What to do?

Aether had an important goal in mind, but his three subordinates, or friends of the moment, chased after him. He wished they would return to their jobs and stop holding him from Gen.

Drake yelled, "Wait, Your Highness! What're you doing? The control center is in the other direction."

"Proposing," Aether said. This time he would tell Gen he loved her. He feared that if he didn't, he would go insane.

"Ah! He's suicidal! Fenri stop him before he ruins everything. I don't want to be the outlet for his failed romance, save me!"

Fenri stepped forward, wrapping himself in aura. His body vanished then materialized. He appeared in the center of Aether's path. His body glowed with a faint, blue light. He had performed an aura break, and in the same way Gen could pulse and create a force field of aura, Fenri could phase short distances.

Blocking Aether's path, he held up his hands. He said, "I think you should listen to us. Drake has experience with women, and I have experience with men and—"

Joule tsked. "You don't need that to know Prince Aether is a lost cause. Let him flop the relationship and learn from his mistakes. Next time he'll do better."

Drake glared at Joule. "Whose side are you on?"

"Gen's."

Brows wrinkled, Fenri snapped his fingers, dispersing the lingering aura surrounding his body. "You're more confusing than Aether's declaration of love."

Joule shrugged. "I support Gen. She's—"

"Quiet," Aether ordered.

He rubbed his temples, unsure what to do with these three subordinates-cum-friends. Maybe they were each right in their own way—minus Joule. He didn't like Joule's way of doing things; his plans were disastrously random and often resulted in fat failures.

Sighing, Aether swallowed his pride. To him Gen was more important than maintaining his aloof bearing. He had already performed actions he thought he would never do, such as explaining his feelings and bowing his head to a super-hacker. So why not more?

He sincerely asked for help. "What should I do to make her fall in love with me?"

Drake laughed. "Buy flowers and ask her about herself."

Fenri smiled. "She puts great importance on family. Convince her sister to help you. I can get you her brother's number but...I don't know."

Drake's idea seemed reasonable, but Aether fumbled with Fenri's. The man's was biased. Fenri, although his relationship with his sister appeared to be bad, was actually her biggest fan. He would do almost anything for family, and he had the opinion that everyone loved family as much as he did.

Joule shook his head, as if he too noticed Fenri's weakness. He said to Aether, "Be sincere in your failure to woo her, so that she knows she's not the only crazy person alive."

Drake and Fenri glared at Joule. Joule had a way of throwing a wrench into every conversation. Aether knew nothing of romance and love, but he at least understood to stay clear of Joule's proposal.

"What type of flowers?" Aether slowly asked. Revealing his inadequacies, the question bit at him like his aura's constant numbing of his bones. He had learned to live with the latter, but for the former... What kind of man didn't know which flowers to send to his future wife?

"Red ro—oh, wait." Drake scratched his head. "She was furious when we compared her to a stereotypical lady."

"So guns?" Fenri raised a brow.

"Flying cars?" Aether asked, to which Drake shook his head.

Drake said, "What would she think of your message? Here's some guns, go kill people for me? Or, I'll buy you with a car?"

Joule frowned.

Aether asked, "What if I ask her what she wants?" His brows knit; the difficulty of wooing someone had stumped him.

How had he done it before, when all the women and bent men flocked to him like swarms of man-eating ravens? He had done nothing. Was that the answer?

"Don't even think about it," Joule said.

Aether grunted in acknowledgement; his friend's response was to his thoughts of doing nothing. Joule sometimes had accurate readings of one's intentions. It was a minor talent imbued into his aura. Emphasis on "sometimes."

Drake guffawed. "Ha! Even His Highness knows he'll mess it up."

"So that leaves asking her family." Fenri rubbed his chin. "Her brother might be a hindrance. Who sets up his sister with a gay man unless they want her to remain pure and single?"

Aether shrugged. "Descending Rook is at most an average woman with average accomplishments. She'll toss herself at me."

"No!" Drake vigorously shook his head. "With that mindset, you're going to drop flying cars from the sky and wreak havoc. If the sister falls in love with you, Gen will never accept your advances."

Fenri smiled. "Sisters first, men last."

Aether's brows wrinkled, and the four stood in silence. Eventually he sighed and said, "I hope Gen understands her sister and is sure I'm not her type."

Drake's eyes gleamed. "There are ways to stop her from liking you. Maybe get on her nerves, don't give her flowers, embarrass her in public, possibly insult her, gross her out, stick gum to her hair...I can go on and on and on."

Joule glowered. "This isn't grade school."

Drake dismissed him with his hand. "Your Highness, you need to be suave and gentle about pushing her away. If you push too hard, it will backfire and she'll never want you near Gen."

"So complicated. What am I going to do about the gala?" Aether frowned. "Gen keeps saying her sister will be my date."

If only his own sister and female cousin were alive to help him. Who thought it was a good idea to raise a prince like him as a mindless aura knight and then as a cold-hearted general?

It was easier to live alone on some desolate planet than to woo somebody. Just drop him off, give him a plasma blade, and he'd lavishly live his life eating monster meat.

His eyes sparkled. Marooning himself on a planet with Gen didn't seem like a bad plan. It would be just the two of them, and with no other male competition, she would fall in love with him. Wasn't that how nature worked?

Joule said, "She's as crazy as you. Your best bet is to declare your love then propose."

"Joule, give up. Your advice is crap. The chances of her being as love-impaired as our prince is one in a trillion," Drake said and Fenri nodded.

Aether's face darkened as faint amounts of aura seeped from his body. Love-impaired? How was he love-impaired? He was filled with love!

As he quietly fumed, Joule said, "You two are just as ignorant to love and affection."

The comment sparked a round of bickering between Drake, Fenri, and Joule. The former two argued that Joule had never experienced love while Joule argued that the two of them were secretly virgins who had failed horribly at removing their status of single.

Giving up on his subordinates-cum-friends, Aether rubbed his temples, walked around them, then strode to Gen's room.

What had happened to his three subordinates being the best in the galaxy? They couldn't help him woo a crossdressing lady. Maybe their talents had wilted when the Compass Constellation had revoked his old position.

No longer a general, he was now a bodyguard and spy. A strange occupation for a star prince, unseemly yet a necessity.

He further rubbed his temples, stressing over his predicament. He had been so close to uncovering the murders of his sister and cousin, but had failed. He had one clue left:

A decade-old letter from a man named Law Bender.

That, however, was an impossible lead.

Law Bender was a mystery, his existence erased from most files and databases. He was an orphan with two younger siblings named Mind Bender and Gender Bender.

That was all Aether knew, and he had tried to find the siblings. Near impossible. They were slippery, and he wasn't the only one searching for them. If anyone approached them, they would disappear for a few years.

Aether stood in front of Gen's door. His ponderings vanished like melting snow greeting sunlight.

He brushed off his suit, straightened his tie, and made sure he was presentable. Then, he inhaled a deep breath. His heart thumped in anticipation as his thoughts turned towards Gen.

How to show his love?

He whipped out his phone and bought red flowers that reminded him of Gen's reckless driving. Because he viewed her as his important person, he bought twenty-five of them to celebrate her twenty-five years of living.

Satisfied with his actions, he knocked on her door then entered.