“Didn’t you hear? It’s my chest, so get up.”

At those words, Latifa slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, Hades’ face appearing directly in front of her.

He looked neither angry nor pleased, his expression ambiguous. It seemed to be the face of someone who didn’t know what expression to wear in this situation.

‘Is the mad dog confused in his own way?’

Certainly, nobody had ever done something so bold to the mad dog, so his bewildered appearance was understandable.

Just as Latifa was about to quickly get up, she saw the faint silver aura that he showed around animals, blossoming around him.

‘Wait. Another aura……?’

“Get down quickly.”

Hades spoke, still holding her pale wrist on his chest. And at the same time, another voice was heard through the aura.

[Such small hands.] His voice was as cold as an ice chamber, but his chest’s heartbeat, felt over the palm of the hand through the thin fabric, and the hand holding her wrist were so hot that she did not know what to believe.

“What, what is it? Why is the spirit appearing again?”

[It’s soft there.]

“Excuse me?”

Soft?!

She was surprised to hear his voice in the first place, but she was even more startled that the words from the spirit were “soft.”

“I told you to get down.”

His sharp voice sounded again. His hand, gripping Latifa’s wrist, tightened a little more.

‘Why do I keep seeing his spirit? Is this really what General Hades is saying? It’s not a delusion, is it?’

Tens of thousands of thoughts crossed in a short time. There were no other animals that could possibly show a spirit as she looked around.

Finally, Latifa decided to test whether the words she was hearing now were his inner thoughts.

“Soft, right?”

As Latifa carefully began to chant, he looked at her, his face scrunched up.

“What?”

His voice was still cold, but she detected a faint, wavering low resonance.

Swallowing dryly, Latifa spoke a little more boldly at his subtle reaction.

“You know better what’s soft.”

[What, what is it?]

At the moment the bewildered voice of the surprised man reached through the spirit, Latifa couldn’t help but smile slyly.

It was the most foolish voice of Hades she had heard so far.

“Hehe.”

“Did you hurt your head falling over and laughing all of a sudden?”

At his sharp voice again, Latifa wiped her smile and shook her head.

‘If I say I hear his voice now, Hades may become wary and not help me anymore.’

No one would be pleased to hear others’ inner thoughts.

Latifa spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s soft here.”

“What?”

“I thought you were a coldblooded person without blood or a heart, but you’re not. You’re like other people.”

“…….”

He just stared at Latifa as if he had been hit hard.

The heartbeat, heard over the clenched palm, started to beat a little more vigorously, thump, thump.

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Hades, who had been silent, suddenly became angry and shook off her wrist. The faint silver spirit scattered in the air, and the inner voice was not heard again.

“I am like a deity that all beings in the Grand Bazaar, no, this world fear. The fire among fires, the one who has received the title of Ignite. Don’t dare compare me to ordinary humans.”

Hades spoke with a threat. Latifa, a little intimidated by his momentum, quietly got up from her seat, agreeing.

‘Why does it keep appearing and disappearing? Besides, General Hades isn’t even an animal? No one else has ever been like this.’

While she was pondering, Hades got up from his seat, muttered a curse under his breath, adjusted his attire, and then cautiously asked.

“Are you dizzy?”

“Ah? Yes?”

“You fell down saying you were dizzy.”

With a voice that had become considerably softer compared to his threatening tone earlier, Latifa, feeling relieved, smiled and answered.

“Yes. I’m not dizzy now!”

He was silent for a moment and then turned his back, grumbling as he walked down the arched corridor.

“……There’s not a shred of dignity or elegance in that smiling face. Falling all over the place saying it’s dizzy! There’s a mountain of things to teach at Caleb!”
“Still, to say that a former princess lacks dignity is a bit…….”

Her pride was slightly bruised by his complaint. However, as it was true, she only pursed her lips.

At that moment, General Hades, who had been briskly walking down the hallway, glanced back and shouted at Latifa Glaesia.

“Follow me quickly. Don’t dawdle. You’ll be the only one who’s done nothing by the time the sun of the Grand Bazaar reaches its peak!”

“Eek! Just a moment!”

Rushed by Hades, Latifa Glaesia quickly moved her feet without having time to reconsider the spirit that was appearing to him. Hades was already standing at the end of the corridor, looking at her.

“Your pace is too slow!”

“It’s because your stride is too big!”

“In the blink of an eye, everything moves ahead here in the Grand Bazaar. Don’t even think about dawdling here.”

Latifa Glaesia quickly collected herself and briskly lifted her long hem, chasing after him quickly.

[Star Icon][Star Icon]

“What’s all this?”

Latifa Glaesia’s eyes widened as she looked ahead.

[Dash] Meow, Heehee, Quack Quack.

Various kinds of animals were gathered in front of the small yard.

Goats, horses, sheep, camels, chickens, and even some strange animals she had never seen before!

“This is a test to make you my Frau.”

“A test of my abilities?”

“You’ve been silent for a few days, but now you understand a little.”

“But as I said, my ability is limited, and I don’t know what or how to do.”

“Then can you clearly tell me what your ability is and what its limits are?”

At his words, Latifa Glaesia was struck to the heart and couldn’t say anything.

She knew that she had the ability to talk to animals and that there were limits, but she didn’t even know the conditions under which she could exercise that ability, or what those limits were.

“No.”

At the dejected words of Latifa Glaesia, he wore a confident smile at the corners of his mouth and said,

“That’s why I, who became your master, will personally find out. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will win every battle. If I know about your potential properly, you’ll manage well even without me later on.”

Certainly, General Hades was right.

Until now, Latifa Glaesia had only cared about hiding her ability according to her mother’s advice and had never even thought about using it freely.

In addition, there were few animals to see in the imperial palace, and there was no one to objectively evaluate her ability, so she had often doubted whether her ability was real.

‘I’ve often thought I was crazy. I wondered if I was hearing or seeing hallucinations because I was lonely.’

Latifa Glaesia nodded in agreement with a bitter expression.

“Now, let’s begin.”

General Hades sat down on the floor in a serious pose, unrolling a scroll and taking out a large eagle feather pen.

His serious attitude made her unnecessarily tense for a moment.

“What should I do?”

“I brought some animals from the Grand Bazaar’s livestock market that were acting strangely or were sick. Find out the cause, just like you calmed the mad horse in the barracks.”

He urged her to hurry up with a nod of his chin, and Latifa Glaesia took a step forward towards a large horse tied up right in front of her.

“Ah, hello?”

“Be careful. That one injured two traders with its hind legs.”

‘So you think I can treat such a dangerous animal by just having a conversation with it!’

Horrified by the terrifying words, Latifa Glaesia looked back at him with a tearful face.