Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 148: Trauma

Three days after the fight between Gamasiel and Gaum, a rumor about them had spread that they fought because Gamasiel was fascinated by a man until he forgot his king duty. Gaum was heavily wounded too.

Aster knocked on the door and waited until the door was opened by a maid. Gaum was laying on his bed, his handsome face was full of bruises and his left arm was bandaged. It had been three days but because the bruises were deep, it still looked obvious.

Gaum stared at Aster bitterly, then looked away.

Aster approached him and sat beside his bed, before he opened his mouth, Gaum ordered the servant first, "Leave now, I have an important discussion with Young Lord Aster."

The servants nodded and left the room. There were only Gaum and Aster in the room now. Aster sighed and touched Gaum's face, Gaum winced but he held his groan, because he didn't want to look weak in front of Aster.

Aster despaired over Gaum's bandaged arm, "Look at your arm, Gamasiel breaks your arm, right?"

"It's fine," Gaum replied. Although it still hurt like hell.

"Why are you doing this?" Aster asked.

"Doing what?"

"Directly going against your brother, the fight between you and Gamasiel has been leaked and people were talking about you two," Aster bit his lower lip, "Stop this, he will go even crazier."

"Why can't you trust me?" Gaum asked, he was hurt, "I can do this and I will do this."

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Aster sighed, he took out his handkerchief and used the ice water in the basin on the table. He used his handkerchief to compress the bruises, "Don't worry, my handkerchief is very soft. I have thin skin, so rough fabric would bruise me."

Gaum could feel the cold, wet handkerchief touch his face. What Aster said was true, the handkerchief was very soft, but the touch of Aster's finger around his cheek was even softer.

It felt like a cold feather bruised around his face that soothed his pain. Gaum's heart was beating wildly, he was always that bold man who would flirt with any woman and was usually able to charm them with his handsome face and sweet tongue. Sometimes he felt thrilled when he flirted, but this one was different.

This one was not the thrill of hunt, but the thrill of being hunted.

Each time Aster touched his face, his heartbeat would thump crazily and his mind went wild. He didn't realize up until now, that Aster was conquering his heart, although Aster might have not realized it yet.

Gaum shook his head and said, "Thank you, but you should leave now."

Aster sighed, he put the handkerchief in Gaum's palm, "I'm just worried about you, don't push yourself too far."

"Nn" Gaum hummed and watched Aster leave his room. He gently held the handkerchief that Aster had just given, his face was hot and his heart was beating fast. He glanced at himself in the mirror, red faced, looking dumb and fragile.

Gaum finally figured something out, 'Did I fall in love with Aster? But I've never fallen in love with anyone, I should be the one who got chased by women and men!'

Gaum tried to deny the feeling, 'Why did I fall in love with such a cheap trick anyway! Is this a romance novel? I'm not that easy!'

'I I don't love him'

As Gaum tried to wrestle with his own thoughts, he caressed the handkerchief gently. When he imagined Aster worrying about his wellbeing and took care of him, his heart turned mushy again and he grinned like a dumb goat.

When he realized it, he already kissed the wet handkerchief. Realizing that he was acting stupid, Gaum wanted to throw the handkerchief, until he realized that the handkerchief was Aster's gift. Gaum facepalmed while saying in a low voice:

"Shit."

***

'Ramuja, Ramuja, Ramuja!' Aster walked faster to return back to his room. He had done a terrible job at seducing Gaum and while he was doing so, he kept imagining Ramuja in Gaum's position. So, he wasn't sure if it actually worked.

It was fortunate that he didn't feel retching or the urge of vomiting when he acted in front of Gaum, but still, he was exactly imagining Ramuja who was laying there and blushed at him.

Aster paced faster, he needed to return back and called Ramuja as soon as possible. It was already evening and the sun was setting slowly. The cold winter is coming and Aster just wanted to share some warmth with Ramuja.

