ASTRID was startled when he was suddenly pulled. But when he heard the unreasonable demand of this royal pain in the ass, he almost didn't explode. But his temper finally made a turn for the worse.

He quickly moved away from this white-haired wolf. "And why shouldn't I smile at my own brother?"

Wulfric was stunned for a bit. "Brother? You two are related?" he asked, looking back and forth at Aster and the kid, clearly not believing.

Instead of answering that Astrid turned to Reas, his expression automatically became gentle. He took off his brother's shirt and gave it back to him which the other reluctantly accepted. "I'll go inside and tell our mother that we have visitors. You stay here and entertain them."

Reas truly didn't want to stay here with this prince and that bald minion of his. But thinking that his brother was still wet clothes, he acquiesced. "Go and make sure to quickly take a hot bath.���

Astrid smile and said 'yes' before running inside the house.

Hearing the conversation between the two, Wulfric was finally convinced that they were indeed brothers. Suddenly, the irritation that had been gathering inside him vanished little by little. He even thought that this kid with ice-blue hair was a bit pleasing to the eye.

Edmund had been observing the general so he immediately noticed the change in the other's expression. It's like the dark clouds surrounding him a minute ago slowly turned into sunshine. Even he, as dense as he was, could see that it was related to that black-haired boy mentioning that he and the other kid were brothers.

He suddenly felt worried. Their general wouldn't really be interested in that boy, right?

He remembered the previous things that the general had been interested in before. Whether if it was some novel items or some weird animal, the general had always shown a certain degree of possessiveness over them. He wouldn't allow anyone touching them and he would always bring it with him. But once the novelty had passed and he lost interest, he would be the first one to get rid of those things.

The lieutenant mentioned before that it had been due to the general's upbringing. So, it's better to just keep a blind eye to it. The general was the only prince of the Empire, so Edmund was confused on what kind of upbringing would result to him having that kind of habit.

The lieutenant grew up with the general, almost acting like his personal butler in fact. So, Edmund had no doubt about the authenticity of that information. Because unlike the lieutenant, he had only met the general during the rebellion in Orus. So, of course, the lieutenant's words were more believable.

Right now, the way the general was acting towards the black-haired boy was exactly the same as with those novelty items that he had before. That's why Edmund's worry was not unfounded. Their general wouldn't end up ruining such an excellent looking boy, right?

He shook his head. It's better to contact the lieutenant again and tell him to hasten. So, they could leave here as soon as possible before their general's interest towards the black-haired boy became stronger and stronger.

===

Inside the house, Astrid quickly ran into his mother who just came out of the kitchen. There was a smudge of flour on her cheek, a sign that she was probably making dessert.

"Astrid, you're back. What—" she stopped what she was saying because she noticed his son's wet clothes. She suddenly rushed forward and held both his shoulders. "What happened? Why are you clothes all wet?"

Astrid gently shook his head. "It's nothing, Mom. I just accidentally slipped somewhere," he said, downplaying what happened.

"Slipped? Did you hurt yourself?" Emmy asked worriedly.

Her Astrid was not like her husband and Reas. The body of those two were sturdy as a brick. Unlike Astrid who'd been frail since he was young.

Just by looking at his mother's expression, he already knew what she was thinking. So, he could only smile helplessly. She's probably thinking about how frail he was. Which was not entirely the case. That might have been true when he was young, but not now. His body already had the strength of someone with an A level physique. He might not be as strong as those S classes, but, at least, he was much stronger than normal the people from his past life.

"Mom, I'm really fine. I'll just go and take a hot bath," he said, assuring his mother. "Oh, and Mom, could you call Dad back? We actually have a visitor. I think it's better if Dad is here."

Emmy's attention was quickly taken by the word 'visitor'. "Visitor? What visitor?"

Astrid suddenly didn't know how to tell her about that royal wolf hanging outside their house right now. In the end, he could only sigh and said. "It's His Royal Highness – Wulfric de Lunaris."

Emmy's expression almost didn't crack when she heard what her son said. "What?"