He understood, though. Casey must have taken into account his position as a rookie actor. That’s probably why he rented out this whole place.

As he entered, a staff quickly approached him and led him to where Casey was. Following the other, Astrid couldn’t help but remember the conversation he had with his mother earlier.

=====

When his video call connected, his mother appeared on the virtual screen. She was wearing an overall and a wide-brimmed hat – this was her usual ‘farming battle suit’. Which meant that she was in the middle of planting or harvesting.

“I’m sorry to call you at this hour, Mom. You’re probably busy,” he immediately apologized.

His mother waved her hand. “I’ll gladly accept a call from my children, even if I’m in the middle of taking a bath. So, there’s no need to apologize.”

Astrid smiled at that. And then, he pondered how he should tell his mother about this whole situation with the Grimaldi family. The other must have noticed that he was worrying about something, because she quickly asked;

“Is there a problem, Astrid?”

Astrid hesitated a bit. Mostly because he didn’t know where to start.

“If there’s a problem, you must have called me to tell me, right? If that was the case, then don’t hesitate. Just tell it to me directly and I will listen,” she added, as if reading his thoughts.

Astrid stopped. If he continued to hesitate here, he would only waste his mother’s time. Since there was really no good way to tell his mother about this, he should just go for it. And so, after taking a deep breath, he told his mother everything in one go.

When he finished, his mother had a blank expression on her face.

“Mom?” he called. “Are you alright?”

“Wait…” His mother closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them, she managed to get back a semblance of calmness. “Sorry, that’s just a lot to take in.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s my fault. I should have been more careful.”

His mother’s brow furrowed as she promptly rebuked him. “What are you saying? None of this is your fault. Ever since you and Reas encountered Casey, along with Tommy’s child, this outcome was inevitable. It just happened much earlier than expected.”

Astrid knew his mother would say that. But he still felt a tinge of guilt since this situation had developed to this point because of him.

“Son, again, this is not your fault. If you’re worried that this might affect me and your father, I assure you, it won’t. As long as the duke still has a functioning brain, he wouldn’t do anything that could compromise our location. So, even if he and the others really did know that you and Reas are my children, they wouldn’t do anything that could harm you or us.”

Astrid almost chuckled. Because it’s the same thing that Reas had said. But there’s one thing that they hadn’t taken into account. Something that he only realized when he received Casey’s messages this morning.

“How about Uncle Casey? Would he also do the same?” he asked.

His mother paused. She probably also realized that her brother might be overcome by emotion and might do something that could affect all of them. After all, he just found out that his supposedly deceased sister was actually alive, and he even had two additional nephews. That would overwhelm anyone.

Of course, this was all under the speculation that the Grimaldis really now knew about him and Reas.

When his mother didn’t give an immediate answer, Astrid quickly followed it up.

“He sent me a couple of messages. He wants to talk. There’s a chance that he might confront me about, well, everything. Should I… go and meet him?”

=====

Going here, his mother’s answer was already quite obvious. After a long silence, she finally said that he could go and meet Casey. And if, on the off-chance that he asked to talk to her…

Astrid’s thoughts halted when the staff stopped in front of the door of a private room.

“Lord Cassius is waiting inside, sir,” the other said, opening the door for him and gesturing for him to go in.

Astrid nodded to the staff before walking inside.

Casey quickly got up from his seat when he saw him. “Aster, hello.”

Astrid could see the other fidgeting, obviously very nervous. Casey walked towards the opposite seat and pulled it for him. “Please sit.”

“Thank you,” Astrid said, sitting down.

Casey went back to his seat. “Are you hungry? Should we order food?”

“No, thank you,” Astrid said. “Uncle Casey, you said you wanted to talk to me. Can you tell me what it’s about?”

Casey’s body seemed to tremble when he called him ‘uncle’. Just by that reaction, Astrid could already tell that the chance of his speculation being correct was almost 100%. Searᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Aster, I know this might sound weird. You might even think I’m crazy, but whatever I will say next was nothing but the truth. I even have scientific evidence,” Casey started, his fingers fidgeting on the table. “I… I am actually your uncle. I’m your mother’s, Emmy’s younger brother.”

Astrid gazed down. He clenched his fists on his lap. There, what Casey said confirmed his speculation. The Grimaldis really found out about him and Reas. There’s no denying that now. Mentioning scientific evidence, they probably did a gene matching test.

He raised his head and looked at Casey. The other had this earnestness and hope in his sapphire blue gaze. But deep within that gaze, he could also see… fear.

At that moment, the only thing he could say was;

“I know.”

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