Tamed or Captured

“Yes. Taking medicine before going to sleep is a great cure for insomnia.”

Karaf responded, pouring a large amount of medicine into his mouth along with alcohol.

“That’s bad for your health.”

He smiled with satisfaction.

“I am happy to hear your nagging, but please take care of me just for today. At the flower banquet, some dung flies were involved, so we couldn’t drink together.”

Asha was speechless as he described the assassins as ‘dung flies’. 

However, she had nothing to say as she reminisced about that day.

Karaf served a dark red wine with a similar feel to his mood.

Soon the entire room was filled with the scent of wine and flowers. 

Asha looked at him and drank with him.

To the sound of the sparkling goblets, they sat down, each bringing their wine glasses to their lips. 

Asha gently lowered her glass and looked up at him. He was drinking the wine as if it were water. 

Suddenly, a stream of wine from the glass trickled down his Adam’s apple.

It was then that Asha inadvertently reached out to give him a napkin. 

Karaf gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. 

Asha looked up at his face in surprise as she leaned against his chest. 

Suddenly, his red eyes stared at her. 

He looked drowsy and strange, she didn’t know what he was thinking.

Suddenly, there was a strange tension in the room.

As she drank the flower-scented wine, Asha felt like she was getting drunk.

But it was then.

“Ah……!”

Karaf picked her up suddenly.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing……! Put me down!”

Asha struggled in his arms, but she was very weak compared to the strength of his strong arms.

“Alright, I’ll put you down.”

Karaf smirked, carried Asha to his bed, and gently laid her down. 

Asha looked up at him anxiously.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You seemed sleepy, so I put you to bed.”

“…… I don’t need such kindness.”

Asha turned away bitterly. 

Spending the night with him was not a good memory of her previous life. 

She wanted to avoid it if she could.

“Hooo…… It’s getting hot.”

Karaf took off his robe. 

Asha freaked out, stepped back to the end of the bed, and covered herself with a blanket.

Karaf saw her reaction and smirked.

“Why are you suddenly avoiding me? Do you think I’ll do something bad to you?”

He leaned in and asked closer. 

His red eyes shone like rubies through his black hair. 

Asha muttered in bewilderment not knowing what she was talking about, not knowing if she was drunk or not.

“Well, I’ve never slept in the same bed with a stranger…….”

Karaf paused. 

Asha was momentarily embarrassed and could not finish speaking. 

She pulled the blanket up around her neck and lay down, then heard a gruff voice behind her.

“First…… time?”

“…….”

It wasn’t her first time with him, but it was her first time in this new life.

Asha didn’t bother to reply, but her silence spoke positively to him.

Karaf muttered to himself in a panic.

“You said something about choosing flowers with your body at the banquet…….”

He stopped talking and kept his mouth shut.

     …… Butterflies only use their bodies to choose flowers.

Thinking about it now, it seems that what she said back then was misunderstood. 

Karaf tried to joke around, but instead, he panicked.

The atmosphere had become an irreversible awkwardness. 

However, the pheromones were spewing out of him again. 

It wasn’t his will, it was his body that wanted to become one with the butterfly.…. 

Asha unconsciously sneezed while he was trying to get rid of the pollen.

Karaf moved quickly away from her. 

After a long silence, Asha was afraid of what he might think, but she didn’t look back. 

She thought it was better not to know. 

But if she had seen his expression, she wouldn’t have been able to keep her mouth shut. 

Karaf looked very happy and excited to be her first man. 

When he found out that she really had nothing to do with the Lycaon leader, his tight chest felt renewed.

Perhaps embarrassed, the figure of Asha lying unresponsive looked more coy and lovely in his eyes.

Karaf tried to speak calmly.

“…… don’t worry. I will wait until you are officially my Empress. I have been anxiously waiting for a butterfly, and waiting a little longer is nothing.”

Suddenly he felt thirsty, so he took the glass of wine and drank it again.

“I will do my best to be the man you like until the ceremony.”

For some reason, Asha opened her eyes. 

She couldn’t believe that he would go to any lengths to be her ideal man……. 

She was the one who always tried to please him, and he was the one who treated her effort as insignificant.

It was a really strange scene for her to see him humbling himself. 

After neatly brushing the pollen off his body, Karaf lay down next to Asha.

Asha turned around and asked with a worried expression on her face.

“…… But why are you lying next to me?”

