"This kid falls asleep so easily..." Lauriel commented suddenly.

He placed his index finger in front of his lips to signal Finland not to make a sound. Aleksis slept soundly on Lauriel's lap and he carefully carried her into the house. Finland cleared up their picnic blanket and followed him.

Until she was placed in her bed, Aleksis did not wake up at all. Lauriel signaled Finland to follow him out of the room. They then walked to the stable and Finland was immediately amazed to see the gallant horses inside the big stable.

"Want to explore this place on horseback?" Lauriel asked.

"Uhm... I can't ride a horse..." Finland said. She immediately felt moody. Lauriel's horses were very handsome and she imagined that exploring this beautiful farm area by horse would be very exciting.

"Later, when you come here often, I will teach you two how to ride horses. For now, you can ride with me."

He gave a signal to the stable boy who immediately nodded and placed a saddle on a handsome well-built and tall white horse. After the horse was ready, Lauriel helped Finland get on it.

"Whoaa... it feels so exciting to be on a horse this tall..." exclaimed Finland in a tone of admiration. Lauriel smiled hearing that. He then went up and sat behind her.

"Before the invention of cars, everyone rode on horses or coaches if they wanted to go anywhere." Lauriel pulled the reins and controlled the horse from behind Finland. The horse began to gallop casually. "I've tried almost all means of transportation humans built ever since they walked on land until now they are able to fly a plane. Nothing beats the pleasure of exploring the world by horse ..."

Finland did not comment to Lauriel's words. Both of their bodies were very close to each other since they were sitting on the same horse, and for the first time she noticed Lauriel's distinctive citrus-like scent.

She had known Lauriel for a year now, 'sharing' custody over alexis, and never had the man behaved strangely nor made her uncomfortable. He had a commanding aura which made Finland unable to object his orders, but at the same time he never imposed his will.

For example, he was able to make Finland and Aleksis go to his place at the Hilton Hotel from the hospital because Finland's apartment was very dusty, then he made Finland leave Aleksis in his care when the she left for work, and finally involved himself in Aleksis' entire life.

And today, he was able to 'order' Finland to ride a horse with him. His actions always felt very reasonable and casual, which made it somewhat impossible for the girl to say no.

Finland remembered their conversation by the lake earlier, that Lauriel wanted to formally adopt Aleksis to be his daughter, and that he wanted to be with Finland and was willing to wait for her forever. That made Finland feel very conflicted. The next thing she knew was that they were riding on a horse together and she could not refuse.

"Why are you silent? You don't like riding horses?" Lauriel asked, aware of Finland's silence. "Or did I make you uncomfortable?"

"Uhm... that's not it." Finland didn't know how to convey her feelings properly. "You said earlier that you wanted to be with me, and I have made it clear that I am not ready to open my heart to anyone... But you casually just took me riding like this without me being able to refuse. I don't understand how you can do it."

Lauriel just smiled at that.

"Hmm..."

"You have to teach me how you can make people do what you want without seeming imposing like this, you're very good at that..." Finland commented.

"Hmm..." Lauriel coughed a little, "The secret is to have great self-confidence and know that you're right. That is all."

Great confidence was not Finland's forte, so she realized that she would not be able to imitate Lauriel. Jean used to try to take her into the modeling to make money because she was beautiful, but Finland's self-confidence was so low that no matter how much she liked money, she could not work as a model.

"Then I won't be able to learn how to do it," Finland said, "I'm not as confident as you are."

"Why?" Lauriel asked. "You're so smart and beautiful. Why aren't you confident about yourself?"

"I grew up in poverty and for years was I bullied by mean girls in school. In the real world, just being beautiful and smart is not enough. You have to be rich, so you don't get bullied."

"Hmmm... you don't have to be rich," Lauriel said. "If you are strong, you will also not be oppressed by others, and wealth will also follow you. I know a beautiful woman who grew up in poverty. She was even forced to become a prostitute on a ship. But she managed to raise her status when she married a pirate. After her husband died, she took over his pirate group and built the largest pirate empire in human history, up to 80,000 men at the height of her glory. She controlled the Chinese Sea and demanded tribute protection from ships that crossed her territory. Her name was Ching Shih*."

After Lauriel revealed his secret of being an Alchemist, Finland was able to get to know the man better. He was no longer hesitant when talking about his past. He managed to make Finland hold her breath when he told the girl about his adventures in China in the 19th century.

His ship was seized, and he was captured by a gang of pirates led by a former prostitute named Ching Shih. As former Black Bart the pirate, Lauriel understood very well the life of Ching Shih and her gang and he succeeded in impressing the pirate queen to free him and later they became friends.

Lauriel lived with Ching Shih and Cheng Po Tsai, her late husband's adopted son and was his second-in-command, who later became Ching Shih's lover, for several years and helped them organize the management of the largest pirate group in human history.

The group at its peak had 80,000 men. The group later dispersed when Ching Shih and Cheng Po Tsai received forgiveness from the king and became government officials.

"You always seem to live in contact with danger. Aren't you afraid of dying? I know you can live forever, but that doesn't mean you can't die, right?" Finland asked.

"Hmm... why should I be afraid of death?" Lauriel shrugged. "I'm very good at fighting with bare hands, swords, and guns. I've never been defeated."

Finland believed in Lauriel's words. His confidence was certainly supported by his great abilities, so that he could very casually tell stories about his adventures, which usually made Finland's heart beat in fear.

Not just living with pirates, Lauriel once freed slaves from Africa from the hands of slave traders. Finland knew that slave traders were one of the cruellest kind of people in history.

Finland really enjoyed riding with Lauriel and she was happy because the man had promised to teach her to ride horses when they returned to the farm for the next vacation, so that Finland could ride on her own.

***

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*Ching Shih to this day is known as the most successful pirate in world history. I admire her greatly.