"Hi, Dad," Altair greeted their father as he opened the apartment door and went inside. Vega followed behind him. Nicolae, who was typing something on his laptop, immediately came out of his study to welcome the two teenagers.
"Hey ... you're back. Did you get my order?" he asked. Altair held up a paper bag containing groceries in his hand.
"Everything is there, except for cherry tomatoes," answered the young man.
"Ha. It's okay. I have been wanting to cook this new recipe for a while now. You guys go change and have lunch first."
Nicolae received the grocery bag from Altair and tapped his shoulder, then stored the groceries in the refrigerator.
Altair and Vega immediately went to their respective rooms and changed clothes then hurried to the dining table overlooking a large balcony filled with big potted plants. The apartment where Nicolae lived was very comfortable and spacious.
He deliberately lived in an apartment for practicality. Also, it was good to disguise his identity while he worked as a professor at the university.
Altair and Vega also like their rooms in Nicolae's apartment, although in terms of size and comfort, they couldn't be compared to their rooms in their parents' mansion, which were very spacious and luxurious. In the adjacent apartment lived two personal bodyguards who were assigned by their father to always protect them secretly.
Over the past two years, they had managed to live a simple life in the Eastern part of New York City, like regular people. Every weekend, both went home to Elios and Aleksis' mansion in Manhattan. Sometimes, they traveled to visit their grandparents in Stuttgart and Berlin.
Altair and Vega had it easy as the children of Elios Linden and grandchildren of the Schneider family. All kinds of luxury were available to them at any time. For them, it was very easy to travel to Europe or Asia whenever they wanted because their family had a private jet.
That was why, when Vega heard that Altair had a fan who indirectly boasted that her family traveled to Switzerland to spend the weekend, she was not impressed at all and just laughed. If she wanted, Vega could go to Switzerland and went back on the same day.
However, the twins really didn't want to attract attention. They enjoyed school life like ordinary teenagers and tried to manage their time as well as possible.
They knew that they can only live as ordinary people until they are 35 years old, after that, they had to withdraw from the public and find a new identity.
As Alchemists who could live young forever, their faces and appearance would stay the same after they turn 25 years old. For the next ten years or so, they would be able to claim that they genetically looked youthful to others.
However, over the age of 35, it would be difficult for them to convince the public that their faces still looked like they were in their 20s because of genetics.
Elios Linden, the twins' biological father, rarely appeared in public. However, every time he did, people had begun to talk about his appearance since he still looked very young, even though he should have been 40 years old in the eyes of the world.
Elios and Aleksis realized that they had to get out of public life immediately and not show up again so as not to make people suspicious.
He would wait five more years, at least until Altair and Vega grow up, so he could give up his position at RMI to his children and completely disappear from the public.
He had long wanted to live in peace with his wife and children, but as an icon of his massive company group, he had no choice but to appear publicly and to his employees occasionally.
Nicolae had been using his identity for five years now, and people who knew him on campus also thought he was in his late thirties. Many people praised his youthful appearance, especially when he was not wearing a suit and tie, which made him look formal and more mature.
He had also been thinking about finding a new identity five years from now. He just wanted to wait for Altair and Vega to be adults before he disappeared since they all would look like they were of the same age.
"So, how about your exam preparation?" Nicolae asked, scooping the soup into his bowl and started eating.
The three sat at a beautiful dining table overlooking a balcony filled with plants. The atmosphere outside was very calm, and the sunny weather made their mood happy.
"Ugh ... my teacher is crazy. He gave us so many assignments before the exam. How can I find the time to study?" Vega grumbled while chomping on her garlic bread with an annoyed expression. "I have to go to Loren's house tomorrow after school for group work."
"Tomorrow is Friday, right?" Nicolae asked. "Does that mean you will go straight to the mansion after you finished your group work?"
Vega nodded. "Her house is near Manhattan,"
"How about you?" Nicolae asked Altair. The teenager was removing some peas from his soup. "Hey, how many times did I have to tell you, don't be picky with food. You're a big boy."
Altair, who was caught red-handed, only grinned and hurriedly pushed the peas under his bowl. "Miss Haney asked you to come to the principal's office tomorrow after school, Dad."
"Why does she need me to come?" Nicolae asked. He remembered that this semester alone he was already summoned to come to his children's school and meet the principal once a month. Although Vega was a model student, Altair was not at all like his sister. He had made Nicolae get called to school several times because he got into fights with other boys. Nicolae looked at Altair with narrowed eyes. "Did you fight again?"
"Ehh ... I wasn't the one looking for trouble," Altair said in his defense. "That jerk from class D started it first. The girl he liked gave me chocolate, so he tried to hit me the schoolyard."
Vega nodded and pointed at Altair. "He's not lying, Dad."
"Did he hit you?" Nicolae asked, looking concerned.
Altair hurriedly shook his head and grinned. "Of course not. I'm good at fighting. Father and Uncle Jadeith didn't teach me self-defense for nothing. Instead, he was the one getting all beaten up."
"Hmm .. I see," Nicolae nodded. For him, what's important was that his children were not hurt. He would not forgive anyone who wanted to hurt both Altair and Vega.
"I heard that idiot Charles... his father is a famous lawyer. That's why he tried to hit me. He thought his father would be able to help him get away with it," Altair quietly hid his peas when Nicolae wasn't looking. "I think Miss Haney will bring you and Charles's father together tomorrow. Anyway, no matter what happens, you don't budge."
Nicolae nodded. He was used to dealing with such problems. If possible, he and the twins would try to solve everything by themselves, and not let Elios, his brother find out. He could not imagine what Elios would do if he heard his son being targeted, and someone tried to beat up Altair.