The Alchemists

Altair smiled, reading their replies. He then sent another message to Jean-Marie, whom he knew was also in Paris. It would be nice if he could make an appointment with the girl he liked.

[We've arrived in Paris and are now resting at the hotel. We will be in Paris for the next five days. When can we meet?]

He waited for almost half an hour for a reply, but Jean-Marie did not reply to his text. Altair became grumpy as he was waiting. He tried hard to refrain from sending an SMS again for fear of bothering the girl. He knew Marie was in Paris to work ... so maybe she was busy.

When he almost gave up and was about to go to sleep, following his sister, came the text he had been waiting for.

[Yeay! I'm glad you're here. Sorry, I am on a photoshoot, I can only reply to text now. Where do you stay in Paris? Want to meet Tonight?]

A broad smile appeared on Altair's lips while reading the reply from Jean-Marie.

Altair excitedly called Jean-Marie. He always enjoyed chatting with the girl. Unfortunately, because they live on different continents, with the time difference of up to 6 hours, they couldn't communicate intensely. Especially since last year, Jean-Marie began to pursue modeling, and this year had become very busy.

"We are staying at a small hotel in the center of the city. It's called the Amarylis Hotel," Altair said. "Tonight, we just have to go to dinner together with the others and discuss our schedule for tomorrow. After that, we'll free hours. Where are you?"

"Hey .. Altair. I always stay at Uncle Caspar's hotel, the Nobel Hotel. Dad has sold his apartment in Paris because we rarely stay there. But if my career takes of, he decided to repurchase a house. We'll see," Jean-Marie answered in a cheerful voice. "Where is Vega?"

"Asleep," said Altair. "She said she is aching all over because we had to fly in coach."

Altair laughed and told Jean-Marie how he felt after flying like regular people for the first time. He had never felt the need to check-in and went through a security check at the airport before. After that, he had to wait in line for a long time, fly in the cramped economy class seats, got standard service, and finally queue for luggage.

During this time, whenever he flew with his family, their cars usually took them directly to the runway, where they can directly board their private plane. In a very wide plane, they could sleep in their cabins or sit on the comfortable sofa, watching movies, enjoying the best food, and many other amenities.

Jean-Marie listened to Altair's story with interest and occasionally chimed in with her own story. That girl too, even though her parents were not as wealthy as Altair and Vega's parents, still lived surrounded by luxury all her life.

Marion herself was the most successful art thief in the world. The value of art collections in their home was unmeasurable with money. And that was just a part-time profession for Marion.

The woman also received other freelance assignments from various clients. They were willing to pay a very hefty sum for her services to infiltrate a place or organization to retrieve evidence that could be used to bring down a person or company.

In a way, if Wolf and Goose got their income from hacking the systems and networks to do assignments from their clients', Marion would physically infiltrate those places to find evidence, to deceive, trap, and take down enemies because she had an unparalleled ability to go undercover.

Jean-Marie grew up between two very successful people in their own field, and she learned so much from her parents. Their influences helped her grew up into a girl who was very confident and smart. She quickly fascinated everyone once she entered the modeling circle in Paris at the end of last year.

That's what made her now very busy. Only a month ago, her face adorned a fashion magazine. Now she had been busy working on a campaign for a new fashion house to become their brand ambassador.

She and Altair chatted for half an hour until finally, the girl had to hang up because she had to get back ready for the next photoshoot.

"It was great talking with you. Tonight, when you come here, don't forget to let me know. I'm free after 8 pm."

"Of course. Bye, JM," Altair also hung up. His face looked very radiant. Ahh .. he still had an hour if he wanted to sleep like Vega, before dinner time arrived.

With that in mind, he then lay down on the small bed beside Vega's bed. He didn't forget to set the alarm to wake up at 7 pm.

"Alright ... we've all confirmed tomorrow's schedule. After breakfast, everyone will gather in the lobby at 10 am. We will go to the outskirts of Paris, precisely to Versailles. There, we will learn about the days of Paris being ruled by royals and noblemen. This will be very interesting," Monsieur Rhieu said excitedly. "Now you can rest or take a walk. It's free hours."

"Yeay!!" the students were thrilled to hear that. They immediately dispersed and returned to their rooms to rest and inform their family. Some were ready to walk out and explore the city on their own.

Tatiana approached Vega and wanted to invite her to explore the area around their hotel to make a video about typical French food to share with her followers.

"Vega ... Sharon, Jeff, Stu, and I decided to take a walk around our hotel to try typical French street food. I also want to make content for the my followers. Do you and Altair want to come along?"

Vega actually wanted to hang out with them, but she was forced to refuse this once.

"Aw... Tatia, I'm sorry, I can go with you guys tomorrow, but now I have already made an appointment with a friend. We don't see each other very often," Vega said. She glanced toward her twin brother. "You see, my brother can't wait to leave."

Tatiana bit her lip when she realized that Altair would not be coming with her group to explore the area around their hotel. She had liked Altair since they were in the first year of high school, but she had never told Vega about this because she did not want to make the relationship between them awkward.

"Where are you going? Maybe the others and I can find interesting places to explore there," Tatiana said finally, unwilling to give up.

"Uhm ... wait a minute, I'll ask my brother," Vega then called Altair, "Where do we meet Jean-Marie?"

Altair, who was standing by the lobby with both hands in his pockets, waiting for Vega, only shrugged. "At the Nobel Hotel."

Vega then turned to Tatiana. "At the Nobel Hotel."

Tatiana quickly checked the map on her cellphone internet, and her face beamed. "Ah ... it's not far from here. We can go together."

Vega just laughed and shrugged. "All right. It's up to you. But Altair and I can't hang out, okay. We'll meet someone there."

"Of course. It's okay," Tatiana said with a bright face.