Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 234: The Sun Rises

Ramuja finally pulled the sword in the stone, like that tale of a great hero, he finally finished his training after months. He raised the sword and said, "I, Prince Rama of the Sun Kingdom, have finished the trial. I am worthy of your worship!"

"Long Live Prince Rama! Sun Kingdom will rise once more!" the soldiers that accompanied Ramuja yelled their heart out. After months of gruelling torture to accompany their Prince Rama, they could finally rest in their home.

Although they were only accompanying Prince Rama, their exhaustion was immeasurable, but they dared not to complain, because Prince Rama endured ten times the exhaustion they had. However, Prince Rama seemed to be just fine, sometimes he closed his eyes, as if he was imagining something beautiful in his mind, then he smiled and continued his gruelling trial in this mountain.

'Prince Rama must've been thinking about the future of our kingdom, that's why he often closes his eyes, maybe he is imagining the bright future of the Sun Kingdom. Our Prince is really great' the soldiers thought in their mind.

Ramuja was indeed tired, but, whenever he closed his eyes and imagined Milord kissing his lips and then whispered, 'Almost there, you know that you cannot give up now. Because I'm waiting for you, Ramuja.'

'Please wait for me, Milord. I will find you, and this time, I will never let you go, I will never let anyone touch you ever again,' Ramuja imagined the same thing over and over, but miraculously, he always pushed through all the challenges in this mountain with ease. Although, Arjun and his soldiers were dead tired.

Arjun was observing Ramuja who finally cleared his trial, there was a sense of satisfaction in his heart. Because he was finally able to do his duty to assist the real king. He saw Ramuja was still vigorous and his physique was incredible even after days of tough challenges. However, since he already knew what was in Ramuja's mind, he held his laughter whenever he saw Ramuja close his eyes and pouted his lips slightly, 'That imaginary Aster in his mind must've been tired of kissing Ramuja countless times.'

After Ramuja pulled the sword in the stone, they went down the mountain, and was immediately greeted by the sight of worried soldiers who ran towards him once they saw him descended from the mountain, "Prince Rama! His Majesty is summoning you to his office immediately!"

Ramuja frowned, "Right now? But I had just finished my trial. At least, let me rest for a day."

"YYour Highness, but His Majesty said that it is urgent, and he will not accept any refusal"

"Fine then," Ramuja turned his back and looked at his soldiers and Arjun who looked tired, "Thank you for assisting me, I will reward all of you properly later, now, disperse."

"Yes, My Prince!"

***

Ramuja opened the door of the king chamber, his father, King Chandra was sitting solemnly on his throne. He cupped his hands together, he was holding terrible anger, it seemed.

Ramuja had a hunch in his heart, but he was already prepared for this, he already planned to escape Sun Kingdom with the soldiers that he recruited himself once his father wanted him to forget about Milord.

King Chandra saw his son that had been rugged by the trial. However, unlike others, he was still vigorous and strong. Ramuja's eyes were still steady, no, after knowing the truth, it was not steady because he was a mature man. He was steady because he had this man called Aster in his heart as a support.

King Chandra clenched his fist, and then loosened it, he asked, "When you were out of the kingdom, a girl came from Golden Camellia. She said that she knew you personally, and she said that she was Miss Aster."

"She is a beautiful girl, a very pretty girl. If you are married to her, your babies will be very handsome and beautiful, but she is definitely not the Aster that you meant, right? She is talented in singing, unlike your Aster that is bad at any kind of art, she is also quite conceited and lazy, you once said that your Aster is a nave kid, but good hearted and a hard worker."

There was no trace of shock in Ramuja's face. He nodded and steadily walked towards his father and presented the sword that he had just pulled, "This is the sword that Your Majesty has requested."

