Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 281: The Dark Sun

Charles got the news while he was already slaughtering two generals from the Sun Kingdom, including the old general. His subordinate got the order from Milord Aster and Prince Rama that they didn't intend to settle the war by creating another bloodshed. They invited Charles to the Emperor chamber of Golden Palace.

A mirthless grin grew on Charles' face, "What a hypocrite. They already slaughtered Golden Camellia's soldiers, and now, I want to slaughter their army, they want to challenge me in a duel. I can see that my darling Aster can be a coward bitch sometimes, but I guess, that filthy sex slave is also cowardly by nature."

Emperor Charles hopped on his steed and ordered some of his men, "Come with me, you soldiers will be my backup in case that coward sex slave is going to ambush me. We will take back our bitch empress now," Emperor Charles smiled maliciously.

The soldiers from Politrea were stunned with Emperor Audric V's words just now. They said that he loved the person named Aster so much, but why would he call his love a bitch? However, it was not their right to question, they followed the Emperor's steed and went to the Golden Palace.

Once Charles arrived at the main courtyard, he got off his horse and was displeased with the corpse of a soldier in front of the main hall. He kicked the dead soldier and complained, "My darling does not know how to do a clean war. He is a good strategist, but not a good soldier, he is better to be a cute little pet of mine."

Charles walked straight to the Emperor Chamber. He had been staying inside that chamber for so long, that he didn't even need anyone to lead him. He saw many Sun Kingdom soldiers lined up in front of the closed Emperor chamber.

Charles sneered, "What a grand entrance, are you soldiers protecting the sex slave inside my chamber?" Charles scoffed mockingly, "Filthy invaders."

The soldiers said nothing, although they were angered inside their heart, but Prince Rama specifically told them not to attack Emperor Charles. Because Prince Rama would be the one who took him on.

The soldier opened the Emperor Chamber door and Charles entered leisurely. As he walked on the red-gold carpet, he noticed a figure sitting on the Emperor throne. Charles finally saw Aster with his own eyes after a year. Aster was now a bit taller, his skin was very pale, but his lips were ruddy. His golden hair was longer, and all his facial features became even more pronounced and exquisite. He was now an untouchable mature golden beauty.

However, what fascinated Charles the most was Aster's beautiful eyes. His pupils had turned pure golden, there was a golden glow on his eyes, it made him very mesmerizing to stare at. Meanwhile, Charles had known that he also had a weird change in his eyes. His eyes now have double pupils, one pupil was golden, and the other was jet black in each eye. He had a total of four pupils now.

However, at this moment, once he saw Aster again. His jet-black pupil slowly turned completely golden, "You're so mesmerizing Aster, incredibly beautiful. I cannot even describe how fascinating you are now."

"It's been a year since our last meeting, I've always dreamed about you every night, and my heart was hurting every night. Sometimes, the pain was so much that I had to drink sleeping medicine. Sometimes, I questioned whether my action to massacre your people during last year's winter feast was wrong. But, if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be able to kill my father and take down your duchy."

"Aster, you might think that I am ruthless, and I will not deny that. But I've always loved you. I love you so much since our childhood, I never cheated on you. Helene and I were just a set-up from my dead father."

Charles walked slowly to the throne, he was hypnotized by how mesmerizing Aster was right now. For the moment, he forgot about all the horrible things he thought he would do to Aster once he captured him. He finally noticed a baby on Aster's embrace, a golden blood baby.

"Is that Rosalie's baby? You know, I killed Rosalie and Floren because I want that baby for us. Since we are both men, we need a golden baby to continue the lineage. That's why I let Rosalie live until she delivered the baby. Once she is dead, there are no more bugs around us. Only three of us, Aster. You, me, and the baby. We'll be a happy family."

He just wanted to live with Aster, he just wanted to mend his broken heart. Even if he had to let go of this Emperor title, he would gladly to. Because once he realized that being the Emperor didn't give him Aster, he just had no interest with the throne at all.

However, once he got closer towards Aster, a big man suddenly stepped in front, blocking his line of sight to Aster. His four golden pupils turned jet-black immediately.

"I know I should've killed you the moment I met you, filthy sex slave," Charles sneered, "You've won my darling's heart, I admit that. But once I kill you, Aster would be in a great torrent of shock and would forget you."

"I will not let that happen," Ramuja said, "You know that you've lost this war, almost all regions have been conquered by Aster."

"Do you think, by destroying the livelihood of the people in Golden Camellia, you will gain their support?" Charles laughed mockingly and glared at Aster who was still sitting on the throne, "This sex slave has derailed your pure mind. You wouldn't be this stupid if you haven't been entangled with this slave."

"Stop saying slave. Ramuja is not a slave anymore," Aster finally opened his mouth, "He is a Crown Prince and my husband." Aster stated boldly.

Charles gritted his teeth, "He has been fucked by many men, and you still want to marry him?! Aster, open your eyes!"

