From the beginning, a woman who easily yielded and acted humbly might not have defied his wishes, but she would soon bore him.
It was plain as day that acting like the delicate, tearful girl of the past would not win his heart.
Before heading to the receiving room, Duran, as if recalling something, turned and said,
“I will give you some time to freshen up. I’ll guide you to the receiving room.”
It was a consideration in its own way.
Asha’s appearance was indeed like that of a pitiful prisoner who had been captured while fleeing, and her hair was tangled here and there, soaked with sweat.
However, with a calm face as if she didn’t care at all, Asha said,
“It’s fine. I’ll go as I am. If a prisoner appears in clean appearance and dressed, it would be rather ridiculous, wouldn’t it?”
At the word ‘prisoner,’ Duran closed his mouth.
His eyes, looking at Asha, contained apology and various complex emotions.
Even though she was of a minority race, the rough manner in which he had brought a woman, the empire’s butterfly, had bothered him.
He was a nobleman who had thoroughly instilled the code of chivalry in himself.
But as Asha seemed to pay no attention, he soon gave up and continued to guide her.
Soon, the glamorous door of the receiving room opened, and Asha, surrounded by knights front and back, entered.
The memory of the past made her tense, but she tried hard to maintain her composure, swallowing her saliva so as not to show it and tightly gripping her hands.
Just as when she first met him in the past, Asha crossed the first threshold in her unadorned appearance.
Far away on the throne was a man with black hair and red eyes, crossing his legs and leaning his chin on his hand, a listless look on his face.
He was wearing a robe with black on the outside and red lining the lapels and sleeves. The robe was loosely draped, slightly revealing his muscular chest.
Thinking there was no need for decorum in meeting a minority, he appeared as if he had just come out of the bedroom, even holding a glass of wine in one hand.
It had been neither a long nor short time since she had seen his face after a few months of returning, but the moment she met his eyes, Asha felt her heart drop heavily once.
A man she had once tried to love…
It felt like a thorn was pricking her heart.
The room was filled with the smell of alcohol and the strong rose scent coming from him.
Karaf, like the empire’s rose, exuded an almost inhuman aura, spiking out like thorns.
Usually, when people first met him, they fell on the floor trembling in fear at the unidentified oppressive atmosphere, unable to look him in the eyes, but Asha merely looked at him intently without offering a greeting.
Watching her not even flinch at his red eyes, nor pay homage, Karaf slightly raised one corner of his mouth.
“…How disrespectful!”
A knight shouted from beside.
Though she was only not bound in chains and dragged here, she was essentially a slave as she was part of a minority.
Faced with the hostile atmosphere, as if she would be forced to kneel at any moment, Asha caught the edge of her hunting clothes and bowed gracefully.
“I greet the emperor, the flower of the empire.”
Though the greeting did not match her hunter’s attire, her aristocratic etiquette was perfect.
Karaf’s expression seemed to change a little.
After finishing her greeting, Asha knelt on the floor, politely gathering her hands in front of her and slightly bowing her head.
A haughty voice came from the front.
“Name.”
“I am Asha Camellia.”
He sneered and said,
“I heard you’re from a minority tribe. Wearing a wolf’s pelt, you look just like a barbarian.”
Asha stared blankly at the floor, but inside, anger was bubbling up.
This outfit was meaningful; Jackal had given it to her.
Having removed the stifling dress, it was a garment that pleased me, symbolizing the first time I had become a free hunter.
I disliked insulting such precious clothing, but Asha spoke curtly without showing it outwardly.
“Your Highness, there has been no clothing as practical as this to withstand the cold of the North.”
Asha quickly raised her violet eyes as she finished speaking.
She had just expressed her intention to him.
That she would no longer quietly be by his side as a mere ornament, as before.
Hence, she had deliberately not changed her clothes.
After all, glamorous dresses were nothing more than truly useless ornaments.
“Practicality…”
Karaf tilted his head and spoke with a sly smile.
“I wonder if even you possess this ‘practicality’.”
It was unpleasant to be treated like an object by him, but after all, to him, a butterfly existed solely to make him blossom.
Asha looked straight at him without losing heart.
Karaf leaned his body and comfortably rested his back on the chair and asked.
“I heard from Duran. He said you are a butterfly.”
“Yes.”
“Can you prove it here?”
A flash of excitement appeared in his red eyes for a moment.
To Karaf’s words, a bandit, who had come in after the knights and had been lying face down without presence, intruded.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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