"Who wants to try a new drink made by the House of Aldebar?" Suddenly, Aldebar's cheerful voice came from behind the door.

The emotional atmosphere didn't last long. From behind the entrance, several servants brought trays of various drinks, and Aldebar entered, followed by London and Rune, who came with wide smiles.

The three of them seemed rather surprised to see how emotional the atmosphere of the room was because they were previously busy doing something in the kitchen and missed the news.

"What did you make?" Terry asked. He grabbed a glass from the servant's tray and immediately inhaled the smell of the drink in his hand. "Smells normal."

He then downed the drink as though he had been trapped in the Sahara Desert for years.

"That's a new potion from Uncle Aldebar's experiments. For every gulp, the person who drank it will look ten years older," London explained with a laugh.

"What...?!" Terry hurriedly spat out the remaining liquid in his mouth. Unfortunately, he had already swallowed almost everything from the glass. His face immediately showed panic. "Jeez... What kind of experiment is this? Why do you always invent useless things?"

Aldebar, whose taste in clothes seem to be getting more ancient as more time passes, was wearing medieval clothing from the middle ages. He raised his hand with a grin.

"We, as Alchemists, will never know how it feels to grow old because our bodies are perfect. I used to often be curious about how it feels to be old and imagined how couples grow old together like in romance novels. Aren't you guys curious as to how it feels?" he asked everyone.

Slowly, he saw them beginning to nod in agreement.

"Well, that was why I deliberately created this potion for entertainment at parties. It just so happens that today is my dear niece's thirtieth birthday. As you can see, Aleksis still looks just like when she was 20."

Alaric, who had released himself from his father, was now standing next to Aleksis, whispering affectionately into her ear, "Your uncle is wrong. You're even prettier than you were ten years ago..."

Aleksis smiled at Alaric's words and squeezed his hand. "Thank you..."

Aldebar took a glass of his party refreshments from the servant's tray and dramatically lifted it to his mouth, "I'll drink two gulps, and you'll be able to see me getting twenty years older."

Terry paled when he heard Aldebar's explanation. He glanced at a mirror on a nearby wall and saw how his face was beginning to wrinkle.

Dammit! Why did I thoughtlessly drink a glass just now? He cried in his heart.

Aldebar put down his glass and pulled Terry's hand to position Terry next to him. "You can see that in a few minutes, we'll get older according to the amount we consume."

A minute later, muffled exclamations could be heard. Aldebar now looked like a middle-aged man, while Terry's hair became white and his face wrinkled. He looked like a grandfather who was almost a hundred years old.

"Gosh... Your invention this time is not bad," Caspar voiced. "Have you made the antidote?"

Aldebar nodded. "The red potion is the aging potion, while the white one is the antidote. If you're bored of being old, you can return to your original appearance."

Terry hurriedly grabbed a glass of white potion and gulped it down.

"Eh... Is it okay to empty it like that?" he asked after it was too late.

He cursed himself who was always in a hurry. Fortunately, he wasn't so unlucky this time, as Aldebar nodded and confirmed.

"You can drink the white one as much as you want. There won't be a problem."

Huff... What a relief. Terry immediately stood in front of the mirror and waited for his appearance to revert. Sure enough, two minutes later, his appearance was back to normal. The people present were excited to try Aldebar's new invention.

"Would you like to know how it feels to grow old with me?" Caspar affectionately asked as he took two of the red potions and handed a glass to Finland. His wife nodded and smiled brightly.

They looked at each other lovingly and drank them at the same time.

One gulp. The two seemed to grow ten years older.

The second gulp. They were becoming twenty years older.

The third gulp. Now Caspar and Finland both looked like a middle-aged couple.

"Ahahaha... You're still as beautiful," Caspar commented in admiration. "You haven't changed. Still as beautiful. I'm so lucky!"

They drank the fourth gulp, and now, they looked like a couple in their 60s. Without realizing it, both of them laughed.

Jeez, so this is how it feels like to live like ordinary people who grow up and age together...

Caspar brought his face to his wife's and kissed her lips with affection. "I'll love you forever, even if we become old and wrinkled."

The others also idly drank Aldebar's new potion and tried to see what they would look like if they were to age. Only Lauriel and Alaric weren't interested. Lauriel realized he was almost 600 years old, and he didn't want to imagine how he would look like if he was like a normal, aging human.

While Alaric thought that Aldebar's invention was stupid, he was polite enough to stay silent. He only waved his hand and refused when the servant came to offer the potions.

"You really don't want to try it?" Aleksis asked, a little disappointed. She personally found her uncle's new invention very funny, but it seemed that Alaric didn't like it at all.

Ah, well... Alaric was indeed a very serious person, just like Uncle Lauriel, she thought.

"Do you want to drink this aging potion with me?" Suddenly, Nicolae came over to Aleksis with two glasses of the red potion. He had seen how much Aleksis wanted to drink the aging potion, but she didn't want to pressure Alaric.

Alaric, who saw Nicolae coming with two glasses of the red potion, immediately became jealous. He stood in front of Aleksis and took the glass, "I want to drink it with Aleksis..."

Nicolae shook his head and took back the glass from Alaric and gave it to Aleksis, "You'll have a lifetime to be with Aleksis, so please give this one moment to me."

