Gardenia of Blooming Desire - Chapter 236: Truth and Temptation

“I wonder if this is a good idea, but… have you considered having an engagement with Tuskan?” Mariette said. Aster froze on the spot, he expected that sentence coming from Mariette the least. Because Mariette was like a big sister to him.

“I… I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Aster refused, “In fact, if I’m allowed to be crude, that is simply crazy. Tuskan is a Great King of Great Arctyr, well, he is still inexperienced, and sometimes very stubborn. But he can fight against many of his colluding ministers by himself, he is a strong man.”

“Indeed, he is a strong man,” Mariette sighed again, “So, I don’t see any reason to discount Tuskan here? Granted that he is still young and he can be emotional sometimes, but trust me, he still has that permanent zero social skill. He is just nervous around you most of the time.”

“I know that,” Aster hummed a bit, then he pointed at his eyes, “But still, your idea is indeed crazy, I am blind, useless without power too. Second, I am a fugitive in my country, escaping and hiding in Great Arctyr. And third, I am a man, how can a man become a queen? Who will inherit the throne if there is no descendant?”

Mariette laughed to Aster’s reasoning, she held Aster’s hand gently, “Aster, you might be a fugitive in Golden Camellia, but your position here is very important, wait, I will give you something,” Mariette called the maid and then ordered her to bring the sculpture from the holy temple.

The maid returned with a small statue, then Mariette put it on the table and put Aster’s hand on the statue. Aster’s hand was feeling the thing in front of him, “A carved statuette… of a woman?”

Mariette nodded, “Indeed, this is the carved statuette of Saintess Celine of Great Arctyr, this is your grandmother’s statue. People in Great Arctyr worshipped her as a saintess and goddess. Because she could maintain her pure heart whilst the pain and suffering under the hand of the evil Golden Blood royal family signifies the fighting spirit of the Great Arctyr. With this statuette, the people of the Great Arctyr could unite together. They don’t want another Saintess Celine to happen.”

“I am also a Golden Blood…”

“But you and your late mother are different, even though you are not a pure Arctyrian, you have Saintess Celine’s blood, you are also greatly adored in Great Arctyr,” Mariette smiled, she seemed to hint something, “I’m pretty sure they’d want you to be their queen, especially Tuskan.”

Mariette sipped her tea and then continued, “I just want you to consider my suggestion, Aster, no matter what, I will always support you. But sometimes, support comes at a cost, right?”

Aster was silent, deep inside his heart, he had nobody except Ramuja. He didn’t want to love and didn’t want to marry anyone but Ramuja. He would rather stay single forever if he couldn’t marry Ramuja. But, he couldn’t live like this forever, now that he didn’t know Ramuja’s whereabouts, he was left with no choice but to stay here forever as a useless blind man or surrender himself to Charles.

‘I just hope there is no incident that demands me to take emergency action, I don’t want to be forced into another situation I don’t like.’

***

“What are you doing here, Merry?” Ramuja asked, his tone was bone-chilling, there was no warmth, let alone kindness in him. Merry shivered a bit, but she shook the uneasy feeling inside her.

“Ramuja! I know that you will return to Golden Camellia to meet me, but I don’t know that you are this eager! I will ask Emperor Charles to free you right away, don’t worry, he loves me too!” Merry claimed.

Ramuja’s gaze sharpened, “He loves you?”

Merry blushed and her finger twirling on her dress, “W—Well, I know that he is, he said that I am favourable and a good woman! But, don’t worry, Ramuja, you are the first one in my heart!”

Ramuja was silent, he was too lazy to argue with this delusional girl, it was clearly a trick used by Emperor Charles to gain Merry’s trust and absolute loyalty. But he doubted that Merry would be able to think that far.

“Wait here, I will call the Emperor to go down here, okay?” Merry rushed back to the entrance, leaving Ramuja chuckled because it was too ridiculous for him.

Emperor Charles had been waiting outside the underground prison, he smiled when Merry arrived, “How is it?” Charles asked the situation, but really, he already knew what was happening inside. That slave must’ve felt the same ridiculousness as him. But the difference was, Charles catered to this girl’s delusion.

Once this girl returned back to Golden Camellia, she suddenly tried to approach him romantically, which was really obvious with her demeanour. Charles found that this stupid girl was skilful enough to create havoc between Aster and Ramuja, to trick the whole Sun Kingdom, and to signal the Massacre of Dionde City.

