Chapter 193 - Seizing the Chance

Gaum arrived at the Crown Prince's mansion near the Miriam coast. It was supposed to be a 'small mansion' but it was pretty big even for a nobleman. Gaum sneered in his heart, 'What a humble prince you are.'

Gaum was escorted by the guard to meet the Crown Prince on his patio. When he arrived, he saw the Crown Prince sitting leisurely. Because this patio had sea view, the view of many naval sh.i.p.s surrounding the Miriam Coast was like a thorn pricking Gaum's eyes. It showed his incapability. Charles was also shameless enough to show his personal workers taking the resources around the coast for his own gain.

Crown Prince Charles smiled and greeted Gaum, "King Gaum is here, please have a seat."

Gaum sat face to face with Charles. They were in the patio with the sea view and Charles didn't wear his regular formal apparel, he just used a regular tunic and short pants. Meanwhile, Gaum was fully dressed with his kingly apparel.

Gaum clenched his fist under the table, Charles was completely degrading him as nothing.

Charles observed Gaum's countenance, he almost let a chuckle out. This man, he really thought that he knew how to play the game in Golden Camellia. He was really nothing compared to the real players here. His kingdom wasn't even worth checking.

Charles was actually bored, while Aster had to play behind the curtain like a crafty little bunny, he was facing a weak man dressed in some heavenly apparel to look mighty. But was actually incapable of leading at all.

'Gamasiel might not be a good king, but at least he knows how to control his emotion.'

"King Gaum must've already been well informed about our topic of discussion here, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Then, I will cut short the unnecessary talks and directly say, I want Rhea to be on my side, I will provide your Vassal Kingdom with gold and food ration, and I will announce it as an honor tribute for King Gaum's alliance with the Royal Family. But, I want Miriam coast to contribute at least fifty percent of its income to me personally."

Gaum's face was red in anger, he tried hard to restrain his anger, "Your Highness should know that Miriam Coast is the lifeline of Rhea. If you took fifty percent of its net profit, the people would suffer."

"That's why I'm helping you by keeping the patrol sh.i.p.s around the coast, to protect your country from incoming attack, wouldn't it be fair if I get some contribution money too?"

"… which country will invade Rhea anyway, Eliesen? We don't need Your Highness' help if it is just Eliesen."

Charles chuckled, "Of course, I admit that Rhea's soldiers are all patriotic to the bone. But I will tell you something, Eliesen will be aided by an ally from another country."

"Which country?" Gaum asked.

Charles' eyes glinted with ridiculousness, as if he was seeing the hopeless Gaum like a small ant, "Arctyr. Great Arctyr will aid Eliesen to attack Miriam Coast."

Gaum almost burst at this point, the new king of Arctyr, Tuskan Hessel Signe was helped by Charles to retake the throne in Great Arctyr, of course he would help Charles whenever possible. Arctyr aiding Eliesen was probably Charles' idea too, he wasn't even sure if Eliesen attacked out of pure hostility or because Charles ordered them to.

'F.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard! You really pitted everyone for your ambition!' however, Gaum kept his calm demeanor and said;

"If I said no, what would Your Highness do?"

"Well, then these naval sh.i.p.s would stay here indefinitely, we are not sure when will the Eliesen attack us, right?" Charles said.

"Will they actually attack us? Or it's just a guess from Your Highness?"

"I wouldn't call it a guess," Charles chuckled, he put the doc.u.ment on the table and continued, "I will call it an inevitable threat. What would Rhea do when Eliesen and Arctyr attacked without my protection? I couldn't imagine the deaths of many just because of King Gaum's hesitation."

'F.U.C.K! Everything is indeed his plan! There is no threat from Eliesen or Arctyr, it is a threat from him!'

Gaum gritted his teeth and then hastily signed the doc.u.ment. He had enough of this one-sided deal with Charles. There was no way out, Charles was really heartless to the people of his own empire.

"And they call you the Hero of Golden Camellia. Bullshit!" Gaum snarled.

Charles laughed and replied lazily, "They are the one who are easy to fool, I never said something like that. But I do enjoy their idiocy."

