REAS glanced at his brother who just bent down and picked the AI cat lying in wait for them in front of the apartnt's entrance. The other started walking inside, the lights automatically turning on as he did.
"What is it?" Astrid asked, noticing his brother's stare that was almost boring a hole on his back.
"Why did you tell that to that guy?" Reas asked as he also walked inside. "That thing about being friends first before he could eat your hocooked al."
The way Astrid said that, it was like he was encouraging the other to make effort to befriend him. If he just wanted to refuse that prince, he could have just said it directly without ntioning any of that thing. That's why he couldn't help but think that his brother was actually thinking of being friends with that jerk.
Astrid put down Xiao Lan before turning around and facing Reas. Just looking at how the other was scowling, he already had an idea on what he was thinking.
"Relax, Reas. Do you really think soone who has that low of an EQ would know how to befriend soone?"
"But even so--! Wouldn't he just use that as an excuse to get closer to you?"
"Maybe. But I honestly don't really mind."
Reas was shocked to hear this. "Aster! Did that bastard actually feed you so ecstasy soup that's why you're acting like this now?" he said with a mixed of frustrated and unbelieving tone. "Could a simple apology really change your mind this much?"
"Of course not. Although it played a part. I just realized sothing while interacting with him earlier." Astrid sat down on the couch's arm rest. "He could be useful to us."
The crease on Reas' forehead beca even deeper when he heard that. "What do you an?"
"For so reason, Wulfric finds 'special', hence his urge to get close to . Because of that, he wouldn't do anything that would upset . That's why no matter how antagonistic or disrespectful you are to him, he doesn't react. If this happened when we first t him, he probably would have already gone on a rampage," Astrid started. "With his identity as the prince and our Empire's youngest general, being friends with him would be beneficial to us in the long run. He could help us during situations that we don't have any control over. Like our real identities being accidentally exposed."
Reas scoffed. "That still doesn't make any sense. It's like you're handling our safety over to so lunatic! If that was the case, it would be better to just ask the Grimaldis for help."
Astrid almost winced at what Reas said. Hearing it, even he felt that what he said was rather stupid. Probably because it was. And it was clear as a sunny day that he was just spouting those things as an excuse.
It was simply because he wanted to know. He wanted to see just how far Wulfric would go just to get closer to him. And as he was doing so, would he remain as he was now or would he actually change to a better version of himself? Could soone like him really even change for another person? And could that person really be Astrid himself? These questions, he wanted to know the answers.
Was it just simple curiosity? Or was it because the matter involved him that's why he couldn't help but feel a bit narcissistic and want to see a person with Wulfric's status to do his best to please him? He suddenly wanted to laugh. He couldn't believe that he actually had that kind of weird kink.
But although what he said to Reas was mostly an excuse, he still believed that so of it was true. Like how Wulfric wouldn't do anything to upset him. Or if they encountered a problem, the other would definitely do sothing to help them. Yes, that's a bit narcissistic. But his instinct was telling him that he was right. And this gut-feel of his was seldom wrong about such things.
With Wulfric's involvent, he could easily completely erase whatever traces that were left that would connect their family to the Grimaldis.
Even though the new identities forged by Uncle Leigh for their parents were almost foolproof, the keyword here was 'almost'. Upon a much deeper inspection, one would definitely find so clues that could lead to the Grimaldis and to what happened two decades ago.
Astrid raised his head and sighed when he saw Reas' expression. He looked like he was about to beat up soone. At tis like this, being honest was the best thing to do.
"You're right. Maybe I just want to be his friend."
"Astrid!" Seeing as how the other shouted his na instead of his nickna and also did it in such a disapproving tone, it was quite obvious that he was not happy with what he said. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Where is your sense of danger? This is that crazy prince we're talking about!"
"Reas, first, calm down," Astrid said. "You're making it sound like I'm losing my mind."
"Because maybe you are?"
For the first ti in a while, Astrid suddenly had an urge to smack this brother of his. But he also could understand his perspective and where he was coming from, that's why he wasn't doing any of that.
"I assure you, I'm very sane and all my faculties are very intact as well," he said dryly. "I didn't say what I said because I'm going crazy. I really couldn't explain it to you properly. So, just think of it as finding an interesting toy and wanting to play with it for a bit longer."
Currently, that's the best way he could explain his feelings for Wulfric without Reas thinking that there was anything more than that. Because there wasn't and he simply didn't want his brother to misunderstand him.
But Reas only looked at him as if he had truly gone ntal. Out of all the people in the Empire, his brother was probably the only one who dared to think of that prince as a toy. And he was not just saying it to badmouth the other, he really ant it.
"You- are you really okay?"
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