Chapter 228 - The Tale of Prince Rama

'Milord…'

Ramuja was sitting inside a huge room, the room was probably twice as big as his Milord's room in Lantern Palace. There was plenty of lavish furniture and decorations, even the seat that he was sitting in right now was probably made out of real gold. He didn't know how he ended up in this strange place, with people that suddenly brought him and locked him inside this room after he regained his consciousness in that so-called 'Sacred Pool'.

Ramuja observed the door attentively and sighed, "That is really easy to break, but, where should I go if I run away from this place? I don't even know where I am right now."

The door was opened from outside and a man around his sixties approached me with his cane tapped the floor. He still looked vigorous for an old man and his posture was still straight, he shouldn't have used a cane unless it was only for decoration.

The old man stood two feet away from Ramuja and then said, "You resemble my young self, with a hint of her in your nose and your jawline."

"Who are you?" Ramuja asked cautiously.

The man stood still for a moment, and then replied, "Let me tell you a story."

"Once, in a kingdom called the Sun Kingdom, there was a king with many concubines and a powerful queen. In that kingdom, there is a continuous prophecy that one of the sons of the king or his royal siblings will be the next king, proven by the sun emblem on his back. The king had been married with the queen for ten years and was only given one son, and that son was not the destined king."

"Thus, the king married concubines, one after another, they birthed many sons but there was no sign of that destined king. In his last effort, he married a woman from a small village, she was just a normal peasant, but she had extraordinary beauty. Thus, the king married her and made her a concubine. She was the last hope, because the king was thinking that there would be no more destined king after him."

"Miraculously, the girl birthed a son, and that son… had the sun emblem on his back. He was the destined king, so the king named him Prince Rama of Sun Kingdom and made him the Crown Prince."

"But the queen was very jealous, she had been killing many of the concubines' children, so her son would be the next king. The queen already killed Prince Rama's mother by poisoning her."

"The King was anxious, because the queen was indeed very powerful with her backing. Thus, in order to protect Prince Rama, the king gave him an alias, Ramuja, and sent him to Lal Coast, where his brother lived as the local lord with his wife and daughter. The Coast was the farthest from Sun Kingdom capital, so the queen wouldn't be able to reach him easily."

"The King was planning to eliminate the queen first and then escort Prince Rama back, but who would have predicted that Golden Camellia suddenly invaded the country, and they targeted Lal Coast first. In a matter of hours, the entire population of Lal Coast was erased from existence. Nobody survived in that tragic place."

"The King was heartbroken, because Prince Rama was still there, living with his brother as his 'son'. He thought that Prince Rama died already, but the fire in the sacred temple should've been extinguished once the destined king died. The fire only dimmed out, but didn't die out. Which meant that Prince Rama was just very far from the Sun Kingdom. After the Sun Kingdom had repelled Golden Camellia, the King sent as many expeditions as he could to search for Prince Rama for years."

"Until a noble man from Golden Camellia suddenly sent an envoy to Sun Kingdom and told them that Prince Rama was in Golden Camellia, having been enslaved since he was seven years old…"

King Chandra finally stopped speaking, he only stared at his son who seemed to have been astonished, "And Prince Rama is…"

"Yes, my son, it's you," King Chandra nodded solemnly, "I'm sorry for being too weak, you have to bear the grievance of being a slave…"

Ramuja was so astonished that he was both speechless and froze on the spot. He tried to recall my childhood memory, 'Living in a village near the coast, my big sister, my loving father and mother…'

"The coast… is no more?"

King Chandra shook his head, "No one survived the bloody hands of Golden Camellia, you are the only one alive…"

My body shook greatly, he still remembered that his village did get invaded by Golden Camellia, but he had always wished that his small family would survive, at least his big sister, because she had just been married before the incident happened.

