The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

WULFRIC slowly landed his spacecraft on the open runway of his mansion. After more than a week of space travel, he finally arrived at Alluna. If this was as usual, he would probably feel relieved to be back. After all, this planet was not only a place he owned, this was also his home.

But right now, that sense of relief was not here. There's really only one reason for that, because Aster was not here.

He couldn't believe that there would come a day when his sense of belonging would depend on one person. How far had he fallen? Not that he was complaining. He actually liked this feeling of being chained down by someone.

Was that a bit masochistic? He shrugged. He really didn't care.

Wulfric let out a long sigh as he got down off the spacecraft. He had already finished eating all the dishes Aster had prepared him. He actually wanted to eat as few as he could, so it could last for a long time, but it had been such a hard task. Mainly because the food was so good that he couldn't stop eating once he started.

The only consolation he had was that he still had a lot of tea bags remaining. But even those would run out in no time. Should he send someone to Aster's family's farm to buy a couple of crates?

Before he could fully consider that option, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Welcome back, Your Highness."

If Wulfric's senses were not as developed as they were, he would have been startled. Why? Because it was already close to midnight. Even if his mansion was close to the military base, most people would still be sleeping at this time of the night. But his lieutenant was actually here.

Was this guy waiting for him here? Knowing Leland, that was certainly possible.

He turned around and looked at Leland. The other was standing just a few steps away from where he landed the spacecraft. He looked like a drill soldier, standing there with his hands behind his back and with perfect posture to boot.

"Please tell me you have not been standing there the whole night," he said in a dry voice.

"Of course not. If Your Highness had forgotten, let me remind you that the GPS system of your spacecraft is connected to the main system of our military base. Just like all the other spacecrafts in our army. And being the lieutenant of the said army, I have access to the main system. So I have a rough idea at the time of your return," Leland responded in an equally dry voice.

"There's really no need to welcome me like this," Wulfric said, walking passed by the other. "I'm already here. It's not like I'm going to run away or something."

"Well, with Your Highness' temper, one could really not know," Leland said, following behind.

"Why do you sound so prickly?" Wulfric asked while entering his mansion.

Although Leland could be sarcastic at times, he still maintained a level of decorum. But now, the other was openly being low-key antagonistic.

"I don't know. Maybe the mountain of work left behind to me made me a bit prickly, as Your Highness put it."

Wulfric removed his coat and lazily sat down on the nearest couch. "I'm already here, aren't I?"

"Maybe you are. But as I've said, Your Highness has always been... capricious, to say the least. Who knows when you'll be hit by another bout of lovesickness and ran off to the capital?"

'Bout of lovesickness'? Wulfric liked the sound of that. The corner of his lips turned up at that.

Leland watched as the prince smiled after he literally called him a 'lovesick fool'. He shook his head. It seemed like he really was on the point of no return. He sighed.

He went here to meet the prince so he could blurt out his dissatisfaction with the things he had to deal with while the other was away at the capital, frolicking about. If he waited until morning to say it, the anger that had been accumulating might lessen and he wouldn't be able to voice out his complaints.

And now, he only ended up seeing this side of his highness. Which he would really rather not?

He sighed once again and just said, "In case Your Highness wants to know, thanks to Hildred's diligent interrogation, we got a major lead to the human trafficking case."

"Are the Lancasters connected?" Wulfric asked, his voice a bit more serious.

"Unfortunately, their name didn't come up," Leland said. "Although, a certain person's name did come up. And they may or may not be connected with the Lancasters."

Wulfric raised his head and looked at Leland. "Who is it?"

----------

"So, when will the two of you start filming?" Kiran asked, referring to the movie Astrid and Snow would be part of.

The three of them were in the greenhouse where they usually had lunch.

"In a week's time, maybe," Astrid answered.

Kiran was quite surprised when he heard that. "That soon already?"

"Yeah. It's been scheduled long before. It only seemed rush because of some problems that occured during casting," Astrid explained. Then he turned to Snow. "Once again, I'm so glad you got the part, Snow."

A small smiled appeared on Snow's lips. "Thank you. I'm also very glad I got it."

When his agent told him about the audition, he didn't hesitate to take it. He didn't know about the original source material. So, he could only audition based on the part of the script given to him. Thankfully, he managed to pass.

And only then did he discover that Astrid would also be part of the movie he auditioned for. He was so happy when he found out.

He was just thinking before that how good it would be if the two of them could act on the same project at least once. He had practiced with Astrid a few times in Polaris' practice room. Acting with the other was... overwhelming, to say the least. How more would it be if they acted in an official setting?

Just thinking about it already made Snow very excited. He had a feeling his acting would vastly improve after he finished filming this movie.

"I envy you two. I wish I could also work together with you," Kiran said with a slight pout.

"Who said you can't? There might come a day when you will compose or sing the OST of the film or show we're appearing in," Astrid said.

"Now that would be the dream," Kiran said in an excited voice.

"It wouldn't be just a dream. It's definitely going to happen, maybe not now, but certainly in the near future," Snow agreed.

Kiran seemed to be very flattered by that. "Oh, you two, no need to compliment me like that."

Astrid and Snow chuckled, obviously both amused by Kiran.

They talked more about the movie the two were going to appear in. And then the conversation led to Astrid possibly appearing in [The Etoile]. Which, of course, led to the topic of the [Star List].

A list that would be released by the end of this week.