As Hades unfolded and read the scroll, his facial expression began to subtly change. No, it seemed to be tinged with a slightly reddish hue, as if he was getting angry.

“This little pig princess…! Treating her like a princess, and she’s crawling up like that!”

“What? Why are you so angry about what’s written? Is it possible that I have to go back to the palace again?!”

At Latifa’s urgent words, Hades, with a somewhat stiff expression, asked her as if telling her to calm down.

“You, how old are you? Haven’t you undergone the adulthood ceremony yet?”

Hades had a somewhat complex expression.

“What? The adulthood ceremony?”

Latifa, suddenly faced with a ridiculous question, tilted her head with a confused expression.

“I was in a war, so how could I have undergone the adulthood ceremony? I turned eighteen just last year, but I haven’t had a proper birthday because I’ve been running away.”

In the empire where Latifa was, noble ladies who had just come of age usually debuted with a debutante ball in the spring of that year.

“I have a young man who hasn’t undergone the adulthood ceremony properly, and what… Ha!”

Upon hearing Latifa’s answer, Hades, with a handsome forehead, frowned and swept his bangs to the side.

While he was alone, making a fuss about his hair, Latifa asked Yanan on her side.

“Do desert people undergo the adulthood ceremony too?”

“Adulthood ceremonies are significant rites for desert people, both legally and mentally. A lot changes in how they are treated before and after the ceremony.”

For some reason, Yanan replied with an expression that couldn’t hold back a smile.

“What did Princess Asti say? Can I see it too?”

Latifa, her face full of question marks, picked up the green scroll and began to read the contents, and soon her face began to blush slightly.

Latifa hasn’t undergone the adulthood ceremony yet. So, don’t do anything until her lips are ready. Do you understand, Grand Bazaar’s madman? Invite me when she has her adulthood ceremony. I’ll share the blessings of the royal family! Asti Basilii.

While holding a desert fox that was taking a nap for a long time and petting it, Latifa looked at him swinging a sword in the center of the grand stadium she had created a long time ago.

It wasn’t intentional for her to come out in this scorching sun and watch him; it was because Hades insisted on counting how many times he swung his sword.

They say blessings come down when the goddess is watching.

‘I was only going to have an appointment ceremony once, but making such a big stadium in the annex is really absurd.’
On the flat expanse of the beautifully arranged sands of the grand stadium in the gentle desert, he, undeterred by the scorching sun, was practicing with a strangely curved sword, having discarded his laughable attire.

Despite the transparent droplets of sweat slipping beneath his dark skin and muscles, Hades continued to wield the sword tirelessly, showing no signs of fatigue.

‘A celestial soldier.’

Observing the well-built abs and back muscles that seemed like they wouldn’t tire even after running around the desert barefoot for a week, Latifa momentarily lost her focus.

“How many times have I swung the sword?”

Suddenly speaking to Latifa while swinging his sword, Hades caught her off guard, and she stammered in response.

“Uh, um, two hundred and… five more times?”

“Goodness. Can’t the people of the empire even count properly?”

Hades, throwing the sword to the ground, wiped his sweat-drenched bangs with his palm.

The swept-up bangs remained erect, resembling a horned black steed, just like the way he had combed it with his fingers.

‘More like a beast than a human.’

In appearance, a black steed; in character, a mad dog.

With a slightly dazed state from the heat, Latifa looked at him approaching the stadium seats.

“I’ve truly made it difficult for you, Latifa.”

“Sorry. While I was counting, I missed it because I briefly glanced away.”

“Huh, in this vast stadium, is there anyone other than me worth paying attention to?”

Hades suddenly approached, leaning his arms on the fence that divided the stadium and the seats, looking down at Latifa.

With her drenched bangs, she looked up at him with her black eyes, and for some reason, Latifa’s heart began to flutter.

‘To say it’s because of a good body, it’s confusing how to put it.’

“I’m not patient. Let me hear your excuse.”

“Uh, there was an eagle flying overhead, and it greeted me. I couldn’t ignore the greeting. Right?”

At Latifa’s somewhat embarrassing excuse, Hades chuckled and said, “My goddess is lying.”

“It’s not a lie.”

Petting the desert fox’s fur gently, Latifa smiled playfully.

“What you need to see is me, your owner, and nothing else. Even if someone else calls you, don’t worry about it and just look straight ahead, focusing only on me is your job.”

‘Well, I did lose count while looking at you.’

Feeling a bit unjust, Latifa smiled slightly with a touch of mischief.

“Even if someone like the Sultan calls you… Never turn back, right?”

At the mention of the Sultan, a sigh naturally escaped Latifa’s lips.

“Phew. I don’t want to hear the Sultan’s words anymore.”

“Disregarding the owner and now even disrespecting the leader of our kingdom, quite audacious.”

While drinking water from the leather pouch he had laid aside, Hades nodded as if he fully agreed after listening to Latifa’s story.

“Heh. Although I may not count well, I do know how to read people’s faces. You must have realized that through this incident. If there are people in Grand Bazaar whom you should never trust, it’s the Basilii dynasty. So, don’t trust them completely.”
“Our royal family was too foolish, and your dynasty is too clever. However, if the general makes such remarks, wouldn’t it be considered disrespectful?”

As Latifa chuckled and accepted the water pouch offered by Hades, he diverted the conversation instead of responding.

“I didn’t even see the shadow of an eagle, and what did you see that you can’t count properly?”

‘So persistent!’

Growing tired of unnecessary persistence, Latifa eventually spoke in an exaggeratedly courteous tone, whether he believed it or not.

“In truth, there was no eagle, and I was just captivated by General Hades’ splendid physique.”

“Understood. Given the valid reason, I acknowledge your mistake.”

“Ugh!”

Frustration surged at Hades’ quick acceptance of Latifa’s response, but she couldn’t refute it.

He smirked and playfully poked Latifa’s slightly tilted mouth.

“Enough. Hearing the title of general incessantly, even at home, makes me feel like I’m constantly on the battlefield. So, just call me by my name. I’ll specially permit it.”