"Mr. Lin Feng, could you come with me for a moment?"
After Arlan left, a gentle smile lingered on Asta's lips, her beautiful eyes narrowing softly into crescent moons.
"Is there something you want to tell me? Feel free to say it..."
Lin Feng smiled faintly as well, returning Asta's warmth.
"Well... you'll know once you come with me."
Biting her rosy lip as though she had made up her mind, Asta wore an utterly serious expression.
Her feelings seemed to have been exposed just now. Since that was the case, Asta decided to put everything on the line.
She would have to take that step eventually, after all. It was only a matter of when.
When it came to love, she needed enough courage to fight for everything she wanted.
Soon, following Asta's light footsteps, Lin Feng arrived at a warehouse corridor beside the Master Control Cabin.
Since it was working hours, this was a secluded spot that few people visited.
"Mr. Lin Feng, everything you've done for Herta Space Station deserves a better reward."
With her hands clasped behind her back, Asta lowered her head shyly, a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"Station Manager Asta, I, Lin Feng, have never acted for profit or prospects."
"I only follow what first moved my heart. Stay true to that, and you can see things through to the end..."
A knowing smile touched Lin Feng's lips as he spoke with an open, easy expression.
Of course, a faint anticipation stirred within him too. Just what was Asta's mysterious reward?
"I understand..."
The pink-haired girl nodded quietly, a shimmering light seeming to ripple through her beautiful eyes.
Lin Feng had been so explicit about what first moved his heart. How could she fail to understand?
Wasn't everything Lin Feng had done because he held that affection for her in his heart?
At that thought, Asta felt truly happy, rather like a spoiled princess.
And now, it was her turn to give something back and answer his feelings. She would take that brave first step through her own actions.
"Could you close your eyes, Mr. Lin Feng...?"
A faint blush spread across her exquisite, fair face, and gentle ripples of light stirred in her lake-blue eyes.
With her hands tightly clasped behind her back, Asta looked like a flower waiting to bloom, enough to set anyone's heart fluttering.
"Station Manager Asta, what are you...?"
Lin Feng's brows furrowed slightly, confusion showing on his handsome face.
"Oh, just close your eyes... you're so dense..."
This time, Asta offered no explanation. Instead, she bravely stepped forward and covered Lin Feng's eyes with her slender, fair hands.
Her touch was cool and smooth against his face, carrying a faint, elegant perfume. At that moment, Lin Feng's heartbeat began to quicken.
Although he had already guessed what Asta's so-called reward would be, he still looked forward to it.
A moment later, seeing that Lin Feng had closed his eyes, the beautiful Asta rose slightly onto her toes, gently closed her clear eyes, and pressed her cherry-blossom-soft lips against his.
Feeling that soft, cool touch and the increasingly rich, sweet fragrance of her perfume, Lin Feng lost himself for a moment.
Though he could not see the kiss with his own eyes, he could feel Asta's sincerity and care.
Her soft tongue slipped out slightly, her slender arms wrapped around his back, and a marshmallow-soft sensation pressed against his chest.
Time seemed to stand still, as though everything around them had dissolved into nothingness. Only the perfect, delicate body in his arms and the cool softness against his lips assured him that this was real.
Although this was not his first intimate encounter with Asta.
Everything happening before him still filled Lin Feng with heartfelt happiness.
Once, in the world called Blue Star, he too had secretly loved the prettiest girl at school and dreamed of a sweet romance.
But in the end, all his efforts had meant nothing. Some people were like flowers reflected in water or the moon in a mirror, forever beyond his reach.
And the girl before him, Asta, was more than a hundred times better than that so-called school beauty.
She was the heiress of an enormous interstellar conglomerate, with perfect looks and a charming disposition. Even her abilities in work and research were outstanding. After all, how could someone who became a student of the genius Herta be ordinary?
A goddess blessed with beauty, wealth, and talent had actually made the first move. In the past, he would never have dared even imagine it.
After a long while, their lingering kiss ended, and a moving shimmer filled the pink-haired Asta's lake-blue eyes.
Her lovely face flushed like a rose in bloom, Asta parted her rosy lips and spoke her heart's true desire.
"Lin Feng... I've always understood how good you've been to me..."
"Asta isn't actually as cold and aloof as you imagine, nor is she beyond your reach."
"Like any ordinary girl, she loves gazing up at the boundless stars, and she dreams of a sweet romance..."
"Just like a princess shut away in a tower in a fairy tale, she longs for freedom, longs to wander beneath clear skies."
"She kept waiting and waiting for a hero to open the castle tower and take her into a wider world."
"Then, one day, that foolish princess finally found the hero meant for her..."
She bit her rosy lip, a faint mist gathering in her lake-blue eyes as she spoke.
"Do you know? You're the only person who can make me toss and turn, unable to sleep all night."
"Although I know you already have wonderful girls by your side, I still made this decision today for the sake of one small, selfish wish, without leaving myself any way to turn back."
"Lin Feng, I like you..."
"It's all right if you reject me, too. I want to know your final answer..."
"After all, only then can this restless heart finally find peace. Whether joy or sorrow awaits, the girl named Asta will wait beneath the boundless stars for her destiny..."
As she spoke those moving words of love, Asta's lovely face held a measure of relief, along with a trace of anxious uncertainty.
Tiny glimmers danced in her eyes, clear as lake water, giving her a rather vulnerable look.
Faced with such a sight, even Lin Feng, who had prepared himself for this, could not help being moved.
"You silly girl..."
The corners of Lin Feng's lips lifted slightly. He suddenly stepped forward and pulled the pink-haired girl before him into his arms.
Although Asta's confession was neither perfect nor carefully planned, it had still struck a powerful chord within Lin Feng.
The feeling called happiness, tinged with sweet sorrow, surged and spread like a tide, filling Lin Feng's heart.
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