Tamed or Captured

“Please take me too.”

“…….. oh, it’s a woman!”

Some rowdy men dressed in wolf fur spotted her and whistled. 

But the captain asked without blinking an eye.

“Who are you.”

“My name is Asha Camelia. I am from the Nepesh ethnic group.”

He snorted slightly.

“Ethnic…whatever, that’s none of my business. Did you just ask us to take you?”

“Yes.”

He stared at her with cold eyes, then turned his head and said firmly.

“Go back to your village. That is a place where people with nowhere to go gather.”

Asha said with slight hesitation.

“But I……. I have nowhere else to go.”

The men blinked their eyes and looked at each other curiously. 

The captain paused for a moment, then turned his head again and asked.

“You have nowhere to go. Didn’t you just say you’re from an ethnic minority?”

“Yes, but I left my village, I’m a wanderer.”

“Sigh.”

He clicked his tongue like it was ridiculous.

“….. Then, you should be thankful that we at least saved you from being chased by bandits and you should go on your own way. Are you going to tell us to take responsibility for your food now.”

His blue eyes grew even colder. 

The cold response left Asha clasping her red hands and not knowing what to do.

“…… I didn’t mean it that way. Thank you so much for your help. Thanks to you, you saved my life.”

If you asked a stranger to take you, it would have been natural to refuse. 

Asha put her hands in front of her, bowed politely, then went down to the hiding place behind her. 

There was a basket lying on the snowy field. 

Shrunken fruits, withered grass, and tree bark were scattered around, seemed to have scattered on the snow as she fled.

Her hands were frozen and numb, but Asha put the food back into the basket. 

Even though the food was in poor shape, it would be enough for a day. 

Asha went back up the slope again and handed him the basket.

“This is the food I found after searching in the mountains all day. I give it to you in return for saving my life.”

“………..I don’t need it. If you’re going to win our favor with that kind of thing, then stop.”

“This is the least I should do. Please accept it.”

He stared intently into Asha’s eyes, then looked at the boy next to him and gave him instructions.

“Nagy, take it.”

“Yes!”

A light brown-haired boy named Nagy took the basket.

He smiled and winked at her.

It meant thank you. 

Winters in the northern regions were incomparably harsher than in other regions. Food was always precious in these places, so as the leader of the group, he made realistic judgment for his comrades. 

Asha spoke bravely again.

“I will never be a nuisance to you. As you can see, I can meet my quota.”

“…….. Then continue living alone.”

As he continued to speak bitterly, Asha became a little impatient and said desperately.

“I now….. I need power. The power to protect myself. Please let me be a Lycaon.”

The men’s eyes widened slightly. 

The captain stared at her with his blue eyes and his open mouth, making her shiver.

“You seem to know who we are.”

“Yes, I heard that you are a hunter group that boasts a 100% success rate no matter what quests you receive.”

“….. but you would come with us knowing that?”

“Yes, please.”

Asha answered with a serious face. 

Asha was lying when she said she came from the village. 

Although she was an orphan, she had a place to return to. 

In the united village of ethnic minorities, unrelated younger brothers were waiting for her to return. 

But she lied because she didn’t want to repeat the past. 

A year later, the village will be completely trampled and destroyed by Count Delphinium. 

In the process, she awakens as a butterfly. Instead of being sold as a slave, she is sold to Emperor Karaf. 

Asha will never forget the tears of that day when she could not do anything as a butterfly. 

She wanted to prevent that from happening again. 

Even if she couldn’t get revenge on the emperor, she wants to build up her strength and save the poor villagers with her own hands. 

She believed that was the reason why she returned to the past, and to this very moment of all those days. 

To change the future, she had to choose a different option from the past. 

And now, the opponent she should not miss was this man right in front of her. 

Asha doesn’t know if it’s a butterfly’s intuition, but she was convinced. 

After being quiet for a while, he spoke again in a deeper voice.

“…….I’m sorry, but women can join Lycaon when some of our members have a partner. So just go back.”

He closed his eyes and turned his back on her to walk away as if he had nothing more to say. 

But it was then.

“……. Then I will be your partner.”

He stopped walking and stood still. 

His comrades burst into cheers. 

The captain turned again.

The slight frown made him look uncomfortable. 

He said harshly, thinking there was no need to be polite anymore.

“This…….You didn’t look like that, you were that kind of woman who recklessly sells her body.”

Asha bit her lip because her pride was hurt.

But she couldn’t back down. 