Karaf slyly lay down beside her, then looked up at her, holding his face with one arm.

“This is my bed. Should I, the Emperor, sleep on the floor?”

“…….”

Asha closed her eyes in shame. 

Karaf grinned.

“I won’t do anything, so sleep without worry. This bed is quite spacious, but our skins might touch if we’re not careful…… I won’t…….”

Somehow, towards the end, his voice seemed to grow smaller and more subdued. 

Asha asked stiffly.

“Do you have any sleeping habits? I can’t sleep in the same room with someone who has a sleeping habit.”

“Well, that’s complicated.”

“I’m not officially Vanessa yet. I am very embarrassed now. It’s my first time experiencing something like this, so please understand, Your Majesty.”

Convinced that he had the initiative, Asha spoke with more determination.

This was also not possible to do in her previous life.

But when she emphasized that it was her ‘first time’ again, Karaf flinched. 

He sighed a bit and said.

“…… Sometimes when I have nightmares, I scream without realizing it, but if you want, I can lie down like I’m dead.”

“Then please.”

Asha spoke firmly, but strangely, the situation was a bit funny, and a small smile appeared on her lips. 

As time passed, the sound of Asha’s breathing filled the room.

But Karaf couldn’t sleep, so his eyes were wide open in the dark. 

Originally, he suffered from insomnia as if it were a chronic illness, but his heart was pounding and he couldn’t come to his senses.

It was even more so because the woman he likes was lying next to him.

     Have I had too much to drink…..? 

Normally, he would pass out after drinking a lot of alcohol.

Karaf crept over to drink the tea Asha had given him, then turned his gaze to Asha, who was sleeping peacefully beside him. 

Her golden hair was disheveled like a wave on the white pillow, and a fragrant smell came from her.

Karaf suddenly felt a boiling lust, and his face flushed with a frown.

     Ugh… I’m really out of my mind.

He got out of bed and drank the cold tea. 

Meanwhile, his eyes kept looking toward Asha.

     Why do butterflies smell more fragrant than flowers….? 

The woman who said he smells like roses, does she really not know what kind of smell comes out of her body? 

Suddenly, her skin was showing through the white nightgown she was wearing.

Perhaps because she lived in a cold region, her skin was as white as snow. 

She was slim, but probably a huntress, her body was slender without fat, and her skin had a healthy glow.

Karaf sighed over and over, wanting to bury his face in her neck. 

He shook his head quickly and hesitantly pulled the blanket up around Asha’s neck, and headed for the sofa. 

He often slept on the sofa after working late at night, but this was the first time that he, the Emperor, had voluntarily slept on the sofa for someone like her. 

Suddenly he felt the blood rushing to his lower part and feeling hardened, Karaf lifted the blanket and looked down, lamenting.

     Shit……. How can I get excited at this time of night ….?

He forced himself to calm down and lay on his side with the blanket over his shoulder, but he couldn’t sleep after that.

     I have to hold the flowering ceremony as soon as possible…..

Asha’s breathing synchronized with his sighs.

* * * * *

At dawn, the servant’s eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet.

“The…the horse!”

He hurried to the other stable servant and told him without hesitation what he had seen.

“The horse turned into a human and attacked me.”

The other servant looked at him with pity and disgust.

“You must have seen wrong because you were drunk. Why did you drink so late at night?”

The servant was all red from face to neck, and the smell of alcohol wafted from his body.

“I didn’t drink!”

“That’s funny. Do you want me to believe you now?”

“What I say is true! I’ll show you right now! This is a serious matter to report to His Majesty!”

“Oh, you are so annoying! Don’t you know that today is the first day that His Majesty and Lady Vanessa spend the night together? Don’t make a fuss and ruin the good mood for nothing if you don’t want to lose your life.”

The servant’s face turned white in an instant.

“If you’re just playing a trick on me, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

The servant put on his robe as if he was going to die of anguish and followed him. 

The two came to the room where Jackal was. 

When he picked up the lamp and looked inside, he saw a gray-blue horse leaning against the wall sleeping. 

There were bottles of wine lying around that appeared to have been drunk by his coworker. 

When he stared at him, the other servant said with a fuss.

“Wake up! That’s a human being!”

He hid behind him, probably frightened by the memories before he passed out. 

Then, Jackal glanced at them with wide eyes.

The servant gulped down.