Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Grand Duchess watched the torture of his son's personal slave through the upper balcony in the main hall. She saw that slave getting whipped twenty times with bloody wounds on his back, then saltwater poured to his wound and the scream of agony filled the air.

She understood that the butlers and maids who attended her also watched the torture and they were horrified. Grand Duchy of Stormhill rarely executed or tortured any serfs unless it was a grave offense. Thus, it was rare for them to see someone horribly wounded by a punishment. But Grand Duchess still frowned.

Even though the scream was gleeful to her ears, it was still unsatisfactory. She couldn't kill or cripple this subhuman. Thus, making almost every tortures and execution she planned deemed forbidden.

She had laid out the setup for her dearest son. But it was still not enough, it was not even sufficient to toughen him.

"You," Grand Duchess flashed a look at one of her butlers. She never remembered anyone except some of the important people in her life. Servants' worth was inadequate to enter her eyes.

"Yes, Her Majesty Grand Duchess."

"Let that servant be treated with the best medicine for his wound. Let him see me once he was healed."

"Yes, this servant will carry the order immediately," the butler excused himself and hastened his steps.

Grand Duchess knocked on one of the main hall pillars with her fan and a watcher jumped from the rooftop, instantly kneeled to her.

"Watcher heeds Grand Duchess' command," he said.

"Watch my son, he will call that slave when he is healed. Report their activity to me later."

"Understand, this servant excused himself," the watcher disappeared, leaving Grand Duchess with only three attendants of hers.

Grand Duchess walked out of the balcony to her room. She could use the Duchy chamber, a special room assigned for the Duke/Duchess to handle the legal affairs of the duchy. But she gave it to her son, so he could handle the matters of the duchy. Though, she still took all important documents from the chamber, because Aster might handle it poorly.

She loved her son, but Aster was not ready and this was just the beginning.

***

Grand Duchess waited in her room as usual. She stood while looking at the garden. Her golden hair was tied with a butterfly-shaped headdress. She wore a long-sleeved purple wool dress. The dress covered the floor, and with her graceful movement, she was breathtaking.

However, her expression wasn't good. The fact that both her son and that slave picked the same answer to stay together had proven that their feelings were mutual.

The scene she created for her son was both a trigger and a test, but she didn't know that she would really use this trigger as a weapon.

'Aster would explode if I killed that slave now. I need some reason to dispose him. For the time being, I could use him as a catalyst for Aster's training.'

Grand Duchess had observed her son everyday, and Aster wasn't in his ripe age yet. Since his golden circle hadn't fully flickered, it could be that this slave just entered his heart, but not quite favored by her son. There was still time to prevent something nasty happening before that detrimental age.

'It could be a disaster for the duchy.'

Grand Duchess had considered her nephew, the Crown Prince's proposal for Aster. However, that was the last choice she would pick as it might harm her son's body.

She waited until a shadow emerged from the rooftop and jumped to the balcony.

"This servant is reporting to Her Majesty Grand Duchess!" the watcher exclaimed.

"Hmm? You seem nervous? Is it quite unfavorable for me?" Grand Duchess sneered. She had guessed the outcome, but she couldn't help but to grit her teeth.

The watcher hesitated, but "This servant saw Young Lord gripping his slave's shoulder, and…"

Before the watcher informed the hard truth to Grand Duchess, he kneeled deeply, "This servant saw Young Lord crying and apologized to his servant."

"… How about his eyes? Do you see anything different from Young Lord's eyes?"

"Forgive this servant's inability, this servant did not focus on Young Lord's eye."

"Useless!" Grand Duchess kicked the kneeling watcher with her heels, but he didn't budge nor avoid it. He let the Grand Duchess kick him repeatedly until she calmed down. "You may go now," she commanded. The watcher finally left the balcony.

Grand Duchess took a deep breath and sat on the chair. She called two of her attendants, "You, hand me Crown Prince's letter, and you, after Young Lord finished his shameful doing with that slave, take that slave to me."

The attendants acted immediately. They knew that Grand Duchess was in a terrible mood today.

Grand Duchess opened the letter from her nephew, Crown Prince Charles. She never liked her nephew, because she had seen his predatory eyes since the first time he met Aster when they were just kids. But she couldn't reject him either, as he will find a way himself to meet her son.

However, at this point, this proposal under Crown Prince's name was the most plausible.

Dear Aunt Grand Duchess Camellia,

I, your nephew, under the name of Golden Camellia Royal Family propose to escort my cousin, Aster Di Arlingdon to Royal Palace. It is due time for Young Grand Duke to participate in his golden royal bloodline training. I swear under the name of Crown Prince of Golden Camellia, will protect Aster from any harm in the palace.

Grand Duchess scoffed. This little prince already set up a trap for Aster in the palace.

'Does he think that I don't know what he will do there?'

The Golden Camellia royal family had a tradition to train all the descendants, both man and woman in their fifteen to seventeen to participate in this training. It was a two years training to introduce them to the truth behind the royal family, cut down their excess emotion and trained them to be a good ruler.

However, Aster was a special case as he was the first descendant of the Golden Camellia family who survived childbirth outside of the direct royal family. Putting him inside the tiger den after successfully escaping was a foolish move.

'Depend on how foolish that kid can be, I could use that trigger as a weapon against him. But if he is crazy enough, then I need to find another way.'

Grand Duchess took the Grand Duchy of Stormhill's official stamp and took the royal invitation for Aster that came with Crown Prince's letter.

'This is the best option, but don't worry my dear son. I will protect you.'

She pressed the stamp onto the ink and stamped the invitation letter.

Approved.

"Her Majesty, that slave is outside," one of her maid interrupted her thought. Grand Duchess smirked.

"Bring him in."