Chapter 285 BRIGHT RED TOMATO

If it was any other person standing here instead of Cynric, they would have probably already fainted. After all, the other was considered as the most handsome man in the Empire. 

And Cynric didn’t hesitate to push this man away. “Stop being clingy so early in the morning.”

The man didn’t mind and just chuckled. The sound was extraordinarily magnetic. “What can I do? You simply attract me to no end, your majesty,” he said while putting a few strands of hair behind Cynric’s ear.

Cynric just felt his heart skipped a beat because of the other’s action. He slapped the man’s hand away, annoyed by his own reaction. “Stop it, Val.”

Val only smiled at him. “So, what got your attention this early in the morning? Let me guess, is it your brother?”

Cynric didn’t answer and just continued what he was about to do earlier before Val interrupted him. He started typing on his Terminal. Once he’s done, he sent it to his brother.

Thinking of the other’s get-up, he couldn’t help but smile. It seemed that putting that spy on Wulfric’s army was worth it. Of course, it was just someone with a low position and with almost negligible presence. He didn’t ask the other to report anything substantial like military secrets. He just told the spy to report things related to Wulfric. Not stuff related to the military but related to his personal life. Any change that the spy might find, he should immediately send to Cynric’s aide.

After years since he deployed that spy, this was the first piece of significant news that he received. 

Val, seeing this smile, felt slightly irritated. The only person who could make Cynric smile like this was that younger brother. No matter how long he’d been together with Cynric, he could count the number of times the other smiled at him.

He knew that for the other, he was only a means to an end. A means to punish himself. At this point, Val was only a knife for Cynric that he repeatedly used to stab himself. 

But even if Val understood that, so what? He still couldn’t give up the other. Not right now. Maybe not even in this life.

”Did something interesting happen to your brother?” he asked with a smile on his face. 

As if he wasn’t affected by any negative emotions just now. It was something easy for him. After all, he’s the number one actor in this Empire.

———

Wulfric just opened the door of the aircraft for Aster. The other said thank you before going inside. He was about to walk around to the side of the driver’s seat when he received a message from his Terminal.

He opened it and saw that it was from his brother.

[Cynric: Someone said they saw you leaving the military base wearing something you don’t usually wear. They say you look very handsome. So, who are you trying to look handsome for? Are you going on a date?]

When reading the first part, Wulfric almost closed his Terminal. Wondering who told his brother so this guy was teasing him so early in the morning. But when he read the last part, he stopped in his steps.

Date? 

At the thought of that, he suddenly felt heat creeping up his face. Was this actually a date? He hadn’t thought of it in that way. He just wanted to spend this day with Aster. 

He quickly closed the message interface, completely ignoring his brother, and opened [Starnet]. He then searched for the meaning of ‘date’. What first came out was;

[Date – an appointment to meet someone or go out with them, especially someone with whom you are having, or may soon have, a romantic relationship.]

Reading that, Wulfric’s face became even redder. This- this- just based on this explanation, was it really a date? No, wait- could it still be considered a date if the other person didn’t know about it? 

”Wulf, what’s wrong?” Aster asked from the opened window.

Wulfric glanced at the other. Looking at Aster with fluffy brown hair and his beautiful eyes behind a pair of glasses – he didn’t think that the other’s appearance diminished at all with this disguise. Although he’s not giving off stunningly beautiful aura like he usually did, he still looked extremely adorable. Like someone you would want to put in your pocket.

At that moment, it no longer mattered to him if this was indeed a date. The important thing was that he could spend the rest of this day with Aster. A label didn’t matter.

He smiled. “Nothing.”

He closed his Terminal and went into the driver’s seat. He started the aircraft and input their destination in the GPS system.

”Have you had breakfast?” Wulfric asked.

”No. I was hoping we could eat together.”

Wulfric silently rejoiced hearing this answer. “Good. I actually know a good place.”

Astrid smiled inside when he heard that. The other had obviously already decided on their destination based on how he input the address in the aircraft’s GPS system. Which meant that he had already planned where to go even before he asked him. Astrid wondered what Wulfric’s reaction would be if he said that he already ate breakfast. This guy would probably sulk again.

If it was before, he would definitely not think that that was possible. But with their recent interactions, Astrid knew that Wulfric was capable of something like ‘sulking’. The other even knew how to dress up. 

Although he had a hunch that someone probably helped him pick his clothes. Based on the personality of the captains he had met, it was most likely Hildred. Edmund and Slade just seemed to be not the type of men who would know anything about fashion. Especially that guy Edmund.

”You look very handsome today, by the way,” he thought of saying.

Then, he witnessed Wulfric’s face slowly turning into a bright red tomato.