"Whatever, you must let my people work as usual around Miriam Coast after this!" Gaum demanded immediately, another day was another torture for his country.

"Don't worry, I stay true to my promise."

Gaum left Charles who laughed at the incapable king. Charles only gave a small pressure and he already let go all his defenses, "See, my sweet Aster? This is how you play the game. Give them no way to return, seize them, and everything will be yours eventually."

***

Aster was lazing leisurely on the balcony while waiting for someone. He was accompanied by Ramuja who huffed-puffed heavily. Aster was slightly concerned with his servant's growing request to him, including this one, thus he asked again; "Do you really need me to do this?"

"Y—Yesh! Yes, milord! I—Irion said training with you will give me a strength boost!"

"But why do I have to sit on your back while you are doing push-ups? Also, why are you breathing so heavily? I remember seeing you doing push-ups with many heavy bricks on your back and you didn't even sweat. Am I heavy?"

"N—Not at all, Milord!" Ramuja continued doing his push-up. He lost count on how many push-ups he had done. But he felt like he was in heaven.

'Milord is sitting on me! His b.u.t.t is touching my back! I—if both of us are n.a.k.e.d, then I can feel his… MY GOD!'

"W—Wha! Ramuja, what are you doing?!"

Aster pulled Ramuja's hair to stabilize himself. Ramuja suddenly did quick push-ups without a rest, the more he pulled Ramuja's hair, the more he rushed his push-ups.

Ramuja was spirited when his master pulled his hair, he quickened his push-ups and Aster bounced on top of his back, "R—Ramuja! Slow down!"

Ramuja ignored his master and continued doing his crazy push-ups. Aster held Ramuja's neck to get a better grip, but instead of holding his neck, it looked like Aster actually choked Ramuja.

And Ramuja quickened his push-ups even more, his breath was heavy like a raging bull.

"Ramuja, stop!" Aster warned him. Seeing that Ramuja still ignored him, Aster slapped Ramuja's cheek hard and yelled, "STOP OR I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

Ramuja stopped immediately. His mind was hazy because he was thinking about different scenarios in his head. He was imagining his master choked him sensually, and then slapped him hard while whispering a degrading word in his ears.

'He can even step on my face and I will say thank you! My god, Irion is right! Training with Milord is ten times better than just training alone!'

While Ramuja was glimmering with happiness, Aster had to take some breather. Because he felt like he was actually riding a mad bull just now. He stood from Ramuja's back and then sipped the drink on the table.

"W—What is wrong with you?"

Ramuja was still lying face down, his face was full of ecstasy, which slightly creeped Aster out. Because it reminded him of Irion.

After a while, Ramuja finally recovered and then kneeled in front of his master, "Pardon this servant's behavior, Milord. I just got too excited with my training."

"Well, I'm not sure what kind of training was that, but did it help?"

"Certainly! It helped my endurance and motivated me to protect you better!"

Aster was still suspicious, but he just nodded and said, "As long as it helps. Also, have your wounds healed completely? It's been a month and you are doing well now, even asking me to sit on your back."

"Yes, Milord. Because of your meticulous care, I can heal quickly! Especially your daily care!"

Aster blushed instantly, he did treat Ramuja's wound every day. But he also treated his lips by kissing Ramuja whenever he winced in pain. He didn't think much every time he did it, because Ramuja said he felt better whenever Aster kissed him.

'Hm… I'm starting to suspect that he didn't feel that much pain, he just wanted a kiss everyday…'

"A—Anyway, you still need a good rest. I also need to prepare for tomorrow. Because there will be an important guest tomorrow morning."

"An important guest?"

"Yes, Aunt Merse, Duchess of Arion accepted my invitation and she will come here tomorrow. Duchy of Arion is one of the strongest houses in the empire, although not as strong as the Grand Duchy or Royal Family. But it has widespread influence, especially because of General Wirgard Thana."

Ramuja's heart skipped a bit. He felt the chill whenever his master mentioned General Wirgard and Lady Merse.

'Duchess Of Arion… the crazy woman who tortured me with no mercy…'