Gardenia of Blooming Desire - Chapter 230: Eulogy of the Prince 32

“Ramuja, I’m glad that you are back.”

His words were like an electrifying surge branching inside my body. Arjun, I remembered that handsome late teen who helped me and my sister often, in the end, he married my sister. They were like a perfect couple, until Golden Camellia invaded.

“Let’s just talk inside!” my sister pulled me inside the room and we sat face to face. They sat together, facing me with happiness beaming on their faces.

“Ramuja, do you still remember me? Do you remember my name?” my sister pointed at herself. I nodded. Even though I was taken at the age of five, I still remembered about a few things fondly inside my head.

My parents, my sister, and the coast that I always missed, “You are my sister, Anya…”

“Correct!” Anya looked very happy, “Ramuja, I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too… big sister…”

“Ah, big sister,” Anya started getting teary, “You are still calling me big sister, back then, I thought, after you know your true identity, you will forget Lal Coast and become the King of Sun Kingdom… but because of Golden Camellia…”

Anya seemed to hold deep anger whenever Golden Camellia was mentioned, “Those pig-skinned invaders! They are killing everyone in Lal Coast without any clear reason! They just want to show their power! They are monsters!”

I was silenced for a moment, because what she said was actually true. For people like Charles or Milord Aster, invading and colonizing was a regular thing to do. Because it brought money to them, but to the people that had been colonized, it was a living hell. Even my life as a slave was a living hell.

“Father said that everybody in Lal Coast died, but how could you have survived?” I asked. Anya glanced at Arjun and then replied;

“After our parents smuggled you in the Golden Camellia ship, they pushed me to the forest. They tried to guard the entrance to the forest and got killed alongside the people. I was chased by a few soldiers of Golden Camellia, until Arjun showed up and killed all of them. But Golden Camellia’s soldiers were too many, so we had to run away.”

Anya’s lips trembled, there was an expression of terror on her face, “They slaughtered everyone, they didn’t even spare the women and kids. Their red and gold uniform was full of blood, but they didn’t even budge, in fact, I could see some of them looked amused. As if everything was just a game for them!”

Anya stared at me, “Ramuja, the king told me that you’ve been enslaved in Golden Camellia, and looking at the scars all over your body… I couldn’t imagine how brutal they are…”

Anya started crying, “I’m sorry for being weak, I can’t bring you with me. Father and Mother said that the late Queen was the one that colluded with Golden Camellia. If I bring you back to the palace, the queen will kill you instantly!”

“So… father and mother smuggled me to a random soldier, because if I survived and stayed inside the Sun Kingdom, I would be killed by the queen?”

“Yes…” Arjun who had been silent the whole time finally spoke, “Maybe you don’t know this, but… the late queen is my mother. You know that she is targeting you because you are the real Crown Prince of Sun Kingdom, not me.”

I was trying to process everything that they just said, “You are… late queen’s son?”

Arjun nodded, “I am the previous crown prince, my mother told me about her plan to eliminate you. She colluded with Golden Camellia and gave a recommendation letter, that was the reason why Golden Camellia’s naval ships could go inside our border unguarded…”

Arjun bowed his head deeply, “I’m sorry for the pain caused by my late mother. She had paid the price, I reported everything to our father and she had been executed shortly after. Although, it took many years until we could repel Golden Camellia out of our kingdom. I also led the expedition myself for years to search for you, although it is not enough to compensate for your suffering in Golden Camellia, I hope you can accept my goodwill.”

‘So, he is the crown prince before me…’ I observed Arjun from head to toe. I tried my best to see his insincerity, his hostility, but Arjun was really sincere. I didn’t see any trace of ambition.

“You know that you have the chance to be the real king if you didn’t search for me, right?” I asked.

“No, Sun Kingdom is my priority. I don’t want our country to be destroyed just because it is led by a fake ruler. You are the destined king, and you are the true ruler,” Arjun replied virtuously.

Somehow, I still couldn’t wrap my head around this, ‘How could a man be so virtuous? In Golden Camellia, everyone is killing each other for the throne, even against their own family. Treachery, scheme, and ambition are like a tradition in Golden Camellia…’

I wasn’t sure whether this man was truly sincere, because this was my first time seeing someone so peaceful. But I tried to shift the conversation first to avoid his suspicion, “Did you two got married?”

Arjun and Anya blushed and they nodded together, “Don’t misunderstand. Anya’s father and our father are not blood brothers, they are sworn brothers. Sun Kingdom doesn’t allow incestuous relationship. That is why King Chandra approved our marriage,” Arjun said.

“I see… Big Sister, the baby inside your belly is Arjun’s?”

“Correct!” Anya looked very happy, she caressed her belly gently, “This little girl inside, her name is Arya.”

“Arya?” I repeated.

Arjun smiled and said, “The prophecy said that the next Destined King will be a woman, and that destined king is inside your sister’s belly right now, we named her Arya.”

