THE soldiers of the Fenris Squad were busy preparing for Beowulf’s take-off. A certain general was standing at the bridge of the huge ship. Instead of overseeing the preparation, he was sitting on the captain’s seat with a silly smile on his face while playing with the pendant of the necklace he’s wearing.

Although it had already been more than 12 hours since he separated with Aster, he was still immersed in the events of their date. Yes, he decided to call it that. Aster didn’t know that he thought of it that way. So, what’s wrong with him assuming that what happened was a ‘date’?

He looked down at the pendant with golden light swirling inside it. Once again, he couldn’t stop the smile that crossed his lips. But then, at the thought that it would take quite some time before the two of them could meet again, gloom descended on him. The smile on his face disappeared and was replaced by a frown.

His change of mood was seen by two of his captains standing a distance away – Slade and Edmund.

“Slade, is the General sick?” Edmund asked with a worried expression.

“Where did you get that?” Slade asked, curious as to how the other reached that conclusion.

“You’ve seen it too. One moment he’s smiling like he’s surrounded by flowers and rainbows, then the next, he’s frowning like dark clouds were hovering above his heads,” Edmund explained. “Wouldn’t that mean that… that there’s something wrong with his brain?”

Slade stopped when he heard the other’s explanation. Then, was even more stunned when he heard the last part. He lowered his head and tried his hardest not to laugh. Resulting in his shoulders shaking.

At the distance they were in, the captain would definitely notice if he laughed out loud here. Once the other asked what he’s laughing about, this foolish Edmund would definitely honestly tell the captain what they were talking about. Then, it would result to them being punished.

“Slade?” Edmund called, his tone obviously confused on why Slade’s shoulders were shaking. “Are you okay?”

Slade took a deep breath and finally stopped himself from laughing. He raised his head and flicked Edmund’s forehead. “Don’t let the captain hear what you just said. Unless you want to spend a whole month being his sparring partner.”

Edmund wanted to complain at first when Slade flicked his forehead, and not so gently too! But when he heard the last thing the other said, he visibly shuddered. Just the thought of being the general’s sparring partner for a month was already terrifying. What more if it became reality?

Before he could fully think properly of why Slade said that, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Completely separating him from Slade.

“Sled, did I just see you flick Ed’s forehead?” a smiling Hildred asked.

Slade gazed down at Hildred. If ordinary soldiers saw that smile, they would probably be quaking in their knees. But he had known this guy for more than a decade. He knew how twisted the other was despite his innocent appearance. He could become even crazier than the captain. Especially when it came to Edmund.

Slade grinned. “Ask that big guy behind you why.”

Then, he walked away from the two with a languid gait.

Hildred narrowed his eyes at Slade’s back before turning to Edmund, the smile on his face was back to normal.

“So, Ed, why did Slade flick your forehead?”

“Ahm, I’m not really sure,” Ed said, scratching his cheek. “But it’s probably related to what I said about the general.”

Then, he told the other his conversation with Slade earlier. After hearing it, Hildred stopped and then chuckled. The other reached out his hand and pinched his cheek.

“Why are you so cute?”

Edmund dodged and said, “I- I’m not!”

Hildred only smiled teasingly. “Do you want to know why Wulf is acting like that?”

“Why?” Edmund asked, curious. Completely forgetting about his pinched cheek.

“Bow down your head a bit,” Hildred said.

Edmund unsuspectingly did as he was told. Hildred could only smile helplessly as he saw this. Really, what a kid. But that’s fine. It’s one of the things he liked about the other.

He leaned closer and whispered, “It’s because of lovesickness.”

Edmund hadn’t reacted quickly to what he heard because his focus was more on the warm breath that on his ear. For some reason, he felt his whole face heating up. And then, he stepped back. But because his action was so sudden, he almost lost his balance. Good thing he had good reflexes and he quickly steadied himself.

Hildred smiled secretly when he saw this. Especially after seeing the lovely blush on Ed’s cheeks.

“Don’t worry about Wulf. He’s totally fine,” he said.

“Uhm,” Edmund could only say.

Back to the captain’s seat, Leland walked to where the prince was.

“Your Highness,” he called.

But after a few seconds, the other didn’t respond. He called him once again, but still nothing. So, he could only tap the other’s shoulder.

Wulfric was startled by this sudden touch. He raised his head and glared at Leland. “Why are you sneaking up on me like that?”

Leland refused the urge to roll his eyes. “First, I didn’t sneak up on you, Your Highness. I’d been here for a minute now, calling you. It’s not my fault that you seemed to be in world of your own.”

Wulfric cleared his throat. Well, he was indeed in a state where he couldn’t possibly hear the people in his surroundings.

“What is it?” he just asked instead. Because he knew Leland wouldn’t come here for nothing.

“You have a guest. He’s currently waiting at your office,” Leland answered.

Wulfric frowned. “What guest?”

“A very important guest,” Leland only said. “So, please, Your Highness, go.”

At Leland’s expression, Wulfric knew that if he refused, the other would not hesitate to drag him there. He tsked and stood up. Whatever. It’s probably just a high-ranking official.

So, he walked towards his office. Arrive there, he quickly opened the door and immediately saw the man waiting inside.

With a tall and slender body, shining golden hair and golden eyes, Cynric smiled at him.

“Hello, little brother.”

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