Chapter 408 - Oktoberfest at the Schneider Mansion

The arrival of Jean, giving Marion a piggyback ride surprised everyone and for a few seconds they turned silent.

"Hello everyone, I found Marion under the hill with a sprained ankle, so I brought her here," Jean said, smiling sweetly to everyone.

Petra and Endo covered their mouths in surprise. They knew how tough Marion was, and they couldn't believe that the girl would voluntarily allow a man to carry her on his back just because she sprained her ankle; they could not believe what they were seeing.

Lauriel was also rather surprised to see Marion return this soon. This afternoon he had met her and told her to come to the Grosseto next week, but apparently Marion returned tonight instead; and what was even more surprising was that the girl came with Jean.

Jean carefully sat Marion on a lawn chair then gently asked if she wanted to drink or eat something. "Let me get it. You just sit there nicely, okay ..."

Marion who was not used to being treated so gently by any man started to feel awkward. All this time she was able to get along well with the men in her group, The Wolf Pack, and they all treated her like a man, just like they treated the other members.

Marion had never been romantically involved with a man before. She had worshiped Lauriel ever since she joined the Wolf Pack and had always loved him ever since. She never expected that it would feel so nice to be treated as a lover by a "normal" man.

She looked at Jean who winked at her and gave a sign with his hand to remind Marion of the Mona Lisa painting.

Ugh ... alright. Since she would have to pay Jean dearly and give up one of the most expensive paintings in the world that she possessed, there was nothing wrong with using the man to spoil her in front of Lauriel. Right?

Finally Marion smiled sweetly and pointed at the glass of German beer at the end of the table, "I ... want to drink that."

"All right, Princess," Jean then brought two glasses, one for him and one for Marion, then invited the girl to a toast.

Petra, Endo, Esso, Neo, and Peach could only look at each other then drink their beers while rolling their eyes. Finland, who had just come out of the house, saw what had happened but couldn't guess what Jean's true purpose was.

Jean just broke up with Billie. Was her best friend interested in Marion? She hoped that was not true. Caspar, who saw the direction of Finland's gaze, immediately understood what was happening.

Smiling sweetly, he hugged his wife's waist and greeted her in a soft voice, not wanting to be outdone by the way Jean treated Marion, "What do you want to drink, Honey?"

All the single men who were present at the garden could only look away and finish their drinks. They did not want to witness the intimacy of Caspar and Finland. Too much dog food was thrown at them - from both Jean and Marion; and Caspar and Finland.

Caspar used to be a womanizer and he changed lovers once a month, until he met the woman who was now his wife. He never failed to show the world how much he adored and loved his wife.

The other members of the Alchemist clan who did not have a partner could only lament the situation because they were single every time the couple exhibit intimacy in front of them.

The only person who couldn't care less seemed to be Lauriel. He was famous for not being attracted to women, especially after his girlfriend, the only woman he truly loved, died.

Nicolae, who sat next to Terry, pinched Terry's waist and whispered to him, "That's your father, right? Does that mean you will have a new stepmother?"

"Shut your mouth," Terry said irritably. After all, he had never been comfortable seeing his father making out with a woman, especially openly like this. In the movies, OK, that was just acting, but now it was in real life.

He also did not know how to behave to Billie, his father's fiancee for 15 years who had become quite close to him. He was very sure that his father and Billie would end up as husband and wife. But now their relationship had ended so unexpectedly.

Terry just learned that Jean and Billie ended their relationship when he met his father in Switzerland. He hadn't had the chance to contact Billie and say words of comfort. He didn't know how to entertain Billie. Now even his father seemed to have moved on so quickly.

Finally, Terry could only vent his frustration by drinking various types of beer provided at the Schneider family's Oktoberfest while chatting warmly with the other guests.

***

Meanwhile in Berlin, Alaric was reading various news in online and offline media about Kurt Van Der Ven's funeral, and his heart felt heavy. He still could not forgive himself for causing the death of the man he thought was Aleksis' father. He saw Kurt's death had even caused the Schneider Group stock value go down.

Actually, if he wanted to bring down his rival group, now was the right time. Market confidence was being tested and Rhionen Industries would be able to provide confidence to the public that the automation system they were developing was the best.

Schneider Group was one of the greatest challengers to his automation projects. If he could steal the Schneider Group projects in America and instead offer an automated system that had been proven successful, he would be able to bring down some of the Schneider Group subsidiaries and take the market share there.

At first he had no intention of bringing down the Schneider Group because Aleksis' father was the group's CEO, but now that Aleksis was gone and Kurt was dead, Alaric had no reason to delay his goal. He must refocus.

***