Tamed or Captured

“……….catch the butterfly!”

In the forest at sunset, a woman was running desperately with her bare feet full of wounds. 

Blonde hair and white pajamas fluttered like waves in the blazing red forest.

Her clothes were torn from branches and grasses, and her slender limbs were scratched, but she was so preoccupied with running away that she didn’t even know that.

Maybe it was because she was running too fast, looking only forward, she did not see the thick roots of the trees protruding from the ground, she tripped and rolled roughly. 

She felt like her whole body was torn apart, but she clenched her teeth again at the threatening sound that followed her and limped with bloody legs.

All she could think of was running away from that man.

But she soon met a dead-end cliff. She stopped breathless.

At the bottom of the cliff, the waves were raging as if they could swallow her.

The sea breeze made her blonde hair flutter.

But then, a creepy low voice came from behind.

“…….Did you think you could run away from me?”

Asha’s eyes widened and she looked back.

Behind her stood the arrogant emperor with a black cloak embroidered with splendid roses.

His black hair and red eyes, creepy like his blood, stared at her piercingly.

The youngest tyrant ever to ascend the throne, but the only tyrant who could not bloom…….

He’s the Black Rose of the Empire, Karaf Rode Etzheim.

Asha’s eyes shook violently like a candle in the wind.

Aside from his enchanting face, the sight of his red eyes frightened her, as if they had been imprinted on her body.

When Karaf drew closer, Asha stepped back.

They were at a distance where if she took one more step back, she could fall off the cliff.

Karaf looked at her with his bright red eyes burning with anger.

“…… How dare you repay my kindness in this way? I promised to keep you by my side and love you for the rest of my life. But why do you always try to leave my side!”

Asha answered looking firmly at him with her purple eyes.

“What’s wrong when a butterfly wants to leave a scentless flower?”

Karaf frowned.

“Your Majesty, I am a useless butterfly that cannot bloom. So please stop and let me go.”

“No, you can’t. You will have to realize that the more you try to run away from me, the more unhappy you will be. Every time you run away I will catch you again and again and tie you by my side. Even if I break your ankles, even if I cut off your wings, I will make you stay by my side. You will never leave my side…… !”

Seeing his obsession and mad eyes, Asha closed her eyes.

     As expected, this man will not change.

If she returns to him, she will never be free.

She will forever be by his side like a stuffed butterfly.

It was impossible to become a butterfly and have to live crawling on the ground having its wings as decorations.

Butterflies are creatures that must fly.

Even if their wings get wet and damaged by a storm, they have to fly in the sky until the moment they die.

Asha looked at him and smiled faintly.

“….. Then I will fly away with those broken wings. I will fly far, far beyond Your Majesty’s reach.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Asha took one last step back and fell off the cliff.

Karaf’s eyes widened and he yelled like a roar. But his scream was drowned out by the sound of the crashing waves.

Her torn white pajamas fluttered in the wind like the wings of a butterfly.

Asha closed her haggard eyes and felt the wind wrap around her body.

Ironically, this was her first voluntary choice during her stay with him.

* * * * *

As she fell into the icy water, Asha exhaled and opened her eyes.

As soon as she came to her senses, the terrible cold penetrated her entire body like blades.

She was lying on a slope in the forest-covered in pure white snow.

She thought she fell off a cliff, but this wasn’t the sea.

It was winter, and she was in the middle of a mountain.

She blinked in disbelief and stayed there for a moment.

When she heard footsteps and threatening voices, she held her breath.

“She wouldn’t have gone that far! Search everywhere!”

“Yes!”

Asha breathed with her eyes wide open.

She doesn’t know what was going on, but she knew someone was after her again.

Asha slowly turned her trembling gaze away and looked around.

The whole area was filled with thin trees and pure white snow.

She instinctively realized where this place was.

This was the Herta region, located in the northern part of the Empire, where she lived before being taken to the Imperial Palace.

Asha quickly looked down at her outfit. She was clearly wearing a white silk nightgown dress when she fell off the cliff, and now she is wearing a northern leather robe.

