The Alchemists

After the ice cream was finished, both Nicolae and Summer remained seated at their table. Apparently, the cafe owner gave them presents of ch.i.p.s and sweets for Summer.

He was very happy because their presence made more and more guests visit his shop until there was a snake-like queue in front of his shop.

"You must not eat all the sugar," Nicolae said, wiping Summer's smeared lips from ice cream while smiling in amus.e.m.e.nt.

He really had never seen a child as beautiful as this one. Even when she was smeared in chocolate and cream, Summer looked even more adorable. It was as if there was nothing could make her look ugly.

Summer nodded obediently, but her face looked sad as she pushed the bowl of sweets to the end of the table. Nicolae tried to distract the girl from the sweets and pointed toward the park opposite them.

"Do you want to go for a walk? We can look for mushrooms or count how many blue tulips that bloom in the garden," he said.

Summer nodded happily. She got down from her chair and immediately held Nicolae's right hand. Nicolae put the money and tip for their ice cream on the table before walking out with Summer and cross the road to the park. They both still attracted many people's attention as they walked away.

The small park in the middle of the city was very shady with lush trees. Many people went there to hang out and chat with friends or family.

Some even threw picnic blankets and put food and drinks that they consumed while chatting. Some bought crepes and ice cream and then enjoy it while watching people passing by.

Besides the locals, the park also had many tourists who were basking in the beauty of the park. Summer gleefully ran, looking for tulips that grow on the side of the park and counting how many blue tulips were blooming.

Nicolae managed to keep her busy by counting various objects inside the park, from tulips, mushrooms, how many people wearing yellow clothes, women with their umbrellas, people wearing glasses, and so on.

Summer was familiar with numbers, but she was not yet good at counting, so she made several mistakes. Nicolae patiently corrected the answer.

The longer Summer was with Nicolae, the more she seemed to trust him. She no longer looked awkward or worried, and her attitude towards Nicolae became relaxed and open.

Apparently, after spending a day together, Summer began to feel that Uncle Nic was a good person and could be trusted completely. She began to let Nicolae dote on her and happily pulled his hand everywhere.

"Uncle Niiiiiiccc... look, there's a squirrel over there!! I want to catch it..." cried Summer, releasing Nicolae's hand and running after something toward the West.

Nicolae immediately panicked and chased after Summer. With all his strength, he ran and quickly caught the little girl's energetic body.

"Gosh .. Summer, don't run so suddenly ... You startled me," he blurted out without being able to hide his anxiety. "What if you disappear and I can't find you? You'll make me worry to death."

Summer, who was caught by him, immediately laughed in amus.e.m.e.nt because, as it turned out, Nicolae's hand caught her waist, which felt s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e and ticklish. Summer's cheerful and unrestrained laughter instantly made Nicolae's anxiety disappear.

Gosh ... this kid .. Judging from how she could laugh so cheerfully like this, no one would have thought this child faced such a serious problem of being held captive by criminals just the day before. For a moment, Nicolae was stunned.

Involuntarily, he heaved a sigh of relief. He was grateful that Summer did not seem to have experienced a deep trauma due to being held captive by criminals. She also seemed distracted from her sadness being separated from her mother because Nicolae invited her to play in the park.

They had counted so many things, and Nicolae was very happy to hear her cheerful little voice mention all the numbers in her head. Ah, this child's parents were so lucky to have such an adorable daughter like Summer.

Gosh, now it's Nicolae who was feeling sad. He believed this child's mother must be worried sick for losing her child. As a father of two teenage children, he could imagine how worried he would be if something happened to Altair and Vega. He was not sure the police would be able to find Summer's parents quickly.

He felt he had to do something so that Summer could meet again with her mother.

"Honey ... Let's go back to the hotel, okay. You have to take an afternoon nap. We'll play again later," Nicolae told her gently.

Summer nodded and immediately wrapped her arms around Nicolae's neck, and the man carried her. Since they were not far from the Nobel Hotel, Nicolae decided to walk while carrying the little girl.

Along the way, he thought about contacting Caspar, Lauriel, and Marion. Marion said earlier that she would look for the two criminals who captured Summer. He wanted to know what she found.

Because he was busy thinking, Nicolae did not realize the little girl he was holding was falling asleep in his arms. He only realized it when Summer's head drooped to the left.

"Gosh... you are already sleeping ... You must have been very tired of counting, huh ..." muttered Nicolae, who spontaneously held Summer's head with his hand. He then pushed the girl's head against his shoulder and immediately accelerated his steps to get to the penthouse.

After laying Summer very carefully in her bed and letting the child take a nap, Nicolae immediately contacted Caspar Schneider to ask his opinion about the possibility that Summer was the daughter of a clan member who didn't socialize with other clan members.

"Hmm ... it could be. I can't possibly know the s.e.x.u.a.l lives of all the clan members," Caspar said. "Someone could be in a relationship out there and not tell their partners that they are Alchemists and they are not married. You know, all married clan members have to tell me to get the immortality potion for their spouses. They might also have children with commoners and not know about it."

"Hmm ... I see. But that means even if Summer is a descendant of a clan member, we won't be able to find out?" Nicolae asked, slightly disappointed. He had hoped there was a way to find out about it.

Caspar shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. Not unless you can check and compare her DNA with the possible parent's."

"All right ... thank you, Uncle. I will try to investigate other possibilities."

Nicolae pondered for a moment. He opened his tablet and wanted to find another source of information. Suddenly he read an incoming message from Marion.

[I was looking for the boat you told me, it has disappeared from yesterday's location. I managed to find their tracks, but both of them are dead. Do you think that child's parents are from the underworld?]

Nicolae frowned at the message. The criminals were dead? Who killed them? Is it Summer's parents? It must mean her mother... Summer already said she didn't have a father.

Who is Summer's mother, really? How could she track down the criminals who held her daughter captive and killed them?

[When were they killed?] He replied to Marion's message.

[Looks like after midnight, about two hours after you left them.]

Oh ...

Nicolae exclaimed in surprise. Apparently, the little's girl's mother only missed him by two hours. It seemed like as soon as Summer disappeared, the mother immediately searched for her child, and she managed to find the kidnappers' tracks.

Nicolae shuddered at the thought that had he arrived a little late, maybe the mother would have come to save Summer and kill the two criminals.

Now, the woman might be feeling uneasy and worried because her child changed hands from two petty-class criminals to the hands of a stranger she didn't know.

Nicolae remembered that it was dark, and there was no adequate lighting. Maybe the woman forced the two criminals to tell her who had taken Summer, but the two certainly didn't know who Nicolae was.

She also will not be able to find Nicolae from CCTV recordings around the area because of the darkness. He could imagine how frantically she had been for the past 20 hours thinking about her daughter. Nicolae suddenly felt very guilty.