The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

ASTRID glanced at Wulfric, who was driving full of focus. The way the other's brows furrowed was funny, but in an adorable kind of way. Since the two of them were alone now, he could finally ask the other about the thing he had been curious about since last night.

"So, how did your talk with Sister Ellis go?" he asked.

Honestly, he couldn't ask Ellis. It was already embarrassing enough that he put her in that kind of situation without giving the other the time to prepare. If he even pry to her conversation with Wulfric, that would be a bit shameless of him. So, asking Wulfric was the next best thing.

"It went well," Wulfric answered. "She asked how sincere I am with you, and, of course, I showed him my sincerity. Then she also gave me a few warnings, which were all for your sake. I accepted them all generously, as I should. And then, I also gave a few warnings of my own. Overall, it's a very productive conversation."

Astrid didn't know exactly how to react to that. Probably because he didn't expect Wulfric's candid answer at all. He thought the other would ponder for a while what answer to give him. But Wulfric unexpectedly answered quickly. And it seemed like he didn't embellish anything and just told him straight what happened.

Well, that's very Wulfric, so he shouldn't really be that surprised.

"I'm glad it went well."

And he was truly glad that the conversation of the two went smoothly and that it didn't go in a weird direction. He didn't really need to ask what kind of warnings they gave to each other. Knowing the two, it wasn't that hard to guess. The fact that it went as peacefully as that was good enough.

Not that he was expecting Ellis to be ballistic, it was more of a concern whether Wulfric would be able to control his temper. Which he most likely did.

In fact, over the past week, Astrid witnessed just how much self-control the other had. Something that he initially thought was non-existent. Just look at how much patient he had with Reas. One would think that he would go off with the way Reas had been sarcastic and borderline disrespectful towards him. But no, he was very chill about it.

And Astrid didn't think that it was because the other was being considerate towards him. No, Wulfric genuinely looked like he was enjoying the bickering. Like someone who found a little brother he could argue with.

He was glad that the two were now getting along. One of his worries when Wulfric confessed to him was how would Reas react. With how overprotective his brother was, he had already assumed the worst possible outcome. But surprisingly, none of his imagined result happened.

In fact, it went totally in the opposite direction. Which he was extremely glad for. He was not sure if that was due to Wulfric's own effort to get along with Reas or if the two just simply clicked together without them knowing or even expecting it.

He felt a bit envious, though.

Astrid quickly stopped when that thought crossed his mind. Envious? Why would he feel envious, even if it's just a tad bit? Because the two were getting along? Shouldn't he be all happy instead?

He was indeed happy about this kind of improvement between the relationship of the two. But surprisingly, a small part of him actually felt envious of that. He chuckled inwardly at that realization.

It seemed that his feelings for Wulfric were much deeper than he initially thought. Maybe it wouldn't take that long for his feelings to be on the same level as the other. Although it would probably take quite a lot of effort on Wulfric's part for his feelings to reach that level.

He would excitedly wait for any more surprise that the other would give.

"She's a good agent."

Wulfric's comment brought Astrid back from his deep thought.

He nodded and said, "Yes. I am lucky to have her as my agent."

"What luck? Aster only deserves the best. Besides, your agent is luckier to have you, the future number one actor in the Empire."

Astrid laughed when he heard that. "Don't think too far ahead or you might just jinxed me."

"Jinx is no match for our Aster's heavenly talent," Wulfric said with a very proud expression.

Astrid couldn't help but laugh once again. Because what he said was something that his father would probably say.

-----

It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination.

It was a restaurant called [Cabin in the City]. When he looked outside the car window and saw the restaurant, he immediately understood why it had that name.

It was a three-story building with a 'cabin in the woods' kind of design. From the architecture to the small garden at the front, as well as the picket fences, it's like travelling to back in time to some 19th century European cottage. And the most novel thing about this was, it's smack dab in the middle of the city.

It kind of reminded him of [Bliss], the boutique he went to get styling when he attended the EMMA event. Was this kind of retro style actually in demand?

"Once you're done, you can call me so I can pick you up," Wulfric said. "That is, if your friends won't offer you a ride home."

Astrid glanced back at the other, pondering about something. Once he finally made up his mind, he said, "Do you want to come up with me and meet my friends?"

Wulfric stopped and then blinked, as if he was surprised that he would suggest that. Frankly speaking, he was very surprised himself that he would ponder over that idea and even directly suggest it to Wulfric.

It's just that, since the other already met Ellis, what's the harm of him meeting his friends? Besides, it's not like Snow and Kiran would go around telling people that they had met the prince of the Empire. He knew their character enough that he was confident they wouldn't do this.

But what Astrid didn't realize was, by doing this, he was unconsciously already thinking that Wulfric would be in his life for a long, long time to come.