The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

Chapter 576: DECISION (I)

AFTER morning class ended, Astrid ate lunch as usual at the greenhouse. Kiran was the only one there with him since Snow had a filming schedule today. It was for a youth drama in which Snow managed to successfully get the role of the second male lead through audition.

That drama would probably air next month. Maybe just a week or so after the premier of [Serendipitous Summer]. He was confident that Snow would get a lot of good attention from the movie. After all, he was there and saw the otherʼs performance during filming.

As long as the youth drama heʼs filming now had a good script and cast, then the probability of it having a good reception amongst the public would be high. Assuming that the movie would be a success, then it would definitely be a big boost to Snowʼs popularity.

Astrid had really hoped that would be the case. Not just for Snow, but also for him. Itʼs his first starring movie after all. If it didnʼt do well in the box office, producers might think that heʼs not bankable enough to be leading a movie.

But honestly, heʼs not really that worried about it. He had confidence with Director Hale and the rest of the production crew. He firmly believed that the post-production would only make the movie better.

Actually, thereʼs only one thing thatʼs worrying him right now. And no, itʼs not whether he could play the role he wanted in the script he read last night. It actually had something to do with the message he received this morning. Just remembering it was already making his head hurt.

[Aster, can I meet you today? Any time is fine. Just... I hope we can meet, just the two of us. Preferably in a more private setting?]

[I didnʼt mean anything weird by that. I promise. Thereʼs just something I wanted to talk to you about.]

[You can send me the time and place.]

[Please, I hope you will grant this request.]

[I beg you.]

Those were the messages that Casey had sent him. Astrid hadnʼt yet replied to any of them. Reading those messages and thinking of what happened yesterday at the manor, he could only think of one reason the other wanted to meet with him.

That his hunch was right and that the duke really did suspect that he was related to them.

The fact that Casey sent those messages in such a tone meant that it was no longer a suspicion, but more of a fact. Because why else would he be acting like that? Surely it wouldnʼt just be because of something related to EMMA. The other could just let someone working for him to deal with things like that.

But no, he sent those cryptic messages instead, sounding very desperate. What else would Astrid think?

It was already noon, and he didnʼt really know how to answer the other. Because if he was right and the Grimaldis now knew that he and Reas were related to them, he genuinely didnʼt know what to do next.

He could just ignore it and act like he didnʼt know anything. But things would end with just that? If he was indeed right and Cassius wanted to meet him because he found out that he was his nephew, then no. It wouldnʼt end so easily by pretending to be ignorant. Maybe it would even escalate.

Surprisingly enough, even after realizing that possibility, he didnʼt feel panicked at all. He was only worried about what his next action would be, but he wasnʼt that overly concerned about the consequence of it.

Probably because he knew that even if he Grimaldis knew about Astrid and Reasʼ true identities, they couldnʼt do anything drastic. Unless, of course, they wanted to expose their mother to danger.

If they suddenly became overly enthusiastic over a pair of twins ʼnot relatedʼ to them, it would only arouse suspicion. Which would then alert the Lancasters. Even if the Grimaldis had the power to go toe to toe with them, it would still cause a bloodbath. After all, even if the Lancastersʼ influence had dwindled over the past two decades, their military might had not diminished in the slightest.

It even had the trend of growing even more, especially after the new Emperor was enthroned.

The situation could probably be broken if another power intervened and sided with either one of the two.

Astrid suddenly thought of Wulfric. He knew that if he just asked, the other would not hesitate to help. He would probably even waged a war against the Lancasters just to make sure no harm would come to him.

But Astrid didnʼt want things to reach that point. Putting Wulfric in such a dangerous situation when it had nothing to do with him just didnʼt sit right with Astrid. Because it felt like he was taking advantage of the other. And their relationship shouldnʼt be like that.

”Aster, youʼre barely eating. Is there anything worrying you?” Kiranʼs call temporarily cut off the thoughts running through Astridʼs mind.

He looked at the other and smiled. ”No, itʼs noth--” he stopped. No, maybe a third partyʼs opinion was what he needed right now. Maybe Kiran could give him a new perspective that he couldnʼt see as the person involved. ”Actually, there is one.”

Kiran put down the spoon heʼs holding and with a serious expression, he said, ”You can tell me. Maybe I might not be able to help you solve it, but at the very least, I could help to ease your burden.”

”Well, itʼs like this... my mother cut off her ties with her family a long time ago. And now, her younger brother is trying to contact me. I kind of donʼt know what to do about it.”

Kiranʼs eyes widened, as if he didnʼt expect such a serious situation. Then his expression calmed down and he appeared like he was seriously thinking of an advice to give him.

”This is just me, but, well, I think you should ask your mother what she thinks first.”

Astrid felt like he just received enlightenment when he heard that.