Asha said calmly, but her words shocked Karaf even more.

She had been pricked by a poisondipped knife while trying to save him from an assassin, and she was walking around as if it was nothing…

Karaf rebuked her without realizing his anger.

“Weren’t you in a critical condition?”

“I’m fine now. Haven’t I regained consciousness?”

Watching Asha look down at her body with still a calm demeanor, Karaf’s expression became dumbfounded.

Something dissatisfied him, and as he narrowed his brows and licked his lips, he soon changed his words and asked quietly.

“Weren’t you… scared?”

“What?”

Asha’s face turned flustered, finding his question continually strange.

“Even so, it was an assassin. I’m used to receiving assassination threats since I was very young, but you must have been quite shocked….”

Asha faintly smiled in response.

“I’m fine since I’ve almost died several times too. The only thing that scared me was that I might not be able to stop the assassin. That was a little frightening.”

Karaf closed his mouth. To him, her words sounded like she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to save him.

How had she lived to say such things from the mouth of a young adult woman?

He naturally understood how she had struggled to survive as a minority, under constant threat of her life.

“…I heard about your childhood from Duran.”

He said just that and closed his mouth again.

He couldn’t dare to say anything insensitive like, ‘It must have been a hard life.’

Because she had gone through all that due to his orders to capture any minority across the empire who might be able to break his curse, without discrimination.

He had ruthlessly captured and threatened anyone from the elderly to children, so he had no right to say such words now.

His face filled with remorse and guilt, he lost himself in deep thought, but to Asha, his appearance was only strange.

Before his regression, he was not at all curious about her past, and he hadn’t even blinked an eye at her neardeath experience.

Rather, he had treated her as his possession since he had treated her well, despite her being sold as a slave, and had only pressured her to fulfill her duty as an empress.

Eventually, Karaf sighed deeply and spoke heavily.

“…Since you saved my life, I will definitely repay you. Tell me what you want. I will grant everything.”

At his words, Asha was taken aback.

He had changed dramatically since she was first dragged into the imperial palace.

It seemed he was moved because she had thrown herself to save his life.

Duran also had once told her that he had won Karaf’s favor by attempting to save his life.
Perhaps with this incident, he had not realized that he had broken down one layer of his thick thorns and took one step closer.

Asha soon raised her eyes and stared at his red eyes, opening her mouth.

“What I want is…… only one thing.”

Karaf also asked calmly without avoiding her gaze.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Please give Ricayon and the bandits the same reward as you gave them.”

As the story of Ricayon came from her mouth, Karaf’s face slightly stiffened.

Asha lowered her gaze and spoke as politely as possible.

“They did not know that I was the butterfly, but they protected me so that I could survive safely from the bandits. Without them, I would have been dead before I could reach Your Majesty.”

Karaf had already read Duran’s report and knew this fact.

But for some reason, it bothered him continually. That man, who is the leader of Ricayon.

“……There is reason in your words. But the minority tribes are people whom I can never forgive. It will be difficult to reward them until my curse is lifted.”

“Then please revoke the extermination order against Ricayon until then. They are a group that came from a minority tribe village long ago. They have never rebelled against the empire, living a fugitivelike life by going on small hunting requests. I think there would be no greater reward for them.”

Karaf closed his mouth for a moment and looked at Asha languidly.

Asha kept a calm face outwardly, but when he did not respond for a while, her heart pounded wildly inside.

What if he refused her request or suddenly changed his mind?

“……I understand. I will grant your request.”

Asha’s eyes widened as she looked at him.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Since you saved my life, saving theirs would be an equivalent deed.”

“Thank you. Truly, thank you, Your Majesty……”

Asha recited with a genuinely touched face. Karaf looked at her a bit uneasily.

When he told her to speak her wish, she requested to save someone else’s life and was so happy about it, which made him feel a little strange.

“Just, everything you told me must be true. You really have no connection with their leader.”

“Of course.”

Karaf’s expression softened at Asha’s firm answer.

Looking at his persistent questioning about him, Asha wondered if Jackal was the man who annoyed him so much.

Certainly, Karaf had always hated other men approaching his side in the past.

Really, his possessiveness was so strong that no one could beat it.

“I trust your words. But with today’s commotion, the rumor that the butterfly has flown into the palace has spread throughout the empire, so it must have reached Ricayon’s ears. So, they should let you go now.”

He spoke, his red eyes slightly shining.

“But if they misjudge the situation and challenge me again, then this agreement will be null and void.”