The Alchemists

Caspar and Finland, together with Lauriel, decided to stay longer at Targu Mures because they wanted to enjoy more time with their grandchildren. The two men spent a lot of time exploring together accompanied by Altair and Vega, while Finland helped Aleksis with Ireland and Scotland.

Finland was very fond of her youngest grandsons because, for the first time, she felt like she finally had family members who looked like her. Caspar and all her children have mostly European appearances, while Finland was the only one with half Asian and half European look.

That was also one of the reasons why Finland really liked L. The girl was half Japanese from her mother's side, and she looked like Finland. Unfortunately, the love story between London and L did not go smoothly so Finland could not expect to have L as her a daughter-in-law.

Now, with Ireland and Scotland taking after her in looks, with both having brown eyes and brown hair and slight Oriental features, Finland felt very happy. She did not mind at all if people thought the two babies were her own sons.

Ahh .. that got her thinking about her husband who kept teasing her to have another child. Finland blushed when she remembered Caspar's expression whenever he suggested them to make more babies.

She was not at all interested in giving birth for the fourth time. She'd prefer to help raise her grandchildren to having more of her own. Aleksis had given them four grandchildren and London gave them one, made a total of five. That was good enough for her.

Inwardly, she hoped that Rune would not rush in finding love and also would not make the same mistakes as London. London wasn't careful enough and that resulted in the birth of an unplanned child. His life now had become complicated because of that one time mistake, and Lily couldn't live in a complete happy family because her parents were too young to get married.

***

When London arrived back at Grunewald, he found L was waiting for him in the living room of his family's mansion. The girl's face looked tired, but her eyes immediately glowed with joy when she saw Lily.

"Ahh .. Lily !! I miss you so much ..." she exclaimed as she rose and welcomed London who was walking in while carrying Lily in her baby basket.

"How did you know what time I'll be back?" asked London in surprise.

"Jan Van Der Ven," L replied, taking the basket from the man's hands. "Let me take Lily home."

Ugh .. London really wanted to object because he still wanted to be with Lily, but seeing the look on L's face, he could tell that the woman really missed her child. London finally relented.

"I'll take you home," he replied. 

London walked out and pulled the car key out of his pocket. Even though their house was close by, he knew it's not good for L to walk from here to her house because other people could see and recognize her. For wealthy people and famous celebrities, their privacy was paramount.

Hmm ... should he buy the houses that connect their two homes and create a private corridor so that he and L could walk back and forth to their respective homes without having to fear being seen?

I can do that, he thought.

L did not refuse London's offer. She put the baby basket on the car seat and strapped it properly before sitting in the front seat. In less than 5 minutes, she was already unstrapping the basket from the car seat because they had arrived in her home.

"This ... isn't practical," L murmured softly.

"What did you say?" asked London, who caught her murmur.

L hurriedly shook her head. "Nothing. It is okay..."

"I have ears and I clearly heard you say something," said London. "I wonder what you said."

"It's not important. It's nothing ..." L took the basket with Lily on it and brought it inside. She turned to London, who was still standing next to his car and was just about to take out Lily's belongings, and asked him, "Have you had dinner?"

London shook his head. There was always food at his parents' mansion. Even though his father was still in Targu Mures, their refrigerator was always filled with delicious and healthy food. For him, dinner now was not important because he did not like eating alone. Rune already said that he wanted to go straight to Uncle Aldebar's place and would only return tomorrow.

"Do you want to have dinner here?" asked L. "I am cooking."

London was stunned to hear this offer. He knew L didn't really like cooking. 

"Hmm ... what will you cook?" he asked curiously.

"I'll cook steak because it's easy ..." L said in a doubtful tone as if she wasn't sure of her own cooking.

Finally, London shrugged. "All right. I can eat dinner here, so I can see Lily longer."

He finally took out Lily's belongings from the car and brought them to the house, following L. The two staff he hired to help L greeted him from inside the house. They then resigned to their respective pavilions and gave their employers privacy.

"I will bathe Lily and feed her, then cook dinner," L said, taking Lily to her room.

London just nodded. He entered the kitchen and looked at the contents of the refrigerator. Hmm ... the RMI automation system was really nice, he thought. All the ingredients were neatly stored and there were records of what they contain and when the system will order the next supply.

He missed this kitchen because he had many warm moments with L and Lily during the three months they lived together. He liked the kitchen arrangement that led to the garden. The dining table was of the right size for a small family, and it always felt so nice, having their meals there.

London noticed that L did not change the order in this house after he moved. That made him rather happy. The man's mood became so good that he voluntarily opened the refrigerator and took out ingredients from it.

Hmm ... he could see potatoes, various green vegetables, and ingredients for making salads. 

Gosh ... she said she wanted to cook steak, but why is the meat still frozen? London grumbled inwardly.

He took out two pieces of premium beef from the freezer and placed them in the microwave to thaw the meat. In a short time, London had been chopping vegetables and boiling potatoes.

L was very surprised when she entered the kitchen half an hour later and found London was making mashed potatoes and preparing a salad bowl. She also saw two pieces of thawed meat on the cutting board, ready to grill.

"Eh .. what are you doing?" asked the girl in surprise.

"I'm cooking dinner," London said. He hurriedly added excuses. "I'm starving and can't wait for you."

"B ... but I should be the one to cook for you, you just got home from traveling, and you must be tired of taking care of Lily this weekend." L really looked uneasy because this man took the trouble to cook for them, again.

London Schneider was the owner of the massive Schneider Group and every second of his time was very valuable ... but this man had spent more than half an hour in her kitchen making food for them. 

I wonder what people would say if they find out ... L muttered inwardly.

"If you really feel guilty, you can cook dinner for me tomorrow," London said nonchalantly. "Now, you're too late. I am almost done."

L couldn't say anything. She only nodded slowly and asked in a low voice, "Can I help you?"

"It's okay. It's almost done. You just sit and arrange the mashed potatoes and salad. I'll bring the steak in three minutes," London said, pointing at the salad bowl.

L nodded. She brought the items referred to by London and set the dining table for them to have dinner together.

She secretly remembered the past when they still lived in that simple apartment in the city center, when London was still pretending to be a poor photographer. It felt like such a long time ago.

London actually was remembering the same thing. Really, he felt happier when they were still living in his simple apartment because his relationship with L was still very good. Now, they each lived in a magnificent and beautiful mansion, but they were not together.

It somehow reminded him of the furthest distance.

"The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death but when I stand in front of you yet you don't know that I love you."