Finland's application for leave was approved by Ms. Fang. Aside from her good performance, she also impressed her entire department.

One afternoon she invited the group from the Marketing department to dinner at the Moon Restaurant of Continental Hotel to celebrate the opening of Katia's gallery. Everyone was very impressed by the result.

People at LTX know that Moon Restaurant's waiting list could be months, so Finland's success in bringing them there to eat made all of her colleagues very happy and amazed. The next morning when Finland approached to Ms. Fang to apply for leave from December 30th to January 29th, her request was quickly approved.

Finland promised to settle all her obligations before her leave and she would hand over her pending projects to Lily and Tran who would help her. She also promised that she could be contacted by telephone and e-mail at any time if there was an emergency that needed her attention.

A week before they left for Germany, Finland told Caspar the good news when they were eating together.

"I have been given a month leave. This week is my last day of work in 2018."

"Ahh... that's great! I'm very happy to hear that." Caspar nodded happily, "Starting tomorrow night I will give you a crash course on Alchemists so you can prepare to meet them."

"Crash course? What for?" Finland asked in surprise.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about my people, and I don't want you to feel surprised when you meet people who are rather quirky or very different from me." Caspar replied calmly, "I told you, not all Alchemists are like me."

"I know, not all Alchemists are rich and smart like you. You told me that, "Finland said, shrugging.

"That's not all." This time Caspar looked very serious, "There are some people who call themselves 'purists' or pure Alchemists. They are the direct descendants of the previous generation of alchemists and do not need to drink the immortality potion. They consider themselves better than regular humans and look down on them and all members of the Alchemist who are mixed or are born from ordinary people who enter our clan by marrying an Alchemist and are gifted the immortality potion."

"Really? So they are like racists who look down on others because of their skin color and nationality..." Finland was surprised to hear Caspar's story. She did not expect that there were some evil Alchemists.

"Sort of. They only support marriages among fellow Alchemists, even though, you know, there are very few of us... If we limit ourselves to just marrying fellow Alchemists, in a short time we will have relationships with our own relatives, almost like incest. My grandfather and father were also purists. They refused to accept Louis, Flora's husband, to enter our clan. After Alexandrite was born ten years later, my father changed his mind. He loved Alexandrite, his grandson, and didn't want to see him grow old and die. Finally, the family accepted Louis and gave him the immortality potion when he was 40 years old. Then, Garnet was born, and finally Jadeith. They are all considered mixed blood."

Finland only recently heard about Caspar's parents and grandfather, and she did not expect that his father and grandfather were also racist towards regular people.

"Have you ever wanted a purist to be your spouse?" Finland probed. She knew that Caspar had a very close relationship with his parents and she wanted to know if Caspar had the same attitude as them.

"I don't know..." Caspar answered honestly, "I think, marrying a purist or not, it makes no difference, as long as that person can live forever with me and we love each other. Whether she is born an Alchemist or she has to take the immortality potion, I don't really care.

"Hmm... alright." Finland recalled that she had only promised to join Caspar in one year, but she still hadn't decided whether she would drink the immortality potion or not. Caspar seemed to read her mind, because the man hurriedly calmed her down.

"But I have promised that I will accept you for who you are, even if you don't want to be an Alchemist, I'll still wait. I will never force you." He kissed Finland then whispered, "I'm sure our children will change your mind. You'll see."

He smiled broadly and rubbed Finland's head. The girl just frowned.

***

The day that she had long awaited finally arrived. On December 29, they were ready with their luggage and headed to the airport. They were scheduled to arrive in Germany the day before Aldebar's birthday party.

Inside Caspar's private plane, Finland finally met Famke and several of Caspar's other personal bodyguards. Before, Famke interacted a lot with Jadeith, but because she was often assigned to secret missions, she was rarely around.

The girl liked wearing leather outfits which made her look very sexy. Her short bob hair looked very practical and gave out the impression of being cold. Her appearance reminded Finland of the character La Femme Nikita, without her blond hair. Famke was a German and was apparently almost 200 years old.

She was respectful to Finland but spoke very little. During the 14-hour flight, Finland barely heard Famke's voice.

"Famke is not really social," Caspar said. "but she is a good person. She became my bodyguard because I saved her life... She just wants to return my kindness. I've repeatedly told her to leave, so she can live her own life, but Famke insists on protecting me."

Finland looked at Famke who was sitting in the corner of the cabin. She was reading a book seriously. She did not know whether Famke was with Caspar because she wanted to repay his kindness, or if she actually had feelings for Caspar...

They landed in Stuttgart and immediately went through the VIP access to leave the airport. Some luxury cars were waiting for them in front of the arrival lobby. Finland still couldn't believe that she just set foot in Europe, and she was with her future husband...

Everything felt perfect!

She took a deep breath as she got off the plane, but the cold temperature gave her a shock. It was winter in Germany at the end of December, and the air was piercing cold. Finland shivered immediately.

Brr...