“I see…” I pondered for a minute. I was getting anxious over nothing. I was afraid that I had to have a child myself to continue the destined king lifeline, since the throne should be passed like that. But it seemed, the destined king could be born from any direct descendant of the royal family.

I sighed in relief.

‘Then, my relationship with Milord is no problem at all, since the next king after me has been decided.’

However, Arjun and my sister, Anya, seemed to assume my relieved breath as something unpleasant, they anxiously tried to pacify me, “P—Prince Rama, please don’t misunderstand! Arya is just an unborn baby! She will not threaten your position at all!”

“Y—yes! Ramuja, you are an adult right now, I know you are wise enough to spare us and Arya!” my sister tried to kneel in front of me, following Arjun who already prostrated on the floor. I immediately got up and helped her to sit back on the chair.

“I’m not mad at all, I’m just surprised… yet relieved at the same time,” I said.

“Relieved?”

“Yes, with the presence of the baby, then the succession of the throne after me has been decided,” I said. I smiled gently and said, “In fact, after I cleared my unfinished business in Golden Camellia, I’m intending to abdicate.”

“What?!” Arjun and Anya reacted at the same time. They stared at each other, and then said, “Ramuja, you are yet to be the king. Maybe you’ve already noticed it, but there will be a trial for you. Our father already prepared the trial, maybe you’ll start your trial a week from now.”

“But you are the rightful ruler of the Sun Kingdom, to abdicate so quickly…”

“Then… I will abdicate after Arya has become an adult, is that a deal?”

“… what’s with you?” Arjun started getting anxious, “Don’t you want to announce your own descendant to be the next ruler? Arya can wait, in fact, you can just put her as the high minister or the commander of the army if you want to. As long as the destined king has power in the Sun Kingdom, there will be no riot…”

“That one, because I will never have a child of my own,” I said lightly.

“Y—You will not marry?!” Arjun was shocked, “D—Did you get e—erectile dysfunction or something? Did Camellians hurt you until you can’t reproduce anymore? I will call the country healer first!”

I laughed, the tradition in Sun Kingdom and Golden Camellia was truly different, ‘In Golden Camellia, if someone said that they will not have a blood child, they will automatically assume that the partner of this person was the same sex. But in the Sun Kingdom… I doubt they even know about same-sex relationship.’

I observed Arjun and Anya’s curious faces, a faint smile bloomed on my face, “I function normally, vigorously in fact. I can do it every day and night when HE is ready to give me HIS virginity.”

“What—HE? A MAN?!” Arjun reacted exaggeratedly. I nodded assuredly.

Anya seemed to be too shocked to react, thus Arjun immediately asked, “I—is it just for fun? There are some of the old kings who like to enjoy the taste of men too, but it is only for pleasure. Y—You don’t need to scare me like that, you can bring as many men as—”

“No, I love him. I will spend my whole life with him and only him, and it will not change,” my eyes started to look up as I imagined the vivid imagery of Milord. His shining hair, his milk skin, his slender body and his deep mesmerizing eyes.

I imagined Milord smiling at me and the mole under his left eyes made him even cuter. Just imagining him already made my heart beating loudly, “He is like the sun for me…”

Both Arjun and Anya were stupefied, especially after seeing Ramuja’s blissful expression, as if he was imagining heaven, “Who is he?”

I smiled and then said, “He is my master, Aster Di Arlingdon, he is the Grand Duke of Grand Duchy Stormhill.”

***

Merry walked slowly with her diamond high heels on the expensive carpet. She was in the Emperor Chamber, there was no one right now, only Emperor Charles sitting on the throne.

“Merry Wood, Countess of Belleresse has been summoned. Does the Emperor need anything?”

Charles stared at this girl who looked innocent, she adorned her dark hair with various expensive jewelries. Somehow, it didn’t fit her humble, innocent face at all, it only made her look tacky.

Charles tried to suppress his ridiculing laugh, “Do you miss Ramuja?” he asked.

Merry paused for a minute, and then replied, “Well, yes… but I don’t know where he is right now… besides, you will kill him if you find him, right?”

Charles chuckled, “At first, indeed I will. But I just want my Aster to be back, I still don’t know Aster’s whereabouts, but I know Ramuja’s whereabouts.”

Merry’s eyes widened, “Really?! Where is he?!”

“He is in Sun Kingdom, a kingdom on the south,” Charles tapped his chair and then continued, “I can make a deal with you, you must bring him back to Golden Camellia, so I can use him as a bait for Aster. Once Aster has been captured, I will free him and I will bestow a Gardenia Marriage for you two. With Gardenia Marriage, two people must be married, it is an obligation.”

Merry’s eyes lit up instantly, “Oh my! Thank you, Your Majesty, you are truly a kind person!” Merry twirled around in front of Charles, she already imagined her marriage with Ramuja, “Ramuja must see my gorgeous castle and many servants! He will forget Aster and immediately fall in love with me!” Merry said innocently.

Charles chuckled in amusement, ‘Stupid and heartless, a match for that slave.’