Tamed or Captured - Chapter 23

A woman who is easily swayed, obedient, and doesn’t contradict him from the start will soon tire him out.

It was obvious that if she had acted the same as in the past as a fragile and tearful woman, she would not be able to capture his heart.

Before heading to the audience, Duran turned around and said something he had just remembered.

“I’ll give you a moment to get ready. I will guide you to the drawing-room.”

He was being considerate.

Asha’s face looked like a trapped prisoner as she fled, and her hair was drenched in sweat.

But Asha said calmly as if she didn’t care at all.

“It’s all right… I’ll go like this. It would be ridiculous for a prisoner to appear clean in a dress.”

Duran bit his lips when she said ‘prisoner‘.

His eyes were filled with regret and many complex emotions.

No matter how many ethnic minority clans there are, it seemed that women, even if they were the butterflies of the empire, had been savagely brought in. And that bothers him.

He was a gentlemanly aristocratic man.

But when Asha didn’t seem to care at all, he immediately gave up and led the way.

Soon the door to the colorful courtroom opened. Asha entered surrounded by knights.

Memories of her old days made her nervous, but she tried to keep her composure. She swallowed hard and clenched her fists.

Just like when Asha first met him in the past, she crossed the first threshold unpretentiously.

In the distance, on the throne, a man with dark hair and red eyes crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.

He also wore a black robe with red lining, collar, and sleeves. But his muscular chest was slightly exposed between the loose robe.

He didn’t think it was necessary to show any manners when meeting ethnic minority people, so he wasn’t even dressed properly.

He looked like he had just left his room and even had a glass of wine in his hand.

She hasn’t seen his face in months since she returned.

But the moment she met him face to face, her heart began to pound.

     The man I once tried to love……

She felt as if a thorn had pierced her heart.

The courtroom was filled with the smell of alcohol and the strong aroma of roses emanated from his body.

Karaf was the rose of the Empire. A non-human aura evoked from his body like thorns.

Ordinary people trembled at his unknown intimidation and fell flat on the floor without even making eye contact, but Asha just stared at him without greeting him.

Karaf smirked, seeing that his red eyes didn’t intimidate her and that she showed no manners at all.

“….. How rude!”

A knight from the side shouted.

Not only was she tied, but she was more like a captured slave.

The harsh atmosphere forced her to kneel.

Asha gracefully bent her knees, holding the hem of her hunting outfit as if it were the hem of a dress.

“Greetings to the Flower of the Empire, Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Her greeting did not match the hunter’s custom, but her noble manners were perfect.

Karaf’s expression changed slightly.

After Asha finished her greeting, she continued to kneel on the floor with her head slightly lowered and politely placed her hands in front of her.

A haughty voice was heard in front of her.

“Name.”

“My name is Asha Camelia.”

He said with a mischievous smile.

“I heard that you are from an ethnic minority clan. You look like a barbarian wearing wolf fur.”

Asha stared blankly at the floor, but anger simmered inside her.

It was a meaningful piece of clothing that Jackal gave her.

She liked it because it symbolized her freedom as a huntress.

Asha hated it when others insulted her precious clothes, but she spoke bluntly.

“Nothing was more useful than this to overcome the cold of the North, Your Majesty”

Asha finished speaking and closed her purple eyes.

She just expressed her will to him. She won’t be as obedient as she used to be.  

That’s why she didn’t change her clothes on purpose.

Gorgeous dresses are really nothing but decorations.

“It’s useful…….”

Karaf said it with a tilt to his head and smirked.

“I wonder if you are ‘useful’ too.”

She felt unpleasant for how he treated her like an object, but for him, the butterflies were only there to make him bloom.

Asha stared at him without hesitation.

Karaf asked, leaning back comfortably in his chair.

“I heard from Duran. He said you are a butterfly.”

“Yes.”

“Can you prove it here?”

For a moment, his red eyes sparkled a little.

Then a bandit who was on the floor intervened.

“Your Majesty, I heard that every butterfly has a butterfly pattern somewhere in its body! If you check it out here…… Ugh!”

Suddenly, he covered his face with both hands because of the sudden splash of water.

Everyone looked at Asha in surprise.

She waved her hand at the bandit.

The water contained in the cup on the table was blown away by the force of the wind.

She was able to use this amount of power freely.

