Alaric's answer made Lauriel feel relieved.

"Do you really believe me?" he asked in a shaky voice. His face showed relief and he began to smile when he saw Alaric nodded reluctantly. "I really want you both. I didn't know about any of you for almost a hundred years ..."

Alaric frowned at his father's last sentence. He did not understand what Lauriel meant just now. Both?

Aleksis immediately realized, just as Lauriel did not know Alaric was his son, Alaric did not know that when he was born, he had a twin brother.

"My mother died after giving birth to me ... What do you mean - both?" Alaric asked in confusion. "Did anyone claim to be my mother's child to you?"

Aleksis and Lauriel looked at each other. They didn't understand either. What was clear was DNA testing had been done and Nicolae had been proven to be Lauriel's flesh and blood.

"Nicolae ... met Uncle Rory in Singapore ten years ago and the DNA tests showed that he is Uncle Rory's son. Nobody knew Uncle Rory had a child before the incident until Nicolae got injured and needed a blood transfusion ..." Aleksis explained. "He didn't claim anything..."

Alaric shook his head. "This is impossible. My mother died after giving birth to me, no other child was born. I have proof. She asked the midwife to cut her hair so she could give it to me ... I also often visited her grave."

Aleksis remembered the locket Alaric had given her. It contained his mother's hair. She subconsciously touched her neck. Unfortunately, the locket was long gone.

Lauriel was stunned. Long ago, he had taken a leather string necklace from Aleksis' neck which he later passed to Marion. He indeed remembered that there were a few strands of purple hair inside the locket...

He just realized that he actually had held Luna's hair in his hand.

Oh God ... he was close to finding out his son's existence!

"The necklace is gone," Lauriel said in a very apologetic voice. "But even without Luna's hair, I believe you. We don't need a DNA test to know you're my son."

Alaric was silent. He still could not digest Lauriel's words, that there was another man acknowledged as his father's son. And this person was allegedly not the son of another woman.

Apparently, there was never any other woman ...

Did he really have a brother? If that's the case ... it meant that his brother also had lived for almost a hundred years alone, without knowing who he was.

He remembered the loneliness and confusion he experienced at the early stage of his life. Everyone else he knew grew old and died ... while he alone remained the same, appearance-wise, unchanging. But deep within, he was falling into darkness.

Alaric finally took a deep breath. He did not know what happened which led to his mother giving birth to two children. It was also a puzzle how these two children ended up living separately, but he could see from Lauriel's eyes that his father was not lying about this.

"Honey ..." Aleksis grabbed Alaric's right hand and held it gently. "I think I know what happened. Nicolae told me that he was raised by the hospital doctor who helped your mother in her delivery in a hospital in Romania. This took place before the airstrike. The doctor said Nicolae's mother died after giving birth, that he only managed to save the newborn baby. Years later, when Nicolae looked for his mother's tracks, he could not find her grave. Maybe ... maybe his mother did not pass away when they left the hospital in the middle of the airstrike. You told me, at that time the hospital staff was evacuated ... there was only a local midwife who helped your mother. This midwife was the one who then took you to the orphanage..."

Lauriel felt his chest tighten when he heard that Alaric was born after the hospital got destroyed by an airstrike and grew up in an orphanage. He could not imagine how hard life must have been for his second son, surviving alone ... without the love and protection of his parents.

At least Nicolae was raised by a doctor who gave him a loving family.

Oh, my poor child, Lauriel thought bitterly. No wonder he grew up with hatred in his heart and then became involved in the underworld. Later on, he was even known for his animosity toward humans.

His child's resentment towards humans was far more extensive and deeply rooted than anything Lauriel had ever felt. For a moment he realized how similar this young man was to him. They were both aloof, despised humans, and no strangers to violence.

Lauriel looked at his lost child with teary eyes. From the moment Alaric was born, bitterness and hardships surrounded him. Lauriel had heard about his son's actions as Alaric Rhionen and now as Elios Linden. Aware of what he all went through, it was now easy to see where all the anger and resentment had come from.

Alaric involuntarily clenched his fists in anger. He was again reminded of how terrible the fate experienced by his mother was just because those damnable humans started a war!

Aleksis saw that Alaric's body suddenly started trembling in rage. She hurriedly embraced her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Sssh ... I know you're angry ... but it's all in the past now. Please, don't let anger consume you any further. Keeping resentment and hatred in your heart will only hurt you. Please, Honey, don't be angry ... I'm scared to see you get angry like this..."

As if hit by a very cold splash of water, Alaric fell silent. His balled fists then slowly fell down, loosening. He did not want to scare his wife.

Alaric took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. Afterward, he hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry ... I'm just upset. I won't be angry in front of you again."

Lauriel could only look at the scene in front of him in awe. Aleksis and Alaric appeared very compatible. It seemed that no matter how angry his son was, Aleksis could easily calm him down. Anyone could see that toward Aleksis, Alaric only had a great love for her. He would do anything for her.

Ah ... and aren't they already married?

Tears welled up from the senior alchemist's eyes again. He realized that Altair and Vega looked very similar to Alaric, although at first glance they could pass as Nicolae's biological children.

Now everything made sense. The two kids were his own grandchildren. They were Aleksis' children with Alaric. The latter was his biological child, Nicolae's brother. Nicolae and Alaric were fraternal twins.

Oh ... how good the universe had been to him ... Lauriel was given two perfect children. One son inherited Luna's personality but was born very similar to him in appearance, while the other was born physically very similar to Luna, yet the personality seemed to have been gotten from him.

He would never have to mourn his misfortune again for not having a family. He had been blessed beyond measure with perfect children. He even had two extraordinary grandchildren ... His life was finally complete.

Extreme happiness caused his sight to become blurry.