Thus, Charles had the plan to squeeze the last drop of her usefulness before killing her, ‘She has one more job after I know Aster’s whereabouts…’

“Umm… Your Majesty, can you release Ramuja?” Merry asked sheepishly. Charles grinned and he shook his head gently, “Why would I? So you can reunite with Ramuja? Merry, you know how to provoke me like this.”

Merry was panicked, she rashly put Charles’ arm around his breast and she leaned in Charles’ arm, “N—No, it’s not like that, Your Majesty! I’m just… uhm…”

Charles’ heart felt that his body was reacting wildly, probably because of his golden blood trait, whenever someone touched him other than Aster, he just wanted to kill that person and chop them to pieces. But he tried holding back with all his willpower, then pinched Merry’s chin gently, “You are not making this easy, Merry.”

Merry blushed, ‘This is positive! Emperor Charles is in love with me! He will forget about Aster soon! Ah, being loved by two powerful, handsome men, Ramuja and Charles, that bitch Aster must be jealous once he knows the truth!’

‘Fucking disgusting!’ Charles thought, he let go of his pinch and then walked to the underground prison by himself, “I order you to go back to your residence, I will handle this myself. Trust me, I will not kill Ramuja here.”

“Y—You promise?!” Merry was asking for assurement, and Charles nodded once, “Then, I trust you!” Merry left Charles and immediately went to the Roagelt shopping square, ‘Ah, when I’m married to both of them, I will need a fantastic wedding!’

Charles walked through the corridor steadily, once he arrived in front of Ramuja’s cell, he saw this slave had been chained by many strong chains, “I think, this is the first time we talk normally, but the situation hasn’t changed, eh? I’m still powerful, and you are still a slave.”

Ramuja who had been nonchalant since the beginning finally showed a reaction once he saw Charles. The sun emblem on his back glowed slightly, and the scarlet aura emanated from his body, “Where is Milord?”

Charles was startled with Ramuja’s scarlet aura, for the first time in his life, he could feel a pressure emanating from someone other than him. If he could measure someone’s pressure based on their aura, then Charles had to admit that both of them were evenly matched.

Charles chuckled, “Do you think I know where Aster is right now? The reason why I bait you here with that delusional girl is because Aster would likely come out once your execution has gone public.”

“I’ve tortured many of Aster’s shadow guards, I’ve investigated every kind of person that has ever met Aster. I searched far and wide in Golden Camellia, and I still cannot find Aster, he simply vanished,” Charles had a faint smile on his face, “But I know that he is alive, somewhere. Because that is the trait of the Golden Blood, I can read his heart, I will always know whether he is well or not even though we are far apart.”

Ramuja was startled, “You can read Milord’s heart?”

“Yes, besides my superior planning, I already know what is in his heart. In fact, I already know everything about him since he was three,” Charles recalled the beautiful memories of their childhood and then smirked, “I remember that I have to execute an old maid in Lantern Palace because she noticed that I’ve been controlling Aster since he was a kid, so she tried to prohibit me of meeting Aster, so I had to do the deed, nothing can come between us.”

“You are sick,” Ramuja said. He gritted his teeth, he really wanted to kill Charles right now, but he knew that Charles was not alone. If he was alone, then he would have a chance to kill Charles, although probably with the cost of his own life.

Ramuja’s eyes looked around, he noticed many of Charles’ shadow guards lurking around.

“I am sick,” Charles smirked, “But I’m never a liar to Aster. You know, since the moment you become Aster’s golden circle, he instinctively knows everything in your heart. He knows about your deceitful nature, your dirty affair, and even your past. But he just denies it, that’s why I noticed that Aster’s health has been deteriorating periodically.”

“When a golden blood denies the hard truth in his heart, it would cost his own physical and mental health. Aster always denies all your mistakes, he just wants to see you as a good person,” Charles explained everything to this slave before he turned his back, “But you are not a good person, you are hurting him. Once I capture Aster and execute you, I will make sure that Aster saw your head chopped off, Aster will forget about you and about everything for real this time.”

“He might break and become a lifeless doll, but he will be sitting beside me, at last,” Charles called the guards and the guards immediately showed up in front of him, “Torture this guy, don’t worry, he will not fight. I don’t want him dead, just give him a good round of pain, his public execution will be announced tomorrow. I will make sure that everybody in Golden Camellia knows about his public execution.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Charles glanced at Ramuja who seemed to be shocked by the sudden reveal of Aster’s golden blood, he scoffed, “You are nothing in front of me, I am the Emperor, and I am the only one worthy of Aster.”