Tamed or Captured

He was so interested in breaking his curse, seeing that he had read all these legends.

Even next to the bookshelf, butterflies specimens were also on display. 

He preserved all those butterflies.

Seeing this, Asha got goosebumps all over again. 

Perhaps he had been eagerly awaiting the day when a butterfly would fly to him. 

Although he must have been very disappointed that the butterfly came from a minority ethnic group, she still thought that it couldn’t be that difficult to win his favor.

There was a little hope.

Asha closed the book and began to organize his desk. 

Karaf hated that the papers he was looking at were in other places, or that someone tampered with them in the slightest. 

There was an incident where a maid almost lost her head when a document flew off his desk. 

The event was so well known in the Palace that no one did not know about it.

After that, the servants just carefully dusted the desk and didn’t touch any of the scattered papers, which made his desk look very messy and disorganized. 

However, Asha boldly organized his paperwork. 

Instead of organizing the documents in similar agendas, she organized them first in the order of topics that could be easily resolved to complicated tasks that required deep thought.

The urgent matter could roughly be deduced from the date on the paper and how far away it was from his pen. 

Karaf was the type to put aside the first non-urgent agenda once a stack of documents arrived.

When she finished cleaning his desk, it was dazzlingly shiny without a single dust. 

She opened the windows to dust off the sofa cushions.

She was very pleased and placed a flower on his desolate desk. 

She left the office thinking about the next thing she had to do, clean his bedroom.

* * * * *

Upon returning to the office after the meeting, as soon as Karaf opened the door, he paused in the doorway at the smell of fresh air and rosemary. 

For some reason, he felt that this was not the room he normally worked in. 

He soon found out why. 

His eyes grew cold as he saw all the documents on the desk neatly arranged.

“……Who dared to touch my desk?”

The servant standing by the doorway said, sweating profusely.

“That is…. Lady Vanessa is in charge of cleaning Your Majesty’s office from today……”

It was then that Karaf realized that he had given the order.

He ruffled his bangs with a very annoyed look on his face, then sat down at his desk and looked at the organized papers. 

His head ached just thinking that his paperwork must have been disorganized, but his eyes gradually widened as he went through the papers one by one.

“……”

As he continued to go through the papers with a serious expression on his face without saying a word, the chamberlain’s lips seemed to dry up. 

He thought he would reprimand him. 

He regretted not telling her not to touch His Majesty’s desk even if she died. 

Unlike the poor servant, who was quickly recalling a will in his head, Karaf was now quite surprised.

He mumbled unconsciously.

“How the hell is this…..”

Suddenly, the chamberlain knelt on the floor as if he had been waiting for those words. He closed his eyes.

“Your Majesty, I have committed a grave sin.”

However, the chamberlain opened his eyes and said ‘Huh?’.

Karaf muttered very seriously.

“How the hell can this be so perfect?”

The chamberlain looked up at him differently, startled.

“Did she really organize my desk?”

“What? Yes! Lady Vanessa is the only person who has entered Your Majesty’s office today.”

“Has she ever been in charge of the Imperial Palace, politics, or diplomacy before?”

“…. Yes?”

The chamberlain blinked, not knowing what to say. 

Karaf also shook his head, thinking it was a silly question even though he asked.

“……No, it can’t be.”

She belonged minority ethnic group. 

She has always been busy being chased while trying to fill her hungry stomach, so she could never have done something so serious as this.

If she was good at cleaning, then it should be just that, but looking at how the documents were organized in order, he couldn’t believe it.

Karaf was certain she had not been properly educated.

His desk was cluttered with tiring documents, so he thought she wouldn’t be interested, much less understand.

Karaf raised his head and suddenly found a vase filled with rosemary on the desk. He stopped again. 

[Rosemary: It’s a plant that reduces anxiety and stress, and also calms the mind and headaches. Keep it close by and smell it often.] 

Seeing the elegant handwriting on the note, he was speechless once again.

     How did she know I had frequent headaches and stress….?

He wondered if it was her ability. 

He had never seen her face, much less met her alone. She could only have heard rumors that he was a tyrant since he was young. 

However, Karaf was taken aback by her demeanor, as if she had seen everything just by looking at him once. 

He turned his head and walked toward his bookshelf as if he was possessed. 

