Gardenia of Blooming Desire - Chapter 232: A Girl Named Aster

“Ah, it gets warmer the closer we got!” Merry said excitedly. She went out of her room and hopped to the upper deck. She saw the blue sea that was clear and serene, she smiled sweetly, imagining about something beautiful, ‘If Ramuja is here, maybe he will take my hand and then kissed me, we will enjoy this hot sun together, ah, so romantic~’

Merry started her expedition with few royal guards and a proper naval ship at the start of summer. She wanted to take her brother and mother with her. But they refused, her brother, Jon, was busy playing with girls. After they struck the goldmine, he had all the money to have fun with different girls each day, and her mother was simply unwell.

“It’s unfortunate, I wish they could help me convince Ramuja, of course, Ramuja would be softened when they saw my weak and sickly mother,” Merry was down casted for a moment, but she shook her head after that, “It doesn’t matter! I will bring Ramuja back with me!”

Merry was excited to meet Ramuja. Of course, she had some doubt in herself, especially because Ramuja disappeared out of nowhere. She didn’t even know whether Ramuja would accept her or not.

But she had one thing for sure, ‘Ramuja loves money. I mean, why would he become a gay suddenly for Milord? It’s so disgusting! How could two men be together? How would they do it? Ramuja must’ve been brainwashed by Aster!’

Merry gritted her teeth as she was angry whenever she remembered about Aster. That man was truly a manwhore ready to seduce every man with his enchanting beauty.

‘Ramuja has been in love with me for two years! We’ve been steady without any trouble at all, suddenly, after he returned to Grand Duchy Stormhill, he forgot about me and cheated with Aster! I know that Ramuja is a very devoted and kind man, he is very humble. There is no way he could be like this if it is not because of Aster!’

She felt ridiculous, because she really trusted Aster, she thought that Aster could take care of Ramuja as a master. Instead, he shook his ass like a bitch for Ramuja. Who would’ve rejected a high aristocrat who would offer his body to you?

‘Hmph! I’m also an aristocrat now! I have a lot of money too! We don’t have to be worried about money now, we have plenty! Our life is pretty much guaranteed, as long as I can bring Ramuja to Emperor Charles, and then use him to bait that bitch Aster, we will be married~’

Merry nodded and looked happy with Emperor Charles’ plan, “He is such a good man, handsome, smart, strong, powerful and rich. I wonder why would he fall in love with a bitch like Aster, but oh well, I guess he is just one of Aster’s victims.”

“As long as Aster returns to Golden Camellia, I can marry Ramuja in the castle with lavish decorations, it will be happily ever after!”

Merry giggled happily as she twirled around with her dress. A guard suddenly approached her and then reported, “Miss, we are near the Sun City, the capital of Sun Kingdom, we will be arriving shortly.”

Merry turned her head and her sweet smile became even brighter, “That’s great! Just remember to report to the Sun Kingdom’s guards that his girlfriend wants to see Ramuja. I heard from Emperor Charles that Ramuja is actually a noble in the Sun Kingdom, I don’t know what kind of aristocrat he is though.”

“Yes, Miss,” the guard left Merry alone. Merry walked back to her room and started dressing up for the occasion, ‘Ramuja must’ve missed me so much! I have to look stunning for him!’

When the Golden Camellia guard whispered to the Sun Kingdom guards on the harbor about ‘Ramuja’s girlfriend from Golden Camellia’ the Sun Kingdom guards were surprised. Because Ramuja was Prince Rama’s small name, nobody knew his small name unless they were working with the Sun Kingdom royal family, or was very close to Prince Rama himself.

The guards hurried to inform the palace that Prince Rama’s girlfriend had arrived from Golden Camellia, solely to see him. And the Sun Palace had been turned upside down by this news.

“Prince Rama’s girlfriend is here?!” King Chandra stood from his chair. He suddenly regained all his vigor for a few seconds, he was really excited with the sudden news.

“Yes, Your Majesty, Golden Camellia’s royal guard said that Ramuja’s girlfriend is here to visit him.”

“She knows about his small name, Ramuja! This girlfriend of his must’ve been Aster! This is the girl that is very important for Prince Rama!” King Chandra hurriedly picked his cane and stormed out of the room, “Hurry, give her our best treatment! Prince Rama will be very happy to see Aster when he returns back!”

Merry was pleasantly surprised when he saw the Sun kingdom suddenly brought in a royal carriage only for her. This royal carriage was actually similar to Golden Camellia’s royal carriage that had been used by Emperor Charles a few times. In fact, it looked even more expensive with all the jewels.

Merry stepped out of the ship and immediately stunned everyone, she had her long dark hair let loose, she put a flower pin on her hair to make it cuter, and she wore a white dress. It made her look like a sweet maiden.

“Honorable guest, please enter the carriage! The King wants to meet you personally!” the sun kingdom guard said. Merry happily entered the carriage and the carriage passed through the Sun City.

The city was actually quite big, although not as big as Dionde City, it was actually quite prosperous. There were no malnourished people as far as she could see too, ‘Anyway, why would the king see me personally? Is Ramuja’s position that important here? But he was just a slave in Golden Camellia.’

