The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

"WULF?" Astrid said out of reflex when he saw the other's handsome face appeared on the virtual screen. Then, when he noticed the anxious look on his face, he added, "Is something the matter?"

"I just watched that interview you did with that program," Wulfric started, most likely referring to [New Star].

That interview actually reminded him of that hostage taking incident Hildred had mentioned to him before. But it was swept off his mind because it happened on the day that he asked for Aster's forgiveness. Now that he was reminded of it again, he quickly made a short investigation about it.

It happened on the day Aster and Reas arrived at the capital. It even involved the Grimaldis! He was just thankful that Cassius Grimaldi didn't do a thorough investigation regarding the twins' identities. This strengthened his will to put more security around the identity of the two.

Astrid raised his brow. So, it was about that. He didn't expect that aside from his parents, Wulfric would also have such a big reaction regarding that incident. Or maybe he should have expected it. It's Wulfric, after all.

He smiled at how natural it was for him to think that Wulfric was worried about him. It had now become something that he wouldn't even question.

Based on Aster's interview, Wulfirc already had a gist of what happened back then even if he didn't investigate. So, he added, "What you two did was very reckless. You should have waited for authorities to arrive and deal with the situation," he unconsciously admonished.

"You know, you sounded exactly like my mom just now," Astrid said in a teasing tone.

A faint blush quickly appeared on Wulfric's cheeks. "I- I'm not nagging you or anything, I was just worried."

"I know," Astrid said with a soft smile. "We didn't take action back then without thinking  everything through. Both Reas and I analyzed the situation and found that the odds were in our favor. We knew we would be able to overpower that hostage taker. If we didn't have the confidence that it would succeed, we wouldn't even dare to move. After all, we also don't want to die an untimely death."

"Don't talk about death so easily," Wulfric said before he could even understand most of what Aster had said. "And you won't ever have an untimely death, that I promise you."

It was a weird thing to feel moved about, but weirdly enough, Astrid felt inexplicable warmth because of those words and how confident Wulfric was declaring them.

"Thank you. I guess that's one less thing I need to worry about," he said. Even though he seemed to be joking, anyone could see that he also truly meant what he just said.

Wulfric nodded, seemingly satisfied by that respond. Then, as if only remembering Astrid's explanation about his and Reas' actions, he said, "I hope you won't put yourself in that kind of danger again though."

It's not an order, it's more like a plea. Which surprised Astrid quite a bit. He smiled inwardly. Really, who would have thought that the prince would have this soft side? Astrid felt quite blessed that he was probably the only one who could experience this. Well, at least that's the case for now. Who knew if things would change in the future? For both him and Wulfric.

"I will try," he said as a compromise. When he saw that Wulfric was about to complain about that, he quickly added, "But if something like this happened again and I made the same actions as I did back then, that meant that I have the situation under control. I want Wulf to remember that I would never ever put myself in a situation where I'm the one at a disadvantage. So, don't worry too much, okay?"

But how could Wulfric not worry? He was confident with Aster's ability to judge any situation he was in, but there were times when things could go easily out of one's control. And that's what he's worried about.

But he knew that it wouldn't change Aster's line of thinking even if he emphasized that point. So, it would be better to just be the Aster's silent guardian. At the end, all Wulfric could do was to nod to the other as if he was fully agreeing with him.

He then remembered another thing from that interview. Something that was almost buried by his worry after finding about that hostage taking incident.

"That singer, do you want me to deal with her?" he asked with a cold glint in his eyes.

Astrid was kind of startled by the sudden change of topic. Especially more so after hearing Wulfric's question. It's actually not really surprising that the other noticed Nadia Beck's little 'tricks'. It would probably be more surprising if he didn't. What's surprising was him actually asking Astrid so straightforwardly if he could deal with Nadia.

He chuckled. "No, it's fine. She didn't really do any damage." Which was true in a way. "I do hope Wulf won't try to deal with every person who tries to 'bully' me. Since it's actually the job of Polaris. Besides, having you handle things like that would be too much of an overkill."

Although Astrid said that with a light tone, he totally meant every word of it. Dealing with people who was trying to sabotage him was never Wulfric's job. Him supporting Astrid by posting in his stan account was actually more than enough.

Wulfric frowned. He already knew that Aster wouldn't want him to be all over his business like that, that's why he's been holding himself back from doing anything excessive. But that video of Aster trying to take the attention of an armed hostage taker simply awakened Wulfric's protective instinct once again.

He sighed and nodded. Fine. He would try to limit what he could and would do for Aster. But that didn't mean he would stop being the other's silent guardian.

=====

That night, after the new episode of [New Star] aired, it gathered a lot of attention from people as expected. Many were discussing about the three guests. Most of them talking about Astrid. Even the video of him during the hostage-taking incident was dug up again.

But before the night ended, a certain controversial post made its round around [Cyberspace].