Asha was determined.

“It doesn’t matter what you think. I fell in love with you at first sight.”

The men burst into laughter and cheered even more.

Whistles were roaring all over the place.

“Captain! Accept her! She’s a woman, but she’s bold and outspoken just like a Lycaon!”

“Yes! And isn’t it time for the captain to have a partner”

“A man who doesn’t take a woman who said she fell in love with him at first sight, deserves to be starved!”

Perhaps their reactions annoyed him. He turned around and said furiously.

“Shut up, all of you.”

They stopped laughing.

 The captain looked at her again and asked calmly.

“I don’t think that’s true. Is that how badly you want to join our group?”

“Why do you think my words are not true?”

At Asha’s question, he was quiet with a face that had now lost his composure. 

The words “I fell in love with you” seemed to take him by surprise.

His comrades laughed and whispered among themselves. 

Soon a member of the group coughed heavily and spoke mischievously. 

“Well, our captain is a bit of a hotshot, isn’t he? He’s pretty good-looking, too.”

“True. When another man says a man is decent, it’s because he is.”

They all agreed and glanced at Asha. They sincerely hoped that their captain would have a partner. 

Asha blushed involuntarily. 

The captain was rather handsome, even though he looked rough and frightening.

If Emperor Karaf had a beautiful appearance like a flower, and a bewitching aura emanated from his characteristic languid eyes, he would have exuded a rough appearance that seemed to come from a wild beast. 

Perhaps because of the wolf fur on his shoulders, his large body looked bigger, and his blue-gray hair fluttered wildly like a wolf in the snow. 

It looked as if a beast was standing in the snow. 

Therefore, he was more reliable and trustworthy.

“I will do anything for Lycaon. So please accept me.”

“You will do anything, la…… Do you know how dangerous a male-only organization can be?”

Some of the men who were openly attracted to those words flinched due to the numbness of their feet. 

When a member gets a partner, Lycaon protects them like their own family. 

It was their rule to never touch other people’s women. 

Some of the men thought that if the captain did not take her as his partner, they would take her.

“I don’t care how lovely you are, take back what you said before you regret it.”

“I will not do it.”

Asha’s bold reply made him frown slightly.

“You are a very stubborn woman. What if I don’t accept it? What are you going to do next, threatening me to die in front of me?”

“Why would I threaten the person I fell in love with at first sight? I just……. I will follow you until you accept me.”

She ended up bringing out a strategy that she never wanted to use. 

Asha sighed. 

She never wanted to use this method because Karaf’s obsession had already made her shudder…..

But if he doesn’t accept her, there will be no more chance. 

Asha remembers that she had no contact with this man in her past life. 

She was convinced that there must be a reason why she returned to this moment. 

Contrary to Asha’s complicated mind, he seemed to be at a loss for words. 

He mumbled to himself.

“Are you going to follow me…… ? That long way?”

“Yes.”

In response to Asha’s confident answer, he asked involuntarily.

“Then what if you die?”

“Then there is nothing I can do. I am not afraid of death.”

“………that’s ridiculous.”

The corners of his lips twitched. 

She was chased by a gang of bandits a little while ago. But in the midst of this, Asha stared at him without changing her gaze, as if she meant it.

The look in her eyes bothered him.

“Then do it.”

When Asha looked at him with a faint smile, he said with an expressionless face.

“Then try it. If you follow us safely, I will seriously consider whether or not to accept you.”

He finished speaking and walked away. 

His comrades glanced at Asha in disappointment, but she followed after him. 

Then, Asha called out to him.

“Wait.”

As he was about to get on his horse, he looked back.

“What else?”

Asha said cautiously.

“Your….. Please tell me your name. I will ask about you in case I get lost.”

Someone whistled again, and then when he saw the captain’s sharp gaze, shut his mouth again.

He looked at Asha’s hands and feet which were red and scarred. 

Just looking at her hands, it didn’t seem like she would last long in this cold weather. 

Asha sighed inwardly when he just stared at her without answering. 

     He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t even want to give me his name. 

Asha said, lowering her eyelids slightly in resignation.

“I’m sorry, I was rude to ask your name in the first place. You don’t have to tell me if you’re uncomfortable… …. .”

“… … Jackal.”

He said, looking into the distance.

“Jackal Hyacinth. That’s my name.”

Asha’s eyes widened slightly and looked at him. 

It was probably not an illusion that his expression, which had been somewhat hard and cold, seemed to have relaxed a bit.