His favorite books were neatly arranged, and the dust was gone. 

Karaf smiled a little.

He really liked how she cleaned. 

He wondered if there had ever been a servant who had cleaned to his liking. 

The floor was shiny enough that it reflected his face clearly, and sunlight and fresh air came in through the window with the ribbon-tied curtains. It made him feel good. 

Meanwhile, Asha, who went to his bedroom, was dusting the pillows and quilt.

The flapping sound was so loud that it reached Karaf’s ears in his office. 

He then came to his senses and walked to the window and looked into his bedroom. 

From the window, he could see Asha holding his quilt with both hands and shaking it vigorously.

“…….”

No one was watching from behind, but she looked really enthusiastic. 

His lips twitched slightly. It was kind of funny to see her dusting the quilt vigorously with a wretched face.

It was like seeing a ‘cleaning fairy‘ from a fairy tale.

“….. Is cleaning her hobby?”

“Yes?”

Karaf spoke to himself, but the chamberlain was surprised to find out that he was asking himself a question. He answered, straightening his back.

“I will go and find out right now.”

He didn’t ask him to find out, but when he was about to leave, Karaf turned to him and shook his head.

“I’ll find it out for myself, so tell the butterfly to finish cleaning up and go straight to the outdoor bathroom.”

* * * * *

Having finished cleaning the bedroom to perfection, Asha raised her arms and wiped the sweat from her forehead, then she looked around with satisfaction. 

She always felt good to see a clean and tidy room.

     ….. Would this be enough for him to be satisfied?

Asha sighed. 

Karaf’s bedroom was also a place she had been in and out of many times in the past, and it was one of the places she really hated going into. 

As the day approached when she decided to spend the night with him, she couldn’t sleep a wink since that day.

Asha recalled Jackal’s cozy home.

The house that has now been burned to ashes and gone…..

She longed for a home full of warmth. 

She missed the hard bed, the warm fireplace, the characteristic smell of dust, and the subtle scent of musk that spread throughout the house. 

Remembering the house, Asha felt alone as Jackal’s face flashed into her mind. 

Although he looks fierce and cold, he is actually a warm and caring man.

The way he smiled, his serious and thoughtful eyes, and his desperate expression that she saw when he tried to reach her to the end……

She misses him. 

She misses Sosa, Gabe, Nagy, Yuri, also the cook, and the rest of the group. 

But now that she’s back here, she may never see them again for the rest of her life. 

All the sacred butterflies that would make the emperor’s flower bloom were called ‘Vanessa‘. 

From the moment she became a butterfly, she would lose her name and be bound by the Imperial Family for the rest of her life.

     …. This is the right thing to do. It was supposed to be like this from the beginning.

Her nose turned cold. She shook her head to forcibly erase her thoughts when the chamberlain suddenly approached her.

“Lady Vanessa, His Majesty has told you to come to the outdoor bath right now.”

It’s his outdoor bathroom. 

Asha was flustered when she was suddenly called to such a place. 

He had already had a long history of acting beyond common sense, so she was automatically nervous.

She doesn’t know what his intention was, but it was the Emperor’s command.

Asha followed the chamberlain and sighed behind him. 

* * * * *

The outdoor bathhouse is located in a quiet forest. 

Karaf was walking leisurely across the lawn barefoot in a loose, dark red bathrobe. 

He always sunbathes and bathes at noon, when the sunlight is best.

As the embodiment of flowers, he had to periodically absorb sunlight and water into his body, so bathing was a fairly important part of his daily routine.

“…..Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Asha greeted him politely, then looked away in embarrassment. 

As he moved, his red bathrobe was loose, revealing his firm, pure white chest, and thighs.

Karaf glanced at her and grinned.

“While I was gone, a butterfly flew into my office and cleaned it up.”

Asha got a little flustered.

She wondered if the reason he called her here was to question her about the cleanliness of his office.

But Karaf said with great satisfaction.

“I like it. Keep cleaning my office.”

Only then did Asha relax a bit, but Karaf immediately said sarcastically.

“That’s why I’m suddenly curious. How good are you doing other things? From now on, I will tell you what to do.”

The moment Asha looked up at him, he threw his robe over her head. 

Asha quickly rolled off his gown in humiliation and embarrassment, but her eyes widened at the sight unfolding in front of her.