Chapter 161 - A Wondrous Obsession (The End of Volume 3)

"Milord, this is the report you requested," one of his officials handed a report to Aster who was reading a book in the office. He finally finished all the preparation doc.u.ments for the shift of power in grand duchy.

Thus, for his free time, he asked one of his trusted officials to give him the report for Crown Prince Charles.

Aster took the report and read all the achievements Charles officially had for the past three years, including his official alliances. The more Aster read it, the more he frowned, because it seemed almost impossible for a human to do this just in three years.

"Conquered the entire southeast continent in one year?! How?'' The southeast continent should be the birthplace of Ramuja. Although it had been conquered before, this was the first time someone was able to conquer it fully. Especially since there were a lot of guerrilla fighters there.

Aster also noticed one of the achievements was being able to suppress the barbarians near the North Fort Kingdom, home of Helene and Esther Yvette. Even previous emperors were unable to suppress them, because they were very tough.

There were a lot more achievements under Charles' belt, it seemed almost like magic. Because it was almost impossible to achieve at such a young age of twenty two.

Aster had to think of a way to protect his grand duchy when Charles finished his campaign in Great Kingdom Arctyr, because he got the information that Tuskan was able to dominate and probably soon, vanquish the current king with the help of Charles.

'I should sabotage his trip here while I'm preparing, there's no guarantee that he will not chase me when he returns,' Aster called one of his officials outside.

"Yes, Milord!" the official kneeled in front of him.

Aster took a deep breath and ordered, "Dispatch some spies to Great Kingdom Arctyr, see what kind of war Prince Charles is doing, then report to me back. Remember, don't do too much, the spies only has one mission, to observe Prince Charles' war strategy."

"Understand, Milord."

'I can't let him progress this fast, I may not be able to resist against him once he returns.'

'He might destroy grand duchy if he becomes too powerful, and I don't have the power to protect Ramuja if this continues.'

Aster turned his head to look at the window, Ramuja and Irion were training in the training ground and they looked serious. They were wearing weird armors that would make the maids blushes, especially because of their physiques and appearance.

But to Aster, he was more concerned about the armor for Ramuja. Because it looked uncomfortable, but Ramuja's countenance brightened when he was chanting Aster's name during his training. Sometimes his p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e was very visible.

It made Aster feel uncomfortable, but something was even more uncomfortable down there.

'What was he thinking when he is training and keeps shouting my name?'

***

Charles was reading the report for the current war that happened near Leonel City, the main capital of Great Kingdom Arctyr.

"Everything looks good, probably I will be able to return back soon,' Charles smiled. He had been missing his darling Aster for so long he kept dreaming about Aster every night, and each dream felt more real than the previous one.

It drove him mad, because his heart kept pounding heavily whenever he woke up from his dream. Charles' gaze deepened, "My darling Aster, I've been thinking about you every day. After you gave your first kiss to me, I keep wanting for more and I can't hold it. Everyone looked so disgusting compared to you."

Charles was staring at one of the paintings of Aster. He fished out Aster's handkerchief and started sniffing it obsessively. There was no scent in the handkerchief, but to Charles, there was Aster's scent.

Charles imagined himself sitting side by side with Aster, then Aster started kissing him and unbuttoned his shirt. Charles closed his eyes, soon, his hand started reaching his zipper, but he heard someone knock on the door.

He clicked his tongue annoyedly, then he asked, "Who?"

"It's me, Your Highness, I've returned with the people you asked for."

Charles' sour expression brightened instantly, he said enthusiastically, "Come in!"

The door was opened, there were about four men with fear plastered all over their face, their feet and hands were tied and they were dragged by two people. Charles' soldier dragged them and threw them in front of Charles.

Charles' smile brightened, he was so happy with the arrival of these four spies from Grand Duchy Stormhill. Charles already knew that Aster was crowned as the new grand duke, and he must have dispatched these four spies to observe Charles' movement in Great Actyr.

