Finding Stardust

"Who are they? Wahhh .. the men are so handsome!!!"

"Maybe they are from another school?"

"Looks like they know Emma."

The sound of whispers immediately filled the hall. Nadya patted Cedric"s shoulder as she stood gawking beside him.

"So are they really your cousins or Emma"s? Why do they seem to know Emma?"

Cedric only shrugged his shoulders. He also did not understand what was happening.

"I won"t go without Haoran," Emma said again in Akkadian. Her voice was firm and full of determination.

Therius stepped forward and looked at Haoran. He didn"t like this young man, but somehow he knew Haoran seemed more reasonable than Emma.

"We come only for Emma. If you want Emma to see her mother and father again, you have to let her go alone."

He spoke to Haoran directly using telemancy. No one would know what Therius said except him. His eyes glint when he saw the expression on Haoran"s face did not change.

He is very smart, Therius praised him inwardly.

Haoran deliberately kept his expression unchanged so that Emma did not know that Therius had said something to him. He wanted to think about it and didn"t want to make Emma worried.

He then walked over to Emma and looked at her deeply. His lips slowly curved upward, and finally formed a smile. Xion widened his eyes when he saw his friend, who was known for being aloof and never showed an expression, suddenly smiled like this.

Was he dreaming? He pinched himself.

Ouch.

This was not a dream.

He watched as Therius, who completely ignored his surroundings, raised his hand to touch Emma"s hair, but at the last moment, he canceled it. He only patted her shoulder gently and whispered.

"So, your name is Emma Stardust." He then paused as if looking for the right words. "Nice to meet you."

His voice was soft and attentive, making Emma baffled. She did not expect this foreign man would behave this way toward her. Subconsciously she took a step back and held Haoran"s hand to affirm that she already had a husband.

Therius pulled a card from his pocket and put it in Emma"s other hand. "We are staying in this place for a while. Look for us there once you make a decision."

He then turned away and patted Xion"s back to walk out of the hall. His friend looked astonished and hurriedly waved his hand to say goodbye to Emma.

"See you later, Stardust!"

He walked briskly to catch up with Therius, who had quickly disappeared behind the exit. Once they were gone, the hall turned into a commotion. Everyone was talking about what just happened and tried to draw their own conclusions.

"Didn"t Cedric say they are his cousins. Why didn"t Cedric chase them?"

"What were they talking to Emma about? Looks like they were speaking a foreign language, don"t you think?"

"Wahh ... Emma has a lot of secrets! We also discovered tonight that her boyfriend, Haoran, is actually the son of Lee Industries" owner!"

"What else we don"t know about Emma?"

Emma felt her knees turn weak after Therius and Xion left. She was shocked to see their sudden presence. She had no idea that the Akkadian people would come this quickly.

"Do you want to sit?" Haoran asked, feeling Emma"s body shaking. He hurriedly lifted Emma and carried her to the back of the hall. He looked for an empty chair and sat Emma there.

He waved his hand, and Alex quickly came over with a drink. He gave it to Emma.

"Are you feeling unwell?" the handsome young man asked attentively. Today, he looked even more attractive than usual. His rather long hair was tied back, making him look more masculine.

Behind him was a girl that Emma had never seen before. This was Alex"s middle school friend who became his date to the prom.

"I"m fine. It was too hot over there," Emma said, giving an excuse. She tilted her chin toward Alex"s date. "Go on, don"t mind me. It"s rude to leave your date."

Alex just laughed. "This is Halimah. She"s my friend from middle school that I told you about."

The beautiful girl in the pink dress came over and reached out to greet Emma. "Hi, Emma. My name is Halimah. Alex told me a lot about you."

"Ah ... I hope only good things," Emma said with a chuckle. "Nice to meet you."

"Okay, then, I"ll let Haoran take care of you. I"ll get Halimah to dance. This is her favorite song." Alex waved and pulled Halimah"s hand to the middle of the dance floor.

Haoran watched Emma sip her drink attentively. He understood that Emma was shocked by the sudden presence of those Akkadian men. Haoran also had no idea that their first meeting would go like this.

He could not forget the platinum-haired man, who was looking very impressive. Appearance-wise, the man looked so similar to Emma. Haoran almost thought they had a familial relations.h.i.+p. He sighed when he remembered that Therius told him they would not take Emma home if Haoran insisted on coming along.

Emma will not see her mother and father again if she wanted to be with Haoran.

Why did it turn out this way?

"What did they say to you just now?" Haoran asked Emma. He did not understand Akkadian and did not know what Xion had said to Emma before they left. However, if when he looked at Emma"s expression now, he could guess that the blonde man"s words had made Emma worried.

Did Xion tell Emma that they didn"t want Haoran to come? He wanted to hear from Emma what had happened earlier.

"Uhm? You were saying something?" Emma asked, raising her face. She didn"t pay attention to Haoran"s question because her mind was busy thinking about all the possibilities. She must be able to convince ... if necessary, force Therius and Xion to bring Haoran with her.

She planned to come to them and talk them into taking Haoran to Akkadia. They didn"t look dangerous. Who knows, if they refused her request, she might be able to use force and make them obey her.

"You must have a lot on your mind now. I was just asking, what did they say to you?" Haoran asked gently.

"Oh ... They asked me who I was and what my relations.h.i.+p was with Princess Arreya and General Kaos.h.i.+n Stardust. They wanted to confirm my ident.i.ty before they were willing to take me home," Emma said with a smile. She chose to lie to protect Haoran"s feelings. She then took out the card Therius had given her. "They are staying at the Continental Hotel and asked me to come there to discuss technical issues."

Haoran looked at Emma lovingly. He had figured that Emma would spare him any bad news. If Therius hadn"t spoken directly to him, Haoran would never have known what had happened. So, he knew Emma was lying.

However, he didn"t say anything to call out on her lies. He understood why she did it. It was he who had to think about it and made a decision.

His mind immediately went busy. These Akkadian people arrived sooner than expected. Haoran was not ready yet. He must now think of ways to handle this problem.

Did he have to back down and retreat so that Emma can meet again with her father and mother? But, if he did... how could he ensure that Emma would be safe on her own?

***

"What was that?" Xion asked in astonishment once he and Therius had arrived back at the penthouse. The prince went straight to the balcony and looked up at the night sky with a wistful look.

Therius did not answer. He did not even look at Xion.

"That ring ..." Xion approached. He yanked the s.h.i.+rt Therius wore before the prince could dodge him. "I do not understand."

He had seen the leather necklace that Therius wore, still hanging around his neck with a t.i.tanium ring studded with blue topaz.

Therius pulled Xion"s hand off and twisted it firmly.

"This is rude. You don"t do this to your prince," he grumbled and squinted his eyes at Xion in a threatening manner.

"I saw the ring she wore ... It"s the same ring that hangs around your neck all this time. What is it that you didn"t tell me, Therius?" Xion asked in an earnest voice. "You are hiding something from me, and I don"t like it."

Therius raised an eyebrow and answered in a nonchalant tone. "Is it really the same ring? I think you"re imagining things, Xion."

"I will not help you if you lied to me," Xion insisted. He pulled his arm from Therius" grip.