Both were silent, busy with their own thoughts. Finland was upset because she let herself be deceived by Sophia at that time. Caspar must have been mad at her because she didn't call him after Jean woke up from a coma, that was reasonable.
The misunderstanding was that apparently Caspar didn't think of Aleksis as Jean's daughter; he just didn't know who Aleksis really was.
One question that was really propping Finland's heart was why Caspar insisted on not meeting Finland and asked for his mother's ring to be returned. This was quite confusing her, and it made her very sad. She could not think of any reason why Caspar would not want to meet her at all...
"What should I do?" Finland asked in a low voice. She tried hard to think of all the possibilities but she could not understand why Caspar would not see her. "Caspar didn't want to see me... He also asked for his mother's ring back, and told me never to contact him again. I didn't even have the chance to tell him about Aleksis."
"Maybe he has his reasons." Lauriel pondered for a long time. "One possibility would be that he deliberately wanted to stay away from you because he does not want you to be targeted by his enemies. If he really loves you, you will be his weakness."
Finland remembered Caspar once mentioned that exact same thing, that Finland was his weakness. Was that the reason why he wanted to stay away from Finland? To protect her? Did Caspar really not know that Finland gave birth to their child?
"If he wants to protect me, he shouldn't have stayed away from me... He should have taken me and Aleksis with him and kept us by his side..." Finland said, biting her lip. She felt that Lauriel's words did not make sense. "The safest place for us to be would be with him…"
Lauriel looked at Finland probingly. "Do you still love him? Do you want to go back to him?"
Finland did not answer. She still loved Caspar, but she didn't know if they would ever get back together. Caspar didn't even want to see her.
She also felt that it was unfair for Lauriel who had been so kind to her and Aleksis, if she decided to return to Caspar.
Because of that she couldn't find it in her heart to answer the question.
"Finland, I know you need years to trust me. But now that we have opened up to each other, I beg you to always be honest with me. I don't want you to hide your true feelings from me. I am a grown man and as a man I can accept the truth. Don't be afraid to tell me what your heart desires..."
Lauriel held Finland's hand and looked at her intently. His pair of bright blue green eyes looked very charming, and Finland could not look at him for long. She looked away sadly.
"You're too kind. I don't want to hurt your feelings..." she said softly.
Lauriel smiled at that.
"I like honesty. I don't like humans because most of them are liars and destroyers of nature. I only tolerate a few people, including you. I like you because you are not good with small talk. When I first saw you, I felt bad and wanted to help you. But after spending time with you for two years, I learnt that you are a strong woman with extraordinary survival instinct... My love grows with time. I have no family, and I am used to living alone, but for the past two years I have considered you and Aleksis as my family. I will support you and protect you." Lauriel patted Finland's hand gently, "I want to see the people I love happy."
Finland was stunned by Lauriel's words, which felt like rain after a long drought. She had always been alone, and once she decided to consider Jean as her only family. Now that Jean had forgotten her, Lauriel picked her up and Aleksis from the streets and considered them as his family. Finland was very touched.
"Thank you, Rory..." she whispered in a hoarse voice. "I don't know how to repay your kindness..."
"Aleksis is my goddaughter anyway, her happiness is my priority." Lauriel finished his wine and then took his and Finland's glass to the kitchen. He returned to the library with pillows and blankets. "Let's talk about what to do tomorrow; how to find Caspar and how to cure Jean. You'd better go to sleep now, tomorrow you have to go to work, right? Or do you want to call in sick?"
"Uhmm... no, I have an important meeting tomorrow." Finland took the pillow and blanket from Lauriel and spread it on the couch. "Thank you for the blanket..."
"The pillows and blanket are for me. I will sleep on the couch. You sleep in my room." Lauriel laughed at the confused girl, "How can I let a woman sleep on the sofa? I'll take you to my room."
Finland was surprised and involuntarily followed Lauriel, who held her hand, into the master bedroom.
"I... I'm a guest here, I should just sleep on the couch..." she stammered. Lauriel placed Finland's bag on the bedside table next to the bed.
"I left the guest room above empty because I never received any guests. But if you and Aleksis will sleepover here often, I can prepare a nice guest room for you. For the time being, you can sleep in my room. I still want to read in the library."
Lauriel walked out the door and suddenly Finland came to her senses. She hurriedly chased after Lauriel and hugged his waist from behind.
"Rory..." She stammered, "Th... thank you."
"Hmm." Lauriel patted Finland's hands around his waist but said nothing. As Finland loosened her hug and let go, he continued to walk out of the room and did not turn his head.
Finland could not sleep at all that night. Lauriel's bed was very comfortable, because it was made of the most expensive memory foam, but even so, Finland couldn't keep her eyes closed. Various thoughts raged in her head.
She couldn't believe that she let Sophia deceive her for a whole year. Thinking about it, she felt very annoyed. She wanted to meet Caspar as soon as possible and ask him in person why he did not want to meet Finland at that time... She also very badly wanted to tell him about Aleksis...
And oh, Lauriel may also be able to cure Jean... This made her heart flutter. She really missed her best friend. The only reason why she was able to survive her miserable life in the past was because she could talk to Jean every day. However, for almost 3 years now she couldn't talk to him anymore.
This really stressed her out...
She was very grateful that Lauriel entered her life at the right time. She could not imagine if Lauriel hadn't saved her when she fainted after Jean's heart-breaking call two years ago. Doctors said that if she had fallen hard on the sidewalk, the baby in her womb could have died. At that time, she had to bedrest for two weeks before giving birth to Aleksis.
That was not the only time Lauriel helped her. After that incident, the man had helped her and Aleksis numerous times for the past two years...
Without Lauriel, Aleksis wouldn't be living such a healthy and happy life by her side...
***