Tamed or Captured

Jackal said as he mounted his horse.

“We will continue heading north. Look at the horse tracks and follow them. If you can follow me.”

As he mounted his horse with a short shout, his comrades followed him. 

There was a high possibility that the footprints would be wiped off due to heavy snow or other reasons, but he only gave directions, not the location. 

Perhaps it would be difficult to tell strangers where the organization is located. 

She understood but felt a little lost.

Despite her bravery, she had lost her shoes and her body was covered in shabby clothes. 

If Asha was the girl she used to be, she would never have dared to follow them. 

The probability of being knocked unconscious on the way was close to 100%. 

She was timid, weak, and passive. 

But there was one thing he had overlooked. She wasn’t the soft girl she used to be. 

She was a woman who had already seen the end of her life once. 

A person who once lost everything and experienced death had nothing to fear anymore. 

Asha pulled herself together and began to walk slowly.

She had nothing to lose.

After all, she had no food, and the way back to the village was as far away as following them. 

But first, she had to find the missing shoes.

 Since she was hurriedly running away from the bandits, there was a high probability that her shoes were caught in a tree root or something. 

Asha quickly traced the path by which she had escaped. 

She shouldn’t have gotten too far from them from the beginning.

Although she still couldn’t keep up with the speed of the horses, she had to follow them as closely as possible so as not to lose their footprints. 

Asha soon found a shoe among the tree roots.

     Where’s the other one?

As much as she looked around, she couldn’t find the other one. 

Still, thinking this was better than nothing, Asha put on the shoe and made a temporary shoe by weaving twigs and tree trunks together, and laying fallen leaves on the inside.

Although it’s not going to get much better, it was better than freezing or injuring her foot.

After getting ready, Asha recklessly walked along the horse’s tracks for a long time.

It was very cold and the same landscape was repeated over and over again.

Her entire body was frozen and her skin turned red as if on fire, but Asha wrapped her arms around her and kept walking.

It was very strange.

Asha wanted so badly to die, but she wanted to live when she was given a second chance.

     This time, I want to find the reason for my life. And why did I go back to the past?

Asha would not give up until she could not walk a single step.

She walked for many hours until she felt nothing on her feet.

The shoes already had holes in them, but she couldn’t feel the pain because of the cold.

To make matters worse, heavy snowfall began to fall from the overcast sky.

Amid the hectic snowflakes, Asha felt her vision blur and her mind wander.

     I’m in trouble….

Running away from the Imperial Palace each time was like a job, so Asha was confident that her physical strength was still excellent.

And to some extent it was true.

Born as a butterfly, her healing powers were superior to others.

People praised the butterfly as a divine being, but they did not know that divine power was inherent in its body.

But maybe she has used all her power to go back to the past.

It may have been that her body was more out of adjustment because she suddenly appeared in the snowy mountain after just breathing in the warm air of the Etzheim Empire.

Asha lowered her head and stomped on her numb feet, finally tripping and collapsing in the snow.

She had to get up again, but there was no strength left in her body.

It seems she could only get so far.

White snow quickly piled up over her disheveled blonde hair and her slender body.

     If I die, will I go back to the past again…….

She unintentionally returned to the past, but maybe God made a mistake about who he would kill and who would be saved.

     Please don’t confuse me this time…….

Asha slowly closed her cloudy eyes.

The sound of horse hooves came quickly and vigorously from afar, and the horse’s neighs resounded for a long time in the mountains.

Asha looked up at the hill with cloudy eyes.

There, a horse with dark bluish gray hair stood tall towards her.

It was a handsome steed with smooth, shiny fur, a muscular body, and a dark mane fluttering wildly.

The way the horse looked at her as it stood tall on the hill, it was like a messenger sent by God.

It seemed that God had no intention of killing her this time as well.

The horse walked towards her with wolf fur in its mouth.

The blue eyes that gazed at her were deep and beautiful.

Asha asked with a weak smile.

“Are you giving it to me to use?”

“…….. whinny.”

The horse wrinkled its nose and answered.

Asha barely lifted herself, paralyzed by the cold.

Then the horse quickly put the wolf fur over her shoulder and dropped in front of her so that she could easily climb on.

Asha who was slightly startled by the horse’s cleverness asked.

“By any chance, is your owner Mr. Jackal?”

The horse just looked at her.

Asha muttered to herself in a daze.

“It’s just….. I feel like you resemble him somehow.”

She thought she saw his silhouette, thinking that he had come to pick her up.

Looking at it now, the horse has a dark bluish-gray mane and icy blue eyes just like him.

