Chapter 940 - We Will Never Give Up (The End)

"Nic ..." Marie whispered in a hoarse voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks slowly as she framed Nicolae's face with both hands and looked into his eyes deeply. "Don't feel guilty if we continue living... We will continue to look for Vega. We will not stop trying .. But please ... we must not become devastated and immersed in grief without trying to live. We still have to eat .. we still have to sleep ... We must move on ... So that we have the energy to continue looking for her..."

Nicolae nodded slowly. He understood what Marie wanted to say. The girl meant to say that they had to keep living well while looking for Vega because life would go on. Humans needed food and rest to keep them alive ... 

But that's not all, humans also needed love.

It was love that made humans different from animals and plants. Love was a need that was just as important for humans as food and rest. If they neglected it, even though their bodies were alive, their souls would slowly die.

During this month, Nicolae and Marie only focused on finding Vega and met their physical needs, such as eating and sleeping, but they forgot to nourish their mental wellbeings and their souls.

If this continued, slowly, not only will Nicolae dan Marie's relationship would suffer, but their souls would also suffer even more.

How could they continue their search for Vega if their own souls died?

"You're right ... Marie, you're very wise," Nicolae said with a smile. He nodded. At present, he must not only pay attention to his physical health but also his mental health. He was very depressed and really needed release to comfort his soul. "I'm sorry I didn't realize this before ..."

He pulled Marie's head close to his face and kissed her again. This time the kiss felt more loose and emotional.

Marie was very touched and returned Nicolae's intimate kiss. They vented their passion on the dining chair for several minutes as they were engulfed in emotion. They cried together and pour out all the sadness they felt in the c.h.e.s.ts and comfort each other.

Every kiss, touch, and c.a.r.e.s.s they received from each other now felt like a medicine being applied to a large gaping wound in their hearts. And slowly, the wound closed, with every touch and affection that they pour on their loved one.

"We'd better move to the bedroom ..." Marie whispered in a hoarse voice.

She was trying to hold back her m.o.a.n so as not to attract the attention of the servants around the dining room. She felt that they would get carried away very soon and make love on the dining table.

Nicolae nodded slowly. He stopped his kiss and immediately carried Marie's body in his arms to their room. They both felt their temperature rise, and their c.h.e.s.ts were filled with d.e.s.i.r.e that had been long suppressed.

After they arrived in their large, spacious bedroom, Nicolae hurriedly closed the door, locked it, and placed Marie's body on the bed. For a month, the bed was only used for sleeping, and there was no warmth shared on it. 

However, today, that would change.

"I love you," Nicolae whispered, taking off Marie's clothes one by one, and his own. Once both of them were n.a.k.e.d, he started fondling her lovingly. For a moment, his mind was successfully distracted.

When he saw Marie's beautiful curves that he had not touched for a long time, Nicolae could only think of how grateful he was that the beautiful woman under him was his wife and the mother of his child. Soon they would live together forever because Marie would receive the immortality potion from Aldebar.

Being able to forget about Vega's abduction for an hour turned out to be very helpful for Nicolae to think calmly. His mind that was always depressed and sad could finally find a bit of release.

He even managed to sleep without a nightmare in Marie's arms for several hours after they made love. They woke up just in time for dinner.

"Gosh ... we fell asleep ..." Nicolae said as he got out of bed and tried to look out the window. "Fortunately, it's not dark yet."

"We must be so mentally exhausted that our bodies forced us to get extra sleep like that ..." Marie said. She looked at Nicolae attentively. "How do you feel?"

Nicolae smiled back. "I feel better. Thank you."

"I am glad to hear that." Marie got up from the bed and approached Nicolae and kissed his lips. "I want to take a shower. Do you want to come?"

Nicolae nodded. He pulled Marie's hand into their bathroom. He invited her to take a bath together before they searched for Summer and got ready for dinner.

"After dinner, I will contact Uncle Caspar and Aldebar. We will continue the plan to get married on August 1," Nicolae said, as he closed the bathroom door.

"Good idea," Marie was delighted to hear that.

Nicolae and Marie's wedding was held on August 1 as planned. Only their immediate family were present to witness and congratulate them on their wedding.

Caspar formalized them as husband and wife, then Aldebar handed over two small bottles filled with the immortality potion for Marie and Summer.

Both of them took the potion as soon as the wedding ceremony was over and everyone welcomed Marie and Summer to be part of their family. They were happy for this little family.

However, they couldn't hide their sadness due to Vega's disappearance. Their faces were dark and tired. Alaric was only able to hug his brother and congratulated him in a whisper. He was not even able to give his speech as the bestman.

They all gathered in Grosseto that day to celebrate Nicolae and Marie's wedding, as well as to share the results of their respective investigations. Even though there was still no significant progress, all members of the Schneider-Medici family were determined to never give up.

"This is the worst year of my life," Alaric said as they enjoyed dinner together after the wedding. "I thought the worst year of my life was the year when I was born because my birth took my mother's life. But later, I fell in love and lost Aleksis. When I heard the news of her death 17 years ago, it was apparently worse than losing my mother, and the ten years afterward became the ten years that made me the saddest and most miserable. I never thought ... that, one day, I would experience a feeling far worse than that. That was the day I lost my daughter ..."

Everyone looked at the man attentively. They understood how Alaric was feeling because they knew what he was going through, and most of them were there and watched the event took place.

