Gardenia of Blooming Desire

"By god! What happened?!" Someone slammed the door and the first thing she saw was a dead girl with Young Lord of Grand Duchy sitting solemnly with his cold eyes staring at this girl.

'Another accomplice…'

Aster saw another supposed 'servant', who probably served as back up for this girl. Aster shifted his solemn gaze to the maid, his expression was still blank, but he pointed his finger to the corpse below him.

"Take your accomplice away… she killed herself, I did nothing," Aster said calmly. However, the servant only stood still, she didn't understand what happened and how could Young Lord became very detached like this.

"What kind of plot had been ordered to you? I… am the victim here," Aster said, his face gradually paled, as if blood had been drained out of his vein.

"Young Lord! I am Golden Princess' servant!" the maid cried out. Her statement snapped Aster out of his daze. He saw the regular maid who would bring a warm basin, towel and food from Rosalie everyday.

"Young Lord, what happened?" the maid asked, seemingly anxious.

"I--I didn't kill her! She ate her own poisoned food! I--I just…"

Aster started stuttering again and again, he had short breath that made him unable to breathe sometimes. After a while, he finally calmed down. He took deep breaths a few times until his mind was clearer.

"Young Lord, please explain it slowly, so Golden Princess might be able to help you."

Again, Aster stared at the corpse. He explained slowly, "She came early this morning with the same warm basin, two warm towels and a tray of food. She said that her intention was out of concern for my wellbeing. I thought it's another plot to kill me, a regular occurrence in my duchy," Aster paused, his hand trembling and he pointed at the food.

"These foods are all poisoned, so I want her to eat first. I thought that would make her reluctant and might expose her. But in the end, she was not even slightly reluctant, she wanted to climb my bed if it was proven that the food is not poisoned. I accepted her request with golden oath."

"She was fine for a minute until she started coughing and the cough is getting severe. Then, she tried to reach the warm water," Aster paused again and pointed at the broken glasses.

"Ferce powder…" the maid said in a soft voice. Ferce powder is a powder that, once inhaled or swallowed, would infect the throat and lung until the victim coughed blood and died shortly after. It was however, easily treated if swallowed, with only hot or warm water, the cough would disappear immediately.

"Yes… the food has been poisoned with ferce powder, and she swallowed it unhesitatingly," Aster lips shut when he realized that the next sentence would make him either guilty or innocent.

"Young Lord?" the maid waited for Aster to continue his explanation.

"She tried to reach the glass and accidentally dropped the glass from the table. Then, she died shortly after."

"You did nothing, Young Lord?"

"… I was stunned and too scared, I just sat silently."

The maid sighed in relief. Young Lord was just a victim turned into a witness here, he wasn't involved in anything that would trouble him in front of the Emperor or Empress, "Then, Young Lord need not to be worried. This servant would report the incident to Golden Princess and dispatch our people to clean this mess. But Young Lord needs to know that the Emperor had already known about this matter, since the guards outside are his people."

Aster felt that he was about to faint. He couldn't imagine what kind of fault would the Emperor find to make his life more miserable.

'It will be fine, there is no one witnessed that I snatched the glass.'

'Besides, I really am innocent until that part.'

'Uncle Emperor might find trouble with me, but I will try to avoid offending him more than I should.'

Not long after, there were three people who came with the maid and cleaned the corpse. They wiped the blood, cleaned the floor and removed the corpse. Shortly after, the room that was previously a witness of an indirect murder turned into another usual room.

After cleaning the mess, Rosalie's maid warned him once more, "Young Lord, you mustn't be hasty when facing the Emperor later on. Even though you're innocent here, he can find a flaw to prosecute you."

Aster nodded, but his mind was still troubled, he immediately inquired his suspicion, "Do you think… Aunt Empress is the one who orchestrated this?"

The maid paused, she was also unsure, but she replied softly, "This servant doesn't know, but… this servant can't find someone who would do this other than Her Majesty Empress Cecilia."

Aster nodded and sent her off. In his mind, he doubted that Aunt Empress was the one who orchestrated such deliberate plan. To poison your hired executor and pit Aster into this situation was not something Empress could've imagined based on Rosalie's note.

Aster tried to find another suspect that could come out with such plan. But the more he thought, the more he realized that the one who had been antagonizing him were just Emperor and Empress. Rosalie said that the Emperor would take a passive stance, then, only the Empress was the most susceptible.

'Is it really Empress?'

'Why am I doubting this?'

***

Golden Princess Rosalie sat calmly, facing her aunt, Grand Duchess Camille, who was also the former Golden Princess. They drank morning tea while waiting for the report from the maid about the supposed trap.

The maid arrived and kneeled in front of Grand Duchess and Golden Princess, "This humble servant has information about Young Lord."

Grand Duchess smiled and said, "You're ten minutes late, punctuality is important for me."

Rosalie's fingers that were holding the teacup stiffened, she wasn't unfamiliar with her aunt's unusual demeanor, but she never got used to it. The cold and ruthless version of this Grand Duchess was only known to certain people. She still had her beautiful and perfect former golden princess persona in front of the crowd.

However, the maid wasn't even slightly frightened, she only kneeled deeper and said, "Yes, this servant failed to meet Her Majesty Grand Duchess' expectation. This servant offered her head to Grand Duchess."

"Hmm? I might just cut your left leg, you will definitely work harder not to lose your right leg," Grand Duchess said lightly, as if it was nothing frightening.

"Aunt Duchess, I think it is not necessary to punish my servant while she has information about Aster," Rosalie quickly interrupted this conversation flow to avoid any unneeded harm.

Grand Duchess smiled amiably, she chuckled and then said, "Well, it is fine. I'm waiting for my dear son's report. How is the execution? Is everything going according to my plan?"

"This humble servant answering, yes, the assassin was found dead in Young Lord's room after eating Ferce Powder. However, Young Lord's reaction to such scene is… dare this servant say, quite surprising," this time, the servant gulped, remembering how calm and collected Aster was when he lied before.

"Oh? Did he snatched the glass before that girl drank it?" Grand Duchess asked. She looked more and more joyous.

"Yes, he snatched the glass and let the assassin die shortly after," the servant paused, then continued, "Young Lord said that the girl dropped the glass by her own and he was just scared and stunned."

"And, he only suspected Empress, right?"

"This servant supposed so…"

Grand Duchess finally laughed. It was lighthearted laugh, but the atmosphere felt heavier each second passed, "As expected from a low servant, you're stupid," Grand Duchess sneered.

Both Rosalie and her servant were shocked. The servant reported everything on point, no flaw, but Grand Duchess still said that.

"Well, that's all for now. I will give you the next task when it's time," Grand Duchess stood from her seat, "Golden Princess, I bid my farewell, I will meet you again when the time is right."

Rosalie quickly nodded, but showed some hesitation on her face, " Aunt Duchess, may I know why do we need to pit my cousin like this?" Rosalie asked.

"I do not have obligation to answer that. All you need to do is to follow my instruction and our deal regarding Young Marques will naturally proceed, we're on the same page after all." Grand Duchess replied.

"Now, excuse me, I have someone to visit," Grand Duchess continued.

Grand Duchess walked out of the room. Rosalie and her servant glanced at each other, and felt the indescribable chill lingered even after she left the room.

"Demon…" Rosalie muttered.