Chapter 357 - Alaric Misunderstood (1/2)
”I really want to visit Luna's grave, and with your permission, I wish to move her grave to the park behind this palace, so that she can be closer to home. What do you think?” asked Portia.
Alaric nodded, ”Mother would be happy to be close to her family.”
”Speaking of family residence ...” Sophia suddenly spoke up, ”Actually, as Princess Luna's son, you inherit the palace in Yorkshire, which is owned by the Linden Family. I am currently living in that palace, only because I can't bear to see such a nice place left uninhabited. But if you want it, I'll give it back to you.”
”I have a lot of residences,” said Alaric, but he seemed to think for a moment, ”You may stay there however you wish, but I would love to see it.”
”Of course, we can go there this afternoon or tomorrow,” Sophia said, smiling sweetly. She was happy because Alaric did not send her out of the palace.
She was sure that when Alaric saw his mother's palace, he would want to live there, and of course, Sophia would gladly accompany him there.
”Hmm ... there are a lot of things you should know about our clan, the Alchemists,” Ned said, pouring wine for his wife, then for himself. ”Not all Alchemists want the same thing as us.”
”Could you please elaborate further?” Alaric asked attentively.
”At present, there are around 400 Alchemists in this world. We lost more than 300 Alchemists during the world war. The rest lived in the shadows, because clan regulations state that we must not show and make ourselves known to the public, especially when it comes to governing people openly. Therefore, many of us control businesses and governments in secret.
Sophia, for example, with the Meier Group, controls many financial and technological businesses. Then, there is the Schneider Group, who is one of the largest business groups in the world ... that also belongs to an Alchemist family.”
”Is that so?” Alaric now remembered how difficult it was to fulfill his contract to kill the owner of the Schneider Group 20 years ago.
No wonder ... it turned out that person was an Alchemist who probably had far more resources than ordinary humans.
”That's right. In fact, Caspar Schneider currently serves as the clan leader, and he insists on implementing our clan rules that, in my personal opinion, are so outdated. We don't see eye to eye on many things, and since that incident 18 years ago, when, without consulting with us, he made a single decision to punish Alexei, Sophia's brother, with Death, I am eager to separate myself from his leadership.”
”What did Alexei do?” Alaric asked curiously. He had heard several times about Alexei being sentenced with Death, but he still did not know the full story. ”I remember Alexei contracted Rhionen Assassins to kill Caspar 20 years ago. Did Caspar take revenge on Alexei for that?”
Sophia took a deep breath. ”My brother and Caspar used to be good friends. However, they had a disagreement, because Alexei embraced the purist ideology, that we Alchemists should not mix with the ordinary people we call commoners, because they are full of weaknesses, deficiencies, and they are harming the world. Bringing ordinary people into our clan would cause harm to the clan.