Hades spread his arms wide toward Latifa, who was still sitting on the camel.

“Goddess, come down to the ground now. Heh, wait. That makes sense now. What else could it be if it’s not the descent of a goddess?”

He found his own words amusing and chuckled with narrowed eyes.

“It’s really not funny at all, but he seems to find it funny.”

Although it was really not a funny joke, Latifa responded with a small smile and jumped into his broad arms.

Thunk.

Expecting a soft sound as she nestled into his chest, the actual sound of her hitting the man’s chest was quite rough.

“Ugh, my nose.”

“You should have jumped better. What’s wrong with that?”

With a somewhat awkward embrace and a strong grip on the back of Latifa’s head, his touch was now one of the familiar things to her.

As they entered the main gate amiably, the day that seemed like it would never get dark behind them was gradually fading away.

“Hehehe. Hades, sir. Here, this.”

After cooling off in cold water and preparing to go into the estate, Hades, looking at the wooden cup offered by Lukwan, spoke coldly.

“What is this.”

“Please drink it all at once.”

“…Lukwan. I asked what this is.”

Hades, who didn’t seem to like Lukwan’s smiling expression, glared at him with clenched fists.

Not only that, but the liquid in the wooden cup, or rather the gelatinous lump of unknown dark gray substance, looked suspicious at first glance.

“In other words, if I were to explain this, it’s a potion made by thoroughly soaking a rare, this big freshwater eel from the Ventus River—difficult to catch—and mixing it finely with the juice of fresh black raspberries, blended with honey and almond oil.”

Like a peddler selling suspicious medicine, Lukwan rattled off strange ingredients, and Hades did not even snort at the indifferent reaction of his master.

“…”

Seeing his master’s indifferent response, Lukwan scratched the back of his head a little awkwardly and whispered softly.

“So… um, it’s really good for your body. A normal one costs two gold coins, but with the inclusion of black raspberries, it’s five gold coins.”

“…Ha. Drink it yourself.”

Ignoring the seemingly indifferent response, Hades passed by him as if he had heard nothing.
“Well, we thought there must be a reason why ‘we’ decided to hold Lady Latifa’s coming-of-age ceremony. Wasn’t that the case?”

With a deadpan expression, Lukwan put down his cup and picked up a rattan basket full of various fragrance bottles.

“Lukwan, as your master commands. From now on, do not think. It’s useless, why bother wracking your brain.”

Hades, wearing only a towel around his waist, tossed his clothes aside and lay on the black onyx boulder in the center of the hammam, a black marble washbasin.

Contrary to his expectation that it would be scorching hot, the diamond-patterned marble was still not heated.

Rather than being hot, the smooth surface was not even lukewarm. As he swept his hand across the surface, he thought about it for a moment and asked Lukwan, who looked awkward.

“Wait. ‘We’ thought so in our own way?”

“Uh… That is… Lady Yannan said…”

Lukwan stammered, realizing he was in trouble, and quickly started filling the hammam with firewood.

“Hades, are you ready? Lukwan, what are you doing there?”

Yannan’s sudden voice at the entrance made Lukwan jump, and he tried to usher her out.

“Miss, it’s not that… Wait outside for a moment and talk…”

“We’re already prepared, so why are the men still loafing around like this? What’s going on? Don’t push it, ahem. Lukwan, what are you doing?”

“Miss Yannan! What are you saying to General Hades, the marshal of a nation? You’re saying strange things, and you seem a bit unwell. Huh? Go outside and get some fresh air!”

Hades, with a peculiar gaze, observed them, and Lukwan was dragging Yannan outside.

“Wait, Lukwan. Why is General Hades preparing a sauna here? Wasn’t he supposed to go over there?”

As Yannan, being dragged away, glimpsed Hades, who seemed ready to start the sauna with a half-naked appearance, she raised her eyebrows in confusion.

Realizing something from Yannan’s perplexed voice, Hades sighed deeply and said.

“Ha… Right. So here, without even heating the fire, they’ve brought out some weird eel juice. You guys have been in a house with a full stomach and a roof for so long that your intestines have swollen, haven’t you?”

Hades, tsk-tsking, stood up and firmly adjusted the towel covering his lower body.

Lukwan was already on his knees on the neatly tiled black floor, tilting his head in a bowed position, and Yannan, understanding the situation, quietly knelt down, her face unusually pale.

“Do you think of your master as a horse? Well, the level has gone up compared to calling me a crazy dog, hasn’t it?”

“Heek.”

With a chilling voice, Lukwan pondered how many seconds were left for his life, and Yannan worried about who would take over the incredible secret sauce recipe in Caleb’s kitchen once she was gone.

Hades, slowly walking between them, walked out. Perhaps he was planning to administer the punishment outside.

“Miss Yannan… This life was quite pleasant meeting you. The road ahead may not be lonely.”

“…”

But behind Lukwan, who closed his eyes tightly and whispered softly, there was a refreshing sound of gulping down something cool.

Thunk!

In front of the pitiful sheep with their knees down, a small wooden cup bounced off the floor and rolled away.

The contents inside were empty.

“Ugh, you, there’s not even a bit of taste! Damn it! How can it taste so terrible even though it has black raspberries!?”

Although he exuded immense annoyance, Hades’ somewhat relieved voice made them breathe a sigh of relief with tightly bitten lower lips.

“Okay, did you warm the floor there well? But as a penalty for disrespecting the master, you two will help with the nightly cleaning of the stable for a week.”
Hades wiped away the slightly bitter liquid at the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and left the hammam.

Where he was heading was evident.

It was the western annex’s hammam, where generations of Callep’s innkeepers had served, and where Latifa was supposed to be.