(Chapter 70) A Confession?

Astrid sat in the garden with a cigarette in her mouth. She knew her parents saw the packets in her room, so why even hide the fact anymore?

Seeing Astrid smoke within the solitude of a garden, made Lewis's heart thump. Her eyes... Which he felt he could read in the past, he couldn't read them anymore.

Her back looked lonely and sad, as she kept her gaze upon the beautiful garden.

He unconsciously walked beside Astrid and couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked to be serene in the surroundings of nature. As her suit lightly fluttered in the calm winds.

"It's beautiful." Lewis unconsciously muttered, as he struggled to pull his eyes away from Astrid.

"Isn't it? It's peaceful, calming, no one can force nature to do their will. It's all-natural. The natural beauty of the world." Astrid spoke naturally as she looked at the flowers growing in front of her.

"Hmm" Lewis hummed a response, he then took his gaze off Astrid's face, this was no time to be enamored, when he had something important to do today.

"No one can control nature's will. If it wants to rain, it will rain. If it is a sunny day. It will be bright outside. The grass follows the call of the wind, the flowers grow with help of the sun. Trees provide the very fuel needed for us to live. No one can change that." Astrid spoke softly, she had seen the affects that global warming had on nature in her past life. She always felt the world was awful, why look at flowers that were mostly wilted because of the intense heat or biting cold? People had already done so much damage that nothing could help nature down it's path of destruction.

Hence she fell in love with the nature in this alternative world. It was completely natural, and not affected by humans in this world, it seemed that nature was more powerful, as the nature hadn't been affected by rapid industrialization in the world.

"So... Why are you here?" Astrid was in a mellow mood. After sitting outside for a while, she calmed down drastically.

Lewis looked at the side of Astrid's face and smiled. "Do you want me to be honest or not?" Lewis took a deep breath before speaking.

Astrid turned to face Lewis. Looking up to see the seriousness, as well as an emotion Astrid couldn't read, on his face. She blinked at him.

"Yeah, I guess lying wouldn't work. Huuh, I'm here to confess to you." Lewis mumbled under his breath, then spoke clearly, and with a sparkle in his eyes.

Astrid blinked again. "Confess what?" Astrid wondered if Lewis had invited her to another meal or something without her knowing.

Now it was Lewis's time to blink. 'Confess what? Huh? If any man said that to a girl, wouldn't the girl immediately blush or at least feel some emotion? Does she... Not understand my meaning?' Lewis learned something new. Astrid might be worse at romance than him.

He finally gained some pride because of that newly learned fact. "I'm here to confess my attraction to you. I wouldn't call it love, because love requires a mutual connection between people. And I know that you don't feel that for me. But I've been conquered by you ever since I first saw you. Even when you were in school, I couldn't get you out of my head. I was being extremely serious when I proposed marriage to you. And yes, I did take the wrong approach then, but I couldn't help but want to rush. Because with you, I couldn't stand another man beside you apart from me."

........... Lewis had laid out his confession, and now the garden was complete silence.

Astrid might be useless when it comes to relationships, but she wasn't stupid. "An attraction would be the right way to describe it. You don't love me. And honestly, I don't feel anything for you." Astrid plainly, and cruelly, shot him down.

But Lewis didn't react negatively, but rather smiling. "I know you feel nothing for me, that's why I'm here today. To make you feel for me." Lewis then lowered himself to the bench and looked straight into Astrid's eyes.

If it were any other person. That confession would move them slightly, but Astrid had no heart palpitation and no reaction. A confession to her, meant nothing.

"I see." Astrid then moved her gaze back to the flowers. Indicating she had listened.

Lewis was close enough to smell the smoke on Astrid's breath. He smoked occasionally, but never felt the smell made him go crazy like it did now...

He then gave a subtle smile. "I guess you won't beat my ass since your sister is nearby. I feel like I have a secret with me, Astrid Tuhs has an extremely soft spot for her younger sister." Lewis chuckled as Astrid subtly frowned.

"I know, I know. I tried to pry some things from your parents but they didn't say anything. All I'm going to say is that my power is also in your hands." Lewis then reached for his pocket, pulling out a small locket.

Astrid looked at the locket and then reached out her hand to take it. "This is a locket given by the Master of the Guilliano family, it reflects someone who shares equal power with the Master and can control our forces at will." Lewis explained, leaving out a few details like it was the locket for the wife of the Master... But Astrid could live longer without knowing that.

Astrid eyed the locket and was impressed by the craftsmanship. She couldn't identity the age it was made, but it looked a relic that was taken great care of.

"I see, I appreciate it." Astrid put it into her pocket, and then looked into the distance.

Lewis gave a smile and did the same. He felt like he learned a few important points about Astrid, especially when she was in a milder mood he could converse without being in an argument.

.....

"Hey Fran, do you know what Astrid likes?" Leone was on the phone to his most reliable source of information now...

On the other side, Francesca was sitting in an office of Astrid's entertainment company. She had signed a contract along with her manager, and was given free rein and a lot of resources to continue what she wanted, so she was in a good mood.

"Huh? You wouldn't want to pursue Astrid right? She would eat you alive." Francesca couldn't believe that a few years gave Leone such guts.

Leone sighed. "No, no, not me. It's for my brother. He asked me last night what she liked, all I know is that she liked to sit outside and was smart. Really I don't know a lot about her." Leone felt quite sad, he knew little about one of his friends who seemed to know everything about him.

Francesca was quiet for a moment. "For your brother huh? I guess we are a legal age now... But other than sitting out in her garden and being with her parents, I honestly don't know what she personally likes. She has her own company so something related to that maybe?" Francesca was also grasping at straws, she only knew that Astrid was extremely talented at many things, not what she liked and disliked.

Leone sighed on the phone. "Alright thanks. I'll treat you to a meal later." Leone offered as he hung up the phone quickly.

Francesca blinked once, twice at her phone. "Woah, when did he become smooth?" Francesca was asked out to a meal many times in the past, but they were with other actors and she never felt an obligation to go. But now, Leone made her feel guilty if she didn't.

She clutched her hair as she shouted "Damn! I really have to go then!?" She couldn't believe she had to go!

While on the other side. Leone put down his phone with a sigh of relief. He had finally done it. Maybe he could relax tomorrow...