The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era



ELLIS parked her car and then contacted Astrid, telling the other that she was already here. She immediately received a reply.

[Just go up, Sister Ellis. And, ahm, I have another guest here. Please don't be too surprised when you see him.]

Ellis' brows furrowed a bit when she read that. Why would she be surprised? She thought of people that had some connection to Astrid. She couldn't think of anyone who could surprise her. Well, except for one. Lord Cassius Grimaldi. But that would be too far-fetched, right?

Well, anyway, whoever it was, if they were a friend of Astrid's, they probably wouldn't be that bad.

She picked up the box of pastry she bought before getting off the car and walked to the entrance. Her biometrics were already registered to the building, so as soon as she stood there, the entrance opened.

As she walked towards the elevator, she started to wonder why Astrid suddenly invited her to watch this episode of [The Great War]. As she was with the other during filming, she knew that this episode would be important for the character that Astrid was playing. Could it be because of that? So, he could get her opinion regarding his performance? But she had already seen it, live even.

She shook her head. Well, it didn't really matter since she's already here.

She got into the elevator and quickly reached the floor of Astrid's apartment. Shen walked over there and pressed the doorbell. It didn't take long for the door to open and Astrid, wearing comfortable home clothes, welcomed her.

"Come in, Sister Ellis. Let me carry that," he said, taking the pastry box. "And, ahm, about my guest, please, don't be too surprised seeing him."

Now, Ellis was becoming more and more curious about this 'guest'. "I'll try."

When she walked inside, the first person she saw was the tall man who suddenly stood up. The man had white hair and a pair of golden eyes. Features that were probably very familiar to all the people in the Empire. Because when seeing this combination, they could only think of one person.

The prince of the Empire.

Wulfric de Lunaris.

"The... Butcher?"

When she saw how he raised a brow, Ellis realized that she just said that out loud. She almost raised his hand to cover her mouth. It was only due to her strong self-control that she was able to stop herself from doing so. It was the same reason why she managed not to scream at this moment.

But deep inside, she was already panicking. Astrid told her not to be surprised. But this was something that couldn't even be considered in the realm of 'surprise'. This was something that should be considered as 'terrifying' instead.

In the split second that she saw the butcher- no, the prince, millions of thoughts had already entered her mind. What was the prince doing here? Was he the guest Astrid was referring to? If so, then how the hell did they know each other? Were they friends? But how could that be possible with two people with vastly different backgrounds?

Then, the next thing that came to her mind was, was this safe? The prince was known to be a bit unstable and prone to violence. No matter what the connection between the two were, was it safe for Astrid?

The other could be considered as second in rank in the Empire when it came to power and influence. The power imbalance between him and Astrid was just so great that he could do anything to the latter and no one could probably stop him. He wouldn't even be accountable if he did something bad to Astrid.

At that, Ellis' chaotic mind finally settled. Her only thought at the moment was to protect Astrid from whatever this was.

"Greetings, Your Highness," she greeted first with a slight bow, since the other was still a prince and therefore was in a much higher social standing. It was expected of her to greet the other first.

The other's calm reaction slightly surprised Wulfric. Aside from the slight widening of the eyes, Aster's agent didn't show the reaction he was expecting. He thought there would be more, like finger pointing or something, but there was surprisingly none of that.

"Hi. It's great to finally meet you," he greeted back. He stretched out his hand, obviously asking for a handshake.

Ellis was startled by this. Never in her life would she have imagined that the prince, this prince, would offer her a handshake. Although she was a bit afraid that the other would crush her hand, she really wasn't in any position to refuse it. What if this guy thought that she was being disrespectful and just lost his temper here?

She quickly walked forward and shook the other's hand. Despite her worries and fear, there was something that she must do. And that's to protect Astrid.

"Excuse me, Your Highness, but may I ask what's your relationship with Astrid?"

This was another surprise for Wulfric. He didn't expect that this agent would be so straightforward without feeling fear. Or perhaps she did feel fear. She just chose to ignore it to put Aster's well-being first. Just look at her. She's like some mother hen protecting her chick.

He suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu. Remembering how it was when he met Aster's mother.

This was good, though. At least, he didn't have to worry that Aster's agent didn't have his best interest at heart. If she didn't care about Aster, and thought of exploiting his relationship with the other instead, Wulfric would make sure that she would no longer be Aster's agent the next day. But she passed the test with flying colors instead.

"I'm Aster's friend," he said. And then added with a grin, "Who's also hopelessly in love with him."

Ellis felt like there's a ringing in her ear. Did the prince of the Empire, the Butcher of Orus, say that he's in love with Astrid? Did she really just hear that or did she have momentary auditory hallucination?