Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 245: Two Desperate Lovers

"That's good, but it's better if I can go too. Please take me with you," Aster said. Tuskan jolted slightly, he looked at Aster who tried to reach his hand, once Aster reached Tuskan's hand, he continued, "I missed my duchy, I missed my work, and I missed my servants"

"It's too dangerous if you come to Golden Camellia now, besides, didn't I treat you well here? Do you have anything you feel dissatisfied of? I will try to make you comfortable in this palace," Tuskan said. 

"You treated me very well, Tuskan," Aster lowered his head, as if he was trying to contain his despair, "But I am also a Camellian, I still want to return back home."

"What will you do there?" Tuskan asked warily. In honesty, Tuskan already knew that Aster just wanted to see that murderous servant of his, but Tuskan was determined to make Aster forget about this servant in his mind. But it was proven to be a lot more challenging that it looked like.

Because Aster was a very stubborn man. He might look delicate, but he was as tough as steel. He was still very persistent with this servant who had killed many innocent civilians. 

Tuskan could feel the gentle touch of Aster. Aster caressed Tuskan's hand gently and then replied, "I will not interfere with the marriage between Rosalie and Floren, but I want to visit Lantern Palace, just once."

"No, Charles will definitely find you and take you away by force," Tuskan shook his head, he was anxious, because Charles had an extraordinarily sharp intuition. Tuskan had plenty of cold sweats whenever they talked about the missing Grand Duke Aster. He could always feel that Charles was getting more suspicious overtime.

Aster's excitement deflated. He let go of Tuskan's hand and then turned his back at him, "Alright then, be careful on your way to Golden Camellia," Aster said.

Tuskan knew that Aster was disappointed, but this was for his own safety. He was the top fugitive in Golden Camellia, any trace left by Aster would alert Emperor Charles immediately.

"This is for your wellbeing too, Aster," Tuskan felt guilty in his heart. He was not sure how to pacify Aster, but Aster stayed silent and Tuskan had to leave the room to pacify his own guilt.

Tuskan stumbled upon Mariette who had been listening to the conversation from the door, Mariette seemed to be concerned about Aster's wellbeing. But she only said, "You did the right thing, Tuskan. Aster shouldn't return to Golden Camellia, at least not now."

Tuskan said nothing, he sighed and left.

The next day, Tuskan was busy in the court as usual and he didn't visit Aster for the whole day until the sunset. He took off his reading glasses and headed to Aster's room, only to find a few maids standing outside the door, worrying about something.

"What happened?" Tuskan asked.

"YYour Majesty! Milord Aster hadn't eaten at all since yesterday, he hadn't eaten for more than twenty four hours!" the maid reported. Tuskan was shocked, he opened the door and found Aster laying weakly on his bed. His eyes were hollow and he was expressionless.

"Tuskan, is that you?" Aster asked. Tuskan rushed to Aster and then hugged him tight, "Aster, what is in your mind? You haven't eaten for the whole day!"

Aster smiled faintly, "I'm doing my hunger strike, maybe you will change your mind when I'm dying..."

"You are being ridiculous!" Tuskan yelled. He took a bread from the table and then split it into two, "Please eat this, you are going to die of hunger! Aster, you are being unreasonable here!"

Aster didn't open his mouth and then turned his head. Tuskan started to get desperate, because he didn't have the heart to force Aster to eat, but he couldn't bring Aster to Golden Camellia too, it was just too risky.

Mariette saw the maid whispering to each other from outside of Aster's room, she drew near and asked, "What is happening? Did something happen to Aster?"

The maid replied to their Great Princess' question with the same answer. Mariette sighed and then entered the room. Inside the room, Aster looked more fragile than usual, and Tuskan desperately pleaded to Aster.

'It's more challenging than I thought it would be'

Mariette tapped her brother's shoulder and then said, "Tuskan, let me handle this."

Tuskan glanced at his twin sister, he glanced at Aster who was still refusing to eat. He nodded and then stood from the bed, "Please, I just don't want anything bad to happen to Aster."

"I know."

The room was completely silent, the door had been shut and the maids had been ordered to leave. Mariette was sitting at the corner of the bed, and then she asked, "Is this because of that servant of yours?"

