“This is… It looks like Prince Lohan’s handwriting.”

“Undoubtedly written by him.”

Iota took out a fan and fluttered the wind against her beautiful face. It was a splendid fan made by cutting purple peacock feathers to an appropriate length and meticulously embedding blue gems.

Meanwhile, Tarek had been reading the note Iota handed him out loud.

“I haven’t gone a day without thinking about you since we met. It was a great pain, but if I could turn back time to the day I accidentally met you, I would without hesitation… Wait! Is this a love letter?”

While reading, Tarek blushed slightly, feeling an unfamiliar embarrassment.

“That’s right. Prince Lohan is quite a mature man.”

Iota raised the corner of her red lips alluringly. From her lips, which were charming beyond her age, a girlish laughter burst out.

“To whom is this being sent… No, Mother, where did you get this?”

“That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that this is what Prince Lohan is sending to that ‘Hades’s Frau.'”

Tarek, still holding the note, froze with his mouth open.

“Really?!”

“Whether it’s real or not doesn’t matter to us.”

As Iota spoke with a taunting tone, she lowered the fan with a thud.

As Tarek reached out to read the note again, Iota’s hand, catching it, was faster.

“This is important, so I will keep it safe. What if this gets exposed to some ‘crazy dog,’ and Prince Lohan gets involved in an embarrassing scandal? What would you do then?”

Iota’s words had a nuance as if she was wishing for that.

“…Sigh.”

Tarek sighed incredulously, looking at her with tired eyes.

“Don’t tarnish our hands, and it would be better if things went sour between Prince Lohan and Hades. That’s better than anything else.”

“Mother. As you said, that frau saved your life.”

Tarek muttered quietly. However, Iota, jumping wildly, shouted.

“It’s all a play! Don’t be fooled, Prince!”

“If Mother believes it that much…”

In the end, Tarek gave up, sighing deeply and burying himself in the sofa.

“Just in case you’re worried, Prince, I hope you won’t encounter a troublesome woman.”

“…Did you give me a chance to meet a woman?”

As Tarek spoke teasingly, she stood up, wore a splendid red robe made of several layers of silk, and walked away.

“Someday, a wise and dignified ‘queen’ will appear for you, Prince.”

Not a prince consort or a queen. Tarek, with an unsatisfied face, watched her leaving the prince’s palace to check if she completely disappeared. Then, he looked down.

Leading the way was a woman wrapped in a noticeable red shawl from a distance, followed by several maids. Among them, sparkling golden hair caught Tarek’s attention.

One of Iota’s maids, the Golden Princess of the Empire, Ares.

Tarek crumpled his face with a displeased expression.

“…Those damn people from the Empire are the problem.”

Muttering to himself, Tarek kept staring at her until Ares disappeared from view.

Once Ares finally vanished from sight, Tarek returned to his seat and retrieved the complaint letter from Shady hidden under the sofa. After pondering for a moment, he picked up a bronze incense holder with a sandalwood base placed on the black lacquer low table.

“Tsk. I’ll just get rid of this petty complaint. Consider it a token of gratitude for saving my mother’s life.”
The thick black smoke that had risen briefly soon vanished without a trace into the evening glow of Grand Bazaar.

“Soon, something unimaginable will happen.”

Tarek muttered with a slightly uneasy voice as he scattered the remaining ashes.

“Because her skin is so fair, white doesn’t suit her.”

Yanan shook her head disapprovingly, having draped silk, gauze, satin, and even a thin veil that revealed her skin over Latifa’s body. Hades had explicitly stated that desert women traditionally wore white, and he spared no expense on it.

“Sorry. Can’t she wear the clothes she wore during the Frau appointment ceremony? Those were really beautiful.”

“If she wears something similar, what will happen to our dignity?”

As if making an apology, Yanan, looking somewhat embarrassed, spoke with a brightened eye.

“It seems to test Caleb’s lady qualifications. It’s good to see her burning like a flame after a long time. I’ve become less sharp-sighted without the mistresses here.”

Upon hearing the word ‘mistress’ from Yanan, Latifa asked her subtly.

“Who was the previous mistress?”

“If we talk about the most recent mistress, it’s Lady Hagnu, who is now in the harem palace.”

“What?!”

Hagnu was the brown-haired concubine who had helped Latifa on the day of her trial.

“It seems you didn’t know she was in the harem palace?”

“No, no one told me! Then, what is the relationship between her and Hades?”

When Latifa asked about Hades’ family, Yanan, seeming a bit awkward, looked around before answering.

“I don’t know if Miss Latifa knows, but Lord Hades doesn’t particularly like Lady Hagnu. So, we tacitly avoid bringing up her name in the Caleb territory.”

“I won’t mention her to Hades!”