Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Chapter 264: The Winter War

That day, on the end of the Autumn, Dionde City Port was closed temporarily for the merchants and peasants. The soldiers were ready and boarded in the ship, they were wearing their Golden Camellia's signature black and gold soldier uniform, many of them had a sheathed sword on their waist, while the rest had bow and arrow on their back.

Charles was standing on Golden Camellia's royal naval ship, the giant black and gold ship was standing proudly. He looked down on the soldiers who went inside the ship one by one, he glanced at Helene who was standing behind him, "No peasant to send us off?"

Helene lowered her head, she already ordered Grand Duke Harion to put an announcement, so the people of Dionde City could send them off in a grand manner, because this was a big war. While Grand Duke agreed, the people collectively went against their duke's order and stayed inside their house, there was no one who wanted to send the Emperor who just massacred many of their family members and forced their beloved Grand Duke Aster to run away to Great Arctyr.

"No, Your Majesty the people refused" Helene said in a disappointed manner. The hatred of the people in this city towards their Emperor was too big, it would demoralize the soldiers. However, Charles didn't seem to care much about it, in fact, a faint smile plastered on his chiseled handsome face, "That is fine, when Aster is in my hand, I will fuck him in Dionde City Square, I will make sure that everybody in Dionde City watch how their beloved duke has submit to my power and become my Empress."

Charles glanced at Helene again and said, "Don't forget, station some of our men around Dionde, lest an uprising starts in Golden Camellia, we have enough manpower to handle them until we return."

Helene nodded obediently. Charles seemed to guess that Aster wouldn't be so stupid to just wait for his arrival in Great Arctyr. He knew that Aster wasn't a stupid kid, in fact, he knew that Aster was incredibly talented in scheming, just like his late mother, Grand Duchess Camille.

He didn't want to be outwitted by Aster, thus, he stationed many of his real soldiers around Dionde and drafted the regular men to war. With this, when an uprising started inside Golden Camellia, the people wouldn't be able to outfight the real soldiers, because the able men were all drafted to war.

Charles' faint smile turned into a grin, 'I know that you must've been planning something, you're always like a firefly that fascinates all people, including me. But unlike them, I will catch you and put you in a glass cage, so I can enjoy your flicker myself. I know that you will make sure that everyone obeys you, that is our inherent nature as golden blood. So, I will see what is in your head, do you want to start an uprising in Golden Camellia? It won't be easy.'

The naval fleet set off to Great Arctyr and the people of Dionde finally opened their windows. When the ships were already far away, they signaled the messenger boy who was hiding in an alleyway to deliver the news to Grand Duke Harion. They had been informed that Emperor Charles had so many soldiers besieging around Dionde City, in order to effectively beat down the Emperor, they needed a coordinated attack.

The people had the same thing in mind, when Grand Duke Aster said that he would return, they wanted to help as much as possible. Some people helped because they were idolizing Grand Duke so much, and the rest after Grand Duke Aster disappeared, the economy in all states in Golden Camellia got a lot worse. Grand Duke Harion simply couldn't cope with all the pressure since he alienated himself from the Emperor.

Grand Duke Harion himself finally got the news from the messenger and then called Sir Douglass, "Yes, sir, I am present," Sir Douglass said. He still wore his usual butler attire, but today, the aura around him seemed to me more serious.

"The Emperor has set off, go to Irion and tell him to carry out the mission. Remember not to get caught, the Emperor has so many of his soldiers around the gate," Grand Duke Harion said.

"Definitely sir," Sir Douglass smiled faintly, "Must I say, Milord Aster's plan is really bold, but he is a golden blood. I trust that he has more in his arsenal."

Grand Duke smiled and replied, "He has Camille's blood, he is a lot more capable than he looks."

***

When Irion got the news about the Emperor's departure, he had gathered all the envoys from high ranked nobles who colluded with Milord, "Alright, since the Emperor has left, we will carry out the mission. The Emperor has dispatched his soldiers in each region and each of these battalions have a commander. Remember, this is a structured rebellion, make sure that you can overwhelm one state. So, the commander of the soldiers would need a reinforcement, they would naturally request their nearest soldiers that sieged another region. And then, the rebellion around that region could start. Our biggest advantage is surprise attack, the Emperor doesn't know which noble has colluded with Milord Aster. Thus, he spread all the soldiers in each region evenly. Any question?"

