The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

EMMY'S heart suddenly started beating like crazy. She could even hear how loud it was thumping inside her chest. Heat slowly creeping up to her face. She had no doubt that her whole face was bright red right now. 

"You- do you even know what you're talking about?" she asked irritably. But beneath the irritation, a small seed of an unknown emotion had already taken place inside her heart. 

Seeing her blushed, Gage probably finally realized how vague his statement was and how it could have totally different meaning. He suddenly became flustered. His whole face turning crimson red. It totally didn't match his masculine image. 

"I- that- what I meant was that you can choose to work alongside me."

When Emmy heard that, she felt a sense of lost. Then she berated herself. What was she feeling lost for? Did she really want this guy to propose to her or something? No, she wouldn't answer that.

But what did he say? Work alongside him? At that, she suddenly remembered what he said earlier, about being seen talking to her might ruin his plan. Could it be…?

"You mentioned something earlier about a 'plan'. Does this 'plan' of yours involve putting Cecil Lancaster to jail?"

Because if not, then he wouldn't have asked her to work together with him. Her marriage to Cecil was the only problem she had right now. If Gage was asking her to work alongside him, then it could only be against Cecil Lancaster.

"No. It's worse than that." He stared straight into her, as if showing her that what he was about to say was not some kind of a joke. "I plan to kill him."

"W-what?"

Gage looked down at his hand and clenched it tightly. "I want him dead."

Emmy wanted to ask if he was serious. But looking at him and hearing his voice, she somehow couldn't do it. Because she could feel it. The raging anger beneath his words. He really meant what he said. Gage wanted to kill Cecil Lancaster.

If that was the case, then did he purposely become the protégé of General Simon Lancaster so he could find a way to kill Cecil? It certainly looked like that to her. 

From what she remembered from the information she read about Gage online, he had become the protégé of Simon Lancaster as soon as he graduated from Imperial Military Academy. Which meant that he worked his ass off so he could be noticed by the general. All so he could kill Cecil Lancaster. 

Being the general's protégé, he would have countless of chance to get close to the other's family. The deeper the trust of the general was to him, the easier was it for him to kill Cecil. But that would take years. And yet, here he was, asking her to work together with him.

He should know that this proposal could only be attractive to her if they could eliminate Cecil as soon as possible. So, why? Why would he disrupt his plan?

"Why?" she simply asked. But she knew that he would probably think that she was asking why he wanted to kill Cecil.

"Revenge," Gage simple answer. "Twelve years ago, at some poor planet at Darinian Galaxy, he raped and killed a woman. That woman was my adoptive mother." 

After saying that, his eyes darkened. His whole body was suddenly filled with bloodlust. Even Emmy could feel her own blood curling because of such strong killing intent. 

But she didn't feel scared. Because she could also see the pain in Gage's teal-gray eyes. Instead of wanting to step back and get away from him, she wanted to pull him into her arms and tell him that everything would be okay. But she didn't have the qualification to do that. So, she just stood there and patiently listened to him.

"I was at school that day. When I returned at our home, my mother's body was already mutilated beyond repair. There was blood all over. So much blood. But one of the most noticeable things was her eye sockets. They were empty. As if someone had dug into them forcefully," Gage continued. 

His voice had become cold and distant. As if he was narrating something that was unrelated to him. Or maybe that was his way so that he could tell these things to her without breaking down.

"I couldn't remember how I managed to go through that day. I only remembered one of the soldiers giving me my mother's effects. The items that were found in her body when she died. One of those items were a brooch she always wore. It was actually a recorder. You see, my mother had a very bad memory. She always forgot things. So, she had that brooch made. That bastard probably never thought that a simple brooch would have that kind of function. So, he didn't bother to destroy it.

"I watched the recordings in the brooch. I saw his face clearly. I saw everything that he did to my mother. I've never felt so much anger and hate towards a person. I just want to cut every piece of his body right at that moment. But I knew I couldn't do that the way I was then. So, I did what any ten-year-old would do. I went to the authorities and gave them the evidence I had, hoping that they could capture the man that did that kind of thing to my mother. And that was probably the stupidest thing I ever did in my life."

As he said that, his voice was suddenly filled with bitterness and regret. As well as insurmountable amount of guilt.

Somehow, Emmy had already foreseen where this was going. And her heart ached even more for Gage.