"But ... I never let sadness and suffering destroy me. I turned them into a weapon to get better and do something. I will not give the kidnapper what they want. I will not be weak and broken. If I am destroyed, then I won't stay alive to meet Vega again. "

Alaric took a deep breath. His face looked emotional, even though this cold man rarely showed his emotions in public. "So, now I am determined to stay alive and stay strong so that when Vega returns ... she will find her strong father, not a weak man who was drowned in sadness and give up..."

Aleksis squeezed Alaric's hand and smiled. She understood what her husband meant. Alaric wanted to console their family and encourage them not to be buried in sadness and destroy themselves in the process. Because, if they were destroyed ... how could they keep looking for Vega?

They would keep looking even if it took them forever. They would never give up.

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>>> THE ALCHEMISTS ENDS HERE <<<

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*****

From the Author:

Thank you so very much for investing your time and money in reading 1,1 million words of this novel that I have been writing since February 18, 2019. If this was a paperback, you would have completed reading the whole 7 Harry Potter books.

After seventeen months of writing "The Alchemists", I finally decided to end the book here by giving closure on Nicolae's and Marie's relationship.

Vega's story and how she would return to her family will be written in a separate book. I don't want to continue it here because this book would be too long and I think a trilogy is a good set up.

Another reason is the story will have a different vibe from all the previous volumes. It will be a bit dark because it is about revenge and redemption and not all people are comfortable with it.

As always, you are welcome to end the journey here and move on to another book.

If you haven't read FINDING STARDUST, it would be my next recommendation ^0^.

However, you would like to continue this story, you are welcome on the new journey. Hop on and head to the new book: THE PRINCE WHO CANNOT FALL IN LOVE & THE MISSING HEIRESS.

I will repost some of the chapters from this book there, to give context for new readers, so they could understand the story without having to read the 940 chapters of THE ALCHEMISTS. However, I will remove the parts on Nicolae and Marie because it wouldn't be significant to the new book.

Please be patient. I think the story will pick up after this event where we left off, in 3-4 days.

I would like to thank everyone who had come and stayed until the end. I cannot mention you one by one and showed how grateful I am for your patronage. I can only give a shoutout to top 10 fans:

- oluwaseyi_okiki

- Lori_Dale

- Sam_27

- Jennifer_Miller_1993

- Trill_Chiware

- putripanda

- Cindy_Janssen

- charilynbino

- Connie_Ammon

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I will keep working hard and improve my writing.

When I looked back on the early chapters, I actually cringed (even though I had edited and re-edited them so many times) and I am so grateful you looked past them and continued reading anyway.

And now... here we are.

If you would like to stay in touch with me, feel free to connect with me on Instagram: @Missrealitybites, and FB Page: "Missrealitybites"

If you want to buy me coffee.. hahahaha... I wouldn't say no obviously. 

You can go to: ko-fi.com/missrealitybites

See you in the next book! Please stay healthy and take care.

Remember, we don't only need food and sleep to survive.. we also need to care for our mental health and our souls.

May you all be well. God bless you!

PS: If you haven't written any reviews for this book, I would love to hear what you think about the trilogy. I'd really really appreciate it if you could take a little time and share your thoughts in a review. Let me and potential readers know the good, the bad, and whatever I should improve for my next writing.

Thank you, and luv ya!

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FUN FACTS:

1. "The Alchemists" was written because I was inspired by "Altered Carbon", a Netflix TV show about how humans can live forever by preserving their core (soul) and just move to a new body after their current shell (body) expires. The new body could be the clone of their own body or they could get a new one. The rich could get their bodies in prime shape and beauty for infinity, as long as their core is intact.

Altered Carbon is made into a TV show from a cyberpunk novel under the same title. I haven't read the novel. Man, I wish I have the time to read nowadays.

2. I am also a HUGE fan of "Peter Pan" and I believe "The Alchemists" is a bit like Peterpan's story in a way. The characters stay young forever. In my other novel, "Finding Stardust", I immortalized Peterpan's persona in Haoran and his 'boys'.

3. I listened to "Bedshaped" from Keane in repeat for months when I was writing Volume 2, especially for Alaric's part. It's the perfect song for him. I also listened to Saint Seiya's opening soundtrack to write Nicolae's part. It's called "Pegasus Fantasy".

4. "Saint Seiya" is the first anime I watched when I was young and it left a deep impression on me. I love Cygnus Hyoga from "Saint Seiya" and I believe I was really touched by his love for his mother, that Alaric's character is partly inspired by him. I also think my definition of beauty (with purple hair color for Luna, Alaric's mom) is shaped by Athena from Saint Seiya.

5. For the visual, my personal favorites are Luke Eisner as Alaric and Ton Heukels as Nicolae. Both men are in their early 20's and are extremely good looking models. They look quite similar, and prolly could pass as fraternal twins :).

Also, Lee Hyun Jae (Korean actor and drummer) is my preferred visual for Jean-Pierre Wang. Check his Instagram at @88hyunjae.

I don't really have personal favorites for the other characters' visuals. You can see pictures for this book in its Instagram account: @casparthealchemist or my Instagram @missrealitybites.

6. I started writing "The Alchemists" in February 2019 after I went into a bad depression. It was actually mild, but coupled with burnout and added with annoying ex, I was hitting rock bottom. Writing was my way to find solace. I am glad I started writing again because it helped me through it all. I am better now despite the pandemic and whatnot.

Thank you for being part of my journey. I am forever grateful. ^^