enough b.r.e.a.s.tmilk for Lily. That's why he was very grateful that his family's mansion was very close to their home.

***

In his large room, London was scrutinizing Jan's report on the Swann family's business and the collection of information about Caroline Wendell and her family.

"John Wendell was a close friend of Danny's father when he was still in college. His family actually still came from a nobleman lineage, but they were poor, so they weren't respected by other people. His father spent all his family's wealth on gambling. John was insulted by many of their relatives because his family fell into poverty. Maybe that's why he wants to target the Swann family's wealth by uniting their children so he'll be able to restore the honor of the Wendell family," Jan commented.

"Hm... it could be." London nodded. "People like him would normally like to approach rich and powerful people to use them. What's John Wendell's job?"

"At present, he's one of the directors of the hospital owned by the Swann family. What do you have in mind?" Jan asked attentively. He knew from his boss' expression that London was thinking of a plan to avenge L by punishing those who had wronged her.

"Find a way to work together with their hospital so we could pave a relationship. We can set up Berlin Metropole Hospital and get their hospital to partner, or whatever. You know better. People like John Wendell will certainly be happy to have ties with the Schneider family. Don't rush, don't let them suspect we have any intention towards them. You can slowly approach the two families. Later, I'll hold a big event and you can invite them. We'll make John Wendell think I'm interested in his daughter. "

Jan's eyes sparkled when he heard his boss. This was really a good plan. If John thought London Schneider was interested in Caroline, surely he would consider the Schneider family more valuable to pursue than the Swann family. He would definitely throw the Swann family away.

Along with the process of their investigation, London and Jan would be able to find out whether Danny and his family was involved in the murder of L's family, or if it was purely John Wendell's plans and actions.

If Danny and the Swann family were involved, it would be very easy to punish them. London would make them all go bankrupt and go to jail easily. But if the Swann family was really not involved, then they, too, were victims, and London would be guilty of condemning them.

He felt no need to rush since he would marry L soon, and they had started their lives together in peace. He didn't want to rush to take reveng for L. Vengeance done carefully and well-planned would be far more satisfying than just simply punishing the culprit.

"Take care of the cooperation I was referring to. Give me a report every day on how far the progress has gone."

"Yes, Sir."

After taking care of a lot of work that he had neglected for these past few weeks, London returned to his penthouse. He asked Leon and Dean, two of his bodyguards, to help bring his personal belongings from the penthouse.

He had planned to make his house with L in Grunewald their primary residence. Later, after he and L got married, he would move to L's bedroom and use his present room as a walk-in closet for their clothes and personal items.

***

When he arrived back home in the afternoon, London was surprised to see that an unexpected guest had found herself stopping by Grunewald.

"Hey... when did you come?" London asked, smiling broadly and hugging his sister, Aleksis, who was sitting relaxed on the terrace with Finland and L over tea. "Where are the children?"

He looked around and immediately realized his father was rocking Lily in his arms while making strange faces to make the little baby laugh. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, because Lily couldn't laugh and just looked at him with a frown.

Meanwhile, at the corner of the garden, Alaric could be seen sitting in a recliner in the gazebo while holding Scotland on his c.h.e.s.t. His hands stroked the head of his baby, who was fast asleep, while Rune sat next to him reading a book to Ireland. The baby boy could be seen yawning widely numerous times.

"Wow... everyone's here. I'm so happy..." London murmured in a voice that couldn't contain his happiness.