Chapter 96 - Old Friend

Ramuja was tongue-tied when Merry approached him and his master. She was beautiful as always, long dark hair and soft beautiful face. Of course, her beauty paled compared to Young Lord, but she was always pretty in normal standard. However, no matter how pretty she was, that face gave unspeakable horror for Ramuja because of their secret relationship.

Merry approached this famous Young Lord of Grand Duchy Stormhill whose beauty was indeed out of this world. He wasn't even feminine, but he had soft beauty and perfect facial feature that just demanded everyone's attention, including herself. Young Lord Aster was slightly shorter than average, he had straight small nose, deep eyes with the signature golden circle that she had been told few times by the ex-servants in grand duchy mansion, and thin lips that perked up a little. He seemed to be in a good mood, thus, his smile created a deadly impression to her.

'My god, how could someone be so perfect…' Merry said in her heart. Her legs trembled as she tried hard to keep her posture straight. Young Lord Aster was famous for his unmatched beauty that people rumored to be even more beautiful than the gods. Merry never believed that, people could just exaggerate the description of this man. Since he rarely showed up in public, people just romanced his figure and story in their imaginations.

The ex-servants who worked in grand duchy mansion often talked about how unreal their Young Lord was, how unreachable he seemed to be, which to Merry, was just a laughable fantasy for women to indulge.

'So it's not a lie…' Merry staggered and fell in front of Aster. Which Aster immediately caught her in his embrace.

"Are you okay?" Aster asked. He looked concerned, which made Merry blushed. She recovered and distanced herself from Aster and kneeled.

"Yes, Young Lord, p—pardon this peasant girl…"

"Oh? Peasant girl? It seems your status has been lifted, that is wonderful!" Aster laughed. Merry raised her head, baffled. How could Young Lord know about her slave origin?

Aster sensed the confusion and he smiled, "You are Merry, right? You might not remember, but we've met when we were five years old."

"F—Five years old?!" Merry's eyes widened, "Pardon me, Young Lord, b—but, how could someone remember the event when they were five years old?"

"Hahaha, I remember everything since I was three," Aster chuckled, "You may not remember, but I am the one who played with you in flower fields around my father's logging business for one month."

Merry recalled her memories, since Young Lord seemed to be very certain that they've met before. She recalled her memories when she was five years old and vaguely remembered that she used to leave the house early in the morning to play in the flower fields near. She always visited the same place because she saw a kid that was so pale who played alone from four am to five in the morning. That kid never talked and very shy.

Merry gasped and pointed her finger to Aster, "A—Are you that pale ghost in flower field?! I thought you were really a ghost!"

Aster couldn't help but laughed hard, "That's cruel. I was just very shy."

Knowing that she was being impolite to the future owner of grand duchy, Merry immediately apologized, "Y—Young Lord! This peasant is wrong for being offensive—"

"No worries, I don't mind it at all," Aster replied, "I heard that a new singer emerges in Dionde City and she was just a peasant girl with dark hair and her voice was very smooth and silky. I wanted to confirm, because I remember that you are an amazing singer ever since you are a child."

"D—Did this peasant girl sing in front of Young Lord?"

"Yes, and I like your voice too," Aster complimented.

Merry blushed. He thought this visit to Lantern Castle would be her death. But it turned out to be a reunion. They chatted for a while until Merry remembered her priority since the beginning. She saw Ramuja behind Young Lord Aster. He was dumbstruck with her sudden visit here.

'Ramuja must be too happy that he cannot speak at all, so cute, hehe…' Merry blushed even more. She got an information from a servant in grand duchy mansion that Young Lord had a strong personal servant that protected him like a body guard like in romance novel, and his description matched with Ramuja.

'He really is Young Lord's personal servant… wouldn't that make it even easier? Young Lord looks very kind, I'm sure he can let Ramuja go if we pay Ramuja's price!' Merry thought happily. She already collected half of Ramuja's initial slave price, as long as she continued, she could free him and might even have enough spare to build happy life together with her families and Ramuja.

Ramuja noticed Merry's stare and he lowered his head. With Young Lord in front of him, his blood seemed to be drained and he was frightened.

Aster sensed that something was wrong with Ramuja, he glanced back and saw Ramuja lowered his head. He frowned, "Merry, do you know my personal servant, Ramuja?"

"Yes, Young Lord, we are—"

"We are friends when I was working in logging business, Young Lord! Her brother and I worked together for two years!" Ramuja interrupted hastily.

Aster and Merry was surprised by Ramuja's sudden interruption. Merry was baffled because it was obvious that Ramuja tried to conceal their relationship in front of Young Lord.

Aster raised his eyebrows, but decided to trust Ramuja. He smiled, "I see, that is good, you should invite your brother too later," Aster said to Merry.

Merry nodded hesitatingly, still unsure to why Ramuja had to hide their relationship.

"Well, you shall perform on Autumn banquet, in around three days with your bands here. And you will get handsome pay of course, I want to enjoy the scenery with good song during autumn banquet," Aster ordered. He called the servant and told them to give the bands a guest room, one for Merry and one for the guitarist and the violinist who stayed silent.

Aster ordered the servants to escort the band to their room. There was one last glance between Ramuja and Merry before she left. Ramuja resumed his posture with his head lowered as he was frightened by the situation right now.

"People tend to forget their promises, their ideals when they grew up, right?" Aster sighed. "Back when we were just kids, Merry promised that she will always be my friend forever. But apparently, she forgot, glad that she still recognizes me as a ghost at least," Aster chuckled. He turned his head and saw Ramuja's eyes looking down.

"I hope you never forget, Ramuja," Aster smiled sincerely and patted Ramuja's head.

'Even if you forget, I will make you remember everything.'