The Alchemists

"Oh, I see ..." L said, nodding. She still hadn't given up even though London replied to her questions curtly. She asked him again. "Have you read the news lately?"

At first, London wanted to lie and say no, but finally, he chose to be honest.

"Yes, I did read a number of articles ... and videos," he said.

"I have nothing to do with Kitaro," L said suddenly. London looked up in surprise at L's urgent tone. "In the interview video - when he said that he likes me, I actually wanted to make a video to counter it... but Pammy and all the bosses at Brilliant Mind Media said that being rumored as Kitaro's love interest would be good for my career. Evidently the popularity index today shows that my popularity is rising so high and my music sells more..."

London tried to refrain from snorting. He also knew that, so he didn't block all the gossip about Kitaro and L. That alone made him quite upset today. Now he had to hear the same thing from the girl.

"I know ..." he said curtly. He did not want to prolong the problem.

L seemed relieved to hear London's reply.

"I've also talked to Danny Swann to cancel the engagement between us ..." L continued. London looked at L questioningly. It seemed like L deliberately waited for him today so they could eat together to talk about many things. What exactly did she want?

"Then?" London asked her curtly. He already knew that there was no way Danny would break off the engagement with L because it meant he had to give half of his inheritance to L.

"He said he didn't want to cancel it because he had promised his grandfather before he died. Danny did not want to be unfilial. His parents had both passed away early and his grandfather was the only one who was raising him ..." L's face was covered with grief. "He offered me to enter a contract marriage with him for a year, just to fulfill his grandfather's will. After one year, we will get divorced. Then he and I will not have anything to do with each other..."

Instantly the spoon in London's hand fell from his hand and hit the floor with a loud noise. His face immediately flushed with anger.

Lily, who was shocked by the sound of the spoon fell the floor, immediately cried. London hurriedly got up from his chair and carried Lily to calm her down.

The anger that had filled his c.h.e.s.t suddenly disappeared. He did not want Lily to feel the rage from her father's body while she was in London's arms.

"Then ... will you accept his request?" London asked L again. His tone clearly sounded displeased.

"I ... I have no choice. He said we don't even need to live in the same house, just for the sake of formalities to fulfill our grandfather's promises. I've been desperately trying to ask him to break off the engagement for months but Danny always refused. He finally offered this contract marriage as a way out ..." L said in a frustrated tone. "If I don't accept it, he will expose everything to the media. He will tell everyone that I am his fiancée and that I cheated on him by giving birth to another man's child ..."

"Nonsense!" London blurted angrily. "Why do you care so much about other men, but never care about me? Why don't you just leave that Danny guy? Why do you care about his 'promise' to his grandfather? To hell with that promise!! He forced you to marry him not because he wants to be a filial grandchild, but because of money!"

"Money? What do you mean? You know I'm not rich, right? The Swann family has helped my family a lot ... Danny can look for any woman if he wants, but he doesn't do it. He even broke up with the woman he loved to fulfill his grandfather's will. ... " L shook her head. She thought London was overreacting and didn't want to understand her point of view.

"Maybe it is not important for you to keep promises to people who have died because your family is immortal ... You will never understand how it feels to be like regular people. Do you know why I never lie? Because I promised my father .. I promised him that I will grow up with integrity and be an honest person for the rest of my life! I can keep going with life because of my promise to my father."

"This has nothing to do with my family being immortal or not ..." London became more upset. He was eager to tell L about Grandpa Swann's will which left half of his wealth to her if Danny did not marry L and the motives behind Danny's persistence to marry.

He wanted her to know that Danny only did it so as not to lose half of his inheritance. London wanted to say that Danny didn't break up with his girlfriend, Caroline, to be a filial grandson. Far from it!

But he was afraid that if he revealed everything to L, the girl would come to Danny and confront him for the truth. This might reach John Wendell's ears.

London couldn't risk his efforts to punish the Swann and Wendell families. It could be exposed prem.a.t.u.r.ely if he told L what really happened. Finally, he was forced to bite his lip and keep his annoyance to himself.

"I don't allow you to marry Danny Swann that jerk! You don't even want to marry me, after everything I've done for you. But just because of your family's ridiculous agreement in the past ... you easily want to marry him for a year. How could you be so heartless? " asked London, trying to hold back so he didn't lash out. He did not want Lily to cry.

"It's not like that ... my marriage to Danny is just a formality and we will do it secretly. After one year, we will end it, and after that ... if you still want to marry me ... we-we.. can get married for real."

L looked at London deeply. She looked like she wanted to say a lot of things, but she was unable to choose the right words. She stammered when she added, "Th-that's ... if you... still want me."

"What did you say?"