The Alchemists

They happily welcomed the arrival of Marion and JM. Nicolae, who had met Marion several times, immediately had a friendly chat with her, while their children talked about how their day went.

"Wait a minute, I'll call the chef to cook dinner here, while we chat," Nicolae said as he opened a bottle of wine and handed the glasses to Marion.

Their three teenagers made tea for themselves and snack on fruit slices while waiting for dinner.

Nicolae called the hotel operator and requested that the hotel sent a chef and his assistants to prepare a special dinner for them. Then he sat on the sofa and returned to chatting with Marion.

"Wow ... so many people come to Paris this week," Marion said cheerfully, clinking her glass to Nicolae's. "Last night, I also met Mischa."

"Really? What's he doing here?" Nicolae asked in amazement. He had heard about his brother's foster son but had never met him in person. Mischa was very busy and rarely came to the clan events.

Six years ago, at Aleksis' birthday at Targu Mures, they actually almost met but Mischa left before Nicolae and the twins arrived from Singapore because his girlfriend was admitted to the hospital.

Marion told Nicolae briefly about what happened to Mischa without violating the man's privacy. Nicolae could somehow guess what had happened and he could sympathize with the man.

"I think most of us have experienced such a thing. It's not easy to live as immortals among ordinary people," Nicolae said quietly. "I thought that I would never meet anyone like me, so I didn't want to enter a relationship with a regular girl. I think Alaric also chose to live alone before he met Aleksis. Maybe Mischa needs to expand his horizons and meet an immortal girl from our clan. Who knows, right? He won't need to worry about having to explain himself or beg them to accept him for who he is."

Vega and Altair, who were interested in hearing the serious conversation between Nicolae and Marion immediately approached them and sat next to each of them.

"Who are you talking about?" Vega asked with a curious expression.

"Our acquaintance," Marion said with a smile. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. She then raised her hand and signaled Vega to open the door, "Honey, please open the door. It must be the chef coming to cook us dinner."

Vega obeyed and invited a chef and two of his assistants to come in and showed them the kitchen. For a moment, the three people looked stunned to see five really beautiful young people in the penthouse.

Inwardly, they wondered who these people were. Nobody dared to ask, though. They only focused their attention on the dishes they had to prepare.

"Are you talking about the mysterious man from last night?" Vega asked in surprise. "Is that so? Why do you all know him?"

"Uhm ... have you never met Mischa? No wonder you don't know him," Nicolae said. "That's Mischa Rhionen. You might have heard of his name."

"Oh ..." Altair and Vega immediately exchanged glances. "He is one of Father's foster sons."

"Right." Nicolae nodded. "Next time you meet him, you can just say hello. But don't bother him. He is having a lot of problems right now."

Both the twins nodded in understanding. The conversation shifted to their experiences while in Paris with their friends. Marion only laughed when she heard that Altair and Vega had to pretend to take lots of photos while they visited the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum so that their friends would not be suspicious. 

While waiting for dinner to be prepared, they decided to contact their families through Virconnect to share their time together.

Alaric and Aleksis were very happy to see that their two children were fine in Paris and even spent time with Marion and Nicolae. They also received reports from the bodyguards every day that everything was safe and their kids were having a great time. However, knowing that Marion and Nicolae were there, they became calmer.

"We will have dinner first. Nice talking to you," Nicolae said, waving. Jean nodded and smiled, then hung up the Virconnect space.

"Let's eat," Marion patted the three teenagers on the shoulder and hurried into the dining room.

The excellent location of the Nobel Hotel gave the guests a nice view of the Eiffel Tower. The large dining room in the penthouse had floor-to-ceiling doors and glass windows that could be opened to a beautiful large balcony.

Dinner with a view of the sunset and the Eiffel Tower in the background was really indescribable. For a moment, the five people stood staring at the sunset and admired the sky before they sat down in their respective chair and got ready to have dinner,

The dinner was delightful. After they finished, Marion and JM excused themselves to return to their suite while Nicolae decided to drive Altair and Vega back to their modest hotel.

"We can walk, Dad," Vega said, holding Nicolae's hand excitedly. "It's not far from here."

Nicolae just said yes. He also felt the need to go outside when the weather was clear like this. It was 9 pm, and the city's lights were on even though the sun still seemed to illuminate with its reddish tinge.

The three of them walked casually while chatting until they arrived at the Amarylis Hotel. Nicolae went upstairs and saw the twins' room. He just nodded when he saw how small and simple their room was. In his heart, he felt proud because his two children were not spoiled at all and were happy to stay in a place like this.

"You are good kids," he said as he rubbed their heads lovingly and then excused himself to return to the Nobel Hotel. "Have a good time. Let me know about your schedule tomorrow."

"Of course, Daddy. I'll keep you updated. Be careful on your way," Vega said. She hugged Nicolae for one full minute before letting her daddy go.

Nicolae decided to take a walk before returning to the penthouse. He had not been to Paris for a long time, and for some reason, he was moved to walk along the River Seine. According to him, dusk was the most beautiful time of every day. Nicolae would rather spend it outside while enjoying the natural scenery, rather than being cooped up indoors.

With both hands in his pockets and a heart filled with nostalgia, Nicolae walked casually along the River Seine. He walked past Pont Neuf, then Pont Alexander, which was said to be the most beautiful bridge in Paris. Many tourists passing by also admire the same beauty.

When the sun slowly disappeared and then set perfectly in the west, leaving the rest of the red and purple in the sky, he paused and observed the sky. It felt more beautiful than usual.

"Mamaaann..."

When he decided to return to the Nobel Hotel, suddenly his sharp ears heard someone scream. Nicolae frowned and tried to listen more clearly, but the voice was no longer heard.

If it was an a.d.u.l.t screaming, Nicolae might not think too much about it. Maybe some tourists tripped or fell, or was joking with their friend. But because the scream was clear to him sounded like the cry of a child calling out to her mother, Nicolae could not leave it at that.

He immediately tilted his body and tried to guess the origin of the sound. His eyes immediately fell on several small boats leaning on the riverbank. Did that sound come from one of these boats?

It didn't hurt to confirm it, right? Nicolae jumped from the bridge down to the edge of the river below and walked briskly down the small road along the river. He had to make sure that no children here were in danger.

SL.A.P!

His heart sank when he heard the sound of a slap followed by a child's cry from one of the boats in front of him. He could not imagine a child being hit near him ... This made him both very worried and angry.

His guess was right. The voice came from there. With a c.h.e.s.t filled with anger, he dashed toward the boat.