Aleksis looked at Nicolae's reddening face and realized that Nicolae still had feelings for her. This was why she hurriedly excused herself from the young man and approached her brother Terry who had just snatched a cocktail from a servant's tray.
"Hey ... I'm glad you succeeded in persuading Nic to go home," Aleksis greeted him with a smile. She hugged Terry and kissed his cheeks.
"Of course he has to go home, he won't be having his 100th birthday every year," Terry commented. He finished his cocktail and then took a second glass, "Where are my niece and nephew?"
Aleksis looked around and realized her two children were not with her. "You know ... they were with me just now. Maybe they went to Mom. I'll find the two kids first."
Terry nodded, "All right. I'll accompany Nicolae, otherwise, he would have to dodge all the girls on his own."
Aleksis could only watch her brother walk toward Nicolae who seemed to be acting awkwardly because the beautiful girls invited to his party started to approach him one by one and tried to talk to him.
She could only laugh to herself as she knew that Terry, who always competed secretly with Nicolae, was certainly not willing to see the other guy be the center of attention alone.
Nicolae's popularity at this party was not only because he was handsome, but because they heard that Nicolae would be announced as the heir to the Medici family, one of the six most prominent families in the Alchemist clan.
Lately, there had been a rumor that Caspar Schneider had long wanted to resign from his position as the clan leader. As one of the most senior alchemists in the clan, he felt it was time for young people to rise and become leaders.
Because Aldebar, his younger brother, preferred to be a scientist, it was likely that he would give up the position of the clan leader to the generation below them. Since Caspar had not yet announced his own children, the strong candidates were the sons from the other prominent families.
Ned and Portia still didn't have children, Andrew Flamel and his wife were not popular among the clan members and their children were not very well-liked too. The Meier family had lost Alexei as he had been sentenced to Death and became an ordinary human.
Other families did not have as much influence as the five families. If indeed Lauriel had a child and he would announce him as his successor today, then his son would be a strong candidate for the clan leader position.
Even a while ago, they could no longer wait to see what the Medici family's heir was like. And now that they saw him for themselves, many girls immediately fell in love with him. The thought of being with the heir to the Medici family and later becoming the wife of the clan leader really tempted them.
Many of them excitedly chased after Nicolae as soon as the beautiful girl he hugged left. Aleksis had not been introduced by her father to the public so they did not know that she was the daughter of the current clan leader.
"Ahhh ... so you are the famous Lauriel Medici's son. I heard you like adventures. What is the last place you have visited?" asked a very beautiful girl with sexy curves, long platinum colored hair, and a princess-like appearance. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce my name. I am Kit Blue. My family lives in Iceland. If you plan to drop by there, you can visit us. We have a famous ice hotel in Reykjavik."
"Oh, wow ... so cool," Nicolae looked impressed. "No pun intended... hahaha. I have been to Iceland but I've yet to try staying at an ice hotel. Maybe early next year, I will return to see the aurora."
"Well then, you must promise to stop by. I will be more than happy to be your tour guide." Kit's face lit up.
When Terry came over to Nicolae, the crowd around them grew bigger. Nearly all the young and single people present surrounded Nicolae and Terry to hear stories of their adventures.
The party atmosphere became more lively after the two young men arrived. Now Lauriel felt reluctant to end it. But the sun had slowly begun to set and he realized he had to officially announce Nicolae's identity before ending the party.
"Aleksis, can you please call Nico over here?" Lauriel asked Aleksis, who had returned with her two children. "I will soon announce him as the Medici's heir and close this event."
"Okay, uncle." Aleksis walked to the crowd of young people who were listening to Terry's fiery story about how they summoned eagles in Mongolia. She was about to interrupt her brother's talk so she could call Nicolae out. But before she could say anything, Kit spoke to Aleksis.
"Hey ... you there, please bring me another drink ..." Kit exclaimed to the girl.
She saw that from the beginning of the party, the girl had been giving instructions to the servants and even dared to hug Nicolae when the young man had just arrived. Kit thought Aleksis was working for the Medici family.
She was very annoyed to see a staff member daring to hug the host's son and now she wanted to give Aleksis a lesson so that she would remember her place. Even though her position was higher than that of the other servants she was still just a maid or a staff of the Medici family.
Aleksis was stunned when she heard a woman she didn't know spoke to her in a commanding and demeaning tone. For a moment, she could not say anything. Never in her life had anyone dared to talk to her that way...
"Eerr ... what did you say?" Finally, Aleksis found her voice.
"You're deaf, aren't you? Well, I'll talk slowly so you can read my lips. Bring. Me. More. Drinks. That's your job, right?" Kit hollered impatiently.
When Nicolae heard the sharpness in Kit's tone, he immediately turned around to see the girl she was talking to. He found Aleksis who looked stunned.
Aleksis was shocked and at the same time amused to see a guest who was so brave to insult her in front of many people.
She was the daughter of the clan leader, Caspar Schneider, and the goddaughter of the party host, Lauriel Medici. All her life, nobody dared to speak rudely to her.
"Hey ... what's up? Are you looking for me?" Nicolae asked as he hurriedly approached Aleksis. For a moment he was stunned. He had seen two similar-faced children trailing behind Aleksis.
Oh ... these must be Aleksis' twins ...
Subconsciously, Nicolae sat on his knees to be at the same level as the two kids and then he hugged them alternately.
"Gosh ... you've grown up. You're both so beautiful." For some reason, he did not feel awkward when hugging the two children. They felt so familiar.