Safe to say, the best way to go about life was to act as if nothing extrely shocking had happened.
Xavier, whose lips were still faintly upturned in a way that was proving very difficult to scrub off, much to the annoyance of one Kyle Nox, simply returned to his seat while reaching for his little wife’s hand and holding it close.
Their hands naturally clung to each other as though nothing else in the hall mattered, and while to the onlookers it probably looked like they were whispering sweet nothings, exchanging soft words ant only for each other, the truth was far simpler.
Of course, they expressed affection. With the tips of their fingers scratching at each other’s palms, they were more in love than the worst of them lovesick fools.
But the two didn’t have to vocalize that. Instead, Luca was excitedly telling his husband about the construction and expansion projects D-29 had found that could benefit from all the money they had raised.
Who could’ve guessed?
And really, who were they kidding?
How could anyone possibly get over what had just happened when even the employees of Star Net were reportedly dealing with unprecedented crashes popping up in the most random places?
Worse, how could not one, but two fathers recover from the scene they had just witnessed?
Duke Leander, for one, seed to have completely lost control of his finger. It kept pointing aimlessly in different directions as his mind tried to process the fact that his precious son had actually initiated that, and now, he didn’t even know who to bla!
"H-he—!"
The frazzled father couldn’t even finish his sentence.
"I know, I know. It’s okay."
Duchess Alia’s voice was calm, almost soothing.
"If anything, that just goes to show that he’s really your son."
Gasp!
"!!!"
The Duke clutched his chest, looking personally attacked and conflicted all at once, as though he couldn’t believe she had said that, not when he already felt like he was about to weep from a mix of pride and loss.
Because yes, he had once again been reminded of the sheer genius that was his son.
But at the sa ti, it felt like he had just been robbed.
A massive heist had been carried out right in front of him, and he couldn’t even properly react to it because of the identity of the culprit.
Duchess Alia simply shook her head as she continued to comfort the big beast—the so-called War God—who kept shaking like a leaf.
Then again, over at the head table where the Imperial family sat, one Emperor found himself quietly marveling at what had just transpired.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even considered that approach.
Maybe it was because he knew Luca as soone who cared deeply about making every Star Coin count, or maybe it was because he had projected his own perspective too much and forgotten that others might approach things differently.
Clearly, there were ways to have it both ways, and with such thinking, those kids wouldn’t really need to take a loss.
Either way, Emperor Xavian couldn’t help but feel a quiet sense of pride, even as he did his best not to let it show on his face.
If these were the kinds of leaders they would one day entrust the throne to, then just as expected, there was truly nothing to worry about.
Under the table, just like his son, the Emperor reached for his wife’s hand, already certain that she would be hosting a private celebration later.
He could tell.
Just as he could tell that his daughter was dangerously close to standing on her seat in excitent.
With eyes sparkling like that, there was no way Princess Nina could hide her joy.
Thankfully, most people didn’t have the luxury of observing every individual reaction just yet.
That would co later.
Because at that mont, everyone was far too busy overwhelming their minds and Star Net.
__
See, that year’s Expo Banquet beca widely rembered in history not only because of that night’s events, but also because of the tradition that soon took over the Empire—or rather, the universe.
Because what followed the heart-pounding bidding of Luca Kyros and Xavier Montclair was the birth of Confession 305.
It was as if the Empire recovered with such fervor that Cassian Veyra’s initial win was reduced to nothing more than a stepping stone, sothing that allowed everyone to witness what true love looked like.
One could only imagine how ticked the heir of the Federation was.
But at that point, no one cared enough to focus on him, not when the auction had already kicked into high gear.
Because as if everyone had been injected with chicken blood, both the guests and the viewers nearly lost their minds when the first bid for the insanely popular Kyle Nox was announced.
Raising his hand like a well-behaved student, one Oliver Mylor—who had pressed the button with both hands just to be sure—declared,
"Three hundred five million."
"!!!"
Sure, there was that whole issue about the Federation weaponizing those numbers. But after witnessing what had happened with his brother, the blonde clearly wanted to experience the sa magic with the encouragent of Luca himself.
At the sa ti, however, he had his own reasons.
Because if a Mylor was going to spend money, then he better get sothing out of it.
Like identifying every single person who dared to bid on his boyfriend!
And there were a lot of them.
A lot.
Like bees, just like his good brother had described, they sward around his Kyle, their bids rising rapidly, numbers climbing toward what would likely reach at least a billion.
Well, to hell with a billion.
Because the blonde’s next bid ca out just as fiercely.
"Three billion and five Star Coins."
Ollie said it with fire in his eyes, his fist clenched so tightly that it had Kyle rubbing his own face as he watched his mop’s determination unfold.
So cute.
That guy was definitely going to need a major back rub after pledging that much money for sothing he could get for free, but Kyle would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it.
In fact, he liked it so much that he was beginning to understand why the Captain had looked like he was about to faint earlier.
Even with the dim lighting, even when he shouldn’t have been able to see things so clearly, Ollie stood out like a lighthouse.
Bright.
Impossible to miss.
And when the blonde raised his bid again—
"Thirty billion and five Star Coins."
—while glaring nacingly at the person who had just tried to bid five billion, Kyle had an inkling of what he would need to do.
Not a full unit.
Just a single cent more.
One step above the three hundred five billion Star Coins that his mop finally finished with.
As such, he couldn’t simply leave that final, snarling confession unanswered, right?
Besides, wouldn’t it be unfortunate if he didn’t get to ask for the first dance of soone that cute?
If the blonde ended up asking him with that adorable face, the adjutant felt like he might just haul him out of the palace instead, and that certainly wouldn’t be very gentlemanly.
So he would win.
By the tiniest margin possible.
All for the sake of his little star.
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