Ruhan quickly reached the royal palace where Tarek was staying, finding Tarek lying arrogantly on the carpet of the reception room.
“Why is Brother Ruhan here? I heard General Hades is at the palace; wouldn’t you normally rush to him?”
Resting on a cushion, Tarek’s left shoulder was tightly wrapped in a white bandage.
“I heard you were injured, Tarek. I came to visit.”
Ruhan spoke softly, taking a seat across from Tarek.
“Aha.”
Tarek puffed on his water pipe, looking out the window without even glancing at Ruhan.
“Tarek.”
“I’m not in the mood for ridicule. Everyone in the Grand Bazaar is already mocking me, so don’t you start as well.”
From Tarek’s raspy voice, Ruhan could sense his severe irritation.
“I didn’t come to fight. I came for a brief talk.”
“My mother is participating in the trial at Sultan Alhyun’s room; go talk there. It’ll be a more enjoyable and productive time for you.”
Ruhan fell silent, observing Tarek, who showed no intention of conversation.
Tarek and he had never been on good terms since childhood, and it was rare for them to visit each other privately.
Ruhan paused, contemplating carefully chosen words.
“It’s unfortunate about the lion.”
“Do you expect me to overturn the plan you and your vaunted general devised? Isn’t it fortunate enough that I didn’t lose my life there?”
“……”
“If you don’t capture and execute that wench of Hades, I won’t be satisfied.”
Still not looking directly at Tarek, Ruhan calmly asked,
“Is that your rage, or your mother’s?”
“Can’t you see who’s injured? It’s my rage! Whose else would it be?!”
Tarek suddenly snapped, smashing his water pipe onto the floor.
His left arm, which he used to slam down the pipe, didn’t appear deeply injured at all.
“Hades has slighted the royal blood. Ignoring that is an insult to our Basil dynasty, and beyond that, disrespectful to the Sultan.”
Ruhan fiddled with a small bracelet for women in his hand and spoke.
“Your anger is not directed at Hades; it’s towards me.”
Tarek glared at Ruhan, eyes aflame with rage.
“Tarek, I swear the lion incident was all Hades’ doing without my knowledge. Understand that I didn’t intentionally target you.”
“Cut the pretense and speak your business. I’m injured and need to rest.”
Ruhan spoke to him with a stern expression.
“Convince Iota during the trial.”
Tarek looked at Ruhan as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
[Star Icon][Star Icon]“Is that the royal palace?! Wow, it’s magnificent…!”
As Latifa looked ahead, she saw the Grand Bazaar’s palace, even more magnificent than the empire’s citadel.
The white walls and round domes were so large and beautiful they seemed endless, even from a distance.
The hot desert wind carried an exotic scent that stung her eyes, but she couldn’t close them against the palace’s beauty.
“It’s even better than the empire’s citadel!”
“Have you been to the empire’s citadel?”
“Ah, well, I saw it once when I was in the capital.”
Latifa mumbled, cobbling together a lie.
Hades chuckled proudly.
“I built half of that citadel.”
“……”
Latifa sighed softly, wishing he hadn’t added the latter part.
“We left half of it untouched. Someone among you Empire folks will likely start bragging about being a national hero after rebuilding that castle. When that time comes, you’ll also write a new history. It’s better for a rotten country to rip off its festering wounds and start anew.”
“Why didn’t you people conquer our Empire?”
Latifa cautiously asked him.
“Because our original intention wasn’t to conquer that place. Sultan ordered us to punish you for first infringing upon our land, and we simply followed that command.”
As Hades nonchalantly responded, they arrived in front of the large castle gates that served as the main entrance to the palace.
Amidst the gatekeepers standing in line guarding the door, Hades was the first to dismount his camel and approached to help Latifa down.
“General Hades, hold on a moment. I should look like a goddess.”
Latifa stopped him with a slight smile.
For a moment, he looked confused but then paused as she had suggested.
Latifa softly patted the camel’s head, attempting to communicate with its spirit.
‘You’ve worked hard running. Can you let me down?’
[Of course, Miss.]The gentle and intelligent camel spirit gently dropped its ears and slowly kneeled, laying down on the ground.
At this, the soldiers and gatekeepers nearby buzzed with awe, fixing their admiring gazes upon Latifa.
“So she really is a Calendain!”
“The camel moved on its own without a whip. It’s not some kind of trick.”
Hearing the amazed exclamations from the gatekeepers, Latifa proudly raised her face to look at Hades.
“You’re quite amusing.”
Hades whispered so only Latifa could hear, extending his hand towards her.
His expression was sufficiently satisfied, and Latifa also internally rejoiced as she placed her delicate hand on top of his.
‘As much like a goddess… gracefully.’
Latifa remembered the elegant steps and manners she had learned in the Empire, slowly dismounting from the camel.
“My Frau.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