Merry was escorted to a palace as big as the Lantern Palace of Grand Duchy Stormhill, she passed through the gate and was escorted directly in front of the main palace. A man in his sixties was standing with his royal garb, his right hand was holding a cane. He was smiling from ear to ear, as if he was really happy to see Merry.

Merry stepped down from the carriage, and the old man approached her immediately and said, “Welcome to Sun Kingdom, you must be Ramuja’s girlfriend, right?”

“Um… yes, I am! But, why is Your Majesty greeting me like this, I just want to see Ramuja…”

King Chandra smiled meaningfully, he said, “Let’s just talk in my office, I will tell you about Ramuja’s real identity.”

Merry followed King Chandra and they saw face to face in King Chandra’s office. King Chandra observed this girl in front of him from head to toe, ‘Innocent look, beautiful slender body, and very beautiful. My son really has a good taste.”

“My name is King Chandra of the Sun Kingdom, I sincerely welcome you here, in our kingdom. Well, the reason why you are here with me… is because Ramuja is actually my son, his real name is Prince Rama of the Sun Kingdom. He is the Crown Prince of Sun Kingdom.”

Merry was stupefied. She tried to observe this old man’s face once more, and she finally realized that there was a trace of Ramuja’s facial feature in this old man.

King Chandra smiled at Merry’s reaction, it must’ve been surprising for her, ‘Ah, this girl called Aster must’ve been surprised with this fact. She had been loving Ramuja through all his pain as a slave and still wanted to see Ramuja here. What a loyal lover.’

“You must be Aster, right?” King Chandra asked.

Merry was even more surprised, “Aster?”

“Yes, Ramuja said that Aster is his lover, his sun. He pushed through all the pain because Aster is in his mind!” King Chandra said excitedly.

Merry’s face retained the surprised countenance, but her hands under the table were clenching her dress tightly, she was holding her anger in her heart, ‘THAT BITCH ASTER! RAMUJA STILL REMEMBERS ABOUT ASTER INSTEAD OF ME? FUCK! ASTER HAD BRAINWASHED HIM TOO MUCH!’

Merry tried to contain her anger, but then, a malicious idea popped in her head, she smiled and acted as if she was surprised, “Did Ramuja tell Your Majesty about me? My name is Merry Aster of Belleresse, I am the Countess of Belleresse.”

There was a relieved expression in King Chandra’s face, “So you are Aster, only few people know about Prince Rama’s little name. So, I instantly know that Aster is coming to meet Ramuja.”

King Chandra excitedly asked Merry, “Would you mind telling me about your meeting with Ramuja? He said that you are his sun, you are his savior and lover!”

Merry smiled gracefully and thought of a good story, “Yes, I am the Countess of Belleresse. When I was fifteen, I met Ramuja being sold as a slave, when I met him for the first time, I bought him instantly, I just know that I have to save him.”

“Our love blooms beautifully, at first, my powerful mother opposed our relationship. Because my house is actually quite powerful even though I am just a countess. But I keep fighting for his safety, I sacrificed a lot of things as long as he is safe. And at some point, he finally confessed in a garden of flowers and we are officially in a relationship.”

“There are many people who opposed our relationship, since he is just a slave. But I ignored all of them and kept loving Ramuja! Until that day… During the Winter Feast, I brought him as my companion to attend the party in Dionde City. Who would’ve expected that Crown Prince Charles assassinated his father Emperor that day and the city was thrown into chaos! And, at that point, we were separated and he disappeared. I searched far and wide about Ramuja’s whereabouts until I got the news about him staying in Sun Kingdom.”

Merry wiped her tears with a handkerchief and continued, “I love Ramuja so much, I don’t want anything bad to happen to him…”

King Chandra was silent for a moment and then asked, “During your life with Ramuja, when you two are in relationship, did he ever get hurt? Did something really bad happen to him that left a scar in his heart?”

Again, Merry showed a surprised expression and shook her head, “I always protect him with all my life! When he is with me, he has always been in peace and he found his heaven in me!” Merry claimed.

King Chandra was silent, he felt something was off, ‘Is it really possible? Usually, a destined king would need to be tempered with many bad incidents and be saved countless times by his loved one, so the sun in his heart will be molded slowly. There must be the sense of dependency, self-blame, torment, and deep love blended into one for a destined king to trigger his sun emblem. If Aster said that nothing bad had ever happened between them, I doubt Ramuja would think of Aster as his sun.’

 ‘But this is the girl called Aster, and all the things she said sounds believable.’

King Chandra casted away the doubt in his heart and he said, “Ramuja is still in his training and trial to be the next king, I am not sure whether he will return soon, but you are free to stay here. You are Ramuja’s future wife, of course you are the future queen.”

“FUTURE QUEEN?!” Merry was shocked for real this time.

“Yes, isn’t it obvious already?”

‘Future Queen, me? A future queen? That is fantastic!’ Merry’s eyes were gleaming with the glory of being a queen, the gold, the throne, the power.

‘Ah, this must have been destiny! I know that god loves me so much! He gives me everything like this, from a peasant girl to a queen! This must’ve been my fate to be a great queen!’