Chapter 204 - ABDUCTED AND REPLACED
ASTRID was back to his hotel room. He just finished bathing and was now wearing casual clothes. His and Ellis' flight back to capital was scheduled two hours now. So, he still had time to call Reas back.
It's because earlier when he asked the other how was his training, Reas told him to call him back when he's alone and in a private space. Because what he was about to tell was not something for the public to hear.
With all the secrecy, one would think that his brother was about to tell him some top-secret government intelligence. But he didn't doubt Reas and just agreed.
Now that he's alone and finally feeling a bit refreshed after an entire day of filming, he decided to call Reas back. It didn't take long for the call to connect and his brother's handsome face appeared on the virtual screen of his Terminal.
"So, have you called our parents and told them the good news?" he first asked.
Before they hung up the call earlier, Reas told him that he passed the training – which he didn't doubt even for a second – and that he even ranked as first place. That's why he asked that question. Since there was plenty of time between Reas' first call and this one. Surely, his brother thought of calling their parents during that time.
As expected, Reas nodded to his question. "They're very happy with the result."
Especially their father. The other showed such a proud look when Reas told them that he not only passed, he was even ranked first amongst all the aspiring students of the Mecha Department. Probably because the other was once a soldier and had also gone through the same thing.
If not for the fact that their father and mother needed to hide their identities because of what happened in the past, Reas was certain that their father would make a great soldier. But because of that animal, Cecil Lancaster, he chose revenge instead of continuing on his path as a soldier. Which no one could really blame him for.
Although their parents were now happy living a peaceful and happy life as ordinary farmers, there were still a lot of things taken from them because of what happened with that Cecil Lancaster. The system failed them. All because that animal was a noble. And not just any noble but someone who belonged to a powerful family.
If that bastard was a commoner, with the atrocities that he had done, their father would have been treated like a hero for killing the other. But no, he was put on the most wanted list instead. All so the Lancasters could get some sort of compensation for a family member being killed. What a bunch of bullshit.
It's the reason why Reas just couldn't help but be angry at those Lancasters, no matter if they had something to do with what happened before or not. In his opinion, even the Grimaldis were the same. Probably with just the exception of their mother's younger brother.
The current emperor was also to blame. After the former emperor took back most of the Lancasters' political and military power, he really just had to slowly give those powers back.
Now, he kind of wish that the general was the emperor instead. At least, with him, Reas knew that the other would not only strip the Lancasters with their power, he might even execute the ones at the very top of that family.
Astrid noticed the shift in his brother's emotion. Even though the other didn't say anything about it, he already had an idea on what might have caused this shift. Since they were just talking about their parents' reaction to the good news, it obviously had something to do with that.
"Don't think too much about the negative stuff," he said. "Just remember that our parents and I are very proud of what you have accomplished so far. No matter what happens in the future, we will always have your back."
Hearing what his brother just said, Reas' mood visibly got better. Yes, this was not the time to think about those negative things. He didn't want to spoil something good by thinking of those people. What's important here was the happiness his family felt for him because of this good news.
"You're right," he said, finally showing a small smile.
"So, when are you going to tell me about what happened to you this past week?" Astrid said, finally asking the question.
"I was just about to do that," Reas responded.
He stared at his brother and then had some second thoughts if he should actually tell the other everything that had happened. Especially the things that involved the general. But then again, if he didn't, most of the things he would say would not really make much sense.
He sighed and just decided to go for it. It's not like he would be lying. Or that he would be praising the general. He would just simply tell Astrid the details of the things that happened to him as they were.
He started with, "Well, for one, the person in charged of our training was General Lunaris."
It took a few seconds for those words to register in Astrid's mind. Because he had to think first who this 'General Lunaris' was. And then, he remembered that in this Empire, there's only one person who could use that surname along with the title of general.
It's Wulfric.
He wasn't sure which one he should be surprised with – the fact that Wulfric actually agreed to train students or that Reas was talking about the other with no derision in his voice, he could even hear a bit of respect in it. Yeah, there's no contest, the latter was definitely more surprising.
"It seemed like the prince did a pretty good job training you," he said in a tentative tone.
"Hmm, he's okay. Much better than what I initially thought," Reas said, shrugging. "In fact, he's training method was very effective. I learned quite a lot from him."
As much as he hated to admit that, it was the truth.
He looked at his brother and was confused when he saw the other looking at him as if he was abducted by another interstellar race and was replaced by another entity.