CH 10

The horse came to its senses and backed stiffly back the way it entered.

His appearance caused Asha to burst out laughing.

“Is it you?”

Asha approached the horse without hesitation and gently stroked its nose. 

The horse, frozen, looked at her and accepted the touch.

“Right, good boy.”

Asha asked slightly startled while she stroked its mane.

“Did you get wet? If you don’t dry yourself well during the winter, you’ll catch a cold.”

Asha quickly grabbed a large towel and placed it over the horse’s head. 

Her delicate movements made Jackal blush involuntarily.

He thought he was lucky to have been turned into a horse. 

Asha said with a smile.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

When the horse glanced up from inside the towel, Asha said with a weak expression on her face.

“It was the first time in my life that someone came to rescue me. Many people wanted to catch me or chase me to kill me…..”

Asha looked sad for a moment, then asked cheerfully.

“Are you here to find your master?”

“…. Purung.”

The horse snorted in response.

“But what should I do……? He got mad and left. But if you wait, he’ll come back. Stay with me in the meantime.”

Asha led the horse to sit on the rug and gently stroked its stiff back.

She had been alone in the Imperial Palace for so long that she always wished she had someone she could touch like this. 

Jackal looked up at her, lying quietly on the rug when he heard that he was angry.

He wondered if he had ever looked so angry before. 

Asha thought the horse looked concerned and sighed.

“….I think your master hates me. I may never see you again.”

The horse shook its head. 

Asha asked with a smile.

“He does not?”

“Purung.”

“Thank you. You’re the only one I have.”

Asha looked around, picked up a bowl of water, and held it out to him.

“I want to give you something, but it’s not my house, so I don’t have anything to give you. Just stay here drinking water here until your owner comes back, okay?”

For a moment, she felt the horse hesitate, but soon the horse stuck out its tongue and slowly drank the water.

He felt that the water was very sweet, maybe because he sweated a lot in the bathroom, or because Asha gave him water.

Asha smiled and she murmured as she watched.

“In my next life, I want to be born as a horse, not a butterfly…..”

The horse looked at her curiously, and Asha murmured faintly.

“I can go anywhere freely. In this life, I had no other way out than death……”

Jackal’s blue eyes also turned lonely. 

Asha said, now lying next to the horse, gently stroking its nose.

“I’m not your owner, but I wish you could be by my side like this sometimes. For some reason, I feel like you understand me.”

The horse responded by gently closing and opening its eyes.

“I accidentally said something I shouldn’t have said to your master. I’ll apologize to him later. In this life……I will prevent the emperor from catching and killing him…….”

Asha murmured and then fell asleep. 

All he could hear in the room was her quiet breathing.

As soon as he confirmed that she was completely asleep, a human shadow suddenly appeared above the fireplace.

Jackal carefully picked up Asha and carried her to his bed. 

Asha was drunk and fell into a deep sleep.

The movement did not wake her.

He stood by the bed for a long time and looked down at Asha with a complicated look on his face.

He reached up and gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

But it was then.

“Captain, are you here? I heard you were in the bathroom, but you weren’t there……”

Sosa opened the door and walked in, to find Jackal standing naked in front of Asha, his eyes widening. 

A beast-like body strongly forked back muscles, and curvy copper-colored buttocks were stuck in his eyes. 

Jackal looked around the door calmly and asked quietly.

“…….. You guys aren’t even kids, why are there so many people who don’t know to knock?”

“Ah, I’m sorry…… Then have a good time……..”

Sosa carefully closed the door and tried to leave, but Jackal stepped forward and grabbed the doorknob.

“What a good time. I have something to tell you. Spend the night with me.”

“……What?”

Sosa’s eyes widened. 

Jackal realized that his words sounded strange again, and said, “Damn……” ruffling his hair fiercely. 

Sosa was embarrassed, trying to avoid his gaze.

“First, put on some clothes.”

“…..Wait a minute.”

Jackal took the clothes off the hangers and went out with him. 

The cool night breeze caressed his hair, but he wasn’t too cold as Asha had meticulously dried it. 

Sosa hesitated, then he asked cautiously.

“But why did you take off your clothes……?”

Jackal glanced at him and replied calmly.

“Why? I can’t even take my clothes off in my house?”

Sosa rolled his eyes.

“That’s not true, but…… Rumors are already circulating among the people. How can I not misunderstand if you act like you just did?”

