Early dawn. The last morning at the border had dawned. It was still a time when soldiers would be sleeping, but Hades and Manut had been out riding horses since early to check if there was anything unusual in the camp and were on their way back.

“It’s really fortunate that that woman isn’t going, isn’t it?”

“Has she caused you any harm?”

“One has already appeared, hasn’t it? That bracelet.”

Manut glanced at Hades’ wrist and expressed his dissatisfaction.

“If you carelessly dispose of a gift bestowed by the Sultan, you’ll be punished. And it’s not just any bracelet, it’s an Ignite bracelet, isn’t it?”

“It’s still just a bracelet.”

“If the Sultan finds out, I don’t know what will happen.”

“Even if he finds out, what could he do to me, Manut? Would he cut off my head?”

Hades chuckled and made a gesture of slicing his neck.

“Still, I’m glad your mind changed quickly. If you took an Imperial woman to the Grand Bazaar, it’s obvious what people would whisper about.”

“It’s not that my mind changed, she rejected me.”

“What? That woman rejected the Grand General? Is she cross-eyed? Ah, did you threaten her with a sword by any chance?”

“I was holding a sword, but I didn’t threaten her.”

“……”

“It’s a joke. You’re supposed to laugh.”

“When you say it, General, it doesn’t sound like a joke. That’s the problem.”

“There’s no point in forcibly dragging a mule that doesn’t want to drink to the riverside. Don’t worry about it and just focus on your duties.”

“Yes, Grand General.”

Hades clicked his tongue briefly and turned his horse. The direction he turned towards was the temporary tent where Latifa would be staying. This tent was also scheduled to be cleared out today.

Thinking she would still be sleeping at this early hour, he circled around the area and then, feeling somewhat uneasy, dismounted and entered the tent.

The inside of the tent was empty. All the furniture was neatly arranged as if no one had used them last night.

“…She’s already left. Did she leave right after yesterday evening?”

Looking around, he sat down on the bed Latifa had used and stroked the blanket she had used with a regretful look in his eyes.

The scent of the medicine Hades had given to Latifa was deeply embedded in it. He slowly inhaled it.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t even get to ask about that crude jasmine scent.”

-Clink.

The gold bracelets on Hades’ wrist clinked together as he stroked the blanket. Hades looked at them and smiled bitterly.

“They’ll be more useful than tying up a mad dog’s arm.”

The dawning light was illuminating the inside of the tent. It was now time to return to the Grand Bazaar, the homeland of the desert people, the heart of the desert people, and the resting place of the desert people.

**

Scorching sun. Beyond the horizon, endless ochre sand mountains filled the view, and in the middle of the desert where an unpleasant hot wind constantly blew, a long line of soldiers stretched out.

The sound of sand crunching under feet was loud enough to hear as strong men marched in step alongside carts loaded with large cargo, indicating how desolate the surroundings were.

Land of death. A barren wasteland with nothing. A place where eagles in the sky eagerly wait for a chance to tear flesh and scorpions crawl in abundance on the ground. This was the desert that Imperial people unanimously declared dangerous.

Yet, the expressions of the soldiers were not so bad. This barren sand plain was where they were born and raised.

The sand heated under the scorching sun was just the right temperature for them, and the suffocating heat was much better than the cold, damp air of the Empire.

And above all, they were on their way home after a great victory in war, so there was nothing happier than that.

“How bad is Hades Grand General’s personality, you ask?”

Manut spoke, looking at the subordinates following him on camels beside him.

“Yes.”

Several new generals’ eyes sparkled as they waited for Manut to speak.

“You must know well, General Manut, since you’re Hades Grand General’s right-hand man, right?”

“I heard he’s known for his eccentric behavior, but we’ve only seen him in battle.”

It wasn’t unreasonable for young men to be curious about Hades.

Hades was a man who had received the highest title of Ignite that could be bestowed by the Sultan.

Despite his eccentricities, shadow plays depicting his heroic war exploits were popular throughout the Grand Bazaar, and women who had encountered him even once were busy praising his appearance.

Hades was a man among men, a flame among flames, honored with both wealth and fame.

“I heard that if there’s something he doesn’t like, he recklessly draws his sword.”

When one man spoke, Manut stroked his chin and agreed.

“Well, such incidents do occur frequently.”

“They say he makes prisoners fight each other and frees the winner.”

“Well, there have been such incidents.”

“There’s also a story that he disguised himself as a beggar on the street, and gave 100 gold coins to someone who helped him. He immediately imprisoned those who treated him badly.”

“Ah. Right. That did happen. It caused quite a commotion in the Grand Bazaar for a while.”

“Still, being his right-hand man must be a splendid honor. Hades Grand General is the best leader after all.”

Listening to the new generals’ talk, Manut’s face immediately hardened at those words.

“It’s called an honor, but… Even the great Sultan can’t stop him, and only Prince Ruhan can restrain him, while my stomach just keeps getting ruined!”

“Prince Ruhan may look delicate, but it’s amazing how well he handles Hades Grand General.”

There was a saying that ‘desert people instinctively seek strength,’ to the extent that Grand Bazaar people unconditionally considered strong people the best.

So even though Prince Ruhan, the legitimate prince born of the queen, was wise, intelligent, and highly virtuous, there were not a few forces supporting the 2nd Prince Tarek, who was relatively larger in build and skilled in swordsmanship, as the future Sultan.