"I am wide open," Aster replied nonchalantly, "Because I've opened my eyes, I've decided to avoid you. Charles, you what are you"

"I am Charles, the Emperor of Golden Camellia. And I am also your first love, Aster."

" I will admit, at some point, I've thought about marrying you instead. Because I've never been close to anyone, and you are the only one who is truly good to me. Charles, you are my first crush," Aster admitted.

Ramuja looked back at Aster immediately. The sun emblem behind his back shone bright and the dark scarlet hue exuded from his body again.

Aster pretended not to notice, then he continued, "Maybe if you are not too ruthless, not too controlling, and actually have a good heart, I might choose you instead. Charles, I've longed for true tenderness, not obsession. And you are not the one who can give me a true tenderness."

Aster glanced at Ramuja whose dark scarlet aura was still showing, "My first and only love is Ramuja."

Ramuja's dark scarlet aura dissipated slowly, for a moment, he had thought about destroying the Golden Palace and Charles, and then vanished with Aster forever. But Aster gave him reassurance.

Charles was stunned, he saw the tender gaze between Aster and Ramuja, and his heart was burning in jealousy and anger. He unsheathed his sword from the scabbard, his eyes shone brightly, and he said, "If that is your choice, then I will take you by force. Come, you slave, I will kill you immediately and take back what I originally owned."

Ramuja unsheathed his sword, the sun emblem on his back shone with gentle glow, "I will not spare you this time. Let's settle this once and for all."

Ramuja jumped and directly swept his sword towards Charles' neck.

CLANK!

Charles deflected the sword skillfully. However, he lost a bit of momentum because Ramuja's strength was probably ten times of his own. Charles jumped back to correct his posture. This man in front of him wasn't a normal human, he had the strength of ten men, but he was not agile.

Charles sneered and then dashed quickly and jumped behind Ramuja, he thrusted his sword towards Ramuja's back, but Ramuja immediately turned around and deflected it.

CLANK!

Charles gritted his teeth. This slave was not agile, but he had a good reaction. Even if they did fight like this for hours, it would be a stalemate. Charles laughed low, "Alright then, I thought I do not need to do this, but you are really worthy."

Charles took his short sword and he took a deep breath. His eyes were focused on this big man in front of him and he dashed again, but this time, he was really quick that Ramuja was surprised when a short sword was going to cut his neck. He dodged it quickly, but not quick enough to dodge everything.

"Ah!" Ramuja staggered, he covered his neck, because Charles was able to make a deep cut on his neck. Blood was pouring out of the deep cut.

"Ramuja!" Aster couldn't help but to be anxious. Once he saw that Charles had successfully made a deep cut on Ramuja's neck. His anxiety finally broke out. He remembered that fight between Charles and Ramuja, where Ramuja was severely injured.

Ramuja said nothing. He gritted his teeth and prepared himself again. He ignored the wound, however, the pain made him a bit unstable.

Charles chuckled, he showed his short sword that had a unique shape, like shark teeth, "This sword is made to rupture your tendon. You will not be able to recover. You are strong, but you are slow and stupid."

Charles dashed again and this time. He made a deep cut on Ramuja's shoulder and thigh.

"Argh!" Ramuja was trying his best to dodge, but Charles was really fast and his short sword was really effective. He could feel that his tendon had been ruptured deep.

Charles smiled deep, he had long realized that his physical strength had been boosted significantly after he let go of all the remaining tenderness inside his heart. As long as he was unfeeling, he could be stronger than ever.

He glanced at Aster, "Aster, you see your husband? He is just a weak man. He cannot even fight me, how can he protect you?"

Aster ignored Charles. His eyes were still looking at Ramuja. He put down Ardent on the throne gently before walking towards Ramuja who was staggering. Ramuja tried his best to stand, but slowly, he felt that his gaze was starting to blur. He knew that he could die because of blood loss anytime.

Until he felt a gentle hand caress his face gently. He saw Aster caress his face and smiled tenderly, "You did well, husband."

Aster couldn't watch this anymore. He didn't want Ramuja to hurt himself even more. And he didn't even know whether Ramuja's berserk would be triggered or not. He didn't want to risk it. After knowing that this might be the end. He looked at Charles and said, "What is your term? You must let Ramuja and all Sun Kingdom soldiers to retreat."

Charles sneered, "I will not spare him unless you beg for his life, kneel in front of me."

Aster stared at Charles, and then walked determinedly. He dropped his knees in front of Charles and said, "I beg Emperor Charles to release Ramuja. I will accept all your requests, but I beg you to release him"

Charles laughed maniacally, then he tapped his shoes and said, "Kiss my shoes."

Aster nodded and obediently kissed Charles' shoes. All he wanted right now was for Ramuja to be safe, he didn't care about anything else.

It took a while until Ramuja could process everything. Although he was still standing, he was on the verge of death. Then he saw Aster kneeling in front of Charles and kissed his bloody shoes. Ramuja had the flashback of two moments where Aster had to sacrifice himself in order to save him. 

"As ter don't..."

It was the last word before Ramuja plunged into darkness.