Jackal answered as he ruffled his hair, a little annoyed.

“It’s because I didn’t bring my clothes. I can’t walk home naked from the bathhouse. I think it’d be funnier to hear that rumor.”

“Oh.”

Sosa nodded, thinking it was a serious problem. 

Jackal fiddled with his forehead and murmured.

“….She stroked my head.”

Sosa laughed, and Jackal glared at him.

“How would Asha react if she knew that the horse was the captain and that you were naked too?”

Sosa laughed just thinking about it.

Jackal looked at him seriously

“Even if I die, I will keep it a secret from her.”

“Then are you going to keep walking around Aisha like a horse?”

“….. yes. Looking at her today, it seems like she can easily speak her mind in front of a horse. I think it would be good to appear in front of her as a horse sometimes. She also seemed to want me to come often…….”

“Sounds like such a silly thing to say.”

Jackal stared at him with a scowl, and blinked like, ‘What did I just say?’

“I plan to accept Asha as a Lycaon.”

Sosa’s eyes widened slightly.

“Is that true?”

“But she will belong here as a huntress, not as my wife, as she wishes. We’re going to train her severely.”

Jackal said, trudging along.

“Tell Gabe to come to the hall.”

“Yes.”

Sosa recalled what had happened in the fortress. 

The reason he called Gabe was probably to ask him about today’s affairs. 

Jackal arrived at the hall first and was organizing his thoughts, but after a while, Gabe entered the hall. 

Jackal folded his arms and leaned sideways over the wooden table where the meetings were being held, looking towards the door.

Gabe was drunk, his face red and swollen, and his eyes bloodshot. 

As he walked forward and stood up straight, Jackal asked calmly.

“Do you know why I called you?”

Gabe replied calmly.

“Didn’t you call me to ask me about something earlier?”

“I called you to apologize to you.”

“……?”

Gabe’s eyes widened a little because he didn’t expect it.

Jackal said calmly.

“I heard from Sosa. Traces of intruders appeared at the border of the village.”

“……Yes.”

“In a situation where our people could be at risk, you would have been frustrated and angry that I took in a strange woman for no reason.”

“…….”

Gabe had become very sensitive after discovering traces of an intruder.

“I’m sorry I grabbed you by the neck.”

At his sincere apology, Gabe also relaxed his expression and lowered his gaze.

“I was harsh earlier, too. I’m sorry to provoke her and gave her a bomb shot. Is she all right now?”

“She collapsed.”

“…….”

Gabe sighed as if he knew it. 

Even he, who is usually a drunkard, couldn’t believe she could have been all right after drinking so much liquor.

Jackal looked at him seriously and continued.

“I plan to accept her as a huntress, not my partner. The idea will remain the same”

Gabe paused, then raised his head and asked with a slightly wary face.

“What’s the reason? As a patrolman, give me a good reason.”

Jackal, unable to tell Asha’s secret, pondered for a moment, then spoke.

“She is not an ordinary woman.”

It was a very thoughtful response on his part, but Gabe laughed like it was ridiculous. 

Jackal raised his eyebrows slightly.

“You are laughing at me?”

“No, I think there must be something the captain is so serious about. She was so confident about joining the patrol.”

“Asha said she was joining the patrol team?”

Jackal asked, slightly surprised by the story he didn’t know.

“Yes. She’s already treated me like some kind of colleague, so I ended up giving her a bomb shot.”

“The patrol squad…..”

Jackal rubbed his chin seriously.

“It would be good.”

Gabe stopped laughing.

His mouth was open and he looked genuinely dumbfounded.

But Jackal still spoke calmly.

“She will do well.”

Gabe asked.

“Why are you so sure? Even though there has been no record of female hunters in Lycaon?”

The patrol team was made up of the most agile of its members and was a unit that went on duty at the risk of being attacked anytime, anywhere.

Instead of replying ‘she’s a butterfly’, he made another statement.

“I have a lot of faith. Like I believe in you.”

“……..”

Gabe’s eyes twitched foolishly.

Jackal tapped his shoulder a couple of times with one hand.

“Take care of yourself in the future. You know? Maybe one day she will save your life.”

Gabe laughed.

“That’s not going to happen. What could I have not done enough to owe her my life?”

Jackal stared at him without saying a word. 

The smile slowly faded from Gabe’s mouth at his gaze.

He was serious now.