"What are you two talking about?"
Suddenly a melodious voice was heard behind the father and daughter duo. They both turned around with a smile and found a beautiful woman with honey-colored hair and blue-green eyes coming closer with graceful steps.
"Hmm ... Vega was talking about boys," Elios said. "I advised her that she shouldn't think about boys before she turns a hundred years old."
The beautiful woman laughed and rubbed her daughter's hair. "Is that so?"
"I only told Father that someday I wish to meet a man who would cherish me like he cherishes you, Mom," Vega smile sheepishly.
"Aw... Well, you should definitely only marry someone who can love you more than your fathers do. Otherwise, what's the point of being with him in the first place?" Aleksis nodded. "Oh, by the way, Daddy Nic has just arrived for dinner, don't you want to say hello to him?"
Vega's face immediately beamed. "Daddy Nic is already here? I'll say hello first. See you in the dining room, Father!"
The teenage girl kissed her father's cheek and immediately rushed down to the first floor.
Elios Linden nodded and watched his daughter leave with a faint smile on his face.
"Jeez ... It feels like it was only yesterday that I gave birth to that child. But today she has already been talking about boys," his wife grumbled, shaking her head.
The husband glanced at her. "I think I know who she takes after in that regard, falling in love at such a young age. Tsk."
"Gosh! You're saying I was chasing boys when I was young?" said his wife.
"Who insisted on being my girlfriend when we met 17 years ago?" Elios asked cooly. He pulled his wife to sit on his lap.
The beautiful woman chuckled and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.
"I had to be assertive then. If not, you wouldn't know what is good for you," she grumbled.
"You're right, Aleksis," Elios Linden kissed his wife's lips and closed his eyes, enjoying her scent. When he opened his eyes, his face looked rather sad. "Time goes by so fast. Suddenly it's already Sunday. I hate it when time flies."
"Sshh ... didn't we agree on this arrangement?" Aleksis reprimanded her husband gently." Altair and Vega need to lead a normal lifestyle, like other kids their age. Once they are satisfied, we can have them forever."
Elios finally nodded. He rose from his seat and carried his wife in both arms. "Let's have dinner."
Aleksis, his wife, was raised by an overprotective father, the Alchemist clan leader. As a child, she was kidnapped by bad people several times, and that made her parents worried to death about her safety.
That was why she and her younger siblings grew up without being exposed to the public and got their education at home. Their parents called the best private teachers in the world and they learned from the best professors in their fields.
They did not get an education in ordinary schools like other children. It made them lose their teen years when they were supposed to make friends with their peers.
That was why Aleksis now supported her firstborns, Altair and Vega, to go to school like other regular children. She always regretted not having many friends growing up. Of course, the twins were always protected by reliable bodyguards who worked in discreet.
Altair and Vega did not use the surname Linden when they were registered at George Washington High School. Neither did they claim to be Elios Linden's children. Their father was currently one of the most prominent men in the world because he controlled RMI, the largest technology company group that managed daily human life.
If people find out that Elios Linden's children went to a particular school, surely the kids could become the target of evil people. Especially not with their father's past as an assassin, which garnered him plenty of enemies.
The kids also wouldn't be able to make genuine friends easily because their schoolmates and teachers would treat them differently just because of their parents' affluence.
So, to make it easier for Altair and Vega to go to school like regular kids and not disclose their identities, they were sent to live with their godfather, Nicolae Medici. They called him Daddy Nic.
Nicolae was also an immortal who was not aging. He was an adventurous guy who had traveled the world by changing his identities and professions for the past century. He had been a medical doctor, a hacker, and countless other professions throughout his life.
At the moment, he was working as a professor at a university in New York. He gladly accepted the twins at his home and became their father in name before their teachers and schoolmates.
In school, Altair Linden and Vega Linden were using the name of Altair Medici and Vega Medici.
On weekdays or school nights, the twins would stay with Nicolae. He owned a comfortable apartment near George Washington High School. On weekends, both kids would return to their parents' mansion in Manhattan.
On Sundays like this, usually, Nicolae would come and have dinner with them at the Linden's family mansion and then bring the twins to go home with him.
Alaric quietly complained that time was always moving so fast. Now, it was already Sunday evening when Nicolae had come to get his children.
"Hey ... welcome. Let's eat," Elios said when he saw Nicolae sitting at the dining table and chatting with his children.
Nicolae was an extremely handsome man who turned 111 years old in the year 2056. However, appearance-wise, he still looked like a young man aged 25. At first glance, people would think he was a university student, not a professor.
He had a handsome face with perfect symmetry, long blond hair tied with a red ribbon, and a pair of deep blue eyes. His body was tall and sturdy, and he loved wearing a short-sleeved shirt and ripped jeans. Women ogled whenever they saw him around. He looked handsome but approachable at the same time.
He preferred a casual outfit and his personality was warm and friendly, the opposite of Elios Linden who always looked elegant and showed a cold and introverted attitude. People somehow felt an unexplained fear when they saw Elios.
Even though he was equally handsome like Nicolae, Elios always seemed so distant and ruthless. He had a pair of purple eyes and platinum-colored hair which he often cut short.
He did not like to keep long hair like Nicolae because his smooth face looked beautiful like a woman's. He was his mother's spitting image, after all. Long hair would make his face look more feminine, so he never let his hair grow past his chin.
People would not have guessed when seeing these two people together: that both men were actually brothers. They were fraternal twins born before their mother died at the end of World War 2. They were separated at birth and only found out about each other 100 years later.
That was one reason why Altair and Vega call Nicolae as 'Daddy Nic', because they considered him as their second father.
Another reason was, it was because he also almost married their mother years ago when everyone thought Elios Linden had died.
But that's for another story.
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From the author:
Many people said the story between Elios Linden, his wife Aleksis, and his brother Nicolae was very heartwarming (and touching). It's one of my favorite stories ever!
Ah.. you can read it in The Alchemists, but yeah.. sorry for the spoilers here.