FEELING the other’s breath on his ears, Astrid only felt itchy. Which greatly annoyed him. It made him subconsciously moved back. His movement was a bit forceful, almost making the back of his head collide with the hard door of his room. But before his head hit the said door, he felt a large callused palm pillowing it. Carefully avoiding the possible collision.

Astrid blinked his phoenix eyes. Of course, he knew who this callused hand belonged to. He just didn’t expect that the man in front of him would actually move that fast just to protect him. When he looked at the prince, he was surprised at the anger he saw in those golden eyes.

No matter how much he bickered with him earlier, Astrid had never seen such anger from him. So, he didn’t quite understand this kind of reaction the other was showing.

“What are you doing, moving like that? What if you hurt yourself?” he almost growled.

Hearing that, Astrid was even more surprised. So, the reason this guy was angry was because of the possibility that he might have hurt himself? That was… unexpected. To say the least. He suddenly didn’t know how to feel. Or even react for that matter.

Until he heard the white-haired wolf say the following;

“You’re obviously so frail. If you hit your head on such a hard surface, your skull will definitely crack. Do you want me to see grey matters flowing out of your head?”

Astrid’s face was completely filled with black lines. What grey matters? Did this man think that his head was made of cotton or something? His annoyance that had already subsided came back roaring. He dodged the other’s hand and moved to the side.

“I assure you, Your Highness, my head is much harder than that,” he said dryly. “And besides, if Your Highness wasn’t sniffing me like some dog, I wouldn’t have been startled and the subsequent reaction that I made wouldn���t have happened.”

Wulfric stared at the beautiful black-haired boy in front of him. His black eyes blazing with that cold fire he’s becoming familiar with. Did this kid actually compare him to a dog? Instead of being angered, he laughed in amusement. 

“You really are quite fearless, aren’t you, Twinkle?”

The corner of Astrid’s eye twitched hearing that embarrassing moniker once again. “It’s not that I’m fearless, Your Highness. I simply don’t like being bullied.”

Wulfric snorted. “You compared me to a dog and now you’re also accusing me of bullying you.” 

He released his momentum and walked slowly towards Aster. 

Astrid felt this change. The air around him quickly felt suffocating. If it was any other person in his shoes right now, they would have probably already fallen to their knees. Trembling in fear. They would even probably seek the prince’s forgiveness. But Astrid didn’t do any of that. Instead, he raised his head and met the prince gaze head on. He didn’t even try to step back.

Wulfric was amused this reaction. He preferred this kind of reaction instead of the usual fear people showed him. But he still didn’t take back his momentum. He stopped in front of Aster and gazed down at him.

“I’m sure you’ve heard what others refer to me. They all think I’m unreasonable and crazy.” He leaned down and whispered in the other’s ear, “Are you that confident that I wouldn’t do anything to harm you?”

He straightened up and gazed down at Aster, waiting for his reply.

Of course, Astrid had heard his famous moniker – the Butcher of Orus. How could he not? But for some reason, since they met at the lake, he had never felt scared of him. Even after knowing his real identity, the fear that he should have felt never came. 

Maybe he was indeed fearless.

“Yes, Your Highness is indeed unreasonable. Crazy? Maybe a tad bit. But no, I don’t think you would harm me,” he said.

Wulfric raised one of his brows. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Because I don’t think Your Highness is crazy enough to actually hurt an innocent person.”

Wulfric scoffed. “The only innocent people in this Empire are babies. Even children have little calculations of their own. Since you’re not a baby, you couldn’t possibly be considered as ‘innocent’. So, your reasoning is invalid.”

A creased appeared on Astrid’s forehead. What kind of justification was that? Looking at the other’s expression, he could tell that he truly believed what he said. He suddenly felt a bit of pity for this prince. Because what he said just showed his lack of trust on humanity as a whole. He wondered what exactly he experienced for him to have that kind of belief. It’s probably something truly horrendous. After all, someone who grew up in an environment full of warmth and love would never be the ‘Butcher of Orus’.

Unless that someone was a complete psychopath. Which he believed the prince was not. 

“If Your Highness wanted to hurt me, then you can try,” he said, he didn’t even notice that his voice softened a bit. “Just know that I will fight back with everything I have.”

Wulfric was startled by this answer. Then he chuckled. He raised his hand and pushed a few strands of Aster’s hair behind his ear. “You’re right, I won’t hurt you. But not because I think you’re innocent, but simply because I couldn’t bear it.”

Before Astrid could react on what the prince said, a woman’s petite figure suddenly inserted herself between him and the man. He looked at his mother’s back and didn’t bother to hide his surprise.

Emmy completely stood in front of his son, like a mother hen protecting her chick. “Your Highness, please follow me to the drawing room and let me serve you with tea and our planet’s famous snacks.”