However, the worn-out clothes that looked like they were going to tear at any moment, were so wet.

She luckily didn’t appear to have broken bones or any injuries, but the cold seeped through her bones, and Asha shivered as she hugged herself.

She clenched her teeth making a grinding noise.

After regaining her reason and formulating several hypotheses, she came to an unrealistic conclusion.

     Maybe I am back to the past…?

Asha laughed in vain, but instead of laughing at the vivid sense of reality that she felt throughout her body, she opened her mouth foolishly.

Her memory of that day remained vivid in her mind.

She would never forget that day she almost died.

After leaving the village for a while and seeking food in the forest, she was driven away by bandits and hid on a slope as she is now.

At that time, Karaf had announced that he would give a big reward if they brought ethnic minorities to the imperial palace, so she had no choice but to live being chased.

Because she was one of those very minorities.

Though the cold seemed to bring her to her senses, Aisha quickly recalled how she had safely returned to the village.

But at that moment, an arrow flew out of nowhere and attacked the bandits.

“……. Ahh!”

All the bandits looked in the direction of the arrow.

“Damn you bastards! They are like wild dogs, they’re running around like dogs!”

“……. uh? That’s what we want to say! Get lost while we’re being nice, old men.”

A young boy jumped out from behind a tree and fired his bow.

The bandits covered their heads and quickly ran away.

“Hey, boss! Are they running away?”

“……catch them.”

The men who had been hiding like shadows behind the trees came out in an instant and started chasing the bandits.

Asha was startled because she didn’t even know people were hiding there. 

They surrounded and attacked the bandits from all directions with sharp movements reminiscent of wolves on a snowy field. 

In an instant, the position of hunter and prey was switched. 

It was an experience that meant a lot to her, who had always lived as prey. 

In the end, the bandits were stripped of everything they had and kicked out naked. 

It was pitiful and funny to see the bandits trembling helplessly while hugging their bodies wearing only their underwear. 

The men openly pointed their fingers at them and laughed.

“Did we make a fortune today? Let’s have a barbecue party!”

“Great!”

They shared the clothes of the bandits and loaded a bunch of salted meat on their horses.

A boy with brown hair as light as a straw walked up to the man who seemed to be the captain and said. 

“Captain, but are we just letting them go? Don’t you think we should scold them not to do it again?”

“I don’t eat human meat.”

The man said firmly without looking at the boy. It was kind of a metaphor.

The boy pouted his lower lip and went back, with his arms raised behind his head.

Asha watched as she held her breath.

This happened to her when she was twenty, that is, when she just became an adult.

Thanks to those who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, she survived that day and was able to return to her village. 

The familiar feeling like a déjà vu, it seemed right that she had returned to the past.

Asha was perplexed as to how this could happen, but she suddenly wondered if this was a ‘butterfly‘ ability she didn’t even know she had. 

It was a power she didn’t know she had until she died. Asha seemed to laugh in vain again.

Meanwhile, a man named captain was stroking his horse with his leather gloves, preparing to leave.

He has dark blue-gray hair, broad shoulders, and a firm body like a beast. He left his ethnic group for some reason.

He had been living a nomadic life since he left the village, so it seems that he formed a new group and became the head. 

Then he suddenly glanced at the side where Asha was hiding.

When she met his cold blue eyes, Asha, who was looking like a rabbit on the snowfield, frowned and quickly bowed her head. 

He must have seen her, but he looked back as if nothing had happened and said to his comrades.

“Let’s just go back.”

“Yes!”

In the past, Asha did not come out, even after making eye contact with him and after they completely left, Asha hid here for a long time and trembled until there was no sound of footsteps around. 

Her eyes darkened.

When they finished preparing everything and were about to get on their horses.

“…….. Wait!”

The captain turned his head slightly and looked at the side where the sound was heard. 

A woman with fluttering light blonde hair and purple eyes with a hint of gray. 

Steam came out of Asha’s mouth, she stood there with her mouth open and looked at him with nervousness.