Suddenly there was a loud sound of something being punched, and Stephan's grip suddenly broke free. L opened her eyes in astonishment and saw Stephan lying on the floor with bleeding lips, while London stood with a face filled with fury, and it looked like he had just hit someone.

He still clenched his fists in front of his c.h.e.s.t. For two seconds, L was stunned to see that the man whom she had criticized earlier actually?defended her from Stephan, who wanted to harass her.

"Thank you ...." She murmured softly and rubbing her wet eyes, then she immediately ran out of the hall.

Lyana still pursed her lips in surprise. She saw several security guys coming to approach London, but her sharp eyes had caught sight of a man who pretended to be drunk. The man blocked them by stretching out his leg so that?they all stumbled and fell off.

"Hey!! You're dead, man!!" scolded a security guy who just tripped and hit the floor hard. He got up and was about to hit the drunk man, but the man staggered and appeared as if he accidentally managed to avoid the blow. Out of curiosity, the security guy tried to strike the drunk man again but his fist only hit the air.

The other security guys tried to help their friend, but suddenly five big men came out of nowhere and stood beside the drunk guy. They immediately attacked the security officers. A fight ensued, and soon the party turned into chaos.

"Jeez ...." Lyana turned to look at London, who only shrugged. The girl realized that despite being in his disguise, London's bodyguards always tagged along with their boss and made sure that?he remained safe and sound wherever he was.

When London punched Stephan earlier, they immediately moved to wreak havoc so that the security guys could not even lay their hands on London. Ugh ... how did it turn out this way? Lyana thought. It's all because of a girl!

"Stephan ... please forgive Killian. He is from America and is still a bit?naive ... he didn't mean to hit you ...." Lyana hurriedly helped Stephan to his feet. She had to make things right between the two men; otherwise, London's bodyguards could finish off?the whole house, and Lyana would face the negative consequences.

Stephan looked at London with narrowed eyes as he rubbed his bleeding lips.

"Huh ... you have guts too ... You dared to hit me ...." Stephan hissed. He looked around and grunted when he saw his people getting into a fight with some guests, while L had disappeared.

"You shouldn't force a woman. No means no," London said. He regretted coming to this party already.

"Tsk... you're still defending her even though she'd already insulted you," Stephan chided. "Do you like L? She's just a gold-digger! You're not even her type."

London rolled his eyes. He had heard over and over again about how materialistic L was and now he was getting bored. So what??After all, he was not interested in pursuing L. Even though L was beautiful and she had a sweet voice, her thirst for wealth was enough to make London stay away from her.

Beauty meant nothing to him as an Alchemist. All Alchemist people are good-looking and physically perfect, and it is not something considered as one's added value.

"Stephan. I'm sorry I hit you, but I don't regret doing it. I think you're being a jerk just now," London finally said. "I am not interested in L. So it has nothing to do with her."

Before London finished his words, Stephan had hit his shoulder and made the man staggered. His body was strong enough that the punch didn't really hurt him. When he was about to strike back, Lyana immediately took him in her hands and held London back.

"Ouch ... guys, you both are being outrageous! It's not the time for men to fight because of a woman!" The girl snorted. She then whispered quickly into London's ear. "Please forgive Stephan this one time, okay. The guy is a jerk, but he has great power in this city. If you look for trouble with him now, you will never be able to make friends here as regular people. Unless you want to appear as London Schneider and disclose your identity. That's your choice."

Lyana then pressed Stephan's c.h.e.s.t hard. "You had hit him back, right? Now it's even, okay? I don't want to see my two friends fight because of women. If you guys insist on fighting, I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!"

The two young men rolled up their sleeves with darkened faces. For a few moments, they looked at each other in hatred. Finally, Stephan gave in and he put on a faint smile on his lips.

"You are cool, man. A poor guy who dared to call my name without formalities, and just now, you even dared to hit me. Hmm ... Americans are indeed?different from us here ...." He then stretched out his hand. "I will do as Lyana said and forget what happened just now."

As London and Stephan had made peace and sat back down, the fight in the middle of the room between London's bodyguards in disguise and Stephan's security guards slowly died down. London's bodyguards realized that their boss was no longer in danger, so they dispersed themselves.

Stephan then buried the hatchet as if nothing happened and immediately called the beautiful girls that once swarmed around him to give him company while he enjoyed drinks.

"As a sign that I don't hold grudges against you, let's drink," he snapped his fingers and, a moment later, a waiter came with a tray of two glasses. Stephan calmly poured wine into each glass and handed one to London. "Cheers!"

London slowly relaxed and sat quietly in his seat. Stephan was indeed?resounding his reputation. He was arrogant and a bit of a jerk, but he was basically not an evil man, London thought. He enjoyed his wine along with Stephan and then put the glass back on the tray.

Lyana was relieved to see that they seemed to have reconciled.

"Huh ... you guys make me worried just now," she grumbled. She patted London's shoulder and talked about many things, trying to break the ice. London and Stephan slowly began to act polite towards each other.

London began to feel calm after the drink. He slowly felt drowsy, and soon Lyana's voice turned to fade from his hearing.

***

London opened his eyes slowly and, for a good one minute, he couldn't remember what happened. His mind seemed to not work properly. He dizzily tried to sit up and realized that he was lying on a large, comfortable bed.

Where am I? He thought, feeling irritated.

Even though he had removed his shirt, he still felt terribly hot and there was some tightness in his c.h.e.s.t. He immediately pulled the duvet covering his lower body and threw it to the floor.

It was then that he saw someone lying next to him who was previously covered by the duvet.

Gosh ... wasn't this... her?

He instinctively swallowed hard. L looked very beautiful while she was sleeping peacefully like an angel, with her lips slightly open.