Aster who had been silent the whole time finally moved his head, he looked at the calm gaze of Mariette and then nodded slowly. Mariette took bread and cheese from the table and then gave it to Aster, "Eat this first, I will give you a way to meet your servant after you eat the whole dinner."

Aster immediately ate the food as fast as he could, he choked slightly and drank fast. Aster looked so desperate today. Mariette clenched his finger, she was not an evil monster, of course she wouldn't want Aster to suffer. But to separate Aster from this evil servant seemed to be almost impossible without hurting Aster.

After Aster finished his food, Mariette said, "I will allow you to come with us to Golden Camellia, with two rules. First, you must not leave the ship, in fact, you must not leave your room inside the ship at all. Second, if you want to meet your servant at the ship, I will be guarding outside the door, so you may not face him. If you don't accept this, then I cannot help you at all, Aster."

Aster felt that these rules were ridiculous, he wanted to meet Ramuja because he had a bad feeling that something bad was going on with Ramuja. However, he felt that he only needed to meet Ramuja for a few moments to relieve his longing and to make sure that his lover was alright.

"Alright then, I accept," Aster said. Mariette finally let a relieved breath, he caressed Aster's head and then said, "Aster, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be harsh to you, but sometimes, you have to be firm to stand on your ground. Or else, you will be trampled, you know this very well, right?"

"Yes, I do, thank you, Mariette"

"Remember, Aster. I am not your enemy, I am your sister. You and Tuskan are my dearest little brothers, so your safety and wellbeing will always be my priority," Mariette said. She closed the door and the air was silent again.

"Come here, Nate," Nate the shadow guard who had been hiding the whole time finally appeared in front of Aster, "You heard it, right?"

"Yes, Milord."

"Charles and I have the same approach, but different goals in marrying Rosalie and Floren. But they do generate some profit for both of us. Just tell Irion that the plan stays the same, Rosalie and Floren MUST get married. Also, I will be waiting for Ramuja on the ship, but I only want him to come to me, I have a bad hunch about him"

"Yes, Milord!" Nate nodded and then disappeared again from his room. A faint smile finally appeared on Aster's face, 'I am being ridiculous and unreasonable, that is true.'

'I keep having this nightmare where I can see Ramuja's silhouette, but he was not like Ramuja. He was monstrous, with a dark scarlet aura around him, he didn't smile nor talk, but his gaze was frightening.'

'They were so many people around us, and the majority of them are my family and colleagues. Ramuja killed all of them one by one in a gut-wrenching method, after he killed everyone, he approached me and then kissed my feet and said that he did everything because he loved me'

'After he said that, his face distorted and his face turned into Charles.'

Aster was afraid that this nightmare might be a bad omen for Ramuja. He might slowly turn into the second Charles, the man that he despised the most.

'Maybe it's just a nightmare but I don't want that nightmare to transcend in real life. Ramuja, I don't know what is happening with you right now, but I hope that you are not the monster everyone talked about.'

***

Ramuja was sword training with his soldiers in the abandoned mansion of Swordheart. He was still not as agile as Charles, and still not as skilled as Irion. Although, his strength was already enormous without the help of his sun emblem.

However, it frustrated him because he still couldn't catch up.

'How can I save Milord if I'm still too weak?! I can't rely on that cursed power too much, I might kill so many innocent lives just like before!'

After a long hours of training, Ramuja took a short break. And then, his spy in Great Arctyr showed up to report about Milord's condition in Great Arctyr every week. 

"My Prince, I'm here for the report," the spy said. Ramuja nodded and waited expectantly. The spy gulped, because he was sure that this wasn't good news, "As much as I observed Milord daily, it seems that his relationship with Great King Tuskan has been progressing very well. They they are having an intimate walk every morning at the palace garden and and they are always having dinner together in Milord's balcony."

"Did they kiss?"

"Sometimes"

CRACK!

Ramuja punched the stone wall behind him with his fist, the stone wall had a large crack and Ramuja's fist was bleeding. His men immediately took a few steps back, because they were afraid that their prince would unleash his anger on them.

'It's true, I'm just too weak, so everyone can easily covet Milord like that.'

'Maybe I should just use my sun emblem and kill everyone in Great Arctyr and Golden Camellia, so I can end this stupid hide and seek. Milord will not see anyone other than me once everyone is dead.'

The dark scarlet hue appeared around Ramuja's body and the atmosphere started getting heavy, 'I have been too kind.'