Karaf’s eyes grew slightly larger.

Asha said calmly without changing her expression.

“I wanted to spit in his face, but I didn’t dare because I was in front of Your Majesty.”

The bandit’s face covered in water, turned red and blue.

But at that moment, a knock was heard.

The bandit looked up at the throne foolishly.

Karaf chuckled and fiddled with his lips.

Asha felt strange when she saw him smile so innocently like a child for the first time.

Duran was also blinking at the sight of his master.

Karaf soon stopped laughing and asked the bandit in a low, cold voice.

“……How dare you tell a woman to take off her clothes?”

His voice seemed to contain thorns made of iron.

The bandit’s face turned pale, and he fell to the floor.

“I… I’m sorry! Your Majesty! I…. I just thought it would be better to make sure….”

“I would have ripped out that filthy tongue of yours, ripped your clothes off, and kicked you out of here, but I’ll put up with it for the hard work you put in to bring the butterfly.”

The bandit hurriedly bowed his head closer to the floor.

“Thank….thank you for Your Majesty’s generosity….”

“Give them some bags of gold and silver. Get lost now.”

Karaf didn’t hear everything the bandits said and waved his hand in annoyance. 

Duran looked down at the bandit with his dark green eyes and spoke coldly.

“You’ll really get your tongue cut off if you keep talking nonsense. Get out of here.”

He quickly closed his mouth.

In this Imperial Palace, people had their tongues cut off for talking too much in front of Karaf.

When a knight ushered the bandits out of the courtroom, Karaf tilted his chin again and watched Asha carefully. 

Despite the commotion, Asha showed no emotion at all and calmly looked down at the floor. 

Then he got up from his throne and walked slowly like a wild beast. 

With every step he took, his dark-red robe swayed gracefully like a flower petal. 

He finally stood in front of Asha and squatted on the floor.

His daring action caused Asha’s eyes to tremble slightly as she looked at the floor.

“Raise your head.”

He slowly lowered his red eyes and met her face, but Asha didn’t look at him. 

With him right in front of her, she recalled the memories of the first day they met. 

Her heart pounded uncontrollably. 

Karaf came down from his throne because he couldn’t see her face, but when she didn’t show her face, he tilted his head to the side regretfully. 

Duran sighed to himself, standing next to his master.

Perhaps frustrated, Karaf quickly grabbed Asha’s chin and forced her to look at him. 

Asha frowned slightly at his rudeness, but the moment she faced him, she involuntarily flinched.

She hates to admit it, but Karaf was a breathtakingly beautiful man in the embodiment of a rose. 

With pale skin as if carved in the moonlight, a sharp jawline and fair features, red lips, and his strangely quirky eyes and long eyelids gave off fascinating and wild energy that seemed to captivate people.

Asha looked at him with her eyes wide open. She didn’t avoid his gaze.

Karaf smirked in satisfaction. 

He seemed to quite like her appearance. 

But soon he raised his chin and looked down at her arrogantly.

“Do all ethnic minority people bite their master? Those who ignore my grace and know only betrayal must be uprooted and trampled down before they grow like weeds.”

Asha looked at him with eyes that couldn’t hide her contempt. 

Karaf said with a smirk as if he knew it.

“But I wonder what my Butterfly would be like.”

While Asha looked at him suspiciously, Karaf spoke generously.

“You are the butterfly of the Empire, so I will give you a special chance to save your life. What do you think? Pledge allegiance right here, and find a way to undo the curse with just the two of us. Isn’t that pretty good condition?”

Then Karaf grinned. 

It sounded really insulting.

Duran, who was behind him at the master’s blatant suggestion, also stiffened slightly in embarrassment. 

Asha suddenly remembered when they had sexual intercourse in her past life. 

She forgot that she had to look good to him, and turned her head to the side. 

He was making a huge mistake now. 

His curse wouldn’t be lifted so easily just by sleeping together. 

If that was really the way to lift his curse, she would have already made him bloom dozens of times in the past.

Karaf said narrowing his eyes.

“I heard that you gave up yourself to save Lycaon.”

“…….”

“It seemed to me that you had a very affectionate relationship with your boss to be just a colleague. That man has been chasing the Knights alone until the very end to save you.”

Asha’s eyes grew bigger when Jackal was mentioned.