Nicolae was stunned and did not know what to think. His mind suddenly felt empty. When she saw his brother walking while carrying one of his babies, who was now big enough to chatter and happily patted his cheek, Nicolae hurriedly gave Alaric a signal to come to him.
"The party is lively, isn't it?" Alaric said. His face looked very bright, he clearly enjoyed his role as a father to the two little babies.
"Yes, it is..." commented Nicolae. He elbowed Alaric and tilted his chin toward Lauriel, who was standing in the corner with Rosalien. Both of them looked like party decorations that were standing still, looking at people dancing with the same cold expression.
"Have you seen father?" Nicolae asked.
Alaric followed his brother's gaze and stared straight at Lauriel and Rosalien. He could only shrug. He already suspected his father's closeness with Rosalien since he saw the red woven wristband his father had worn during their year-end holiday on F Island.
He knew Rosalien attended a weaving therapy to calm her nerves down, years ago. The girl was known to have explosive emotions and couldn't make friends. She attended the therapy as part of her anger management program. She grew to like weaving small objects in her spare time. Alaric still had the wristband Rosalien gave him a dozen years ago.
The woven wristband in Lauriel's hands proved that somehow, after returning from Targu Mures last year, Lauriel was reunited with Rosalien and the bad blood, due to events from eleven years ago when Lauriel captured Rosalien, had been settled between them.
If Rosalien still held a grudge against Lauriel, then there was no way that she would give Lauriel one of her handmade wristbands. Alaric also could not help but notice when Lauriel started wearing it. Over the past year, he had begun to get to know his father, and he knew that Lauriel was not someone who liked wearing accessories, such as a wristband.
It gave him the impression that Rosalien must be important enough to Lauriel that the man changed and accepted the wristband she gave him. And tonight, both of them seemed to come together to attend the wedding and even wore the same red wristbands...
Was this a subtle sign that the two were in a relationship? Just look ... their gestures seemed very similar. They both even gave off the same indifferent and cold vibe.
"I think ... they do have a special relationship," Alaric finally said. "I will ask Aleksis to ask father directly."
Nicolae grabbed his brother's shoulder and shook his head. "Uhm .. I don't think we should ask him anything. We shouldn't force our father to share something if he doesn't want to share it with us. Maybe they are reluctant to announce their relationship because Rosalien is one of your foster children."
Alaric frowned. That was true. After all, Rosalien was his foster daughter and Lauriel was his biological father. For regular human standards, the relationship between Lauriel and Rosalien, if they were really lovers, would be considered unnatural.
But they were not even related by blood, and Alaric also never adopted Rosalien as his daughter. He gave his last name Rhionen to Rosalien to mark their bond as fellow members of Rhionen Assassins. His real last name was actually Medici.
Come to think of it ... Alaric, who was very familiar with Rosalien, having been with her for almost 30 years, felt that the girl was actually very similar to Lauriel. They were equally reclusive, cold, and quiet. Rosalien didn't have any friends. She was only close to her three foster brothers.
She was just like Lauriel, who was only close to his people in Wolf Pack and Caspar Schneider.
He thought again how he should respond to this. If indeed Lauriel was in a relationship with Rosalien ... then surely he would support his father unconditionally.
He just wanted to see his father happy with whoever his heart d.e.s.i.r.ed. In his life now, Alaric had got everything he ever wanted in life. He had four lovely children and a wife who loved him with all her heart.
Their lives together were pleasant and happy. He just wanted the same thing to happen to his brother and father. If Lauriel and Rosalien felt awkward because of the indirect family relations that existed between them, Alaric would gladly sever his relationship as Rosalien's foster father and let her live separated from his family.
After all, at the age of 30-something, as now, Rosalien was a m.a.t.u.r.e woman who could decide on her own life.
"I will call my four foster children and severe the family relationship between us. I don't want them to feel awkward towards me and always think of me as their father. However, now that I have my own family. I will treat Mischa, Takeshi, Kai, and Rosalien as my subordinates in the company," said Alaric in the end. "I don't want Rosalien to feel awkward toward our father because of the past relationship between us."
Nicolae only nodded when he heard his brother's words. Alaric, who lived alone long enough and always thought he was suffering the most because he had no family, actually had many people around him. Before he met Aleksis, he already had his group, Rhionen Assassins, as well as his four foster children.
After Alaric met Aleksis and married her, the man was blessed with a big family that made him very happy. He had four biological children, a father, a brother, and the extended family from the Schneider and Lewis and Baden.
While Nicolae ... he didn't have all that. Subconsciously, the dark blue-eyed man finished the wine in his glass and tried to forget his own bitterness. He really did not have anyone. He did not have Aleksis and the children. He also had lost Marie and their child together.
Nicolae did not know when he would be able to recover his broken heart and be happy again. For a long time, he had never smiled.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Aleksis, who came to them, carrying Scotland. He kissed Nicolae on the cheek and handed the baby over to the man. "Can you please hold the little one for a moment? I want to find the twins."
Nicolae nodded. He kissed Scotland's fat cheeks and carried the baby in his hand. He had never held a baby before. He met Altair and Vega when they were already five years old, so they were older than Scotland and Ireland.
A pair of really handsome non-identical twin brothers holding identical baby boys dressed in identical getups immediately attracted the attention of many people. Soon, the overly-excited female guests had come and surrounded them.
"Gosh ... you all look so beautiful."
"You are twins, right? And now one of you also has twins? This is really adorable ..."
"Nicolae, don't you want to find a wife for yourself? If you also have a baby, they must also look so cute like Ireland and Scotland ..."
Nicolae could only roll his eyes and try to ignore them, while Alaric looked happy and proud that his children were being praised. His face looked radiant. From afar, Rosalien looked stunned to see Alaric's bright face.
"I've never seen Sir Alaric like this," she commented softly. "He must be really happy."
Lauriel followed the direction of Rosalien's gaze and then nodded. "He is indeed happy."