Gardenia of Blooming Desire

Jain opened the tray for Aster's dinner. He observed his master's expression and saw no grievance, hesitation, nor frighten in his eyes. He asked with low whisper, thus the shadow guard outside wouldn't hear it.

"Young Lord, Are you sure about this?" Jain asked.

Aster gave Jain a side-glance then proceeded to eat his dinner.

"Young Lord..."

"Are you hesitant about this? To stage an attempt to her?" Aster sneered. "You should have leave before I give you my medal."

"No!" Jain reacted out of reflect. He calmed down a bit and lowered his voice again. "Young Lord, I was just making sure that you are sure about your step."

"I don't need your assurance. If you need to give me reassurance, then do your job perfectly, or I might retract your medal," Aster said lightly.

"Y--Young Lord, this one will always devote himself to Young Lord. This one understand, I will not inquire about it anymore..." Jain kneeled instantly.

Aster glanced at kneeling Jain and was indifferent. But in his heart, he was also anxious and couldn't help to worry whether the plan will go smoothly or not. He asked Jain, "Your subordinate has good enough skill to execute the plan, right?"

Jain raised his head. He was relieved that Young Lord didn't seem to be mad. He answered, "Yes, this one's subordinate is skilled enough to execute the plan perfectly."

Aster nodded in satisfaction and continued to eat.

Before Jain left the room, he asked Young Lord once more, "Young Lord, you really have no emotional bond to Lady Merse?"

Aster's cold face suddenly turned into frown then obvious disgust, "You see. Whenever she talks, I want to rip her mouth. Whenever she touched me, I want to peel her skin. Whenever she looked at me with her sinful eyes, I want to gouge her eyes and feed her body to rabid dogs."

"Then, about... your smile and blush to her?"

"Oh, of course, it is to find the right place in her heart. You see, the most painful despair is being betrayed by someone you trust. I will be the trustful and innocent kid she wants before she died in endless despair," Aster said.

Jain was astounded. He knew his Young Lord wasn't kind, but he never knew the true extend of his cruelty. After hearing his claim, Jain finally understand that his master was really cold blooded, a deceitful cold-blooded monster.

'How perfect. Even better than my previous master...' Jain praised his master in his heart and proceeded to follow Young Lord's instruction for the midnight assassination attempt.

***

At midnight, Jain and his subordinate wore their assassin suit that covered their body except their eyes. They moved at the same time.

In front of Aster's room, Irion and the two guard tasked by Lady Merse to guard the room stood straight. They talked to each other in low voice, fearing that it would wake Aster.

"About your master, he looks like a beautiful porcelain statue. He seems very fragile," one of the guard said, trying to open a conversation with Irion.

Irion clenched the sword in his waist, trying to hold back. What this guard just said to his master was very offensive. His master was obviously very strong, although not physically, but his mind was very sharp.

Besides, Irion had worshipped Aster like a god since he was just a kid. How could this scoundrel dared insulting his master!

"You will see soon, that my master is not weak by any means..." Irion said.

In few seconds, there was a sound from inside, the two guards who guarded Aster's room broke the door and prepared themselves to face the assassin. But what they saw was Young Lord Aster who sat calmly and in front of him, a hooded man kneeling deeply.

"I see that bitch Merse really have responsive guards, not bad," Aster said. "But one can be guarded as much as a squirrel who jumped in every branches he found in a snake pit."

The guard didn't understand the scene in front of them and what this young lord was saying. Then one guard fell to the floor instantly with his head rolled off. The other guard moved out of reflect, he couldn't believe what he saw, Irion, Young Lord's guard had just decapitated his friend's head.

He reacted fast and about to jump to the window. But the hooded man beside Aster vanished instantly and sliced his neck clean with a sharp knife.

After killing Lady Merse's guards, Jain and Irion kneeled in front of Aster.

"I suppose your subordinate is now doing his job in Lady Merse's room, right?"

Jain nodded. "Yes, this one's subordinate should be able to execute the plan perfectly. This one guarantees with his own head."

