He had no woman who wouldn’t be swayed if he intended to seduce, but even without that, there was no woman who would refuse him, the Emperor of the Empire.

Yet, he truly brought out his killing technique after a long time.

An ordinary woman would have fallen in love immediately at his breathtaking appearance and scent, but Asha was different.

She still turned away from him, maintaining an indifferent attitude.

Then, Karaf suddenly grabbed Asha’s hand.

The moment his cold hand touched her skin, memories of the past surfaced, and Asha involuntarily shuddered.

Karaf recalled the way Asha’s hand trembled last time and lightly brushed his eyelashes over the back of her hand.

“Your hand is quite cold. Is it because you’re nervous being beside me?”

Certainly, any woman who had been a commoner would be nervous sitting beside the Emperor, especially beside the glorious imperial throne.

Asha quietly pulled her hand away from him.

“……No.”

Karaf leaned in closer to her head and asked.

“……Then why tempt me by sucking my soul out, and then no longer meet my eyes? Don’t you like the flower when you see it up close?”

He asked teasingly, but Asha’s eyes only wavered, without responding.

Even though he exuded such a captivating scent and she didn’t react, Karaf’s competitive spirit was further aroused.

He leisurely lifted a bottle of wine with one hand and poured the wine directly into his own glass and hers.

The fragrant wine flowed from the elegant bottle engraved with golden roses into the glasses.

Ordinarily, he would have simply accepted the wine poured by others and drunk it, but now the situation was completely reversed.

He concealed his impatience, smiling faintly and said,

“It’s my favorite wine. It’s made with flowers, and the scent and taste are extraordinary. It’s a precious wine, so I don’t take it out unless it’s a special day, but I want you to taste it too.”

Asha quickly recognized the wine from its floral fragrance.

It was the same wine they had drunk together every time they had been intimate in the past…….

He, who enjoyed wine, always had her drink this before they went to bed, so it felt a bit awkward to hear that it was a special wine he only drank on particular days.

But then, something caught her eye beyond his face, curious like an adolescent boy.

Asha’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

‘The assassin has come……’

Staring only at the assassin, she defiantly poured the wine Karaf had poured into her glass slowly onto the floor.

The wine, resembling his eyes, poured onto the floor like blood.

At her rude behavior, Karaf’s smile faded, and his brows furrowed.

“What is this act you’re……”

Before he could finish, a dagger flew from somewhere.

Asha reflexively deflected the dagger with the wine glass she was holding.

She had been able to fend off the attack only because she focused all of her energy on the assassin.

Although she was not greatly startled, as she had anticipated this, Asha’s eyes widened the next moment.

A smoke grenade soon came flying through the window, and the banquet hall began to fill with smoke.

She had heard about this incident from maids in the past, but she had never heard that a smoke grenade had been used.

Soon, a woman charged through the thick smoke, frighteningly fast.

Another knife was in the woman’s hand…….

Asha blocked the attack again, but the wine glass shattered entirely and fell to the floor.

Simultaneously, her hand, pierced by glass, began to drip blood.

Asha’s eyebrows slightly furrowed in pain.

The assassin was the woman who had been dancing in the corner earlier.

She had worn the most common colored dress and danced tepidly in the corner, unnoticed by anyone.

She must have thought that she prepared for the assassination without being noticed by anyone, but Asha had been watching her all along.

Asha had clearly determined that the woman, acting most inconspicuously and showing suspicious movement, was the assassin, and her prediction had proven precisely right.
While everyone was busily engaged in social activities, she was the only one who exhibited suspicious behavior, looking around restlessly as if she had no interest in such things.

Moreover, unlike other women who had given up on being the chosen butterfly, she continually glanced at them, especially eyeing the wine glasses.

In the past, an assassin had tried to kill Karaf by poisoning his wine glass in advance.

And it was said that Karaf actually drank the wine poured by the servants, unaware of anything, and collapsed on the spot, vomiting blood.

But the assassin would not have known that a real butterfly had flown into today’s banquet.

Thus, when Asha heeded his call and walked towards the throne, he was greatly taken aback, and the moment she poured the poisoned wine onto the floor, it seemed as if he had changed his plan.

Asha, too, had expected that he would take other actions if the poisoning failed, but she had not anticipated that he would attempt to stab her and the Emperor directly using a smoke bomb.