Tamed or Captured

Surprisingly, Karaf’s arrow was deflected by the wind and began to fly in the opposite direction.

They all looked to the side where they heard the sound, blocking the strong wind with their hands.

There, Asha rode a brown horse and ran towards them, her blond hair fluttering. 

As soon as she heard the horn, she mounted a horse and came running.

Jackal yelled with wide eyes.

“No……! Run away from here……!”

Hearing his desperate voice, Asha felt her heart sink.

     Run away, Asha……!

Seeing the confrontation between Lycaon and the Cactus Knights, the scene in the forest that she saw in her dream came back to her vividly.

Goosebumps broke out on her skin as her nightmare came true.

Asha quickly scanned the few members lying around, bleeding.

If she had arrived a bit later, this forest would have been stained with the blood of the Lycaons.

Asha held the horse’s reins tightly in her hand as she sweated.

Even though she couldn’t do anything in her dreams and watched everyone die helplessly, this time was different.

She could never allow something so terrible to happen.

She will stop him even at the cost of her life.

Asha reached out to catch the arrow flying towards her with her bare hands, then ran over to where they were.

Then, she immediately got off the horse, stood in front of Jackal, held the arrow in both hands, and extended it toward Karaf like a dagger.

“Stop right now! If you don’t, I’ll shoot it with the wind…!”

Asha’s purple eyes stared intently at Karaf. But her eyes were throbbing.

When she aimed the arrow at him again, Karaf’s face fell in disbelief.

The last thread of hope that he held on to was broken in his heart.

Karaf asked anxiously in a trembling voice.

““Vanessa… now you… Are you aiming an arrow at me…? To me, who rushed directly to the battlefield to protect you…?”

His face became infinitely sad, like that of a betrayed child. 

Karaf said with an anguished face as if he was suffocating.

“At that time, I should have warned you. If the Lycaons don’t understand and defy me again, then I’ll pretend I never promised you anything.”

Asha had nothing to say about that. He nervously shook his head.

“……No. Now, none of that matters. Even if you lied to me, even if no one in the world truly loves me, I’m the kind of person who has to get their hands on the target I’ve set for myself. Vanessa, I’ll have you even if I have to kill all those Lycaon bastards.”

His eyes shone terribly with obsession and madness.

He was like a ticking time bomb about to explode. 

But it was then.

“…… Your Majesty, I am not your property. If you don’t realize that fact, I will never stay by Your Majesty’s side, and I will fly away again.”

Asha finished speaking calmly with a sad face.

She then turned the arrow, which had been aimed at him, and aimed at her own neck.

Karaf and Jackal shouted with wide eyes at the same time.

“Asha!”

“Vanessa!”

Asha’s face looked infinitely sad and lonely.

Karaf stretched out his hand with a sad face and said.

“Please don’t do that…. It’s not too late. If you come back to me now, I’ll let all this go. So please……”

“Your Majesty, it seems to me that this is another cliff.”

Asha smiled bitterly.

Karaf was speechless, his eyes trembling. 

From the moment he heard that she was about to fall off the cliff, he trembled at the mere mention of the word ‘cliff’, like a neurotic.

“No no! This is definitely not a cliff! I won’t let you die…..!”

The way he obsessively muttered seemed like he was angry.

Jackal also looked at Asha with bloodshot eyes.

He turned back into a horse and shook his head at Asha with a harsh breath.

He meant to say please don’t do that.

The reason he transformed back into a horse was to stabilize her, but also to prevent her from dying quickly.

     Please don’t die, Asha…… 

Sheppy’s blue eyes looking at her looked so sad.

Asha’s eyes distort as she remembers the conversation she had with Jackal the night before, the future she had dreamt of with him.

Her heart ached to think that Jackal was happily building a house for the two of them.

It was a dream that could not come true…….

Asha could only understand now. 

She realizes that she can never be freed from the fate of a butterfly……

If she dies here and does not regress, Jackal will kill Karaf with all his might and follow her into eternal rest.

He won’t let her walk that dark path alone.

But she couldn’t let that happen. 

If both men die because of her, she won’t be able to close her eyes in peace even if she dies.

There has never been a more tragic ending than that.

Finally, Asha collected her thoughts and spoke calmly.

“…… Your Majesty.”

