Asha’s eyes widened as she walked through the bushes.

“Shepi…! Why are you alone in such a place? You surprised me. Were you waiting for me here?”

Barely successful in his transformation, Wild horse Jackal nodded in relief.

Asha stroked Jackal tenderly, smiling faintly.

“I can’t believe… that Mr. Jackal would be here…”

At those words, Jackal’s eyes also became misty.

He would soon have to reveal his true identity to Asha, but he was not yet mentally prepared.

Moreover, it would be easy to be discovered if he revealed his identity in such an open space.

He thought it would be better to watch the situation more carefully and act accordingly.

Asha grabbed the reins and went for a walk with Shepi.

“Shepi, run freely and come back. Okay?”

Asha patted her back, hoping that Shepi would run freely in the meadow even for this short time.

But Jackal only looked at her with a somewhat uneasy face and did not move from his spot.

He wanted to be with her even for this short time.

But when Asha forcibly pushed his hindquarters, he was startled and unknowingly trotted forward.

Asha grinned and waved her hand.

She wished that Shepi, like a runaway colt, would jump happily over the meadow and roll freely on the flowers.

Jackal sighed inwardly and looked around.

Being in the palace, he could find flowers blooming here and there without getting bored.

He pretended to take a stroll around the area and soon returned to where Asha was.

In his mouth was a beautiful red tulip.

Asha looked at the horse approaching with wide eyes, trotting with a flower in its mouth.

A horse with a flower…!

Asha covered her mouth with her hand and laughed innocently.

“How can you be so romantic! Truly a gentleman among horses!”

Jackal smiled warmly inside at her naïve laughter.

The slight trickle of nasal mucus due to the pollen on his wistful face was an added touch.

As he came close and suavely offered the tulip like a proposal, Asha accepted the flower with a smile at the corner of her lips.

She closed her eyes and smelled the tulip, speaking in admiration.

“It smells really nice. Thank you, Shepi.”

Seeing Asha as happy as if she’d received a rose from a lover, Jackal felt pleased inside.

He never intended to pick a rose, and oddly, he couldn’t find any roses there.

Instead, he had picked a tulip.

The red tulip’s meaning was ‘a confession of love’ and ‘eternal love.’

Asha picked two soft pink apricot flowers from a nearby tree, putting one in her ear and the other in Shepi’s.

Somehow tickled, his ear flapped once.

Jackal’s face turned as red as the apricot blossom, and he walked cautiously beside Asha lest the flower fall from his ear.

The back view of the two walking side by side with flowers in their ears looked like a beautiful painting.

So they lightly went around the walking path and ended the dreamlike stroll.

Now it was time to part with Shepi and return to the stifling palace.

“Shepi, see you again. Today was really fun.”

Asha said goodbye to Shepi and retraced her steps.

Shepi stood in one place, watching Asha as she moved away, still wearing the pretty and soft apricot blossom in his ear.

Even when a servant came to lead the horse by the reins, it did not budge, and Asha waved her hand until the very end.

When she was completely out of sight, Jackal sighed inwardly and was led away by the servant, trotting weakly back.

He wanted to continue being with her, but he could only meet her at a set time each day.

He wished for the comingofage ceremony to arrive soon so he could take her to Rikaion, their new home.

On her way back to the Empress’s palace, Asha found an unfamiliar mark in a deserted corridor.
Seeing a circle drawn on the wall, Asha tilted her head.

She used to mark an X at the crossroads where she had failed to escape in the past, and it raised a question.

“Who made this mark……?”

It was then that Asha was deeply lost in thought.

Suddenly, a shadow sprang out from the corner and covered her mouth.

“Mmph……!”

Asha looked up with surprised rabbit eyes.

There stood a man with a cool gaze, his nose and mouth covered with a black hood.

“……You will have to come quietly with me, Banetssa.”

Asha’s eyes trembled.

Meeting a kidnapper in broad daylight, even in the imperial palace, was truly astonishing.

Whether there was anesthetizing powder on the cloth covering her mouth, Asha’s body went limp, and her eyes gradually closed.

But then,

Suddenly from behind, the spy made a “ugh” sound and red blood splattered on her face.

Asha collapsed to the floor along with the spy.

“……Already so much trouble, what to do now.”

A leisurely and languid voice came from above.

At the familiar sensation, Asha looked up with a trembling body.

There stood Karaf.

But contrary to his languid tone, his red eyes looking down at the spy were chillingly terrifying.

When his eyes met Asha’s, he immediately relaxed his scary expression and spoke with a smile.

“I told you before. I won’t leave you to die.”