The Alchemists

Sunday afternoon, Finland had to bid farewell to her home for the past 3.5 months, a beautiful pavilion behind Rose Mansion. She moved in to the second floor and shared a room with Caspar.

The room was over 120 square meters in size with lots of space to sit and relax. Finland's favorite place was the large, beautiful sofa overlooking the top veranda. It had the most comfortable seat and the best view.

"This is also my favorite place to sit to do light work," Caspar said. "We have the same taste."

"Ahahah... what a coincidence." Finland said.

"What about the lessons on how to have fun taught by Jean? Have you had enough?" Caspar asked as he sat next to Finland and laid his head on her lap, "I can continue the curriculum if Jean left before the lesson is complete."

"Hmm... we watched a lot of movies, we did some bar-hopping, we went wakeboarding, well, he did the wakeboarding and I watched from the side, then we went to Universal Studios." Finland recalled, "It feels like we have done a lot of things... Oh! And you took me to the Singapore Flyer to eat. Maybe the next time we can go to a museum or take a vacation somewhere else..."

"I promised to take you on vacation at the end of November. Next week." said Caspar, reminding her, "Remember that I asked for three days of your time for giving you the entire House of La Pearl collection at that time?"

"Ah yes... right. I have to apply for leave tomorrow for the end of November. Where are we going?"

"That is a secret." Caspar replied calmly. "All you need to do is apply for leave and bring your most beautiful smile."

"Ahahaha... are you still working on the 'Make Finland Smile' project?" Finland asked. She rarely saw Caspar taking photos of her now.

"I am. I'll take another good photo later." Caspar cleared his throat, "On December 31st, when we get married in Germany, it will be exactly 6 months after the project started. Make Finland Smile. Mission accomplished."

Finland just smiled listening to his explanation. She rubbed Caspar's hair on her lap.

That's true. Compared to 4.5 months ago, she now smiled a lot more. Most of her smiles were caused by the man whose head now rested on her lap.

***

Monday, Finland felt Tony's attitude somewhat different towards her. She could not decide whether it was a look of pity or hate... Every time they passed each other Tony would sigh.

Maybe Tony still thought Finland was a wealthy old businessman's mistress after Finland rejected his love and went home in a luxury car.

Finland recalled that after dinner at De Lune last Friday, Tony confessed his love for her, and at the same time asked Finland to move to the US with him to help Tony lead the company there.

If Finland didn't have Caspar by her side, she would gladly accept the offer to relocate to US provided Tony paid the fine for her not completing her full responsibility of working in Singapore for three years.

Finland really wanted to see the world and US was a place full of possibilities. If Jean switched to acting, someday he would also move to US.

However, Finland will never return Tony's love. Although she harbored a crush on him when she was in college, her feelings were completely eroded when she found out that Tony was aware that Noah was repeatedly harassing Finland during dinner, but did nothing.

For Finland this was a fatal mistake. She couldn't be with a man who didn't respect and defend her.

She was very happy because Caspar wasn't like that at all. He was always ready to protect and stand up for her.

As an orphaned girl who had to work hard and defend herself, for the first time in her life, Finland could feel a sense of peace for not having to put up her guard all the time. she could finally relax a little because she had someone to protect her.

Her protector was very powerful, and yet very lowkey, which was a perfect combination so that people would not be too careful around them. Noah was a perfect example for this.

If at that time he had known right away who the man having dinner with Finland at Moon Restaurant was, he would never have dared to poke at Finland in front of him. Caspar was far more powerful than his boss, Sam Atlas, the owner of Atlas Corp, and yet no one knew him.

After lunch, Finland applied for a two-day leave to HR. Because they did not have any events planned on those dates and due to her good working performance, Ms. Song allowed her to take leave for two days.

With a two-day leave plus the weekend, Finland and Caspar could enjoy a four-day holiday together.

"Just bring lots of summer dresses, we will sunbathe all day long on the beach while reading a book," Caspar said as he put some clothes, swimming equipment and snorkel gear into his Louis Vuitton duffel bag.

"Are we going to Bali?" Finland asked excitedly. She had only been to Bali once, when she was in high school. It was a school trip and all students had to travel to Bali for their senior year.

She didn't have to pay for the trip because, as a poor student, she was subsidized. But the insults and bullying she received from Meilin and her gang at that time left a deep scar in her heart.

"No... this is better than Bali," Caspar said with a secretive smile. "If you want we can also go to Bali for one night. After we have fun in this special place, that is."

Finland was very excited to hear that. Better than Bali? Was that even possible? Bali had won numerous awards as the best island in the world and one of the top tourist destinations.