He understood, though. Casey must have taken into account his position as a rookie actor. That's probably why he rented out this whole place.
As he entered, a staff quickly approached him and led him to where Casey was. Following the other, Astrid couldn't help but remember the conversation he had with his mother earlier.
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When his video call connected, his mother appeared on the virtual screen. She was wearing an overall and a wide-brimmed hat - this was her usual 'farming battle suit'. Which meant that she was in the middle of planting or harvesting.
"I'm sorry to call you at this hour, Mom. You're probably busy," he immediately apologized.
His mother waved her hand. "I'll gladly accept a call from my children, even if I'm in the middle of taking a bath. So, there's no need to apologize."
Astrid smiled at that. And then, he pondered how he should tell his mother about this whole situation with the Grimaldi family. The other must have noticed that he was worrying about something, because she quickly asked;
"Is there a problem, Astrid?"
Astrid hesitated a bit. Mostly because he didn't know where to start.
"If there's a problem, you must have called me to tell me, right? If that was the case, then don't hesitate. Just tell it to me directly and I will listen," she added, as if reading his thoughts.
Astrid stopped. If he continued to hesitate here, he would only waste his mother's time. Since there was really no good way to tell his mother about this, he should just go for it. And so, after taking a deep breath, he told his mother everything in one go.
When he finished, his mother had a blank expression on her face.
"Mom?" he called. "Are you alright?"
"Lord Cassius is waiting inside, sir," the other said, opening the door for him and gesturing for him to go in.
Astrid nodded to the staff before walking inside.
Casey quickly got up from his seat when he saw him. "Aster, hello."
Astrid could see the other fidgeting, obviously very nervous. Casey walked towards the opposite seat and pulled it for him. "Please sit."
"Thank you," Astrid said, sitting down.
Casey went back to his seat. "Are you hungry? Should we order food?"
"No, thank you," Astrid said. "Uncle Casey, you said you wanted to talk to me. Can you tell me what it's about?"
Casey's body seemed to tremble when he called him 'uncle'. Just by that reaction, Astrid could already tell that the chance of his speculation being correct was almost 100%.
"Aster, I know this might sound weird. You might even think I'm crazy, but whatever I will say next was nothing but the truth. I even have scientific evidence," Casey started, his fingers fidgeting on the table. "I... I am actually your uncle. I'm your mother's, Emmy's younger brother."
Astrid gazed down. He clenched his fists on his lap. There, what Casey said confirmed his speculation. The Grimaldis really found out about him and Reas. There's no denying that now. Mentioning scientific evidence, they probably did a gene matching test.
He raised his head and looked at Casey. The other had this earnestness and hope in his sapphire blue gaze. But deep within that gaze, he could also see... fear.
At that moment, the only thing he could say was;
"I know."