The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

[A scandal of the decade? The Thornleys are known as a respectable noble family. Donating to the poor, sponsoring orphanages, all the charity hoo-haas that was expected of a family like that. But everything pristine has its dark stain. In their case, it was a stain so big, it could potentially ruin them.]

That was the opening of the article that talked about all the dirty secrets of the Thornley family. That engaging introduction caught the attention of everyone who had read and seen it. Thus, reading the article father.

And so, the small smoke that this article created became a huge fire that could literally devour the Thornly family.

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Ellis read the comments under the article.

[Is this really true?]

[I don't think it's false. I mean, there's evidence attached to it.]

[Wow. Did Viscount Thornley really ordered to kill people who got on his nerves? And he really got away with it? What's the use of law in this Empire?]

[Hey, laws don't matter to nobles. They can do whatever they want.]

[This is so deplorable. Will that evil viscount not be punished? The army will really just let him be?]

[And it's not just him. The Viscountess also abused her authority in a lot of ways. Look, did you read how she destroyed the career of a promising young painter just because he was more talented than her daughter?]

[What an evil couple!]

[You mean, what an evil family. A lot of their relatives were also doing some shady shit.]

[No wonder that poor boy from <Baby's Day-Off> yesterday looked so unhappy. That family must have been tormenting him.]

[LOL Olivia was probably catering to her in-laws that's why she's treating her son like that.]

[But wasn't she being too selfish?]

[Not selfish, but greedy. After all, the Thornleys have a lot of money. It's probably the reason why she married the heir of the family.]

[I bet she's regretting right now all her life choices.]

[Hey, this is not about her though. It's about the Thornleys. We have to at least make sure that they will be punished.]

[Dream on. The Emperor would, at best, evoke the viscount position from the current Viscount Thorley. Don't you still remember that serial killer from the Lancaster family?]

[Ah, yes, that. The former emperor at least took away most of the Lancaster's army and political power after that debacle. But our current emperor was slowly returning that power ever since he was enthroned. And now, the Lancasters are still thriving.]

[Moments like this I kind of wished the former emperor is still alive.]

[Hey, why are you all looking for the former emperor when we can just wish for Prince Wulfric to be the emperor. If he's the one sitting on the throne, he would have already killed those bastards himself.]

[That's a bit low. The prince is not a murderer, you know? He's a soldier! But I do get your point.]

[If the prince became the emperor, he would be a tyrant. So, no, thanks.]

[I'd rather have a tyrant who would not hesitate to punish a noble than someone who wouldn't even dare lift a finger to punish them.]

[But why is the heir to the Thornley viscounty not mentioned at all in the article? Don't you think it's too suspicious?]

[Maybe because he didn't do anything wrong?]

[How could that be possible? Everyone in his family got dirt in them and he was the only one clean?]

[Correction, the kids in the family are also innocent.]

[Of course, the kids, especially that boy from <Baby's Day-Off>, are not included. But the boy's father not having any bad thing said about him is still suspicious.]

[I agree. Even if he hadn't done anything wrong, he's the eldest son, he definitely knew about what his family had been up to. Not doing anything to stop that is a sin itself.]

[What if he has his own circumstances?]

[Or maybe he's the one who released this article because he could no longer take how evil his family is.]

[Hmm... that's actually possible.]

[Hello, I won't say my name, but I'm someone who had worked with Mr. Benjamin Thornley before and I can attest that he is a good man. Maybe a little naive and soft, but definitely not a bad guy.]

[LOL what kind of anonymous person is commenting like this? Are you sure you're not Benjamin Thornley yourself?]

[No, I'm also someone who can attest that Mr. Benjamin Thornley is not like other members of his family. He's a bit clumsy and dense. But I had never seen him treat another person in a bad way.]

[Wait- so, since when did careless and stupid equate to being a good man?]

[Why are there shooters of Benjamin Thornley here?]

[Maybe he's really the one who orchestrated all this?]

[Even if he is, it doesn't really make any difference.]

[True. He still turned a blind eye to what his family did. I actually think that's even worse.]

[Do you really think they wouldn't be punished?]

[Well, if General Schwartz heads the investigation against them, I think they will.]

Ellis closed her Terminal after reading some of the comments. Most of it were against the Thornleys. But as expected, Olivia, as well as Benjamin Thornley did not escape the harsh criticism of the public.

The only good thing was none of them said anything bad about Livi. The episode of [Baby's Day-Off] yesterday was probably the main reason for that. Because the boy was portrayed as someone pitiful. So, the public now perceived him as another victim of the Thornleys. Which, in one way or another, had some truth to it.

Now, that these things were out in the open, all that's left was to wait if Olivia would still go through her plan of faking her death.

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The next day, two news welcomed Ellis so early in the morning.

The first one was about the Thornley family being investigated by the Aegis Army, which was something that Ellis already expected. What she didn't expect was the second news.

It was about the sudden aircraft accident of Olivia and her family. The vehicle they're travelling was hit by an out-of-control vehicle.

According to the news, none of the three survived.