"You!!"

Alan, who saw the surprised expressions the beauty made when she saw him, had a slight smirk on his face.

"ME!"

Using the same tone of voice, he made a slight comeback, imitating the shocked lady.

Realizing that she has lost her bearing for a second there, a slight readiness can be seen on her tender cheeks.

"Ahem, who would have thought that I would see the expert twice in a day? It might be a lucky one."

"This humble commoner can only count his blessings to meet your noble self two times a day, my lady."

Even though Alan appeared to respond calmly, there was a teasing tone in his voice.

Everyone else in the room was stupefied as they looked at the two of them talking like two old friends.

Rosaline was the first to comment on it.

"Dora, do you know him?"

Sitting right next to her, her cousin Lana felt a slight discomfort in her chest. She found herself not liking where this was going.

"If I had not met him here today again, then my answer would have been no, but as this is the second time that we have met, we can be called acquaintances. Don't you think so, Mr. Expert?"

With a flash of light in her eyes that looked like a glass marble hiding behind it a whole universe of secrets, she gave Alan a provocative look.

Alan didn't respond as he only smiled back.

"You have been calling him an expert; why is that nice?"

Mason interrupted the staring contest between the two of them.

"Today I came to the city for business; during my meeting an unusual situation happened, a funny one at that. There I met this expert in potion making as he made a long-lost potion on the spot for us."

Every single one of them inside this room had a weird expression on their faces.

Rosaline asked Lady Theodore to sit and tell them what happened.

Alan watched as the young lady told the whole story.

Ariana was dumbfounded as she asked her son.

"So you were at the wrong place at the wrong time; due to this mix-up, you had to recreate an ancient potion, and you played along."

Lana could not help but ask immediately after.

"Why were you there in the first place?"

Alan gently smiled as he answered.

"I can't possibly come back after a year without having a few gifts and souvenirs. As for me playing along well, I found it funny, especially the negotiation; it was practically a free stand-up comedy. As for the potion, I indeed made it."

Mason was looking at Alan in a daze. He felt that he could not believe what his ears had just heard.

Rosaline was the first one to collect herself as she immediately introduced her niece to Alan and his family.

"Well, she can't call you 'expert' all the time, so let me introduce you. The lady beside me is my niece; her name is Theodora."

"Nice to meet you, Lady Theodora."

Alan was the first to say his greeting as Rosaline continued.

"The young man with a smirk on his face is my best friend Ariana's son; his name is Alan. He's a 17-year-old beast tamer."

Ariana greeted Theodora.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Theodora. The little girl is my daughter; her name is Lily."

Theodora smiled as she greeted the three of them.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Ariana. I was always called beautiful, but when I saw you, I felt the meaning of defeat for the first time. I can't believe that you are the mother of two. The cute little girl Lily is a splitting image of you."

After she said that, her focus shifted to Alan, who was extremely comfortable on the couch.

"It's also an honor to meet you, Mr. Alan. I actually hoped to find you, but you left no traces at all, leaving the building in a hurry."

"I was away for a year, and I just came back, so I hope you can understand why I was in a hurry."

Also, she was very curious where this young man was for a whole year, but she restrained herself as she respected the boundaries that the privacy entailed.

"Can you please tell me how you were able to recreate such an ancient portion to perfection, almost to the point that I think it is the original?"

Behind the smile on Alan's face, he felt disturbed, as he did not want to touch on the subject. He knew that it was all due to the power of the eye of Ra, thinking that was probably the original recipe for the potion or maybe even better.

"I was taught alchemy for a while. I happened to see the name of this recipe before, but the sheet of paper provided by the young master of the chamber of commerce was a scam. It was just a great coincidence that I happened to know this recipe, as one of my teachers was trying to recreate it and I happened to be there."

His gentle tone of voice did not display his inner thoughts that were screaming KING OF BULLSHIT.

Theodore raised her beautiful brow as she smiled, questioning him.

"What if the recipe requested was a recipe that you did not recognize?"

Alan calmly answered.

"Then I could not have done anything; I would have walked out after all…. It was just a misunderstanding."

Everyone watched. The two of them were staring at each other, smiling while speaking in a Q&A conversation, but behind that facade, a psychological war of probing was taking place.

Only one person in the room had a different interpretation; as she felt slightly uncomfortable, she built up her courage to interrupt them.

"Fate is indeed fickle; you both met twice in a day."

Lana interrupted the conversation, but the moment the words came out of her mouth, she wanted to beat herself up. Why bring fate? Stupid me.

"Indeed, such meetings can only be called fate. I have a request for you, Mr. Alan: I would like to purchase the recipe from you or at least the right to use it."

"I see no problem with that."

"You can't say that you have to take your teacher into consideration; after all, it is his work."

Mason, who spoke logic for the first time today, reminded Alan that he had fallen into a trap set by the beauty sitting across from him.

His smile deepened as he tried to downplay it.

"For the right to use it personally or even share it with a close one, it is probably not a problem at all, and my teacher would not mind. But if we are talking about distribution on an industrial scale, then it is a whole different story; after all, this is not a business setting."

Theodore responded.

"Even though I would like to purchase the right for distribution, I know that would be asking for too much, so I will settle down for personal use. I hope that you can inform your teacher, and I will have my assistant prepare the documents to be sent to him. You would be doing me a huge favor. After your teacher gives his consent, please send me his contact to close the deal."

Harmlessly asking for a line of communication with Alan's imaginary teacher was the business acumen of this innocent-looking lady.

"I will inform you of the price quoted by my teacher. As for the transaction, I would prefer if it happened through me; after all, my teacher is somewhat of a recluse. He likes his peace and quiet."

Rosaline finally ended this conversation.

"Enough talking about business. My beloved niece is finally visiting us, and Alan has just come back for the first time in a long time. Tonight we will celebrate by having a feast."

Theodora looked at her aunt as she said,

"My apologies, I was too focused on this matter. Thank you, Auntie, for your hospitality. I can never say no to a feast, you know me."

Rosaline smiled as the atmosphere in the room mellowed down.

Small conversations here and there with a warmth that spread throughout the whole room.

"By the way, Auntie, I don't have anything pressing for the near future, so I decided to stay here for a while. I hope you do not mind."

"Big sister, you're staying with us!!"

Lana thought she couldn't be surprised anymore, or so she thought.

"Indeed, cousin, I'll be staying here for a few days; we can spend a lot of time together."

Lana smiled happily at first, but there was a slight discomfort that she could not shake as she tried hard not to show it on her face.

Rosaline loved the idea.

"Then I'll ask the servants to prepare a room for you."

"Thank you, Auntie and Uncle."

Mason smiled, replying,

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like, niece."

Alan, who discreetly summoned Nova and Taranis, watched Lily and the two of them playing on the carpet while he listened to the flowing conversation in the room.

It seems this lady has decided to stay; maybe it is doubt or curiosity that made her do so, but one should know that curiosity killed the cat.