Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 139: Vassal Kingdom Rhea

"Sir, Jain said I should give this to you," Ramuja handed the gold letter to Irion. Irion took it and opened the letter.

-- Go to Vassal Kingdom Rhea, talk to the guard and say that you want to meet Second Prince Gaum Cresthold, the code is: Raven Peacock.

'So, Young Lord has his own footing in Rhea Kingdom already, amazing,' Irion pondered. He knew that his master was talented, but to be able to hold a footing in a tough vassal kingdom like Rhea, it was no easy feat for a young aristocrat.

Irion nodded and pocketed the letter, "We should go now."

"Yes sir." Ramuja said.

"Wait, before that," Irion suddenly interrupted, "Call me Irion, we are both in the same position now. Also, what is your name?"

Ramuja wasn't sure if it was right for him to call his teacher informally, but since Irion was the one who suggested it first, Ramuja replied, "My name is Ramuja, nice to know you um Irion."

Irion nodded. They got into an awkward silence until the sun rose from the east, they hurried and prepared for the journey again. The carriage set off and they went north until they reached the border between Roagelt and Rhea. The sun was already on its peak.

Irion told Ramuja that was inside the carriage, "I have a jug of water inside the chest. Take it and give it to Young Lord."

"Yes!"

Ramuja quickly opened the chest and took a jug of water, he opened Aster's mouth gently and poured the water into his mouth. Ramuja could see his master's pink tongue, which made him blushed slightly.

'Even his tongue is perfect'

Ramuja shook his head, 'No, I've grown even more perverted every time I'm near Young Lord.'

Ramuja lowered his gaze. However, when he lowered his gaze, he could see Young Lord's chest. Aster was wearing a loose shirt, Ramuja could see his master's smooth chest, pink nipples, and his slender waist.

Ramuja gulped.

'NNo Young Lord is unconscious right now, it is very improper of me'

However, Ramuja couldn't help but to savor this beautiful sight under him. He wanted to touch his master's slender waist, wanted to feel his chest and maybe caressed those pink nipples.

But when he remembered how scared Young Lord was when he was with the Crown Prince, he undid his intention.

'If I touched him without his consent, then what is the difference between me and Crown Prince'

'I want Young Lord to love me tenderly, I don't want to be a monster'

Ramuja sighed. He put Aster back to his sleeping position gently and decided to hold Young Lord's hand instead. Ramuja caressed Aster's hand and he soon noticed that Young Lord's hand was not as smooth as he remembered.

Young Lord's right hand was rough and there was a blister on his thumb. Ramuja was perplexed, he checked Young Lord's left hand, and it was fortunately as smooth as always.

'Young Lord, what made you like this? Is it because you are busy writing documents and letters every day?'

'Young Lord, I'm sorry that I'm illiterate. I cannot help you with this'

Ramuja was afraid that his rough hand would damage Young Lord's smooth skin even more, thus, he decided to tuck it inside the blanket. Ramuja looked at the scenery outside and soon, the scenery changed into a small town outside a kingdom. The kingdom itself was protected by a huge fortress. 

"We're about to go inside Vassal Kingdom Rhea."

Kingdom Rhea wasn't exactly an impressive kingdom, by size or population wise, but its citizens were devoted to their work and their kingdom. Thus, it made the kingdom the last one to be conquered by the empire.

They were near the gate of the kingdom. Jain got off the horse and talked with the guards outside the gate, he whispered something and the guards seemed to be shocked. One of the guards called his friend who was mounting on a horse. He whispered something, and the guard with a horse nodded.

"Follow me," he said.

Jain hopped on his horse and followed the guard. They entered the Vassal Kingdom Rhea.

The kingdom itself didn't look amazing, there were plenty of shops, but most of the buildings here were old and a bit shabby. However, what amazed Ramuja was how happy the kingdom folks looked. They talked to each other, laughed and did their activity as if the kingdom was in its prosperous state.

'Even in Dionde City, the people weren't this happy'

The carriage entered the palace, the palace guards immediately opened the gate and the carriage entered the palace main yard. From afar, there was someone who already stood near a stone staircase.

Raven colored hair, devilish charming smirk, and that arrogant gait.

'That brazen guy again,' Ramuja remembered that guy called Gaum who daringly flirted and touched Young Lord without shame. Ramuja was instantly on guard, fearing that man would do something unspeakable towards his unconscious Young Lord.

