“Oh no! What nonsense is this?! I have to go to Luhan right now!”
Hades stood up abruptly, then hesitated and leaned down on Latifa’s shoulder.
“You… You, don’t follow this cunning woman’s sweet words. Don’t go to the harem, don’t move, stay here! Got it?!”
As if instructing a child not to follow a kidnapper, Hades repeated the warning several times to Latifa before finally letting go of her shoulder, and Hagnu, beside him, was laughing as if out of breath.
There was something strange about Caleb’s bloodline.
After Hades disappeared, without any awkwardness, Hagnu told Latifa many things, and thanks to that, the two could spend a pleasant time.
“Oh. So did you accidentally come across the Epic of Harzept in the foreign library? Even the back part?”
Hagnu raised one eyebrow and asked Latifa.
“It wasn’t accidental; someone recommended it to me. At first, there was a translated version, but later, there was none, so I learned the desert language since then, and now it’s the foundation of my livelihood.”
“So, you knew their story afterward. What a peculiar coincidence! One cannot refuse the fate decreed by the gods.”
Hagnu smiled brightly and nodded his head.
“Anyway, I’m glad to have a friend to talk about Caleb like this after a long time. I secretly worried for a long time that Shadi’s naughty youngest daughter would become Caleb’s hostess.”
“That can’t be true. Hades really hated Amira.”
“Hades thought that if he didn’t have to marry her unless there was a change until you came, he would marry her for that boy’s goal.”
Hades’ goal was for Luhan to become the Sultan.
“Why does Hades hate marriage?”
“Do some men like marriage too?”
In response to Hagnu’s words, they burst into laughter again, laughing foolishly.
“Hades always thinks he has to be unhappy. Probably because he believed his mother died because of him. So, I’m really happy that the child created by him is a Fraulein, the joy of the owner.”
‘Hades’ mother passed away right after giving birth to him.’
Hagnu smiled bitterly, running his finger along the edge of a small glass.
On the surface of the glass, faint pink lipstick marks were visible.
“When I found Hades, who came to the harem to find you, I… It reminded me of the old days. He used to be so reckless and mischievous. That’s why our sister really liked him.”
“Sister? Do you have more siblings?”
“Huh? Didn’t you know? Did no one tell you?”
Hagnu squinted his eyes and subtly twisted his lips as if amused.
“The current Sultan of the Grand Bazaar, Rashid Basilii, his legal wife and our eternal beautiful queen who is now deceased, was none other than Yasmin Caleb, Caleb’s third daughter and our sister.”
“Whaat?!”
Hades’ first aunt was the queen?!
Then everything made sense.
Why Caleb received the treatment of a prince, why Hades was so determined to make Luhan the Sultan, and even why Hagnu strangely resembled Luhan!
“Sister was always fragile. After giving birth to Prince Luhan, her health deteriorated even more. Prince Luhan doesn’t have the robust physique of a desert man like his mother.”
Hagnu broke a piece of bread for the parrots on the table, drinking from the tea cup like a wine glass, and said, “Sister was a really good queen. She was more beautiful than me and wiser than our older brother. No one swore to hate her. Even the Sultan truly loved her. She was just too precious to the gods, so they took her away quickly…”
In her actions, there was a deep longing and affection, and Latifa quietly lowered her gaze.
Behind the suddenly heavy atmosphere, a pair of crowned parakeets with blue feathers descended to the table to eat the dessert crumbs.
“Um, I didn’t mean to bring down the mood, but it got too serious!”
Hagnu laughed brightly, breaking the bread for the parakeets and scattering the crumbs on the table.
“…So that’s it.”
“What?”
“So, you don’t have children to avoid feeling guilty.”
Hagnu’s hand, which had been moving quickly, stopped instantly at Latifa’s words.
Hagnu had never brought up the Sultan’s story during their tea times, except when talking about his sister.
The meaning was clear.
‘Hagnu became a concubine not because he liked the honor of the Sultan and the palace but to protect his nephews, Hades and Luhan.’
Whenever he faced the Sultan, he wished to forever remember and love his sister, whom he loved and missed.
And to remember Luhan and Hades, never to forget them.
“Hagnu, you really loved Caleb and your sister, I mean, the queen.”
“…….”
“Hagnu is truly a powerful person. I knew he was exceptional from the moment he helped me, but now I realize he is indeed the woman of Caleb, honored for a thousand years.”
Latifa shyly smiled, tilting her head slightly downward.
‘I can never compare to her.’
Such remarkable women deserved the authority of Caleb. Not someone like her, who was nothing special.
‘I have to talk to Hades again. The authority he bestowed upon me is too burdensome.’
“Indeed, someone like me is not worthy of Caleb’s authority. People like Hagnu or the queen are more suitable for such a role.”
To Latifa, muttering weakly, Hagnu cautiously spoke.
“Latifa, I used to have feelings for a man.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”