The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

LELAND felt like a horrible case of headache was about to bombard him because of the things the prince was suddenly saying. His immediate reaction was to dissuade the other from executing whatever idea he just came up with. But then he caught something in the prince's words.

'Someone wants to hear their heroic exploits' – which meant this was not the prince's idea but someone else's. Or at least, someone said something that led to the prince to have this kind of idea.

There's really one person who came to mind that could have that kind of influence on the prince.

Astrid Townsend.

A rookie actor that the prince met during one of his escapades this year. It was something harmless at first. Leland even thought that the two would not meet again after the prince left planet Delryria. But the two met again and that started the unexpected change of the prince.

Leland didn't think much of it at first. But when the prince did a thorough background check on Astrid Townsend, and then made sure that the result would be put under strict security, the kind that even a general of the Empire wouldn't be able to access, he knew that something was definitely up.

His highness wouldn't do all that just for someone that he had a passing interest with. Not to mention all the other things that he did. Especially if he considered Astrid's complicated family background. That was definitely not something the prince would dip his feet on his own accord.

The feud between the Grimaldis and the Lancasters, the prince wouldn't meddle in that and would just find it troublesome. At least under normal circumstance, that should be the case.

But obviously, Astrid Townsend had now made a crack on the prince's 'normalcy'. Leland was just not sure the degree of that crack. But seeing as how the prince was acting right now, this crack might be bigger than he could ever imagine.

[Hey, Leland, are you still there?]

The prince's voice cut Leland's thoughts. He took a deep breath. He couldn't solve whatever was happening right now in just a matter of seconds. He also knew that convincing the prince right now to change his opinion would be counterproductive. So, the only thing he could do was compromise.

At least, for now.

"Let's all discuss it once the mission is over," he said. "I think it's better for your highness to focus on the mission right now."

[Hmm, fine.]

Leland let out a sigh of relief after hearing that the prince wasn't planning to argue with him regarding that decision he just made. He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Times like this, he always wondered if it had been better to have his eyesight fixed. Maybe, just maybe, the headache he would feel wouldn't be so painful.

He wasn't wearing this pair of glasses for fashion or anything like that, just like how it was for most people who wore them. No, he's wearing glasses because his eyesight was literally bad. That's probably a weird thing to hear in this era where babies were born as healthy as they come.

But Leland's parents were poor. They couldn't afford to go to any fertility lab so their mother gave birth to both him and Ash. Because of the poor environment of the planet they were in, the first birth weakened their mother's body and the second one completely took her life away.

Her death was the start of their family's downward spiral. At that time, he couldn't believe that their lives could get any lower than it already were. But it did, surprisingly so. Meeting the prince at that period of time was definitely a blessing in disguise.

Anyway, the point was, because he wasn't a person who was born from the selection of the best genes of both of his parents, having a bad eyesight was not really that surprising.

He probably should have long fixed it. After all, he already had the money to do so. But he had always put it off. Just for a sentimental reason like having a proof of his parents' many struggles.

Yes, it was a stupid reason. But he rarely did anything stupid, so he could probably be pardoned for doing something like this.

Leland put back his glasses. Now that his mind had cleared, a certain idea popped into his mind.

Since the one bringing all these changes to the prince was just a single person, then why not let him handle this problem?

That's very logical.

Right?

----------

Astrid left his apartment much earlier than usual. It was because of the message he received from Ellis. She said that they needed to discuss something today. No doubt that it would be related to Olivia.

So, he just suggested that they talked in the morning while travelling to Redwood. If that wasn't enough time, Ellis could just parked the car to the side of the road and they could continue whatever it was they were discussing.

When he walked out of the apartment building, he was surprised to see that Ellis' car was already there. He didn't waste time and quickly walked over. He opened the door and sat down on the passenger's seat.

"Good mor- morning, Sister Ellis," he greeted.

He almost fumbled at the middle because of Ellis' bad complexion. There were obvious dark circles under her eyes. Her skin even looked a bit wan. Signs that she didn't sleep well.

Now he's really curious as to what had happened last night between her and Olivia. Surely, it wouldn't be that their talk ignited her love for the other and she was now conflicted on what she should do next?

"I know, I look terrible," Ellis said as if reading what's on his mind. Then, she started the car. "And no, whatever you're thinking, that's not it."

Astrid laughed dryly and scratched his cheek.

"Did your talk with Olivia not go well?" he asked, changing the subject.

Ellis sighed. "It's a mess. I don't even know where I should start."