"Okay, time to say goodbye to Australia."

Aiden said, taking a last look around his hotel room. The shooting had ended yesterday, and just the next day, he was planning to leave and head back to New York City.

He did have plans to roam Australia and do some sightseeing. But in the end, he changed his mind and decided against it.

It was just because Aiden didn't want to take a break at this stage of his career. Now, the shooting was done, he now has to focus on getting his next gig.

Therefore, he needed to participate in more auditions and maybe, get a few more singing gigs to create a passive income source.

Anyway, if he really decided to roam Australia, his savings would deplete really fast.

As he locked the door, his phone suddenly rang. Taking it out, he saw that it was a message from his Uncle.

[Uncle Sam: Meet me when you return to New York. It's been a long time.]

He quickly replied 'Yes' to it. Anyway, earlier his mom had told him to meet his Uncle, and he himself needed to consult the latter on a few things.

'Hope he isn't too angry at me for not coming to visit.'

His Uncle cared a lot about him because, according to him, Aiden was very similar to his father. Thinking about this, Aiden was sure that when he meets his Uncle, the latter would surely scold him for not being in contact for the last few months.

Shaking his head, Aiden got on the elevator and gave back his room key at the reception, but when he stepped out of the hotel's front door, he saw Leo standing there in front of a car.

"Get in. I'm here to drive you to the airport."

He said, waving his hand and pointing at the black car.

"I didn't know you were going to drive me. Since when did you become a driver? Assistant job not paying much?"

Aiden smirked and asked. He had become good friends with Leo over the course of the shooting. It was inevitable as Leo was the only one to talk to him regularly.

"Don't go into comedy. Acting suits you way better." Leo shook his head, then explained why he was here. "Apparently, Lincoln felt like you did an amazing job in the last scene, so he told me to drop you off."

"That's nice."

Aiden said, sitting in the car. Then, without wasting any time, Leo started driving to the airport.

Along the way, they talked about [Shadow of War] release date, which was in two months, and some other stuff, mainly just stuff about the industry.

It was then that he found the situation a bit weird, and taking the chance, Aiden suddenly asked, "What's the reason you came to drive me to the airport?"

"I told you. It was Lincoln"

"You could have sent a staff member or just booked me a taxi. There must be something you want to talk about, so start talking."

When Aiden explained his reasoning, Leo couldn't say anything for a while. He knew that Aiden was smart but didn't expect him to point this out so accurately.

"Well" Leo began to explain as the car took a left. "I actually have a script I'm writing."

"Oh."

Aiden just said and understood what was going on. Every assistant director has a dream to one day become a director themselves. That was the ultimate goal.

He had talked enough with Leo to know that he shared a love for filmmaking, and at the same time, he was very knowledgeable about it too. But it was the first time he heard that Leo was working on a script.

"What type of script is it?"

"A romantic comedy," Leo said, then explained a bit more. "I'm still working on it, but I will soon complete it. After that, it's all on the studios. They might or might not like my script."

"Romantic comedy is a safe bet."

Leo nodded. Studios are way more likely to invest in romantic comedies because they are easier to sell and have minimal risks. After all, a romantic comedy doesn't take much money to make.

Earlier, he had sent two scripts to many studios. One was a noir crime drama, and the second was a sci-fi action flick, but the studios rejected both of them.

It was mainly because a crime drama was very hard to execute, and people didn't trust Leo as a new director, and sci-fi takes too much money.

If he wanted to really make his debut, a romantic comedy was the best.

"So, you are telling me this because you want me to be a part of it?" Aiden guessed as he wasn't able to think of any other reason.

"Yeah, and not as any character. But the lead."

"The lead?" Aiden made a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I think you would be very suitable for it, especially after watching you perform that last scene. Though, that's just my preference. If a studio liked the script, they would probably want to get a famous actor to play it."

Aiden made an understanding smile at that. Leo was being completely logical.

"In that case, I can't do anything, but I will get you a supporting role. But if the studio agreed to get an unknown face as the lead, then you would be the lead."

"That's a pretty great offer."

Aiden smiled, feeling a bit grateful. Although he wasn't sure if he would really get a role, he felt nice that Leo was looking out for him.

Currently, any role he could get was good. No matter if it was a male lead, a supporting character, or just a villain.

***

As Aiden was busy shooting in Australia, his song 'Hold onto me' was getting more and more viral on social media. It had gotten around 43 million views out of nowhere in just a month.

Many Influencers have made short videos on the song, and it was particularly famous on short video platforms like Tiktak.

But at the same time, many people were also curious as to where Aiden was these days. He had not posted anything on social media for a long time. Actually, there was no post after he uploaded the music video of Hold onto me.

That made a lot of people curious about where he was.

On Sparrow, a small group of his fans were actively talking about him, and at the same time, a post on a forum titled [Is Aiden Silvereye dead or alive? We have not heard anything from him since his viral song.]

The post got over 1k comments as Aiden has been a hot topic for a while now.

[fatBatman: He's probably in a coma, or no stupid person would not try to capitalise on his viral song. It's getting too many views for an indie artist on MeTube and Melody.]

[kentuckycriedfricken: I think that a billionaire milf fell for him and kidnapped him to be with her.]

[May I. Tutchem: @kentuckycriedfricken We are not asking about your fantasies here.]

[ChickyChickyParmParm: Maybe he got a lot of live gigs and is singing in weddings now? One of my neighbours was willing to pay 5k dollars for him to sing at her wedding.]

[pig_benis: I doubt that, or there would be some videos about it. At least a post, but there's nothing. Maybe he got those creative moments and is just making songs non-stop.]

[thanos_left_hand: I really want another song from him. It seems like just a month ago. He was releasing a lot of originals a long time ago.]

[HeyYouNotYouYou: I heard he got a record label deal. If it's true, then we might see an announcement of his new album soon. Record labels love artists who can compose their own music as they could be more easily marketed.]

[JusAbaaka: Hey guys! See this.]

Suddenly, one of the people commenting shared a photo of Aiden at the airport in Australia just as he was taking a flight back to New York.

Instantly, it became the main attraction of the whole post, and several new comments popped up.

[Castles are my motivation: This pic is from an Australian airport. What's he doing there? Vacation?]

[AverageForumUser: Maybe he's on vacation with Rachel there. I really hope that's true.]

[Horny police: @AverageForumUser, that ship sank when he left X-Star. There's not even one photo of them together after that. It was just a thing created by the X-Star program team.]

[FastAndCurious: I actually was on a set these days ago, and Aiden was there too. He got a role in a new upcoming movie by Zero International. He's in Australia for the shooting. You heard this from me first!]

[Why so much heat: That can't be true! He's not an actor but a singer.]

[Aiden's wife: He said in X-Star that he wants to be an actor more. Maybe he actually got a role. Think if that's true. Aiden on the big screen.]

[Toxician: Aiden can't act, for god's sake. He's good at singing doesn't mean he will be good at acting too. That doesn't make sense. Rarely are there people who can do both.]

[AllGoodNamesRGone: If it's true, I really hope Aiden posts something about it. I would love to see him in a movie, especially as a bad guy. He would look great.]

[CEO Orange: We won't know anything just talking here. If there's something, people will know in some months anyway. Not like he's a big star. He's a slightly famous indie artist now.]

...

//DreamNote//

Don't forget to vote with powerstones and golden tickets :)

The bonus chapter from the castle will be uploaded in morning (it's midnight rn here). The stockpile I had went into privilege.