“I don’t know if a horse can look like its owner, but……. What a smart and handsome horse.”

The horse’s eyes widened slightly.

Asha smiled and gently stroked the horse’s mane with her hands.

She walked alone in the cold for a long time. She was glad to have a companion.

Although the companion was an animal, the horse somehow seemed to understand what she was saying.

“Did Jackal tell you to bring me?”

The horse moved its front legs slightly. In exchange for an answer, the horse gently closed and opened its eyes.

It meant getting on his back quickly.

Asha felt relieved only then.

Seeing that he sent the wolf fur with his horse, he seemed to know the situation she was in.

She climbed onto his back, and the horse abruptly stood up.

The sudden rise of her body caused Asha to stagger and quickly hugged the horse’s neck.

Her body tensed.

But soon, as if the horse was trying to fulfill its duty, it began to run fast.

As she was in close contact with the horse and with thick wolf fur on top, she managed to withstand the cold.

The bluish-gray mane didn’t smell like an animal, but the scent of musk, like a men’s perfume, along with the smell of snow.

Somehow, the scent seemed to calm her, so Asha closed her eyes and buried her face in the mane.

The good scent and soft texture make her feel better.

The warm, soothing sensation relieved Asha of her tension, and she fell asleep quickly.

The horse saw that she fell asleep, and hastened its steps even more.

A dark horse, which contrasted with the pure white snow, carried the blonde woman running through the heavy snow.

* * * * *

As soon as she reached the village, the members of the organization were shocked when they found Asha and ran toward her.

The horse, which had been running for a long distance without a break, neighed and walked leisurely between them, exhaling heavy breaths from its nose and mouth.

Then, a silver-haired man approached quickly, led the horse, and headed somewhere.

He led them to the hut safely, avoiding the gaze of the members, and immediately locked the door and asked.

“……Did you finally find her?”

In an instant, the horse turned into a man with dark blue-gray hair.

It was Jackal.

He answered seriously, naked, holding Asha in his arms.

“She was lying on the snow. If I had been a little bit later, she would have frozen to death.”

The silver-haired man sighed.

“……. If the captain hadn’t gone looking for her, she would have been really dead.”

Jackal walked silently to the bed and carefully laid Asha down.

When he stared at her red nose, hands, and feet, he spoke immediately.

“It’s cold.”

“Oh, yes.”

The silver-haired man quickly spread several layers of blankets over Asha’s body.

Jackal looked at him and said it again.

“I’m cold, me.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Seeing the captain standing naked, he hurriedly fetched his robe and a towel.

Jackal carried Asha with his naked body for a long time and ran through the heavy snow, so his whole body was frozen.

It was better not to freeze.

The moment he put on the robe, his broad and muscular shoulders like a wild horse moved dynamically.

Jackal wiped the water off his head with a towel, then pulled out a bottle of liquor from one of the drawers, grabbed the bottle, and gulped it down.

For those people living in cold regions, alcohol with a high alcohol content was a daily necessity for survival as it raised body temperature in a short time.

Meanwhile, the silver-haired man diligently put firewood into the fireplace and lit a fire to warm his room.

“Sosa.”

“Yes, captain.”

Sosa quickly looked back.

“I’ll put the firewood, so go out and call the doctor. And tell Yuri to bring hot water and a towel and tell her to help me.”

“Yes, I will.”

Sosa left the hut.

Jackal pulled the chair closer to the fireplace and sat down, covering his body with the loose blue robe, and drank the liquor again.

A gulp of alcohol dripped down his muscular chest.

He wiped his mouth roughly with the back of his hand, then placed the bottle anywhere on the fireplace and threw more firewood.

As his frozen body gradually regained its warmth, he looked over at Asha, who was sleeping soundly on the bed.

There was a strange curiosity in the way he looked at her.

Returning to the village, Jackal sent scouts to see if she was still following him.

The woman was slowly but steadfastly following them.

One of his comrades who said that a man who doesn’t take the woman who said she fell in love with him at first sight, deserves to be starved, was scratching his head awkwardly.

「Captain, I was talking too much earlier. I was joking, but are you mad at me? I thought it would be better to bring that girl with us. The mountain road is rough, so I’m sure she will collapse before she can cross the mountain.」

「…… If you know you made a mistake, keep your mouth shut. You have to experience things so that you come to your senses and know that your life is precious.」

At the cruel remark, the man shut his mouth and glanced at him.

As the leader, Jackal was determined to test her resolve to become a Lycaon.

But when the unexpected heavy snowfall began to fall, his hidden expression darkened as he looked up at the sky.

「…… Are you still following me?」