Aster's face finally beamed with satisfied smile. He gave a rub in Jain's head, "Good work."

"... Young Lord..." Irion glanced at Jain with envy. "This guard will also do his job perfectly!"

Aster saw Irion was eager. He nodded and said, "Jain, stab and slash Irion, but not in vital parts. Make sure the wound wasn't so deep to harm him, but make it believable."

"Yes, Young Lord," Jain wiped his knife clean and prepared to wound Irion in some places. Irion bit his lips and bore the pain of being stabbed and sliced by a sharp knife. But Jain was a skilled assassin, and he knew vital places that he should avoid.

After it was over, Irion was covered in blood. His breath was heavy, but he didn't make a single whimper.

"Y--Young Lord, this guard begs Young Lord to stab this guard too..." Irion begged.

"Hm? Why should I?" Aster frowned. He has no reason to wound Irion more than this. But Irion insisted, covered in wound, he fixed his posture and kneeled in front of Aster.

"This guard begs Young Lord to stab this guard, it would be an honor." Irion begged again. Aster was unsure, but seeing Irion resolute begging, he finally said yes.

"Where do you want me to stab you? I also wont make a deep wound," Aster said.

Irion finally sat on the ground and straightened his leg. He pointed at one spot, it was in his left thigh. "This place, Young Lord. It would be my greatest honor to be wounded by Young Lord."

Aster took Jain's knife and aimed it at Irion's thigh and thrust it with moderate power. The knife was planted deep in his thigh, but Irion showed no sign of pain. In fact, when Aster saw at his expression, it was pure blissfulness.

Aster frowned even more. Then he saw that something was standing tall beneath Irion's pants between his thighs, under his stomach. Irion immediately kneeled to cover his crotch. He blushed, but the smile in his face couldn't be hidden.

Aster shifted his gaze. He could feel his face getting hotter, "Jain, take the knife in Irion's thigh and then you leave."

"Yes, Young Lord."

Irion, with a smile in his face proceeded to lie on the floor as if he was dying, but he still couldn't hid his smile.

"Do it correctly, what dying person has smile in his face!" Aster scolded him with disgust. Irion felt even more excited, but he immediately nodded and acted correctly.

Aster saw his face in the mirror and tried to fix his expression. He needed to look like he was so scared. He squatted beside Irion and his expression instantly changed. Aster looked scared, panic and almost cried. He screamed few times, "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

***

Lady Merse was sleeping before she heard something in her room. She immediately opened her eyes and saw a hooded figure just opened her window. She screamed, "Guard!"

The guards outside rushed immediately. They unsheathed their sword and prepared to fight the assassin who just entered the room. The assassin only held a knife, but his movement was so fast that it looked like he vanished instantly. The guard surrounded Lady Merse and took defensive stance, but they couldn't see this assassin's movement at all.

Then, a silhouette appeared in front of them and stabbed one of the guard's skull. The guard dropped instantly, Lady Merse screamed and tried to back away. The assassin moved fast and aimed for her face before the guard parried his knife. The knife only able to slice a portion of Lady Merse's face and her face was mangled while blood constantly spurted from the wound.

The guard attacked the assassin, but only able to slice part of his sleeve. The assassin backed off and there was something dropped to the ground. The assassin tried to took that thing, but the guard kicked him.

The assassin was flown away until his body hits the wall. He saw there was no other chance, thus, he jumped off the window and disappear instantly.

The guard panicked. He saw his master bleeding from the wound in her face, but the first thing that she said was, "Take that thing he dropped and give it to me!" Lady Merse ordered in anger.

The guard took the small star keychain and gave it to Lady Merse.

Lady Merse observed the keychain. It was star keychain that was undoubtedly made with a precious diamond. This kind of diamond was extremely expensive and there was an engraved small crown behind the keychain. It was Empress' guard medal.

Lady Merse almost faint out of shock and fury. She clenched the guard medal. The pain in her face wasn't even on par with the pain in her heart.

'Beatrice, you actually want to kill your own sister? You--!!'