Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 141: Hidden, But Not Forgotten II

"Who is Merry?"

Ramuja was petrified when he heard that. He observed Young Lord's clueless expression, Young Lord's head tilted slightly, "Is she one of the grand duchy's maids or something?"

Aster shook his head, "Maybe she is, right? I'm sorry, Grand Duchy Stormhill has way too many servants and guards for me to remember. But if that girl called Merry has some commendable merit, tell me, I will promote her or give her a reward."

Ramuja's hand trembled, he didn't know if this was a good sign or not, because Young Lord forgot about the very first friend he had, the one that made him doing morning walk as a habit.

Not long after, Aster's eyes turned sharp, "Wait, is this girl called Merry the one that caused everything? Is she working for my mother?"

"No, Young Lord," Ramuja bit his lip, "She is a servant girl who um worked in the grand duchy, but she left the duchy the night after we escaped"

"Left? Why?" Aster didn't lose his vigilance, "Was she working with my mother and my mother finally got rid of her after she was no longer useful?"

"NNo, she is just a regular servant"

"Then, why are you asking whether I know her or not? That's unusual," Aster's golden circle flickered, he was probing Ramuja's intention.

Ramuja's hand trembled even more. His master had probing eyes that he couldn't resist.

'If he knows, then he won't forgive me'

Ramuja smiled as he tried to control his nervousness, "Young Lord, Merry was the one who saved us when we ran away. She checked around the room and said to me that she would lie to the guards, telling them that we are not there."

Ramuja's tongue glib convincingly, he didn't want to tell the truth to his master, but he didn't want to portray Merry in a bad way either. Thus, he changed Anne who saved them to Merry.

"So, she saved us when I was unconscious?"

"Yes, Young Lord.

"Hm then I have to reward her later, when I finally get some control back," Aster wondered. He didn't know who this Merry girl was, but if she saved him, then it was natural for him to show some gratitude.

"SShe said, she didn't need reward, Young Lord, she just wanted you to survive"

Aster tried his best to remember a servant called Merry, but no matter how much he tried to remember until he started getting a headache, he couldn't remember her, not even her name on the grand duchy servant list.

Aster massaged his temple and said, "When I got everything sorted out, I should really thank her. I was lucky that mother duchess didn't capture me, or else, she might lock me and ruin all my hard earned connections and works."

Ramuja nodded silently. Then they went into silence again until Aster opened his mouth, with his bitter countenance, he asked, "Ramuja, do you ever have a pet?"

"When I was five years old, I remember I had a dog before I got caught and sold as a slave" Ramuja said. He recalled the short, beautiful memories he had in his village before. He was still too young to recall everything, but he remembered some, including a dog which he called Sona, it was a big dog with gold fur.

"Why is Young Lord asking about a pet so suddenly?" Ramuja asked.

Aster smiled, "I dreamed about one moment when I was around five years old too, I had a dog named Fleur, a small dog with long, beautiful white hair, and it even covered her eyes!"

Aster reminisced about his dog when he was a kid, "Fleur was a gentle dog, because I couldn't go outside, she always ran around the hallway, and I liked to chase her. Fleur always waited until I was in her sight, and then ran around again."

Aster tried to suppress the sadness in his heart, he continued, "Fleur would wag her tail and show her belly to me. So, when I was a toddler until I was five years old, she was my only companion."

"But somehow, I forgot about this dog. Literally everything, even though I had so many fond memories with Fleur. I remember I wrote about Fleur when I started to write at the age of three," Aster recalled in his memories, he even remembered that his first drawing was a white dog and him together, Fleur and Aster, he named it.

"I remember about Fleur in one of my nightmares yesterday, I saw my mother order the guards to beat Fleur to death right in front of my eyes. I was hysterical, begging and crying for my mother to release Fleur. But she smiled and said, This is what you get for getting too attached with an animal. Then I just fainted"

'After that, I didn't even know that I had a dog.'

It was almost thirteen years already, it was really strange because he forgot about this dog for thirteen years and he suddenly remembered about Fleur fondly. After he woke up, the memories of Fleur were crystal clear in his head.

'What did mother do to me? How can she be this evil!'

Ramuja was listening the whole time, then he asked in a low voice, "Young Lord, do you remember about your dog after you fainted yesterday?"

"Yes. It's strange, somehow I forgot about her completely, then I suddenly remembered about her," Aster replied.

Ramuja lowered his head, there was tremendous pressure on his back, as if demanding him to kneel deeper in front of Young Lord and beg for forgiveness. He just realized that Young Lord might remember about him and Merry anytime, like a ticking time bomb.

'And when that time comes'

"Well, it's night already, you should leave now," Aster said, he smiled and pulled the blanket

"Yes, Young Lord. Please have a good rest." Ramuja said.

Aster chuckled, "After that long nightmare, it will take awhile for me to sleep in peace again."

Ramuja left the room. He followed Irion who was standing outside, they walked to the room reserved for them. Ramuja fell on his knees because anxiety took toll on his strength. Irion laughed mockingly.

"You really think he forgives you, huh?" Irion sneered. "Young Lord never forget, he is really, really smart, maybe he is a genius."

Irion stared at this clueless servant, "He is a golden blood, so, having some physical advantage or intelligence is given for. But golden blood had many flaws for their unstable emotion, one such flaw is what happened to Young Lord now. Someone can traumatize a golden blood when he was young, so he would forget the bad event and everything around it. But he didn't really forget, it was just hidden inside his head. When another thing needs to be hidden, the one that was hidden before will be forcefully returned back to his memory."

"WWill Young Lord remember about Merry?" Ramuja asked anxiously.

"He will, but it would need another traumatizing event for him to remember," Irion was in no mood to talk more to Ramuja. He didn't like how this guy lied to Young Lord, but if Irion tried to warn Young Lord about it, Young Lord would definitely faint again. He was not sure if it was right to traumatize Young Lord, because it was said that you couldn't do this too much or a golden blood would go crazy.

Thus, rather than harming his master, Irion decided to keep his silence, although it was displeasing.

"Don't misunderstand, I do not tell Young Lord about your affair because I don't want him to get hurt, but I cannot guarantee that he will not remember. I will still kill you if Young Lord told me to," Irion said harshly. He left to take a bath because he was soaked in sweat and blood. Ramuja was sitting on his bed. There was a dreadful feeling lingering in his heart.

'Turns out, Young Lord didn't forgive me, he just hid his memory about Merry instead'

'But it's only hidden. If somehow Young Lord remembers then'

Ramuja shuddered. He didn't want to ruin his beautiful dream with his master. The gentle Young Lord who had mutual love with him was like the tastiest candy he ever had, once he tried it, he would try his best to savor it as much as he could.

'IIt's okay, as long as Young Lord didn't remember about Merry, everything will be okay'

Ramuja took the guard medal star from his pocket. Young Lord handed this after Young Lord appointed him as the new guard medal subordinate, replacing Jain.

'He trusts me he really trusts me'

'And I will not break that trust, I will try my best to serve him.'

Ramuja gripped the guard medal star in his hand, there was a hint of possessiveness in his eyes. He didn't want to disappoint his Young Lord, even if it meant he had to keep a secret forever.

Ramuja said in his heart, 'He doesn't need to know about it. It was a past mistake, Young Lord should only see my fidelity and sincerity.'