Finding Stardust

This girl was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. Her long platinum hair flowed beautifully down to her waist. Her beauty reminded him of a celestial G.o.ddess in a painting he saw back in the palace, and her body looked like it had been personally carved by the ancient G.o.ds of Akkadia.

In the past, the only woman who had made an impression on Therius was his uncle"s fiancee. She was Princess Arreya of Thaesi. Not only her beauty was legendary, but her personality was also charming. Therius saw her from afar several times when he had just arrived at the palace.

Therius remembered the last time he met Arreya was before the princess escaped from Akkadia, the night before her wedding. At that time, Therius" parents had just pa.s.sed away and he was sent to the palace to live with his grandfather, King Ca.s.sius.

He did not have any friends and his cousins ​​hated him. They were jealous because he got to live with their grandfather after he became an orphan.

They were instigated by their parents, who thought that Therius wanted to be Prince Darius" successor. The then crown prince was considered too weak to be a leader and his sisters were all eyeing their throne for their sons.

That was why, they hated the fact that Therius got to live in the palace after he lost his parents. They treated the 6-year-old boy with contempt.

In actuality, if Therius could choose, he preferred to have his father and mother back instead of the chance of becoming the ruler. He did not care about the throne nor power.

However, because of their mistreatment and suspicion, Therius finally changed and turned ambitious. Now, all his thoughts, his heart, everything he did in life, was only focused on one goal. He wanted to become a ruler.

Prince Darius" death ten years ago created many disputes and conflicts among members of the royal family. Some spread gossip that he died an unnatural death, and the culprit was one of his nephews who wanted to take power from him.

However, in the end, King Ca.s.sius appointed Therius as the crown prince because Therius was his favorite grandson. He also liked the fact that Therius was ambitious, tough, and well-liked by many officials. He could be the unifying ruler. 

Akkadia had five colonies who were anxious and it faced frequent rebellions in the past. They required the iron fist of a powerful ruler to bring order to them. King Ca.s.sius believed Therius could be that king.

Still, even though Therius had already been given the crown prince"s position, he never took it for granted. He kept paving the way to his future diligently and was always working hard. When he got word about Princess Arreya"s daughter, who was left behind on earth, he immediately took it on himself to get her.

He needed Princess Arreya"s daughter to secure the support of their largest colony, Thaesi. Therius had never fallen in love in his adult life, so, for him, political marriage had always been on the table. He honestly believed, love would only make him weak and forget his life purpose.

As a calculating man, Therius a.s.sumed that a political marriage between himself and Emma Stardust would pave the way to the throne and secured it. For Thaesi to approve the marriage, of course, he had to bring Emma home.

He would pressure them to agree on this marriage with the failed union between Prince Darius and Princess Arreya.

After his wedding and Emma took place, he would encourage his grandfather to step down and hand over the throne. When all is done, he would kill all his cousins ​​to make sure they would stop becoming a threat to him.

He had prepared his people to take action when the time came. Now, Therius only needed to take his bride. She was standing 20 meters away from him...

As he moved closer, his sharp eyes noticed the ring attached to Emma"s ring finger as her hand reached out and hugged Haoran"s neck. Therius immediately recognized the t.i.tanium ring with small blue topaz on it.

The crown prince held his breath as he watched the blue topaz glow under the lights.

"It is you ..." Therius involuntarily muttered. His stoic face looked surprised for a quick second.

Xion, who was walking casually, had arrived beside him and saw the same thing.

His brow furrowed, and his face was clearly confused.

What is this?

He had also recognized the same thing.

He used to tease Therius about the ring and said the color matched the color of his eyes.

He knew how Therius considered the ring precious and always hung it around his neck with a leather strap. Therius had been wearing the necklace since they first met.

Therius walked forward toward Emma. This time, his steps were slow and solemn. At the same time, Emma and Haoran was breaking free from their embrace and now are looking at each other lovingly.

The corner of their eyes suddenly caught the figure of someone walking toward them. So, they both turned to the left and looked at Therius" direction.

They saw an imposing-looking man in his late 20s bearing a cold expression was approaching them, followed by a blond young man with a smile on his face.

Emma and Haoran exchanged glances.

They somehow felt uneasy.

"Who are you?" Emma asked in English.

She tried to read their minds to find out who they were. She was very surprised when she found out he could not infiltrate their minds. Her chest suddenly pounded hard.

For some reason, she could guess that these two men were not from around here. Are they...

Are they from Akkadia?

Why did they arrive so fast?

Therius looked at Emma deeply. He did not care about Haoran at all. It was clear that he didn"t even consider the man existed.

When Emma was trying to read his mind, Therius also wanted to read hers. But both failed miserably.

Did this mean that Emma Stardust was also a telemancer like her mother? Therius thought.

Or...

Therius realized he was not talented at dealing with women, but he knew that women did not like being forced. With that in mind, he finally nodded and held out his hand.

"Princess Emma Stardust? We received your message. I came to take you home," Therius said in Akkadian. His voice was friendly.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. She had been prepared for the worst possible scenario when she saw Therius and Xion approaching. She did not know them and couldn"t predict what would happen. But seeing the young man in front of her reach out and his face looked sincere, she lowered her guard down.

"He said they received my message, and they came here to take me home," Emma told Haoran using telemancy.

"He doesn"t seem to like me," Haoran said with a chuckle.

He looked at Therius intently and then stepped forward to shake Therius"s hand.

"Hi, my name is Haoran. I"m Emma"s husband," Haoran said firmly. "Welcome."

Only then did Therius turn his attention to Haoran. His eyes then fell on their shaken hands. He immediately pulled his hand free from Haoran"s.

His brow furrowed as he saw a similar ring was also on Haoran"s finger. However, as usual, his expression did not change. He could well understand what Haoran said just now.

Well, if he couldn"t read Emma"s mind, he decided he might as well read her husband"s.

It was a decision he quickly regretted since his chest was now filled with jealousy. What little spark there was on his eyes at the sight of Emma was suddenly gone, replaced with iciness.

Xion, who saw that the atmosphere had become awkward, immediately stepped up and interceded for the three. He approached Haoran and Emma and smiled warmly. His friendly expressions made Haoran and Emma relaxed.

"h.e.l.lo, my name is Xion, and this is my best friend, Therius," he told Emma. "Do you understand what I"m saying?"

Emma nodded. She then answered in Akkadian language, which made the smile on Xion"s face widen.

"I do. Nice to meet you, Xion. My name is Emma Stardust, and this is my husband, Haoran Lee. I have heard your friend say that you came to pick me up. I will only go home with Haoran."

Xion was stunned by Emma"s words.

Husband?

He glanced at his best friend, who looked as expressionless as ever. At a time like this, he wished he could read minds, so he would know what Therius was actually thinking and what was really happening.

He had seen the two rings on Emma and Haoran"s fingers.

He really did not understand what was happening around here. Why did they wear THOSE rings??

"We have to talk about the details. We weren"t ordered to bring a human from Earth to Akkadia with us," Xion said.

"I won"t leave if Haoran is not coming," Emma said.

"But we won"t take you if you want to bring someone else with you," said Xion solemnly. "If you really want to meet your family ... you should go alone."

"But he"s my husband, he"s also my family ... I can"t go without him," Emma still insisted.

"Akkadia does not recognize marriage done on other planets," said Xion, lying through his teeth.

Xion knew his best friend very well. He saw Emma"s husband and thought he looked like a good man. Xion didn"t have the heart to let Haoran join them to Akkadia.

Haoran had no place there.