Tamed or Captured

Asha felt sorry for the brown horses she had practiced riding on, but Sheppy was incomparably fast. 

Asha’s eyes were wide open and she was laughing happily like a child.

The surrounding trees whizzed by at an incredible speed, and the cold wind hit her face hard, but she wasn’t scared at all. Instead, she felt reassured.

She had such a sense of security that she would never fall off his back. 

Eventually, they came to a cliff covered in clouds and mist, as if it were a place where God lived. 

Jackal breathed in the fresh air. 

This was a place where he would occasionally come alone to contemplate when he had a lot of thoughts. 

Looking at the scenery from here at a glance, it felt like he was in a different world. 

In spring, colorful flowers bloom in this pure white space covered with snow and mist. 

Compared to that, it is now a shabby landscape, but it is still a beautiful place that could be called a magnificent view in its own way. 

It was the perfect place for a date. 

Jackal blushed for a moment at the thought of him dating her and kept running forward, thinking that she would definitely like it.

But Asha’s face suddenly turned pale as he recklessly approached the cliff.

“She….Sheppy, stop…..!”

Jackal moved closer to the edge of the cliff to get a better look at the clouds, but Asha suddenly felt sick and her head ached as she recalled the memory of that day.

Asha squeezed her eyes shut and hugged Sheppy’s neck. 

Only then did Jackal’s eyes widen and stop.

He could feel her body shaking slightly as she buried her face in his mane.

“Sheppy…. I…. I don’t like being here….. Let’s go back…… Please?”

Jackal guessed at Asha’s trembling voice, and his blue eyes sank coldly. 

He remembered that when she ran away from the emperor, she was able to return to the past. But he never thought that she had jumped off a cliff to run away.

He gritted his teeth as he imagined that damn tyrant chasing after her and driving her over the edge of the cliff.

Jackal quickly moved away from the cliff to reassure her. 

Only when the cliff was barely visible did Asha stumble off its back. 

Jackal seemed genuinely apologetic, seeing her face covered in a cold sweat.

He took her on an outing to cheer her up, but it seemed to make her mood worse. 

He was heartbroken because it seemed like her memories with Sheppy had turned into one of her bad memories. 

Perhaps he had been lowering his head sullenly without realizing it. Asha forced a smile on her pale face and stroked his mane.

“I’m sorry…… It must have been a wonderful view, so you wanted to show me, but I have a bad memory of cliffs…”

Jackal closed and opened his eyes slightly, neighing as if he understood. 

Asha gently stroked his nose and forehead in gratitude. 

Then suddenly, a horn sounded from afar. Jackal raised his head and looked somewhere.

Asha was also slightly startled and muttered.

“That’s the sound of the patrol horn……..”

Jackal was surprised that she remembered the sound of the patrol horn.

But now was not the time for him to be surprised.

Soon after, a brown hawk flew toward them.

The hawk could not find a place to land and circled in the air, then landed softly on Jackal’s nose. 

It was a note for the captain, but Asha, not knowing Sheppy was Jackal, thought it was a letter for her. She untied the note.

Inside was a letter hastily scrawled in blood.

[Sudden attack on East Canyon] Support -G]

G is an abbreviation for Gabe. 

Now that she sees it, this hawk was Gabe’s. 

He would often have a hawk on his shoulder, proudly displayed as if it were an accessory. 

Asha thought she should report to Jackal right away, but since she was deep in the mountains, support would be greatly delayed if she returned now.

She looked determined, tied the note back to the hawk’s leg, and released it skyward. 

She yelled with her hands clasped to her mouth at the flying hawk.

“Give it to Jackal or Sosa!”

Asha, who sent the hawk away, immediately jumped on Sheppy’s back. 

Jackal, who was seriously considering whether he should turn human, looked back at Asha, surprised. 

Asha said seriously, stroking his mane.

“Sheppy, let’s help them.”

Jackal immediately shook his head, but Asha spoke calmly.

“It’s all right. Trust me.”

Asha fiddled with the bow on her back with a determined look. 

Jackal didn’t think she could shoot a human being, that she couldn’t even shoot an arrow at a wild animal.

So he hesitated, but suddenly a wind blew from Asha’s hand, which was holding the reins, and gently ruffled his mane.

“….. Let’s go, Sheppy.”

The irresistible command made Jackal run like crazy. 

* * * * *

As they headed to the place indicated by the hawk, they saw Gabe and several patrolmen surrounded by bandits in the distance.

Gabe was helplessly on the ground with a gush of blood running down his forehead. 

His legs looked painful, as he had been hit by an arrow.

As the sound of horse hooves came quickly from a distance, the bandits who were watching turned their heads and shouted.

“It’s the Lycaons!”