Irion get off his horse and bowed in front of Gaum, "My name is Irion Swordheart, a former royal knight, I'm here for an important mission."

"Yes, I know what that mission is."

Gaum gave a secret code to Aster once, the code was 'Raven Peacock'. In case of an emergency situation, Aster could go to Vassal Kingdom Rhea to seek shelter. In this case, Gaum assumed that Aster was fighting against his own father or mother, because there was no way the Lantern Palace could be destroyed by an attack, unless that attack was from the emperor.

"Where is he?" Gaum asked.

"Inside the carriage," Irion replied.

Gaum strode to the carriage and opened the door, he was slightly impatient to meet his beautiful flower again. But what he saw was the ugly sight of that slave with unconscious Aster sleeping on the carriage seat.

Gaum frowned, "What happened here?"

Irion followed behind and replied, "Young Lord falls unconscious after a traumatic incident."

Gaum hummed, he remembered that the golden blood had some sort of special traits, but he didn't know what that was except for their unique eyes, "Is this one of golden blood's ailments?"

"Yes." Irion replied short. He didn't want to talk more, because it was a confidential matter anyway.

Gaum nodded, "Fine then, I will take him to the guest room personally."

Gaum rolled up his sleeve as he was going to carry Aster in his arms. He smirked as he was finally reunited with Aster again. Ramuja could see the obvious lust in Gaum's eyes and immediately blocked the way, "YYou cannot touch Young Lord!"

Gaum glared at this filthy, unreasonable slave, he puffed up his chest and arrogantly said, "Who are you dare to forbid me? I'm Chief Treasurer, Ambassador, and also the Second Prince of Kingdom Rhea. For you dare to forbid me, your position must be high above the sky!

Ramuja gritted his teeth, if they talked about noble positions, of course he didn't have any. But when he saw those lustful eyes, he couldn't bear Young Lord being carried by Gaum.

"Ramuja, don't make trouble." Irion warned harshly, he was glaring at Ramuja. In fact, he didn't like this man to carry his master either, but they were under his protection now.

Ramuja clenched his fist, but he stepped aside. Gaum smirked and carried Aster in bridal style.

Ramuja and Irion followed from behind, Gaum intentionally didn't cover Aster's body with a blanket and he walked slowly on the corridor. Thus, many guards and servants were staring at their second prince holding an unconscious man with a striking beauty.

Ramuja was really pissed at Gaum's swank behavior, 'He let everyone see Young Lord in a vulnerable state, as if Young Lord is his trophy!'

Irion glared at Ramuja again, he needed to make sure that this big, dumb guy didn't make any stupid move.

Gaum entered a big room and laid Aster on the bed gently. He asked, "When will he wake up?"

"Soon." Irion replied.

"Then, I shall wait here. It's good if he sees me first when he wakes up."

***

Aster had a series of long terrible nightmares, it was a random nightmare that he couldn't even remember any of it. It was like a long torture that made him numb. But he realized one thing in these random dreams, there was no Ramuja in it.

The dream involved many people in his life and all of them were terrible, each of them was hurting him tremendously with pleasure plastered on their faces. But he didn't see Ramuja. Instead, in every dream, there was a gate where he could escape and near that gate was Ramuja waiting for him with his bear hug.

'Ramuja, why are we here?'

'Help me! I can't bear this anymore!'

But Ramuja said nothing every time Aster called him. And it turned to be a mirage when he got near. Aster lost count on how many nightmares he went through and how many gates he passed, he just wanted to escape from this hell.

Then he heard Ramuja's voice saying, "I will protect you, Young Lord."

Aster saw another gate from afar, but this time, Ramuja ran towards him and grabbed his hand, "Young Lord, I come for you!"

He followed Ramuja and ran towards the gate until he saw a bright light with Ramuja hugged him with his signature awkward bear hug, "I'm always here, my lord."

***

Aster opened his eyes. His eyes wandered around, he didn't see a familiar room, instead it was a generic room for a guest in a regular palace. His eyes darted towards three people, one was on the right side, the other two were on his left side.

'Gaum? Irion? And Ramuja!?'

Aster immediately grabbed Ramuja's hand and said, "Ramuja, where are we?!"