Karaf looked up, visibly startled by the voice calling out to him.

“I will follow Your Majesty.”

Karaf asked with wide eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes. But in exchange, could you promise me one thing?”

“What is it!?”

When Karaf urgently asked, Asha gave him a distant look and answered.

“Promise me that if I put this arrow down, no one will die here for me.”

At those words, the Lycaons shed hot tears.

They felt so bad that they couldn’t protect her, that she was saving their lives without being helpful.

Tears and sniffing could be heard here and there.

The atmosphere by the lake calmed down as if they were in a graveyard.

Karaf clenched his fists so hard that his hands bled.

Lycaon was the main culprit behind Vanessa’s kidnapping on the day of the Empire’s biggest event, the Flowering Ceremony.

It was total treason. He felt that he had to tear them to pieces immediately to ease his anger, but he had to endure for her to return safely to his side.

He managed to restrain himself and tried to exercise what little self-control and patience he had left inside of him.

Self-restraint and control were never easy for him, who was cursed.

Then he said.

“…… I promise. No one will die here.”

Only then did Asha let go of the arrow when she saw Karaf trembling, calming down his anger.

He raised his head and shouted at the knights with a stern look.

“All troops! Tie up Lycaon and Vanessa!”

* * * * *

The news that Karaf found Vanessa caused another uproar in the empire.

“……Did you hear that Lycaon tried to kidnap Vanessa this time?”

“Why are minorities so anxious that they can’t kidnap Vanessa… tsk tsk……”

“You do not know? Lady Vanessa is an ethnic minority!”

“Then, since Vanessa is an ethnic minority, shouldn’t she be more honored? They even say that His Majesty cared a lot about Vanessa. I heard that he also withdrew the search warrant for minorities.”

“She is wasting the chance to live comfortably in the Empire. Fools.”

“Perhaps…… she ran away because she loves someone else?”

“Hey! Don’t talk nonsense! What if someone hears it!”

They shut their mouths and looked around to see if there were any knights on patrol.

No matter how wrong a person was, they would be taken to the imperial palace and it would be hard to get out alive.

However, this incident was currently the most shocking and interesting topic in the empire, to the point that the nobles held social gatherings every day to discuss this.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon of the Imperial Palace, the interrogation was in full swing. 

Jackal’s hands were chained to the ceiling, like a slave, and sloppy shreds of gray fabric that could hardly be called clothing were wrapped around his waist and thighs. 

The iron bars opened and Karaf’s cold voice was heard.

“…… That damn horse was the leader of Lycaon. Did you have fun deceiving me and having a secret tryst with Vanessa with that dirty body?”

Jackal raised his head and looked at him serenely with his blue eyes.

Karaf grinned.

“As expected, blue eyes are traits of traitors, aren’t they?”

He trudged in front of Jackal, grabbed him roughly by the chin, and lifted his head.

“How does it feel to be betrayed by minorities? Do you have any idea how I felt?”

Jackal laughed.

“…… Are you talking about betrayal to me now? In the first place, I had no expectations whatsoever. So there is nothing to be disappointed about. But I don’t think the guy who cowardly set me up and threatened me has nothing to say to me.”

Karaf’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Jackal looked at him with his chin raised and said.

“I heard that threatening people with their lives is your hobby, is that true? But for Asha, it’s not a threat, it’s a plea, right? Your precious life is in her hands.”

Karaf’s eyebrows furrowed even more. 

Jackal said, glaring at him coldly.

“I’m sorry, but Asha’s ability won’t make you bloom. That ability is for her own good. So don’t cling to her, set her free. If you really love Asha.”

When he called Asha’s name as if she were his lover, Karaf finally snapped.

He reached out and grasped the wound on Jackal’s side.

“Ugh…….”

Jackal closed his eyes and lowered his head at the terrible pain that pierced the wound.

The still unhealed wound opened up again and blood began to spurt.

Karaf’s hands were stained red with the blood that flowed from his wounds.

“……Maybe it’s because you’re going to die soon, so you don’t have anything else to say in front of me.”

Karaf put on an expression of the utmost arrogance and brought his head close to the Jackal’s face.

“How dare you tell me to let her go in front of me? How dare an unscrupulous guy who stole someone else’s woman, the emperor’s woman?”

His red eyes flashed with madness.