King Chandra looked at the sword, he picked it and pointed it at the kneeling Ramuja. His eyes sharpened for a moment, and then his gaze softened. His hands clenched the sword, he could stab his defective son like this, but he took a deep breath and sighed, he tapped Ramuja's shoulder with the sword and then said, "With this, I hand all my sovereignty to my son, Prince Rama of Sun Kingdom. From now on, you will be called King Rama"

Ramuja raised his head immediately, and he said, "Father, I do not want to be the king, at least not yet."

King Chandra was startled, "Why? Is it because of Aster?"

"Yes, I will admit everything right now, so you can reconsider it," Ramuja took a deep breath and confessed everything, "I have been sold as a slave since I was five, and at the age of seven, I was sold as a sex slave to many nobles. They tasted my body since I was a child, I experienced countless abuse and after I reached the age of seventeen, I was sold again. I was planning to end my life after the Summer Market, because the world is so bleak for me. There is nothing for me to live for, I have no dignity, nothing to fight for, and my heart has been numbed."

Ramuja smiled faintly, he lowered his head, imagining his first meeting with his master, "Until a young man showed up, he was younger than me. He had a very pale skin which he covered his entire body to hide from the sun. He was not rough to any slave, in fact, he protested to his father about the treatment that the slave received. In my heart, I had a little hope that I would be picked by a kind man that would protect me, that would give me love, and give me a place I can call home."

"That man is Aster, Young Lord of Grand Duchy Stormhill. He was awkward, nave, and sometimes can be a bit stubborn. But he has a good heart, he never wanted to hurt me, in fact, he was the first person that cared for me."

"Our relationship has had many twists and turns, our road is not smooth. But I will never leave him, no matter how hard it will be, I will not leave my Aster. He is the sun in my heart, he is the one that makes my heart beat, he is the one that warmed my numb heart, and he is the one that gives me peace."

"Father, Aster is a man, and he is my sun. If you want me to be a king and then marry a woman for the sake of the kingdom, then I would request you to crown Arjun as the king instead."

King Chandra was silent, and then he sighed. He tapped Ramuja's shoulder with the sword and then continued the private ceremony, "With this, I handed all my sovereignty to my son, Prince Rama of Sun Kingdom. From now on, you will be called King Rama of Sun Kingdom, you will lead the Sun Kingdom to its glory. But with one condition"

King Chandra showed a small smile, "I will crown you personally when you are finally able to bring the real Aster here. You said that Aster is very, very mesmerizing, Aster is like a sun, right? Then, I will crown you two as the King and Queen once you return here with the real future queen."

Ramuja was speechless for a moment, he stammered, "TTThen that means"

"Yes, my son, Prince Rama of Sun Kingdom. I give you my blessing to marry this man called Aster. But you must bring him here to the Sun Kingdom. You are the only one worthy to lead the Sun Kingdom. Don't worry about the next destined king, I already know that the girl inside Anya is the next king after you."

"FFather, I" Ramuja was trying his best to not be impulsive, he was about to hug his father out of happiness. King Chandra saw how his son was trying not to show is extreme happiness, he let go of his cane and hugged his son;

"Ramuja, I just want to be a good father to you, I will support you no matter what. Well, take it as my compensation for your suffering, if this is even enough for that."

"It is! Father, thank you!"

"Oh, also," King Chandra fished the note from Merry and handed it to Aster, "That imposter girl handed me this note, my son, if you want to rescue Aster to Golden Camellia, then I will support you. But, please be careful."

Ramuja opened the note and read it;

'The real Aster is in Golden Camellia, he is a man and he has been bedded by the Emperor and he is begging for his Ramuja.'

Ramuja crumpled the paper, there was only one girl that could do this shamelessly. He had been forgiving enough to let her go countless times, but to lie to the Sun Kingdom that she was Milord Aster it was such a shameless, disgraceful act. But Merry was still a nave girl, so everything must have been Emperor Charles' plan to use Merry as a pawn.

'They dared to provoke me like this, I will show them how a slave can crush their power. Milord, please wait for me, I will save you.'

Slowly, Ramuja's back was shining with a scarlet hue around his body. The Sun Emblem showed on his back once more. 

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