The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era



ASTRID stopped in front of his apartment door. Before he opened it, he took a deep breath and calmed his mind. It wouldn't help if he panicked in front of them. He had to be the calm and rational one.

But the fact that he couldn't contact either Reas or Wulfric made that difficult. 

He sent them a message as soon as he got into Ellis' car. But after a few minutes, he still hadn't received a reply. The messages he sent even went unread. Seeing that, how could he stay calm?

They wouldn't really be fighting, would they? His apartment wouldn't be in shambles now, right? Right?

The more he thought about it, the more he panicked. He wanted to call the two of them and tell them not to cause any incident, especially one that involved destroying private property. But he couldn't. Because Ellis was in the car with him. Unless he was prepared to tell Ellis about Wulfric, which he wasn't.

At least not now, when he didn't know if Wulfric and Reas were arguing and making a mess of his apartment.

So when he arrived at his apartment building, he ran as fast as his body would allow. To the point that it almost felt like he was teleporting from the entrance of the building to the elevator because of how fast he was. 

And now he was finally there.

After another deep breath, he finally opened the door. 

He had expected the worst, but what he saw was a clean apartment, just like the one he had left in the morning. But most importantly, there was no one inside. 

[Huh... where are those two?]

--------- 

The answer to Astrid's question was upstairs. Yes, that's right. Wulfric and Reas were in the former's suite. More specifically, in the room that contained two virtual pods. 

Why were they there, you asked?

Well, we had to go back a few hours.

===== 

Reas, who had just heard the most absurd thing, was slowly recovering from the shock. The General, no, that guy, had just admitted to him that he was in love with Astrid. If the one involved was not his brother, he might have thought it was a joke and laughed it off. After all, the word 'love' was the last thing on anyone's mind when they saw or heard of Wulfric de Lunaris.

But since the one the other had fallen in love with was Astrid, it didn't seem like a joke. After all, his brother was someone who was easy to fall in love with. It's understandable that even the most feared general in the Empire fell for Astrid's charm and personality,

Besides, it wasn't as if there hadn't been a predecessor. The General had shown his interest in Astrid on several occasions. So the other falling in love was just the next step. 

But that didn't mean that Reas could just accept everything with all his heart. Even though his impression of the General had improved a lot compared to when they first met, accepting that the other was in love with his brother was another thing entirely. 

Just thinking about the two of them being a 'couple', he could already foresee the countless problems and troubles it could bring to his brother. For one, as a newcomer to the entertainment industry, being associated with the prince of the empire was more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

People would only see his brother as the person in a relationship with the prince, rather than a talented actor who was good at his job. Something Astrid would definitely not like.

Then there's the question of their parents' real identity. That's another problem altogether. 

Wulfric watched the expression on Reas' face change by the second. Frankly, he thought the other's first reaction to this confession would be to attack him. He was even prepared to defend himself. He had not expected the other to be so calm.

Wait - was it possible that what he said did not register in his brain? Like someone who was still in denial? That's quite possible, wasn't it? So he decided to say it again.

"Ahem, I'm not sure if you heard it, but if you didn't, I'll say it again," he said. "I'm in..."

"Stop. I heard you loud and clear the first time, General," Reas said, raising his hand to stop the other. 

The General looked at him with an expression that said 'if you heard, why don't you say something?'. The anger he had felt the first time rose again. This guy should be grateful that he still kept his cool and was able to remain calm in this situation.

"What kind of reaction does the General want me to show?" he asked instead.

"Well, you happily support my wooing of your brother?"

Reas just gave the other a look as if asking if he was crazy. "Please don't push it. The fact that I can stay this calm is already the extent of any positive feelings I can give you right now."

"That's true. I'm even ready to get hit," the General said in a nonchalant tone, as if he wouldn't mind if Reas really did that.

"I'm glad you're still in the realm of reality," he said in a dry tone, which was just him saying that he was glad the other one wasn't too delusional.

Wulfric stood up. They wouldn't be accomplishing anything if they just sat here exchanging sarcastic comments. They should do what military men should do at this moment.

"You want to do a Mecha battle?"

Reas raised his eyebrows. "A real one or in VirtualNet?"

"In VirtualNet. That way you can go all out to your heart's content."

Reas was very interested in this suggestion. "There's only one virtual pod here."

"That's fine. I have two at my apartment," Wulfric said. "It's just upstairs, so we can do it right away."

Hearing that last comment, Reas' expression immediately crumpled. "You have a suite upstairs?"

Hearing this, Wulfric looked at Reas and saw the other glaring at him coldly. Hmm... did he just make things worse?

===== 

And now, these two were currently battling it out in the Mecha Hall.