He deeply gazed at Aleksis and his brother, and he realized that Nicolae really needed to be given time to be alone with Aleksis and get closure on their engagement.

Nevertheless, during Alaric's absence, it was Nicolae who filled Aleksis's life, and they became so close that they had decided to get married.

Being self-aware, Alaric finally nodded and walked away from the two. Nicolae then raised his glass and clinked it to Aleksis'.

"How much do you want to drink?" he asked in a humorous tone. Aleksis was stunned to see Nicolae's attitude so warm and cheerful, although she knew for certain that the young man must be feeling deep sorrow and heartbreak.

"Let's have a gulp at a time..." Aleksis whispered.

Nicolae nodded. He gestured, and the two took the first gulp. Now both of them looked like a couple in their 30s.

Aleksis gestured and they took the second gulp. Now both of them looked like a couple in their 40s.

"I really wish I could be with you forever, and grow old together..." Nicolae silently uttered. "But it looks like we're not meant to be together. No matter what I do, I'll never be able to be with you."

Aleksis lowered her head. She understood that Nicolae wanted to use this moment to say goodbye. Aleksis was aggrieved to lose her best friend..

But she realized that Nicolae would be even sadder if he were to continue staying here and witness the woman he loved with another man, even though it was his own younger brother.

His sadness would multiply, because the children whom he considered as his own children will also return to their biological father.

"I'll definitely need a very long time to recover and heal my broken heart..." Nicolae said again. "But I'll always wish you happiness."

"Nico..." Aleksis raised her face and looked at Nicolae with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry..."

Nicolae gestures and they took the third gulp.

"No need to apologize. Luckily, Alaric came at the right time. Imagine if he came tomorrow when we've already got married... You'll have two husbands," he said in amusement. His face then turned serious, "Although I don't mind, other people will criticize us."

"Nico...! What are you saying." Aleksis hit Nicolae's shoulder while laughing. Even in this situation, Nicolae could still joke.

Now they both looked like a couple in their 50s.

"You're still beautiful... Geez, my brother is so lucky!" Nicolae exclaimed, shaking his head. He gestured, and they took the fourth gulp.

"Thank you for being so mature and understanding, by giving us your blessings," Aleksis then voiced out. "The children and I are forever indebted to you. All that we've experienced together during these four years will also be stored in my heart as very beautiful memories..."

"Me too. These four years are the best times of my life. I'm really happy I could spend them with you..." Nicolae's voice turned emotional. "I'll always remember it..."

The music played, and the atmosphere became more solemn. Nicolae put his glass next to Aleksis's glass on the table and hugged her.

"Do you want to dance to this one song with me?" he offered.

Aleksis nodded. Both of them slowly danced to the music while chatting softly.

This was something they often did after Aleksis accepted Nicolae's love last summer. Now, they were dancing together for the last time, because after today, Aleksis would go back to being someone else's wife.

.

.

Author's Note:

I am so... so sad for Nicolae. But this is for the better.

To be honest, when I first wrote this volume, I pictured the Male Lead to be Nicolae. He was the lost child, he was the really nice guy, he was loving and warm... he was supposed to be PRINCE SIEGFRIED. But, over time, as I wrote the character more, somehow the personalities seemed to contradict each other that I really didn't see him being the same person anymore.

And so, Alaric showed up out of nowhere and swept the female lead off her feet and their chemistry was so strong that it just felt right for her to ask him to marry her. She was so sure. He was so sure. So they impulsively got married in the 24-hr chapel in Sentosa, while I was left stunned at the unexpected development.

I wasn't so sure about their relationship. I still wanted her to give Nicolae a chance since he was the perfect guy I had in mind. Alaric was a villain and he was too broken to love someone properly. So I gave them time to be apart to find what they really wanted in life.

I let Alaric meet his evil family side, Sophia, to give him a chance to meet someone like himself, I gave him the chance to rule the world if he wanted to. I let countless women threw themselves at him after he became Elios Linden... but he never flinched.

Meanwhile, I let Aleksis find herself and grow up because I thought her obsession with Prince Siegfried was unhealthy since she had loved him since she was 12. Surely it's only puppy love because she was too young, right?

I let her find herself and sent Nic to accompany her on the journey of self-discovery (after he worked on his broken heart) and let them spend 4 years of quality time together. I let them date as adults with mature emotions. I let her see how perfect Nicolae was, just how I picture him in mind.

But she never truly loved him. She only finally said yes, because, after 10 years, she thought it was time to let go, and her kids needed a father.

So, you see... even the author has no real power over the characters of this story. I could only create the characters (sometimes they even come out of nowhere - like Alaric), I can also create the background, add some problems, but once the ball is rolling, what happened will be determined by how each character respond according to their personality and behavior.

So, I guess, now it's safe to say that Alaric and Aleksis are meant to be together, and I will have to find the perfect girl for our perfect Nic.

A little spoiler, Nic will finally meet her by chance in Volume 3 and they will have amazing chemistry and such deep connection. I haven't finished writing their story, so I cannot say much at this point. But you have to be patient since their story is just a side story in Volume 3 and will come and go throughout the volume.