The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

ASTRID observed the man. Even though the other had a polite smile on his face, he could tell that it's mainly a business smile. Like a businessman that was meeting an important client. Astrid didn't mind though. At least he knew that this guy wanted to talk to him because of 'business' and not because of some personal reason.

And this 'business' just happened to be somehow connected to the only prince of the Empire.

"Since we're already alone, I very much prefer if you can now tell me what this was all about," he said straightforwardly with an equally polite smile.

He didn't want to go around the bush before they could even go to the main point. Aside from the fact that he's really hungry and couldn't wait to eat, he's also worried that something might have happened to Wulfric, that's why this person suddenly came to him.

Whatever the reason, it's important to establish first why they had to have this conversation. That way, they could discuss things much faster.

"I think I should introduce myself first," the man said. "My name is Leland Brewer. I am a Lieutenant in Fenris Squad."

Astrid was slightly surprised when he heard that introduction. He had many guesses in his mind as to who this man was, but him being a soldier and a part of Fenris Squad was certainly not among the top.

It was public knowledge that the Fenris Squad had three captains and one lieutenant. Even though that was public knowledge, their names weren't spread out and known throughout the whole Empire. That was, of course, in comparison to Wulfric.

Even if the Fenris Squad was very infamous, most of the things that made them so was because of their general. It's like the other was the poster child for trouble. Add that to the fact that he's royalty and all of the public's attention was solely focused on him.

If the man sitting across from him was Fenris Squad's lieuenant, that meant that he's second-in-command.

Wait- Brewer?

"I think Mr. Townsend had already met my younger brother, Assil," Leland Brewer said in a timely manner, as if he had read what's on his mind.

"Ah, yes, I've met Ash," Astrid could only say.

From the things Reas had told him, he knew that Ash's older brother was in Fenris Squad but the other hadn't mentioned that it was actually the lieutenant. But even if he knew beforehand, Astrid would have probably not guessed that the two were brothers. It's not just because they didn't look alike, their vibes were the total opposite of each other.

Anyway, that's really not what's important right now.

"May I ask why Lieutenant Brewer went to all this trouble just to speak to me privately?"

Because it was indeed a lot of trouble. Imagine, the second-in-command of the most infamous army in the Empire pretended to be the manager of an actor just so he could speak with Astrid. If that didn't qualify as 'troublesome', then he's not sure what would.

Leland tactfully observed the teenager, no, the young man in front of him. He thought that the other would at least show a surprise expression once he introduced himself. Or that the other would not believe him. After all, which army lieutenant would go around pretending to be a manager? That's why he quickly mentioned that he's Assil's brother.

But aside from the slightly raising of his brow, there was nothing else. The other was simply too calm. He didn't even ask how he could be related to Lance. Which was one of the things he expected the other would question him about.

Was Astrid Townsend always this level-headed?

What Leland didn't know was the fact that the one who informed Wulfric about Lance Reid was the young man in front of him. So, of course, he had prior knowledge of their connection.

Although if Leland was observant as observant as Hildred in things like that, namely romantic relationships, he would have probably long realized that the whole Lance fiasco was related to Astrid.

"As I've said earlier, it's related to his highness, the prince," he said as a respond to the other's question.

In which Astrid only gave him an 'I'm listening' expression, as if silently telling him to continue.

"His highness suddenly had this... idea to make the details of our current mission public after we successfully completed the mission," he started explaining what he came here for. "That idea is, well, to say it in a frank way, very bad. It could affect our army's future and might put all of us in danger. So, although this is a bit shameless of me to ask of Mr. Townsend, can you persuade his highness to change his mind?"

Now, this was surprising. Out of all the reasons why the other approached him, this was definitely not something Astrid could have had imagined. He was actually already starting to get worried that Wulfric might be in danger or something. And then, it ended up like this. Although he's glad that it's not because Wulfric was hurt, this was still unprecedented.

"But why come to me?" he couldn't help but ask.

He could kind of understand why the lieutenant might think that going public with their current mission could be potentially dangerous for their army. Just by those words, what they're doing was definitely some kind of secret mission. If everyone found out about it, there's a high chance that the public's perception of their army would change.

That's probably what Leland Brewer was trying to prevent.

What he couldn't understand was how the two things were related. Before he could think further on that, he heard Leland say;

"Well, the reason his highness wanted to be more public about our mission, I believe it's because of Mr. Townsend. If you convince him not to, his highness would definitely agree and change his mind."

That reasoning made Astrid tilt his head, not sure if he actually heard the other correctly.