Her warmth when she touched his hair continued to linger, tickling him like a spring breeze.

Jackal said, lowering his eyelids slightly.

“I’m sorry that I mocked your purpose back then. Now that I think about it, I’m sorry, I don’t know how to apologize…”

Asha reached her arms forward and cupped his head and pulled him close to her chest.

Her action made Jackal’s eyes widen. 

Asha said calmly as she hugged his head.

“…… There’s nothing to be sorry about. There are only things I am grateful for. I don’t know how to repay you.….”

Asha gently ran her fingers through his mane-like blue-gray hair, as she always did with Sheppy. 

Jackal’s eyes softened. 

He slowly raised his head and met Asha’s eyes closely. 

Asha felt that her face was a little red from the reflection of the fire.

The two looked into each other’s eyes for a long time. 

Although their eyes were of different colors, their eyes contained the same emotion.

Suddenly, there was an affectionate atmosphere between the two of them.

Jackal soon confessed, looking at her with trembling eyes.

“I like you. I love you with all my life.”

Asha’s eyes trembled as well.

When she showed no sign of avoiding him, Jackal cautiously moved closer to her face.

Then he looked into her eyes as if to give her a moment to prepare her mind, and then he closed his eyes and brought his mouth closer to Asha’s.

It was his first kiss. 

Asha’s eyes widened slightly and she inadvertently stopped breathing, but soon she gently closed her eyes and kissed him.

Suddenly, the inside of the cave burned with heat, and her eyelids and body trembled.

It was pure ecstasy itself, without anxiety, without fear, without a burden.

Jackal placed his larger hands on her waist more boldly and pulled her body closer to him.

As his tight embrace completely engulfed her body, Asha felt like her heart was about to burst.

His arms were strong and cozy as if they kept you safe from all the dangers in the world.

The two stayed together for a long time and shared each other’s warmth in the cold cave.

At that moment, the Lycaons who arrived just in time found their very affectionate reflection outside the cave and turned their heads pretending not to know.

“They pretended they didn’t have that kind of relationship, I knew it would end up like this… A man and a woman having a secret meeting in a cave…”

While one Lycaon muttered that, the rest shook their heads with smiles on their lips. 

When Nagy tried to look inside again, gulping wide-eyed, Gabe quickly covered his eyes.

Sosa said with a slight smile.

“Let’s come back later, let’s not disturb them.”

* * * * *

“……How is it possible that no one knows where Vanessa is!”

Karaf was going berserk with anger in the Imperial Palace.

All the servants and knights turned white and tilted their heads towards the door when they saw him sweeping up all the items on the desk and violently throwing them on the floor.

The flowering ceremony was forcibly interrupted by Vanessa’s horse when it suddenly took her away and disappeared with her. 

Karaf, who had had a fever for hours, soon sat down on the sofa and covered his forehead with his hands.

He’s mad at the knights, but he doesn’t know where she is either. 

He couldn’t blame anyone. It was no one but himself who provided the excuse for the horse to escape.

He thought he should have killed the damn horse right away.

It was a big mistake to let her ride that horse on the most important day of the year, knowing that the horse had a special attachment to its master and was wary of him.

It was the first time he had felt so foolish and pathetic since Cylon betrayed him.

Karaf said, gasping for breath in anger.

“…… Where is Duran now?”

The chamberlain felt sorry even to speak, so he said without raising his head.

“Sir Duran has not returned. The rain washed away the horse’s tracks during the pursuit of him, so he has been riding north all night.”

Karaf’s hands trembled. 

Suddenly, a conversation he had with her before flashed through his mind.

‘You saw yourself die…..? Then did you see how you died?’

‘Yes. I fall off a cliff and die.’

His face turned pale and he trembled relentlessly.

If something bad happened, she could die.

No one knew if the damn horse would get too excited and run off the cliff.

Maybe that has already happened……. 

The moment it occurred to Karaf, his eyes widened, and he jumped off the sofa and screamed out loud.

“Tell Duran to search the cliffs right now!”

He felt unbearable anxiety and was about to go out looking, but his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.

“Your Majesty…… !”

The chamberlain ran to him and tried to help him, but Karaf shook his hand roughly and forced himself to his feet.

“Vanessa…… We need to find Vanessa quickly…… Vanessa… She might die……”

Dark shadows had settled under his eyes, he already seemed insane.