King Chandra saw the sadness in Ramuja's countenance, he walked slowly and then hugged his son, "The villagers of the coast, including my brother and his family sacrificed themselves, so you could be saved. They begged to that golden-eyed demon to spare you, so you could at least live…"

"Golden eyed…"

"Yes, we were invaded by the golden blood, Leopold Audric Camellia invaded and massacred the whole coast just for a warning, so we would kiss his feet. I've heard that the new emperor, Charles Audric Camellia, also massacred his own people in Dionde City, the place where you lived. They are truly monstrous."

King Chandra's aura thickened, his breath became heavier. He held a great grudge against Golden Camellia and all the golden blood descendants, "With you here, we will exterminate all those golden bloods, we will not spare anyone. They are monsters with human skin."

"I know that you hold a grudge against them too, I've investigated and found out that you were sold as a slave directly after you arrived at Golden Camellia. That golden monster sold a five years old kid as a slave and turned him into… into a s.e.x slave at the age of seven, heartless," King Chandra imagined how much pain his son had to bear for years, degraded, tarnished and abused.

'Golden blood… Milord…' Ramuja was still thinking about his master, he wanted to say that the golden bloods were indeed monsters, but there was one special case, a man named Aster Di Arlingdon, a golden blood that was pure hearted and gentle.

"Also, I know that you already have the sun in your heart, tell me, who is this girl called Aster? Is she a peasant girl? Or a noble girl? My son, you are a very handsome and vigorous man, I don't think Aster is just a regular girl by any means," King Chandra said while tapped Ramuja's back.

Ramuja gulped, he tried to hide my nervousness, 'Should I say that Aster is a man, and he is a noble, a direct line of a golden blood noble from Golden Camellia.'

'As much as I wanted to tell the truth, it seemed that Sun Kingdom is still very conservative, and I'm not sure where Milord's whereabout right now. I have to find a clue how to leave this place, I have to return to Golden Camellia and search for Milord. He must be somewhere out there.'

��Aster is… special," he lowered his head, his master once said that he wasn't good at lying. So, he had to hide my facial expression, this person that he should be calling father looked very excited about a girl called Aster.

"Where is she right now? We need to bring her to Sun Kingdom as soon as possible, once you are enthroned as the King of Sun Kingdom, she will be your queen."

"S—She is… in Golden Camellia…"

"Great, then, I will send an expedition and take her to Sun Kingdom as soon as possible!" King Chandra said excitedly, "After you have been enthroned with a queen by your side, Sun Kingdom will rise once more!"

"Don't send an expedition to Golden Camellia!" Ramuja reacted immediately. If an expedition was sent to Golden Camellia and they started asking about Aster Di Arlingdon, his master's identity would be revealed immediately, because he was really popular.

King Chandra frowned, "Why? Don't you miss her?"

"I… I will search for her by myself… I will return to Golden Camellia."

King Chandra's eyes widened, "My son, I know that you are a mentally strong man, but Golden Camellia left so many scars in your mind, I don't want you to drown in grief!"

'Yes, Golden Camellia does give me countless amounts of grief, but there is one sun that clears all the grief in my heart. As long as there is him, I can live…'

He took a deep breath and replied, "Aster is my precious sun, I will search for… her where about myself."

Ramuja was resolute with his decision, King Chandra was silent for a moment and said, "You are truly the destined king. My son, I will support you. But you need to familiarize yourself with Sun Kingdom, you've been living as a… slave for too long. You need some education on how to be a prince."

King Chandra tapped his son's shoulder and said, "I will call the servants to serve you, you can also request some women of your liking if you want to relieve yourself. Ramuja… no, Rama, remember, you are a crown prince. So, act like one."

King Chandra left the room, Ramuja was still stunned with the sudden development, in honesty, he didn't even care about his background anymore. Because they were nothing, this kingdom didn't save him when he was dying in hopelessness and starvation.

But if he could take advantage of this kingdom and helped his master with an army, wouldn't it be better?

'It was you, Aster Di Arlingdon, Milord. You are the sun of my heart, you are my savior, the light in my never-ending darkness. So, I will return to you, I will chase my sun. Wait for me.'