In this respect, Hades was a very important figure for Ruhan’s support base. The fact that Ruhan could control Hades highlighted Ruhan’s charisma.

“Prince Ruhan is strong in his own right. He’ll become a great Sultan later.”

Manut said nonchalantly, driving the point home.

Now that they had won the war against the Empire, all that remained was to raise Prince Ruhan’s standing.

And at that moment, a sentry ran up to Manut to report.

“General Manut! I think you need to come for a moment!”

What the sentry held out along with his report was a gold bracelet.

A bracelet with beautifully engraved geometric patterns, personally bestowed by the Sultan to the Ignite.

“Ugh.”

As soon as he saw it, Manut’s stomach started to ache again.

**

A group of soldiers marching in line were gathered in a black mass, murmuring among themselves.

“That woman, isn’t she the one the Grand General was keeping around?”

“Yeah. I know her too. She’s the symbol of luck, right?”

“Symbol of luck?”

“I don’t know either. They say seeing a silver-haired woman brings luck? Wasn’t it you who told me that?”

“Was it luck? Didn’t they say she prevents falls from horses? Anyway, why is she here?”

“I don’t know either. She suddenly appeared.”

Vroom, vroom. Manut, riding a large camel, appeared and shouted at the soldiers.

“Move aside. Make way!”

As a straight path opened up among the murmuring people, Manut hurriedly approached the source of the problem.

There, along with a large cargo cart, two women were lying face down. Their white skin indicated they were Imperials.

The brown-haired woman was saying something in incomprehensible Imperial language, while the silver-haired woman was unconscious and collapsed. They were women Manut knew.

“Th-this… What is this!”

Manut, flustered, grabbed a nearby subordinate and asked, but he was just as clueless.

“This cart was a food cart that hadn’t been opened for days, but when we opened it today, two Imperial women popped out!”

“Didn’t you check it?!”

“These carts were all checked on the last day! Since then, no one except the sentries has approached for a week, I don’t know how this happened!”

“Does saying you don’t know solve everything?!”

“I’m sorry, General!”

Quickly dismounting from his camel, Manut first checked on the unconscious Latifa. She was barely breathing, but her face was gaunt and dried up, clearly not looking normal.

On the other hand, the brown-haired woman next to her looked quite plump, as if she had been living comfortably for the past few days.

“General, isn’t this woman the one Hades Grand General was keeping around?”

“Is she really the symbol of luck?”

“Shouldn’t we report this to Hades Grand General?”

“General, this is absolutely not our fault. We definitely checked thoroughly!”

With voices chiming in from here and there and the brown-haired woman loudly speaking in Imperial language, Manut, his head spinning, burst out shouting.

“Aah! Everyone be quiet!”

In the sudden silence, Manut quickly picked up the unconscious Latifa and calmly gave orders.

“You, call the military doctor first, and you, bring an interpreter to ask that woman what happened. Everyone else, don’t worry about this and get ready to depart again! Don’t dawdle!”

**

Hades, who was at the very front of the long procession, stopped his camel after examining the direction of the setting sun and the map. The sun would set soon, so they needed to light fires and spend the night here.

The day and night in the sand desert were different. During the day, the scorching sun that burned all skin was the problem, but at night, a cold sandy wind that seemed to cut into the flesh blew.

“This is as far as we go today.”

As Hades raised his right hand to signal his subordinates behind, they moved in unison to relay the order. While his subordinates prepared to spend the night, he blankly looked up at the sky.

The beautiful purple twilight of the desert without a single cloud was brief. The night arrived, when the sand that had been heated all day lost its warmth and cooled down just right to bury tired feet in.

A shower of stars twinkled in the sky, and beside them, a large full moon shone brightly, illuminating the ground.

“Was it a full moon today.”

It had only been a week since leaving the Empire. Looking at the silver moon and stars adorning the desert sky, Hades smiled faintly.

“The moonlight is unusually bright today.”

When the moonlight was too bright, it obscured the light of the guiding stars, so it wasn’t a very good environment for finding direction. Nevertheless, Hades smiled nonchalantly and headed towards the temporary tent his subordinates would have set up.

“Hm?”

But today, Manut was standing in front of the tent, looking at him with a sullen face.

“You should be in the rear, why are you here?”

“…Was this your plan, Grand General?”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb. You did this because you knew I would loudly object, didn’t you?”

“Seeing you talk nonsense, I think you’ve been affected by the heat. Go back and rest quickly.”

“They say the quiet cat climbs on the stove first, but I didn’t expect Hades Grand General to do this.”

Hades looked at Manut, who was speaking incomprehensibly, and jumped off his camel. At that moment, a military doctor standing next to Manut bowed his head and followed Hades.

“It’s a bit of a difficult situation, but she’s Hades Grand General’s woman, so I’ll do my best.”

“Did you all get bewitched by the moonlight or something? What are you talking about? Everyone’s discipline has slackened, I should collectively-”

Hades, who was entering the tent lifting the leather curtain, stopped abruptly when he saw the brilliant silver waves shining on his bed.

“…Latifa?”

Hades walked slowly towards the bed with a hardened expression. The closer he walked, the more he could see her silver hair, pale face, and thin white arms.

She shouldn’t be here. His black pupils were trembling greatly as if saying so.

He approached her side as she lay with her eyes closed as if dead, and slowly caressed the tip of her nose. A very faint exhalation flowed out, tickling his fingertips.

“…Even I’ve been bewitched by the moonlight.”