BEFORE Wulfric could regain his bearings, he was already inside a drawing room and sitting beside Edmund. The room was not unlike drawing rooms that could be found in those nobles’ homes. Those rooms looked cold and stiff, only showing the extravagance of the house. This one looked colorful and full of life. There were even some quirky decorations, adding character to the whole room. 

He already noticed it when he first entered this house. That this was that kind of place full of family warmth and love. He could even see it at the way Aster’s mother protected him earlier. Yes, he did feel the other’s wariness towards him. How could he not when she was so obviously trying to get Aster away from him. 

Was that what people called motherly love? It’s something very foreign to him. Even the idea of a loving family was something he couldn’t understand. The only family he had was his brother. But he could honestly say that the both of them didn’t have the same affection as Aster and his brother had. He could even say that beneath the ‘amiable’ relationship that people saw on the surface, there was an underlying hatred. At least that was the case for his brother. But it wasn’t the same for him.

He didn’t hate Cynric. He only felt pity for him. And Cynric always hated him for it. Yet, despite that, they both knew that Cynric wouldn’t be able to bear it if he disappeared from his life. Truly, the irony of it.

Maybe that’s why, even if he could, he didn’t do anything extreme while interacting with Aster’s brother and mother. Because of the brimming affection they all had for each other. He wasn’t sure if it was because he found it very novel or simply because he couldn’t understand it. Maybe it was because he envied them a little bit.

Wulfric snorted. Yeah, right. How could that even be possible? 

“Your Highness, Captain, please do wait here for a bit while I get the tea and snacks,” Emmy said with a gentle smile on her face. Then she turned to her son, “Reas, dear, do entertain our guests.”

Before any of them could answer, Emmy had already walked out of the room.

Reas stared at the closed door and grumpily leaned back on the chair he was sitting. Who wanted to entertain these people? He just stared at the two to keep an eye on them, particularly on the white-haired golden eyed man. He mustn’t let this guy out of this room. Or else he might pester Astrid again.

“Don’t stare at me too much,” Wulfric said, turning at Reas and smirking at him. “Or do you think I’m so handsome that you couldn’t get your eyes off of me?”

Edmund who was sitting silently on the side almost choked on his own saliva when he heard it. [General, can you please not be so shameless?]

Reas, on the other hand, only felt an extreme urge to hurt someone. Very badly. He couldn’t believe that there’s a person who could be this annoying.

—–

At the kitchen, Astrid was waiting for his mother just as he was told. He didn’t remain idle and prepared a tea set and some snacks. He put them on a small trolley instead on a tray so it would be easier to bring to the drawing room later. 

After a while, his mother arrived at the kitchen. Before he could speak, she suddenly held his arm and pulled him out through the back door. 

“Mom?” he asked, completely confused. 

Emmy continued pulling Astrid and only stopped when they were a good distance away from the house. “Go to your Dad and don’t return until I send the two of you a message.”

Astrid quickly understood why he was pulled here by his mother. So, they could avoid being heard by the prince. The reason why she said that was most likely because she was afraid that his royal pain in the ass would actually not leave and just continue to pester him. So, it would be better to just leave here until that guy left the planet. 

“Mom, I understand your worry, but I don’t think that guy would simply sit back once he found out I’m not in the house,” he said.

He didn’t want to admit it but the prince was clearly had some interest in him. But he knew it was not the same interest as other people usually had when they saw him. It was more like that of a child finding a new interesting toy. If his new toy suddenly disappeared, he would either look for it everywhere or he would throw a tantrum. Whichever was the case, it would definitely not be good for their family. 

Emmy sighed exasperatedly. “Then should we just wait until he and his companion leave? What if he decided to stay for a few days instead? Or worse, what if he decided to take you with him?”

Even thought he was amused by his mother’s rich imagination, Astrid had a feeling that what she said could actually happen. “If he doesn’t leave once his escorts appeared, then we’ll just make him.”

Emmy frowned a bit. “We couldn’t exactly retaliate against him directly.”

“Then we’ll do it indirectly,” Astrid said with a meaningful smile on his lips.