Tamed or Captured

Jackal said to Mel.

 “Mel, it would be best if you transformed into a horse first. If that wild boar makes a sudden move and charges towards us, run quickly to the house.”

 “Yes!”

Obediently, Mel transformed into a small foal. No matter what, being in the form of a horse would allow for faster escapes than in human form.

The golden foal, Mel, stayed close to them and observed the wild boar attentively.

Jackal calmly prepared for the hunt and gave instructions.

 “Mel, remember the scent of the wild boar while in horse form. It will be useful later.”

Mel nodded and sniffed the air, taking in the scent through her nose.

Although Asha couldn’t understand the explanation, it was still beneficial training for Mel.

As horses have a keen sense of smell, exposing them to various scents from a young age was part of the Kelpies’ child-rearing methods.

Then Jackal turned to Asha and said.

 “I’ll lure the wild boar, you shoot.”

 “Understood!”

Jackal emitted a high-pitched noise directly at the wild boar.

Hearing the sound, the wild boar became excited and started charging towards him.

Jackal swiftly ran up the slope, luring the wild boar, and then leaped onto a tree.

As the wild boar followed Jackal, it struck its head against the tree, and at that moment, Asha’s arrow flew straight, striking the wild boar’s neck.

Melissa, who was standing nearby, exclaimed, “Wow!” However, being in the form of a horse, an excited neigh escaped instead.

As the two approached, Jackal jumped down from the tree and landed on the ground. 

He gently closed the boar’s eyes with his leather-gloved hands, then clasped his hands together, offering a prayer.

Melissa returned to her human form and quickly dressed. She kneeled beside the boar and also prayed to God.

 “Thank you for providing us with food today.”

Jackal then tied the boar to the sled, slung the rope over his shoulder, and dragged the boar alone.

It was an incredible show of strength.

Asha and Melissa attempted to help, but he waved them off.

Jackal looked at Asha and said.

 “You were impressive with the bow once again.”

Asha smiled shyly and replied.

 “You were impressive too. You’re very strong.”

Being praised for his strength filled Jackal with great pride, causing him to raise his nose and take a quick sniff.

With a smile on her face, Asha continued walking when she suddenly noticed a deer on a hill in the distance, causing her eyes to widen.

The deer, with one leg raised, was indeed the same one Asha had let go of before.

Suddenly, next to the deer, there was also a stag and a fawn.

Witnessing them overcome hardships and form a family felt like looking at her own reflection.

As the deer gently closed and opened her eyes, Asha smiled back at her.

Eventually, the deer family disappeared from sight, and Asha returned home with a contented heart, accompanied by her own family.

Jackal specifically called Wede and asked him to cook the wild boar.

As a large wild boar appeared on the dinner table, Mel’s eyes widened, and she eagerly looked around.

Jackal subtly commented from the side.

 “Your mother used to love roasted wild boar so much.”

Asha blushed as she recalled what had happened before.

Just like during their first dinner, Jackal personally tore apart a succulent leg of wild boar and handed it to Asha first. Then he tore another leg and gave it to Melissa.

Melissa’s eyes widened as she tasted wild boar meat for the first time and eagerly devoured it.

Beside her, Asha was also tearing voraciously at the meat.

Resting his chin on his hands, Jackal watched them eat enthusiastically, wearing a small smile.

The daughter, like her mother, also excelled in devouring roast boar.

 “Honey, hurry up and eat.”

Asha said, taking a knife from her pocket and skillfully cutting a leg, which she handed over to Jackal.

His eyes widened slightly as he looked at her with his chin resting on his hands.

It seemed he had fallen in love with her powerful presence once again.

Melissa glanced at them, hesitated for a moment, and then cheerfully began singing ‘Tra la la.’

Jackal and Asha’s faces blushed slightly.

After finishing their meal, the three of them gathered around the warm fireplace, wrapped themselves in a blanket, and spent the night sharing stories.