Charles chuckled amusedly, 'It's like a kid who just learns that he can play with a doll.'

Grand Duchy Stormhill had plenty of skilled spies, but they were nothing compared to Charles. Charles had the hunch that Aster wouldn't let him return as fast to Golden Camellia, probably Aster would try to hinder his trip until he could take some control in Golden Camellia.

'Oh my cute Aster, I know you like to play this love game between us! This must be one of the games, so you want me to chase you!'

'Alright then, I will play along, my darling.'

Charles grinned maliciously, he ordered his men to close the door and unbind the spies. The soldiers looked at each other, but they followed the order. One of them closed the door and the other unbind all the spies. Then they were ordered to leave.

There were only Charles and four spies inside the room now.

The spies were alerted, their eyes wandered around trying to find a way out.

'Cute, my darling Aster even sent some inexperienced spies for me, so I can be entertained during war times. How cute.'

Charles' golden circle flickered, he cleared his throat, "I know all of you are dispatched by Grand Duke Aster. So, this is the game he wants me to play."

The spies were all looking at the Crown Prince. He was now twenty two, with a tall, robust body. He was around six feet tall and was wearing a golden robe. He had medium length brown hair tied with a simple silver ribbon, handsome sculpted facial features and his signature royal camellia trait, golden circle eyes. Except for his hair, Crown Prince Charles reminded them so much of Emperor Audric IV in his prime days.

Except, Crown Prince Charles looked much more intimidating. His aura made them feel like they were facing a fierce tiger in a tiger den.

"Now, I will explain the rules. All of you can attack me together, you can use any technique and even any dirty tricks in your sleeve. If one of you is able to scratch me, I will set you free, with rewards. Don't think about running away, there were guards everywhere."

The spies were staring at each other, they were unsure if this was just a pretend before they were executed. But it didn't seem like they had other choices. They were simply dead, might as well try to bring the Crown Prince down with them. Crown Prince unsheathed a short sword on the table and pointed the tip of the sword on them, "Come."

The spies nodded to each other, two of them lunged at Crown Prince with their poisonous dagger, while one of them used a smoke bomb to impair Crown Prince's eyesight. The last one drew out poisonous needles and threw some to Crown Prince.

With this, there was no way Crown Prince could avoid all the attacks.

Charles sighed, he expected more, but this was such a cheap trick.

'Oh well, this is a gift from Aster. I might as well enjoy it,' Charles' golden eyes shone and with quick reflex, he slashed the air in front of him and took the book on the table to shield himself from the needles.

When the smoke bomb gradually faded, the two spies who served as backup were shocked with the sight of their comrades dead with their neck slashed clean. Crown Prince Charles was still sitting on the table with his slightly annoyed expression.

"You guys are boring, I will ask Aster to give me better entertainment later," Charles said.

The spies were shocked to the bone, their leg trembled until they couldn't stand. Crown Prince walked towards them with his mighty gait, but for them, it looked like a demon who was ready to execute them.

"Well, Aster can also give me his private belongings, like his u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r, haha, that would be amazing!"

Charles grinned and stabbed the two spies on the face.

Charles kissed the duty badges one by one, and then kissed the letter.

'Ah, all of these, came from Aster. The letter is definitely handwritten by Aster. How delightful he is, giving me so many gifts.'

Charles put down the duty badges inside a c.h.e.s.t filled with Aster's belongings, then adorned the duty letter from Aster.

'Ah, he wrote this letter just to send these people for my entertainment, I should be grateful!'

Charles had always thought that maybe, his apple didn't care much about him. Maybe he was busy having an affair with other men or women, but when he saw this, he knew that Aster always cared for him and waited for him to come back.

He was just… a bit shy, and his method of entertaining was slightly different.

'But it's still fun nonetheless, our love game.'

'We can't play too much though, we are at the ripe age to marry.'

Charles' eyes turned pure golden as he kissed the letter once more, "It is time to make you my Empress, Aster."