Nicolae looked back at Aleksis. He finally disclosed what was in his heart to the girl in all honesty.

"Aleksis, you know ... it's not easy to move on with life when the person you love leaves you, right? We've talked about this before."

Aleksis nodded slowly. "That's right. I remember your words last year before we..."

Aleksis paused, then changed the sentence. She did not want to mention the words 'before we get married'.

She chose another sentence to convey her point. "I remember your words last year when we were at Father's conservation in Kenya. At that time, you told me that I must not be too hard on myself. Moving on with you did not mean I had to force myself to forget my past with Alaric."

"That's right," Nicolae said calmly. "Now, I will use those words to myself. Aleksis ... someday I will move on. I will find a girl whom I will love with all my heart, and she will love me as much as I love her. And then I will move on with life. But, this past year ... what I did was: I tried to get on with my life by forcing myself to forget what had happened between us, even though it wasn't true."

"Nic ..." Aleksis looked at Nicolae deeply.

"Along the way to this place, I thought a lot about that sentence, and now I realize that I will always love you ... You will always have a place in my heart, but I must let you go from my life because you belong with someone else. I must move on with my life, not by forgetting you." Nicolae seemed emotional, but he kept speaking calmly.

"You will always be the girl I once loved - because we cannot erase history. You are also the mother of the children I love so much. By accepting that fact ... accepting that you are a part of my past, I will be able to move on to the future. I will be able to open my heart to the woman who will become my last love."

"I'm glad to hear that you've made peace with yourself and found the best way for you to move on with life." Aleksis touched Nicolae's hand and patted it softly. "For me, you will always have a place in my heart as the only man I ever loved when I thought my husband passed away. You are my best friend, and forever you will have a place in my life and my family."

"I'm glad to hear that, too," Nicolae said. "It's not easy ... but I hope we can keep having a good relationship because I really want to be able to visit Altair and Vega often."

"Of course...!" said Aleksis happily. "You will always be Daddy Nic for Altair and Vega."

The girl stretched her arms with a smile. Nicolae smiled back and understood what she meant. He stepped closer to her open arms and hugged her warmly.

For a few moments, they were hugging to break the awkwardness between them that had been preventing them this past year from acting like in-laws or friends.

Nicolae and Alexis felt very happy because now, it was as if the invisible wall that blocked their relationship was slowly disappearing. Now, they can look at each other as two good friends.

Aleksis rose from the fallen tree and pulled Nicolae's hand to get up and follow her.

"This is your first time in Targu Mures, right? The memorial that Alaric built for your mother is over there. Before Alaric moved your mother's grave to Yorkshire, she was buried on this hill. It is such a beautiful place ..."

"I'd love to see it," Nicolae said. He walked through the garden, following Aleksis's steps. He would like to see where his mother was initially buried.

Their steps halted in front of a beautiful monument with two stone angels on each side. Nicolae's eyes were fixed when he saw the writing carved in the stone, and he involuntarily felt his hand touch the words.

He read slowly, "You are the best woman in the world."

He could imagine the sadness his brother experienced for one hundred years, every time he came here to visit their mother's grave. Alaric, who lived alone and was an immortal without knowing about his origins, must have felt deeply attached to their mother, who died without being able to tell him anything about himself and his family.

"Father said he wanted to show you and Alaric something," Alexis said gently. "This concerns your mother. "

"I can't wait," said Nicolae.

"You should take a shower and rest first. Later we will meet in the dining room," said Aleksis.

Nicolae nodded. They then walked back into the castle to wash up and change clothes. Dinner would be served in one hour. Aleksis said goodbye to take care of her children while Nicolae was escorted to his room to rest.

After taking a shower, Nicolae sat relaxing while enjoying wine on the terrace of the third floor. He loved watching the beautiful sunset view. Alaric followed him there shortly after.

The two brothers didn't say a word. They just exchanged glances and clinked their glasses before drinking and silently watched the orange sun slowly going down to the west.

Alaric was a quiet man, and Nicolae was a man of few words. Contrary to his twin brother, Nicolae was a warm man and every word he said was meaningful. But at this moment, Nicolae understood his brother's feelings, and words weren't needed.

The sun was setting and would soon be dark. The twins got up from their seats and went to the ground floor. Alaric looked for his wife and children to invite them to dinner while Nicolae waited in the dining room.

The dining room was large and magnificent. A robot servant prepared the long table and assisted the guests as they entered one by one and took their seats. The warm dinner was served at 7 pm between the Schneider–Medici Family and both parties talked and laughed as they enjoyed the food in intimacy.