480: LAUNCH PARTY (IV)

LAUNCH PARTY (IV)

ASTRID was startled when he saw the duke who was striding in their direction. He couldn't read anything on the other's face. But the fact that he was probably planning to talk to him was a problem in itself.0

Aside from the obvious reason that a noble duke taking the initiative to talk to a rookie actor could be seen as strange, it could also start some weird rumors. It's already giving him goosebumps, and not the good kind at that, just thinking of that possibility.

He actually wanted to pull Ellis away while the duke still hadn't made his way here. But he could be seen as rude if he did that. Not to mention, making him look more suspicious.

But thankfully, Casey seemed to be on the same page as him. Because he saw the other holding the duke's elbow, seemingly trying to stop him. Casey whispered something to the duke's ear and the latter completely stopped walking.

Astrid finally let out a sigh of relief. Although he had already readied himself on how he would act the moment the duke really stopped in front of him, it's still better if the other didn't.

He wasn't sure what Casey said to the duke, but he didn't care. He was just glad that he managed to stop the other.

Ellis, who was standing beside him, of course, also noticed how the duke looked in this direction. The moment the other saw Astrid, he immediately made his way here. She knew that the reason for that was most likely because of how Astrid helped to rescue the young master Grimaldi, but the other people here didn't know about that.

So, she was already preparing to do damage control inside her head. But Cassius Grimaldi surprisingly made a great save and stopped the other in time. Now that the scenario she's thinking was no longer happening, she quickly decided to take things around.

"Astrid, let's go and greet Your Grace and Lord Cassius," she said.

Astrid readily understood what Ellis wanted to do, and he quickly agreed. "Okay."

As a rookie actor, he should be the one going there and greeting those 'important people', not the other way around. As they walked to where the duke and Casey were, he put on a nervous yet excited expression. Something that someone in his status should show in this kind of situation.

Casey, on the other hand, felt like a vein would pop out of his forehead because of the duke's actions. He just warned him earlier not to do anything that could cause trouble for Astrid, and the first thing he did was to go straight to the other the moment they walked into the lounge.

It's a good thing that he noticed it immediately and managed to stop him before his actions made irreparable damage. Now, he's starting to wonder if the duke wanted to accompany him here just to torture him.

Of course, that wasn't Anthony's intention at all. When he walked into the lounge and saw the black-haired teenager, he felt something, like a slight gripping in his heart, and he just found himself walking towards the other.

It was a weird feeling that he couldn't even begin to explain. He could only attribute it to the fact that he wanted to personally thank the other for helping save his grandson. Add that to the fact that he had been constantly seeing the teenager's videos because of Nikki, that he might have unconsciously developed some kind of affinity towards the other. Leading to his body moving on its own.

Good thing Cassius was alert enough and managed to stop him before he really walked towards the teenager. He felt a bit ashamed of his behavior, especially after hearing what his son said.

[Please, try not to cause trouble.]

That's what Cassius had whispered to him, and he immediately understood it. Really, being called 'troublesome' by his son was not exactly the best feeling. But what could he do when he had a point?

So, he just focused on the people buzzing around them like flies. Nodding his head coldly and not really giving them the attention they wanted.

That's when a hesitant, yet somehow familiar voice, greeted him and Cassius.

"H-hello, Your Grace, Lord Cassius, this is Astrid Townsend. I- It's an honor to meet you."

Anthony turned his head towards the voice. It was the teenager. The other seemed to be very nervous, as evidence of his trembling voice and how he kept on fidgeting on the hem of his suit. And even though he had a bright expression on his face, the slight furrowing of his brows showed that he wasn't really as confident as he wanted to appear.

Anthony frowned. For some reason, he felt like there's something wrong. As if there was some kind of disparity he couldn't pinpoint. Was it because he just didn't like the image he thought of the other was so different from what he's seeing now? After all, the 'Astrid Townsend' Nikki had described to him was not the Astrid Townsend in front of him.

In this manner, Casey was much better than his father. Because he quickly pinpointed the 'disparity' the other had felt.

The teenager was simply 'acting' right now. He was acting the part of a rookie actor who was nervous meeting important people, but had to show his confident and bright side so they wouldn't dislike him.

Casey smiled inwardly. He must be doing this to avoid any possible weird rumor to float around that could shine a bad light on him. Really, what an amazing kid. 

If that's the case, then he should also do his best to not waste the kid's effort.

Casey grinned, as if he was welcoming someone, acting like this was the first time he saw the teenager in person. "Oh, isn't this our new ambassador? You did amazing with the advertisement. I can't count how many times I watched the video ad because you're just too good. Please continue to be an amazing ambassador to EMMA from here on out."

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