Gabe also raised his head with blurry vision, and his eyes grew bigger. 

Asha was firmly holding the bow, riding a wild horse and aiming at them. 

Her blonde hair fluttered while her purple eyes shone strongly.

Asha shot arrows at the bandits without hesitation.

“…..Ahh!”

Jackal quickly broke the siege, paying attention to keeping her balanced.

Asha’s eyes sparkled.

     I won’t hesitate to save anyone now.

In her previous life, the day her village was destroyed, she was scared and just ran away.

She regretted it now. Only if she had known sooner that she was a butterfly and had this power.

Even if she couldn’t kill lives in vain, she was confident that she wouldn’t hesitate to save lives now. 

And when she decided to do it, her power grew stronger. 

Asha put arrow after arrow into the bow so fast you couldn’t see it. 

On the surface, it seemed as if she was shooting arrows at random, but surprisingly, her aim was deadly. 

Her hands and arrows were constantly swirling with the golden wind.

The wind helped her shoot the arrows exactly where she wanted.

The arrows pierced the skin of the bandits. 

Jackal felt a sense of euphoria and ran wild with more excitement. 

Fortunately, there weren’t many bandits, so Asha was able to defeat them on her own.

Having dealt with all of the bandits, Asha asked, looking at Gabe, while running her hand in a rough motion through her long hair.

“Are you alright?”

Gabe gaped at her like a fool. 

All the fallen bandits groaned.

Gabe asked, pursing his lips.

“How did you get here? I sent a note to the captain…….”

Jackal flinched, but Asha said calmly.

“I found your hawk when I was out with Sheppy.”

Gabe smirked. 

Even the baseless name ‘Sheppy‘ sounded funny to him, and her taking a horse out for a ride that didn’t fit the current situation was even funnier. But the fact that she knew it was his hawk was amazing. 

Asha was surprised to see his injury, and she ran toward him.

“Are you hurt? Let me see!”

“….. It’s all right. Don’t make a fuss, unnie.”

“Unnie….?”

T/N: The author literally wrote unnie (elder sister). It’s just a way of calling someone comfortably without being overwhelmed.

Asha blinked. 

Her title changed from ‘Princess‘ to ‘Lady’, and now it has changed to ‘Unnie’. 

It was the first time a man had called her ‘Unnie’, and Asha thought hard about it.

     Is it a good thing……? But why do I feel that being called unnie is stronger than lady?

Gabe continued to speak seriously. 

“I let my guard down. I didn’t know they were targeting our patrol team…..”

“Maybe they were trying to use you as bait.”

Gabe was slightly surprised by Asha’s answer.

“… … What?”

“They would have tried to negotiate with us using all of you as bait.”

Asha naturally said ‘us’, but Gabe was so taken aback that he didn’t notice.

“How do you know that?”

Asha said with a slightly bitter smile on her lips.

“It’s obvious. What is the benefit of killing you to them? They probably did it intending to take revenge for the last incident. They tried to get something bigger and more valuable than the food you took from them. Don’t ask how I know. It’s very clear. I’ve been through a lot of that too.”

“…..”

Gabe sobered up a bit. 

He seemed to have misunderstood her.

He thought that she had lived a comfortable life like a princess, but it turned out that she also went through all kinds of hardships.

Lost in his thoughts, Gabe suddenly made eye contact with the horse behind her. 

The horse with blue eyes somehow resembled the captain. It seemed that he was saying ‘your thinking is correct‘.

“…….?”

Gabe was puzzled for a moment by the appearance of a human-like horse, but Asha immediately startled him.

Asha took a handkerchief and tied it to his bleeding leg. 

Gabe panicked without saying a word, but Asha said, fixing her gaze on the handkerchief, trying to tie a knot tightly.

“When we go back to the village, heal your wounds first. If it gets worse, you may not be able to walk for a long time. Then the captain will scold you.”

At her last words, Gabe just laughed. 

They mounted their horses and headed to the village together. 

Gabe, who hadn’t said a single word for a long time, spoke as if he was talking to himself.

“…..you were kind of cool earlier, unnie.”

Asha looked at him and asked.

“Are you going to keep calling me unnie?”

Gabe furrowed and smirked.

“Why? I can’t?”

“Then I’ll call you whatever I want.”

Asha closed her eyes and said.

“Since I saved your life, you will cook today’s dinner.”

Gabe just laughed.

“I will do it”

Sheppy was neighing because he was upset. 

He was secretly jealous of the pleasant atmosphere between the two of them. 

Asha gently strokes Sheppy’s mane, trying to appease him.

“Sheppy, let’s go eat too. You did a great job today.”

Gabe asked, looking down at him.

“Did the captain give you that horse?”

Jackal felt a prickle in his conscience.