The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

"REALLY, Reas?" Astrid said with a raised brow at his brother.

Reas shrugged.  "Well, there's always that possibility."

Wulfric stared at the two men inside the trunk.  He could hear their faint breathing, so, they're definitely not dead.  And he was sure that the other two – Reas and Slade – also heard it. 

That's why he was a bit surprised hearing this overprotective brat making a joke out of it.  Or maybe because he knew they were alive that's why he could make that kind of joke.  It showed just how close the relationship of the two were.  Frankly, it's quite enviable.

But first things first, he turned to Aster and asked, "Do you need help in disposing them?"

The twins looked at Wulfric with the same 'are you serious?' expression. 

While Slade only showed a helpless smile because that was definitely something the captain would say.  And take note, the other was definitely not joking about it.  If the teenager – Astrid – say 'yes', the captain would certainly make sure that these two men would disappear.  And we returned once again to the question, 'why?'.

Why would captain go to such lengths for this kid?  Maybe he would know the longer he observed.  So, he decided to be just a spectator in this situation.

Astrid stared at Wulfric's expression and knew that the other was most likely being serious.  He didn't know if he should feel amused or scared by that.  Nah, who was he kidding?  He was definitely amused.

"No, though I would like to request if Your Highness could help make sure that the two could be investigated and put behind bars," he said.

Wulfric's brows furrowed.  "Did they attack you?"

He was already imagining these two bastards trying to get their hands on Aster.  Maybe they even tried to kidnap the other, thus, the car.  But because of Aster's strong mental strength, he was able to fend for himself.  Then, decided to contact Reas. To see if the other could ask Wulfric for help, probably knowing that he was here.

Just thinking of that possibility, he was suddenly filled with killing intent.  How dare they to do that?  What if Aster didn't have a strong mental strength?  What if he didn't have the means to protect himself?  Just the possibility of what could have happened was already making his blood boil.

Should he just kill these bastards now?

While he was contemplating that, he felt a touch on his arm.  He looked down and saw beautifully shaped fingers.  He raised his head and looked at Aster.  The other smiled gently at him and said;

"They didn't attack me."

That smile and those simple words quickly calmed Wulfric down.  The killing intent he just felt evaporated like smoke in the air.  Aster took back his hand and the anger he felt earlier turned into disappointment.  Because he wanted Aster's touch to stay a bit longer.

If Slade was surprised earlier, then now, he was simply shocked.  This was the first time he'd seen the captain's anger disappeared so quickly.  He never even thought that something like that was possible. 

He glanced again at the pretty teenager.  Just what was this kid?

When Reas heard the general's question about the two men in the trunk hurting his brother, he also thought of the same thing the other did.  He was also about to ask Astrid about it.  But his brother's action of putting his hand on the general's arm rather took him by surprised.  Because he didn't expect that Astrid would actually touch the general on his own accord.

But his attention was quickly transferred once his brother said that the two men didn't attack him.

"So, what really happened?" he asked.

"Well, I just happened to see them when trying to abduct someone.  Then, I heard their conversation about how they would get rid of the person they're trying to kidnap," Astrid explained.  "So, as a good citizen of the Empire, I stopped them from doing so."

Reas almost blew his hair off when he heard that.  "Aster, do you know how dangerous that was?  What if they retaliated?  That could have easily gone the opposite direction!"

Astrid knew he would get this kind of reaction from his brother.  "Reas, they didn't see me.  I was hiding when I attacked them," he said in a bit of a helpless tone.  "You know I wouldn't risk my safety just so I could be a hero.  I considered every possibility before I took action."

"But still—"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a wad," Wulfric cut in to what Reas was saying.  "Don't you know how strong your brother is?  Have more confidence in him, will you?"  Then he turned to Aster.  "I do hope you did think things through before you attacked these two low lives.  You know there's nothing wrong in being too careful."

The twins were both taken aback hearing that.   

Reas wasn't angry being told off like that.  It was actually quite the opposite.  He was somewhat glad that the general thought of Astrid as someone strong.  Because that meant that the other wasn't looking down on his brother.  He hated to admit it but the general earned a brownie point for that.

Astrid, on the other hand, was pleasantry surprised by what Wulfric said.  In fact, he was moved by it.  Who wouldn't be happy to have his strength be recognized?  Especially when most people would think of him as weak just because of his appearance. 

He smiled his real smile and said to the other, "Thank you for saying that, Your Highness."

Wulfric felt like his heart was hit by something because of that smile.  He knew it was a different kind of smile in comparison to Aster's usual ones.  It was much more beautiful and much more charming.  And its effect was very lethal.

He heard his own heart beating loudly and he felt heat creeping up his cheeks.  So, he did the most obvious thing – he looked away.