Chapter 734 - 734: THE EMPEROR'S THOUGHTS

CYNRIC studied the young man before him. The inky black hair, the dark eyes with their slight upward tilt at the outer corners, giving them a graceful yet piercing quality. His features walked the perfect line between delicate and striking. Sharp cheekbones balanced by a softer jawline, lips neither too thin nor too full. There was an effortless harmony to his face, like every element had been carefully measured to complement the others without losing its natural edge.

In simpler words, Astrid Townsend was beautiful in that quiet yet striking way, the kind of looks that didn’t demand attention but naturally drew the eye regardless.

One might wonder how the emperor knew about some rising actor. But as he’d just said, it was entirely because of his brother. Wulfric might believe he’d been discreet, but anyone paying proper attention would’ve noticed how much time he had spent with this rookie actor.

Of course, by “proper attention,” he meant someone who both cared enough about Wulfric to monitor him and had the means to do so without getting caught. In other words, Cynric was referring to himself. In this Empire, very few people would dare monitor Wulfric’s movements, and even fewer had the power and resources to actually pull it off.

Truth be told, even Cynric’s surveillance hadn’t uncovered the full picture of Wulfric’s relationship with this Astrid Townsend. He only knew a little. That they’d met somewhere, that during Wulfric’s stay in the capital last year they’d gone on at least one date. Then there was the apartment building Wulfric had purchased outright, the one where Astrid lived. His brother had not only upgraded the security systems but renovated the entire top floor into his own private suite.

After that, Cynric hadn’t heard any more updates about the two. He’d assumed Wulfric lost interest and moved on to his next obsession like usual. But finding Astrid Townsend here, on his brother’s private island, proved that assumption completely wrong.

If Astrid had shown up at any of Wulfric’s usual hangouts, Cynric wouldn’t have thought much of it. But this island was special. It was his brother’s personal retreat in VirtualNet, a place Wulfric guarded fiercely. Random visitors weren’t allowed. Even Cynric had to use his authority as emperor just to step foot here.

The fact that he could override nearly all of VirtualNet’s systems wasn’t public knowledge. If people found out, there’d be an uproar. People would assume the government was spying on them. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He was the only one with this access, and frankly, he had a thousand more important things to do than spy on ordinary citizens.

Anyway, Cynric briefly considered whether his brother had been secretly meeting Astrid here in VirtualNet, but dismissed the idea immediately.

The only reason he’d come to the island today was because he’d noticed Wulfric was online. A rare occurrence these days, as his brother had been using VirtualNet less and less over the past months. The moment he saw Wulfric active, he’d planned to teleport directly here. But before he could, Valentine had popped up out of nowhere in front of him.

Valentine had started whining and clinging to him. Cynric knew refusing would only delay him further, so he’d reluctantly let the other tag along. Never in his wildest guesses would he have expected to find Astrid Townsend waiting here.

If Astrid had access to this place, then his connection to Wulfric went deeper than Cynric had realized. But how exactly had their relationship progressed to this point? He was still staring at Astrid, turning the question over in his mind, when suddenly a broad back stepped into his line of sight, blocking his view.

Astrid had been growing uncomfortable under the emperor’s prolonged stare, so when Valentine stepped in front of him, blocking that golden gaze, he initially felt relief. But the chill that ran down his spine at Valentine’s cold red eyes quickly erased any sense of comfort.

“You’re an actor?” Valentine asked, his tone deceptively warm, like a concerned senior. “What works have you appeared in?”

Though his words sounded friendly, his expression told a different story. The man looked ready to turn Astrid into an ice sculpture where he stood.

Astrid managed a dry smile. Well, Valentine certainly lived up to his reputation as a top-tier actor.

Astrid wasn’t about to be outdone. He let his face light up with the perfect look of flattered admiration, the kind any rookie actor would wear when someone like Valentine Davis took interest in their career.

“My debut was in Director Trevane’s [The Sleeping God],” Astrid began, his voice bright with artificial enthusiasm. “Then I guest-starred in [Blind Justice], followed by—” He launched into an exhaustive list of every role he’d ever taken, speaking rapidly without pausing for breath. His expression stayed painfully earnest throughout, the picture of an overeager newcomer.

The moment he finished, all that false energy vanished. His face went carefully blank as he met Valentine’s eyes. “That’s the answer I’d give if you’d asked out of genuine interest.”

Valentine’s red eyes widened slightly, his lips parting in clear surprise. For a brief moment, his usual composed mask slipped, revealing genuine shock at Astrid’s sudden shift in tone. Then, just as quickly, his expression smoothed back into that unreadable celebrity smile, though his fingers twitched minutely at his sides.

The emperor, who had been standing behind Valentine this whole time, let out a sudden laugh. “He got you good there, Val.”

Astrid’s eyes widened slightly as Valentine, the same man who had just been looking coldly at him, turned to the emperor and pouted like a scolded child. The sudden shift was so jarring he almost didn’t believe what he was seeing.

Valentine’s voice took on a whiny, sulking tone. “If you hadn’t been staring so hard at the kid, I wouldn’t have reacted like that,” he said, pouting even more. “You know how easily I get jealous.”

Astrid watched the exchange with growing confusion. What exactly was the relationship between the emperor and the current number one star?

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