Seeing the cold sweat on his forehead, the chamberlain cried out in surprise.

“I’m going to get some medicine right now!”

The chamberlain hurried to order the servants to bring water and medicine.

Karaf gulped down the pill and swallowed it with water.

“Your Majesty…… You should get some rest. You haven’t slept a wink in days. Please close your eyes until Sir Duran returns…….”

Karaf tried to decline his sincere request, but he soon accepted it as if it had turned into a complete failure.

“Your Majesty, lean on me.”

As he shivered with chills and anger, the chamberlain supported him with a worried face. 

As he trembled with chills and anger, the chamberlain held him up with a troubled face.

He missed the butterfly when she was right in front of his eyes, right at his fingertips……

His outstretched hand did not reach her. 

For some reason, he felt that this was not the first time something like this had happened.

* * * * *

“……Captain! Are you all right?”

Sosa forced the others back a bit and approached Jackal and Asha alone when the time was right.

The two of them were somewhat surprised by his sudden appearance, but luckily, it was after his act of affection.

But when Sosa saw Jackal wounded in the side, he approached with wide eyes.

“Boss!”

Jackal spoke with a calm face even though he was breaking out in a cold sweat.

“I’m fine. I almost died, but Asha healed me.”

Sosa bowed his head to Asha and sincerely thanked her.

“Thank you for saving him, Lady Asha.”

He said, lowering his eyelids ruefully.

“And I’m sorry……Lady Asha had to leave to save us, but without asking your opinion, we implemented an escape plan on our own. You must have been very shocked.”

“I was really surprised. But I’m also a little angry.”

The expressions of both men darkened at the same time.

Asha narrowed her eyes at Jackal.

“How can you behave like a pure wild horse in front of me? I didn’t even know that, and whenever I saw Sheppy, I was so happy that I even touched its body…….”

At that moment, Asha’s eyes widened and her face turned red. She was speechless.

But also Jackal.

He was also blushing with his head down.

Sosa shook his head just looking at them.

Asha glanced sideways at Jackal.

The voluptuous beastly body of Jackal was openly revealed.

Asha’s face was now uncontrollably red.

She couldn’t stop her mind from remembering the times she had buried her face in his neck, caressed his naked body, and put his face on his chest.

Somehow, whenever she behaved like this, Sheppy would get embarrassed and act like a human being, but now it all seemed to make sense.

When she realized that, she couldn’t look at him anymore…

Sosa finally discovered that Jackal was naked and his eyes widened.

He was barely covering his most important part with Asha’s torn dress. 

He barely covered his biggest part with the fabric of Asha’s torn dress.

Sosa quickly handed a black robe to the two of them and turned his head.

“Hurry up, put it on. Let’s go back to the hideout and treat your wounds first, Captain.”

“…… Yes.”

Jackal struggled to get up, but Asha helped him. 

When her hand touched his hard trapezius muscle, Jackal looked at her for a moment, then rested his head against her clavicle.

Asha’s eyes got slightly bigger.

“Captain……?”

“Call me by my name. I don’t have anyone to call me by my name…”

Jackal said so and closed his eyes gently in his arms, as Sheppy used to do.

t was an act he did unconsciously because he felt so relaxed and so safe.

But then Sosa yelled with a disgusted face.

“Boss! This is not the time to be doing this!”

“…… Alright. Why are you angry?”

Jackal looked at him indifferently, dressed, and went out.

As the three of them emerged from the cave, the organization members, who were waiting and lurking a short distance away shouted with delight.

“Boss! Lady Asha!”

Seeing them call her by her own name instead of ‘Vanessa’, Asha smiled softly.

Now she understood a little of Jackal’s feelings.

But it was then.

“……Unni!”

Asha inadvertently laughed out loud at Gabe’s harsh shout.

Gabe ran to Asha with wide eyes and tears in his eyes.

Then, holding her by the shoulders with both hands, he frantically swayed her body from one place to another.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, Gabe. Calm down.”

Asha replied while her body trembled like a branch.

Jackal looked disapprovingly at Gabe, who was touching her without hesitation but decided to let it go just this once.

Today is an auspicious day, Lycaon beat the tyrant.

Everyone was overexcited and elated, and they deserved it. 

Seeing Nagy suddenly running towards Asha crying, she couldn’t help but think that everyone had been struggling until now.