Before long, Melissa stretched out her short arms and legs in front of the fireplace and fell asleep. Asha lay down next to the child and fell asleep peacefully.

Jackal looked at them affectionately, covered them with a blanket, and then transformed into a horse. He quietly lay down beside them, closing his eyes.

Outside the window, a relentless snowstorm raged on.

It was a harsh season, with the cold seeping into their bones. However, when the three of them were together, the season became incredibly peaceful and warm.

* * * * *

Winter passed, and suddenly spring arrived, bringing blooming flowers once again.

During that time, Melissa diligently followed her father to the mountains for winter hunting. Though she couldn’t catch any animals, she became faster at discovering the burrows where small animals were hiding.

Jackal, who had returned home from hunting today, went to the warehouse to organize the hunting tools.

Asha was preparing the caught prey when suddenly, Mel was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking that Melissa might be engaged in another unusual game with Jackal, Asha hurriedly ran to the warehouse. 

However, she stopped at the doorway, her eyes widening.

Inside the warehouse, a blue-gray horse and a golden horse were dancing, lifting their front legs and hopping…

She couldn’t fully grasp what was happening, but both of them seemed incredibly excited.

Especially Melissa, standing on two legs, energetically dancing, shaking her hips and head with liveliness.

The sight was even more extraordinary than Asha had imagined, and she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

 “My unstoppable foal.”

When Melissa noticed her mother, she approached and rubbed her face against Asha’s leg. Asha smiled and planted a kiss on the bridge of her nose.

Even so, Melissa was a very lovable foal to Asha. 

Melissa, now back as a human, exclaimed with shining eyes.

 “Mommy! Daddy said we’re going on an outing tomorrow!”

 “An outing?”

Jackal also returned to his human form and spoke.

 “Yeah. When I was young, running around in the field was so much fun.”

 “Is that why you used to go out alone so often when you were at the last hideout?”

Asha smiled mischievously as she reminded him of when Sheppy used to go on outings.

Jackal remained silent, but his face turned slightly red.

Next to them, Melissa exclaimed excitedly like an enthusiastic little foal.

 “I’ll fly a kite!”

Mel, unable to fly in the sky, seemed to have a desire to fly a kite instead.

 “Yeah, sure.”

As Asha laughed, Jackal also chuckled.

 “Well then, this dad should make a sturdy and nice kite.”

He stayed up all night working in the workshop, making the kites, and only came out when daylight broke.

The sky was a perfect blue without a single cloud, making it the ideal weather for an outing.

However, when they were preparing breakfast, Melissa was nowhere to be seen.

 “Where’s Mel? Is she still sleeping?”

At Asha’s question, Jackal muttered, “That can’t be…” and glanced towards the kitchen doorway.

Upon hearing about the outing, Mel had been so excited that she stayed up all night.

She was definitely a child who would have woken up and finished getting ready before anyone else.

 “Did she stay up all night and fall asleep?”

Just as Asha was about to go to the room to wake Melissa, something golden quietly entered the kitchen.

It was Melissa, transformed into a horse.

Melissa’s expression looked weak and droopy.

Asha was startled and asked as she cupped Melissa’s cheeks with her hands.

 “Mel! What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

Melissa shook her head slightly, then let out a long sigh, ‘Pooong…’

Jackal realized something.

 “Could it be that you can’t turn back into a human?”

Mel nodded weakly.

They were supposed to go on an outing today and fly a kite, but it seemed that her transformation wasn’t working as she wanted.

Even in that state, Melissa was adorable, so Asha smiled and gently stroked her mane. Then Jackal spoke again.

 “When I was young, I couldn’t control it well. There were many times when I would wake up as a horse.”

Melissa looked up, her ears fluttering in delight.

 “You might be able to turn back into a human during the outing, so let’s go.”

Only then did Melissa feel a bit more energetic, her eyes widening as she twirled her tail.

Asha smiled and served the food to the plates.

 “Now that my Melissa is a horse, I’ll have to serve your food on this plate today!”

