The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

HILDRED happened to glance at Wulf at that moment and saw the dark expression on the other's face. It's not hard to imagine the reason behind it. Since he's feeling generous today, he thought of saving the soldiers from the possible hell torture.

"Don't be too hard on them, Wulf," he started. "Any normal person watching that movie would react the same way. After all, Astrid's face is really outstanding."

But that didn't comfort Wulfric at all. Because that meant that everywhere in the Empire, people who had watched this movie would also feel the same. Of course, it's not bad to gain the public's attention. Even he, who didn't really know much about that industry, knew how important that was for a rookie actor.

What he was worried about was the possibility that some dirty minded people would use Aster as the star of their perverted fantasy. That's what he couldn't accept. This would definitely be worse once the video chip of this movie was released. Because that meant that people who bought it could play it on the [Virtualnet].

Once that happened, they could watch it using the perspective of any of the characters. He would bet that once the scene of Aster and that guy hugging appeared, he was sure that a lot of people would switch their POVs to that guy. Then wouldn't that mean that they would also hug Aster?

Although it's only VR and not real, their brain would still stimulate the feeling of hugging someone. So, what's the difference then?

Wulfric only found out about this when he was searching on how to get a copy of the episode of that show Aster first appeared in. When he found out about such a thing, his brows automatically furrowed. He couldn't believe that such a thing was actually possible. But if he thought about the current level of technology, it's actually not so surprising.

Since then, his worries continued to pile up. And now, after watching that hugging scene, that worry just intensified. Because as an actor, Aster would surely have more intimate scene than this in the future. What would happen then?

He actually had been thinking of how he could get rid of that choice of watching a movie or a show through a character's perspective. He could totally do it. But that would mean that he would abuse his power and all that. Which doesn't really leave a good taste in his mouth. He'd rather use his fist than his influence to get his point across.

One more thing he's worried about was what if Aster found out about it? He might think he was being overbearing. It was the same reason why even though he seriously wanted to go and interrogate the actor playing the role of the demon king, he wouldn't. Because it would only leave a bad impression on Aster.

Truly, how far he had come. Aster was probably the only one who could influence him to this extent. Proving once again how special his existence was to him.

Wulfric still didn't like how things were going though.

"Do you know the actor playing the demon king?" he asked instead.

"Lauren Watts," Hildred answered. "He had quite a lot of scandals from what I heard."

Slade shook his head when he heard that. Hil, this guy. That last part was definitely uncalled for. Hildred definitely just said that to incite some kind of drama.

And sure enough, Wulfric's face scrunched up after Hildred said that last part. "What kind of scandals?"

Hildred shrugged. "You know, the usual kind. Dating scandals with his co-stars and the likes."

Wulfric frowned even further. Signs of anger were already visible on his face.

"Your highness, I hope you won't do anything reckless," Leland suddenly chimed in. Although it might sound like a casual reminder, his serious expression was definitely warning the other.

"Ahm, Captain, you can just ask Astrid yourself about it," Edmund suggested. "I'm sure he will answer you honestly."

All four glanced at Edmund, their expression saying that they couldn't believe he would actually give a helpful advice. Wulfric, in particular, looked like he just had an epiphany.

Yeah, he should just ask Aster about it.

----------

At a shopping mall, Reas and Astrid just walked out of the cinema. They just finished watching [The Sleeping God]. Of course, Astrid was wearing a mask and a hat.

"What do you think of the movie?" Astrid asked. When he didn't get an immediate answer, he turned to his brother and saw that the other had his brows furrowed. "Reas?"

Reas seemed to come to his senses once he heard Astrid calling his name. "Ah, yes, you did amazing."

Astrid raised his brow. Looking at Reas' expression, he kind of had an idea of what the other was thinking right now. An amused smile appeared on his lips. "Are you jealous because Lauren and I hugged?"

Reas was startled by the question. Before he could think, he already found himself saying, "Of course not!"

Then, he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying more. He just sounded so defensive. It must have looked even more suspicious. He definitely wouldn't hear the end of it from Astrid.

He sighed inwardly. He couldn't really blame anyone but himself. His expression must have shown that he was affected by that scene. Which he clearly wasn't. Really! He's just… surprise.

Although he had watched that part during filming, why did he suddenly felt different about it while watching it today? Was it because he and Lauren were now friends so he felt iffy seeing him and Astrid embraced each other like that?

Yes, that's probably it. It's definitely not because of some weird feelings or something.

"Hmm… if you say so," Astrid said with an elongated tone at the end, clearly not believing him.

Reas wanted to defend himself. But he knew that if he said more, it would only look like he was trying to hide something. Then, Astrid would just tease him more profusely. So, in this situation, it's better to not just say anything.

Astrid held back his chuckle, clearly enjoying his brother's 'discomfort'. That's when his Terminal rang. It was a video call from Wulfric.