Since he ordered Ramuja to be trained intensively by Irion, thus, Ramuja didn't have much time because he looked really tired. Ramuja would wobble when Aster summoned him to his room. Probably because of overtraining.

Aster wanted to give Ramuja some rest, but when Aster asked whether he was tired or not, he said, 'This is my duty to protect Young Lord, I need to be stronger so you can be safe.'

He said it with utmost certainty, thus, there was nothing that Aster could do. It had been a while since they had a time together, not as master and servant, but as

'As what? A couple?'

Aster had always wanted to say that they were a couple, a partner of life, but he didn't have any power to legalize their relationship right now. For a noble like him, to legalize his relationship with a former slave, he needed to have enormous power so no one could refute him.

'Ramuja, I will definitely make us happen, so, please wait for me, okay?'

Aster entered his room. When he closed the door, his hand body was hugged and pulled to someone's embrace. Then, that feeling of vomiting invaded his stomach again. These rough hands with the obvious desire to conquer, this chest he was embraced to, it was full of evanescent desire that would soon disappear once fulfilled.

"KKing Gamasiel, why are you here?" Aster asked cautiously, he struggled to escape Gamasiel's embrace to no avail.

"It's been one week since I proposed to you that night with my Gardenia of Blooming Desire, I should have my answer now," Gamasiel said.

Aster had expected that Gamasiel would come to him and ask about his answer, which was very obvious already. But he wasn't prepared to answer when he was in Gamasiel's embrace like this.

'I feel like, if I say no, he would choke me to death.'

"Let go first," Aster said.

"I will let you go after I get my answer," Gamasiel smiled bitterly, "Rhea is in a bad situation right now, my ministers have been growing displeased to me and there is a rumor too maybe because you are in my head every day, every hour, every second. I need your reason now, so I can finally relax."

Aster stopped struggling and looked up to Gamasiel, Gamasiel was staring at the wall blankly, but his grip on Aster's body tightened. Aster shuddered, this feeling was quite similar to Charles, although not as scary as him.

Because Charles' overbearing aura would make him feeling powerless and cower in fear. The trauma had reminded Aster about that moment in the meadow.

Aster gathered his courage and said in a soft tone, "The news about you and Gaum has spread like a wildfire, they said you are enchanted by a vixen man and you forgot all your king duty. Do you think it's good news?"

Gamasiel said nothing, but he shook his head.

"Then you know my answer already. If I accept your proposal, they will point their fingers at me and say that I am the evil vixen. As much as I appreciate your dedication to build Kingdom Rhea, I do not want to be the source of your kingdom's destruction."

"You cannot?"

Aster shook his head, "I cannot, I'm sorry. But I know that you are a capable and mighty man, you are a popular bachelor in Golden Camellia. In the future, if I gain my foothold again, I will help you to find a good man or woman for you to marry. Is that okay?"

Gamasiel tightened his grip in Aster's body. He dragged Aster on the bed and Aster was pushed onto the bed.

"Argh!" Aster groaned. Gamasiel didn't let him catch a moment of breath. He put his elbow between Aster's shoulder and his knees between Aster's waist. He whispered to Aster, "Please reconsider it, I I cannot accept your answer."

Aster could feel Gamasiel's breath on top of him, this reminded him about what happened in the Autumn banquet in Lantern palace, where he almost got taken by Charles. Gamasiel was not as scary as Charles, his aura was not as pressuring. But the feeling was the same.

Aster's body started trembling, his face became paler and he had a terror-stricken countenance.

Then, the memory of that night came back to him like a monster ready to devour him, and Aster started sobbing.

"Aster?" Gamasiel started to worry, he tried to touch Aster's face, but his sobs became even louder.

Click.

The sound of the door being opened with a man carried a food tray, "Young Lord, I'm here with your dinne"

Ramuja saw his master laid under King Gamasiel's body, sobbing loudly and his tears streamed to the bed.

Clank!

The sound of a falling tray destroyed the silence.