Esther's envoy asked, "Since we are the gate of the barbarian, Princess Esther said that we will let the barbarian enter Golden Camellia and attack other nearby regions, will we be the one to start first?"

"Don't, the forecaster said that this year's winter will be heavy and a blizzard will happen in the northern region, let the barbarian attacks during the blizzard. It will hinder the Emperor's soldiers, they will definitely lose against the barbarian at that time."

House of Thana's envoy opened his mouth, "The legendary soldiers said that they are ready to aid other regions for the rebellion, they are eager to do it, since they just lost their beloved Mistress, Lady Merse."

"The legendary soldiers will be our catalyst, since the able men are all drafted to war, they are our main power inside Golden Camellia. Since Emperor Charles knows that the legendary soldiers are all unidentifiable threat, he concentrates more soldiers around Duchy Arion region," Irion took a deep breath, "This is Milord's order, we will start the rebellion tomorrow morning right when the first day of winter starts, and we will start from the bordering region of Arion Region, we will start from Viete region, Golden Princess Rosalie already ordered many of her allies to concentrate their first rebellion in Viete."

The envoys nodded and the last one opened her mouth, it was the only woman in this meeting, she was Rosalie's maid, "Golden Princess Rosalie is staying in Golden Palace for safety, because she is in her late stage of pregnancy, but Marquis Florentino is staying in Velvet Castle. Golden Princess asked me to tell all of you this, she said that you should strike Roagelt City after Dionde city, because she got the leak from Charles' minister that Charles is ready to double the protection around Dionde City, because he sees Dionde City as the epicenter of the threat. Once the rebellion around Dionde City starts, the commander will immediately concentrate everything around the city, that is the moment when Roagelt is truly vulnerable."

Irion seemed to think for a while, and then nodded, "Noted. Milord is already on his way to Golden Camellia anyway, I think when the rebellion around Dionde City starts, he should've arrived."

***

Aster already predicted that Charles would rush to Great Arctyr as soon as he finished all the drafting. Thus, he set off earlier and took another route to avoid meeting with Charles' naval fleet. He looked at the vast sea around him and took a deep breath, suddenly, someone hugged him from behind gently, "What are you thinking?" the man who hugged him asked.

Aster smiled faintly, "We are halfway to Golden Camellia, we should arrive in Miriam Coast in a few days. Fortunately, we already dismantled Vassal Kingdom Rhea, Gaum is now hiding in his castle against the uprising, they are all accusing him of killing Gamasiel."

"I see, it is you who wants to come earlier though. I actually want us to go to my kingdom first, so you can meet my father," the arms around Aster's waist tightened, "I can't wait for all of this to end, I want us to have a grand wedding."

Aster turned his head and grinned, "A grand wedding? We have to do it in Dionde and in your kingdom, we will have two grand weddings. Also, why are you acting so serious right now? An hour ago, you were begging me because I refused to let you wash my feet."

A crack appeared on the man's serious face. He had been acting majestic the whole time and the soldiers from Sun Kingdom could only stare at him with awe and worship. But when Aster asked him about this, his tone seemed to be whimpering slightly, "MMilord I thought we agreed not to talk about this in public there are a lot of soldiers from Sun Kingdom" Ramuja said.

They were actually inside the Sun Kingdom's royal ship. Sun Kingdom had dispatched half of its naval fleet to aid Crown Prince Rama in Golden Camellia. Thus, there are a lot of smaller ships who followed behind their ship.

Aster chuckled and flicked Ramuja's forehead, "So, because there are a lot of Sun Kingdom's soldiers with us, you want to act like a real Crown Prince who lead the country?"

"Yes" Ramuja pouted, "MMilord, I want to maintain uhm at least a bit of dignity in front of them Please"

Aster laughed, but when the soldiers heard his laugh, they turned their heads towards Crown Prince Rama's upper deck. In an instant, Ramuja resumed his serious, majestic expression, but there was a cold sweat on his forehead, much to Aster's amusement.

Aster raised his eyebrows "Alright then, Crown Prince Rama, please hug me tight, don't you want to look strong in front of them?"

Ramuja tightened the hug, it made Aster feel that he was hugged by a big, warm bear. The soldiers who saw this could only stare in awe, 'Amazing, our Prince can overwhelm a powerful noble like Milord Aster, even making him his wife. Milord Aster must've been very submissive to Crown Prince Rama.'

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