Asha poured the carrot soup into a wide bowl and placed it in front of Melissa, just as she had given Jackal goat’s milk before.

Melissa, feeling awkward and embarrassed eating food in her horse form, hesitantly ate the soup.

Seeing that, Jackal also transformed into a horse and went to Mel’s side, and then looked at Asha.

He meant he wanted the same treatment.

He intended to always be there by Melissa’s side, ensuring she didn’t feel ashamed of her horse’s appearance.

Asha was moved by Jackal’s fatherly love and placed a bowl in front of him as well.

The two horses leaned their noses into the bowls and started eating the soup.

As Melissa watched her dad calmly eat, she felt relieved and eagerly filled her stomach.

Asha looked at them with a hearty smile.

After Melissa finished eating, Asha wiped the soup off her mouth and nose with a napkin.

But then, a blowing sound came from beside her.

 “…… Purung.”

When she turned her head, she saw Jackal staring at her intently.

He wanted her to wipe him as well.

Asha laughed and gently wiped the corners of his mouth.

Jackal, observing the scene with lowered eyelids, suddenly transformed into a human and quickly got dressed.

He then turned to Melissa and said earnestly.

 “Mel, can you go to your room and get ready first?”

Excited about the outing, little Melissa made a ‘huff, huff’ sound and obediently disappeared from the kitchen, her hooves ringing with a ‘hop, hop, hop’ sound.

She had a large carrot in her mouth.

As expected, Melissa loves carrots.

As soon as he confirmed that his daughter was nowhere in sight, Jackal rushed straight into Asha’s lips.

Unexpectedly, Jackal planted a morning kiss on her….

Asha was taken aback, her eyes widening, but she blushed and closed her eyes, reciprocating his kiss.

Uncertain whether they were tasting food or each other’s lips, their intimate moment came to an end, and the three of them set off for an outing in the nearby forest.

Upon reaching the wide field in the forest, an excited Melissa hopped and jumped on the lush grass.

Though she refrained from eating the grass or nibbling on the flowers, her happy expression as she contentedly sniffed the air and rolled around in the flower garden was incredibly cute.

At this moment, it was clear to anyone that she was truly a horse-like daughter.

Jackal looked up at the sky and took out three kites that he had made.

There was a kite in the shape of a blue-gray horse, a yellow butterfly, and a flower painted with brown and yellow stripes resembling a bee.

Jackal first demonstrated in front of the two of them.

As the blue-gray horse-shaped kite soars into the sky, Melissa was jumping up and down with wide eyes, when she suddenly reverted to her human form.

Without panicking, Asha quickly wrapped the robe she had prepared around Melissa’s body.

 “I want to try too!”

Jackal stood behind Melissa, holding the reel together, gently releasing the thread, feeling the wind’s flow.

With her flower kite soaring through the air, Melissa became very excited and started running.

However, just as the kite was about to ascend higher, it suddenly dropped to the grass when the wind ceased.

Melissa came to a sudden stop and looked at the fallen kite with a dismayed expression.

Asha, who had been observing from behind, raised her hand slightly and sent a gust of wind towards the kite.

Once again, the flower kite gently floated up into the sky, and Melissa let out a joyful scream, exclaiming, “Yay!”

Jackal made eye contact with Asha and gave her a slight smile. Asha smiled back and nodded.

Soon, the three kites began to float up into the sky in the same direction, flying together.

Smiles bloomed on the faces of Asha, Jackal, and Melissa as they looked up into the sky.

The butterfly, horse, and flower-shaped kites streaked across the endless blue sky, flying freely.

-THE END-

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TN: Thank you for following Asha and Jackal’s love story. It has been a pleasure to be able to translate this novel to the end.

I would have liked to know what has happened with Karaf in the last 5 years. I came to hate him at first but after reading all that he has been through, I was very sorry. I wish I could hug his child self even though he is a fictional character. I just wish he had a happy ending too.

There are still three special chapters left and I can’t wait to find out what they hold. 

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