How many days had passed since she resigned herself to everything and crossed the desert with Hades?

Today too, Latifa was on the same camel as Hades, looking at the same desert landscape for days.

The desert heat was stifling, making it hard to breathe, and feeling increasingly dizzy, she loosened the scarf around her neck.

‘I’m spending less and less time awake…’

Latifa’s body, which wasn’t very healthy even when she was a princess, was becoming increasingly frail due to the drug Brenda had used.

On top of that, the harsh desert environment made things even more difficult for her.

The dry wind always made her lips chapped, and sand constantly getting into her eyes and mouth was uncomfortable. It was suffocatingly hot during the day and unbearably cold at night, making it extremely hard to adapt.

‘But the hardest thing of all is…’

She lowered her silver eyelashes. Below, she could see Hades’ dark hand firmly gripping her waist.

‘Sigh. Hades Caleb. Being stuck with this man is the hardest part.’

Unable to move properly, Latifa rode the same camel as Hades during the day to cross the desert, and slept in the same tent with him at night.

But if asked whether they had become close, that wasn’t the case either.

Latifa had little time awake during the day, and even when conscious, she rarely engaged in small talk with him.

Most of what Hades said to Latifa was limited to commands like ‘Drink water’, ‘Take medicine’, ‘Get down’, ‘Come up’.

Or like now, he would speak to her when something about her displeased him.

“If you don’t wear your scarf properly, your mouth will dry out.”

Noticing the ash-gray scarf she had loosened a bit because it felt stuffy, Hades’ large hand caressed around Latifa’s neck.

“I loosened it for a moment because it’s too hot.”

“Here, a moment of carelessness can lead to death.”

Saying that, Hades took out a water skin tied to the camel’s waist and handed it to her.

‘Ah, how refreshing.’

The surface of the leather water skin was a bit cool. It wasn’t exactly cold, but it felt like a breath of fresh air in the scorching heat.

“Holding onto this should make you feel better.”

“Thank you.”

Though she said thanks, there was something slightly annoying that prevented her from being completely grateful to him.

‘If there was a method like this, he should have told me earlier… It’s been so hot for days!’

“It would have been better if you had told me earlier.”

Latifa grumbled in a voice that was barely audible.

At that, Hades let out a low laugh and said,

“Water is life in the desert. So I’ve entrusted you with my life. I gave it to you to keep it safe.”

“Wow, I’m so honored that you’ve entrusted me with something so important.”

Latifa replied in a tone that anyone could recognize as fake. But Hades didn’t seem to mind such an artificial tone and chuckled in response.

“I’m glad you appreciate it.”

“…”

Unable to respond to his shameless and petty words, she just kept her mouth shut after that.

‘He’s really doing whatever he wants.’

With the conversation cut off again, Latifa simply let her body relax on the slowly moving camel. Until sunset, he didn’t say another word.

**

The desert warriors who had been marching all day were now busy lighting campfires and receiving their evening rations.

At that time, two desert soldiers were walking stealthily, treading on dark shadows with their robes pulled low, trying not to catch people’s eyes.

“Hey. Are you sure this is okay?”

“It’s already been decided. No one will know.”

“You’re sure Iota will give us a hefty share when we reach the Grand Bazaar, right?”

“Yeah, you idiot. How many times do I have to tell you? We agreed on ten cartloads of gold. With that money, we can live comfortably for life!”

“…But isn’t this too dangerous? All our comrades could die.”

When one man hesitated, the other grabbed his collar and threatened him.

“Are you in or out? Knowing about this plan, we’ve already betrayed the general anyway. If that’s the case, isn’t it better to at least make a lot of money?”

“…Alright. I’m in.”

“Then hold onto this thing and follow me.”

The threatening man handed a large leather pouch to the timid man. The pouch was quite heavy and kept wriggling as if there was a live animal inside.

The two men snuck into the area where the supply wagons were, holding their breath. Carefully avoiding the guards watching over the supply wagons, they stopped in front of large leather water skins.

“I’m really going to do it now, so give me the knife.”

“Okay.”

One man held out a sharp dagger. The other took it and started slashing the bottom of the leather water skins forcefully.

-Sssssss.

Water streams began to quietly pour out onto the sandy ground from the punctured skins.

“There’s no turning back now.”

One man finally took out the creature that had been wriggling inside the pouch. It was a desert fox, commonly seen around the desert.

“Yap!”

They threw the struggling desert fox into the wagon and quickly ran away.

**

As night fell, Latifa finally caught her breath inside Hades’ temporary tent. Hades had disappeared long ago, leaving only a word to rest first, probably intending to check on the soldiers.

At that moment, Manut entered the tent carrying medicine prepared by the army doctor.

“Latifa. I’ve brought your medicine.”

“Ah, thank you.”

He was said to be Hades’ closest aide, and while he was a bit eccentric and unkind to Latifa, he seemed to have a much more humane personality than Hades, making him easier to talk to.

“Still no improvement in your condition?”

“It’s difficult because I keep vomiting even after taking the medicine.”

“Tsk. Can’t be helped. The army doctors said they used up all the herbs that make medicine easier to swallow a while ago. Still, try to swallow it somehow.”

“…I guess I have to. How is Brenda doing?”

Latifa asked with a weak smile.

Manut handed her the medicine along with a flat bread, fruit jam, and jerky as he answered.

“The woman who was with you? I heard she’s now attending to the captive princess.”

“The captive princess?”

“Yeah. You’re from the Empire, so you might know. There’s a princess with strange golden hair. She’s from the royal family, they say.”

“Aris?”

“Well, I think that was her name.”

At least if she’s attending to Princess Aris, she won’t be starving or freezing.

Slightly relieved about Brenda, Latifa then asked about the princess.

“What will happen to that princess?”

“She’ll be presented to the Sultan. I guess she’ll probably enter the palace as a court lady?”

“Are there any other people from the royal family among the captives?”

“Hmm… No. Actually, it’s a bit unsettling to keep the bloodline of an enemy country alive. In fact, we should have killed her too, but she lived because of her golden hair.”

At Manut’s words, Latifa stopped tearing the bread she was eating.

‘She lived because it was golden? Does that mean they would have killed her otherwise?’

Along with curiosity, she once again resolved never to let her royal bloodline be discovered.

“General Hades found her hiding in the palace basement, and she was so lavishly adorned from head to toe that she looked just like some goddess. So the general decided to spare her life to present the golden princess to the Sultan.”

“The golden princess…”

Thinking about what would have happened if she had been discovered by Hades in the palace, a chill ran down her spine.

Her hair wasn’t beautiful golden blonde, and she had no luxurious dress or jewels to adorn herself with, so wouldn’t she have been killed by the soldiers even before Hades discovered her?

“Is there anything you need? Tell me if you’re short on anything. We’ll be in trouble if something happens to you.”

“Ah, thank you. This is enough.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“Yes. Manut, you look unwell too. Get some rest.”

“Even the general doesn’t worry about me, but that’s quite comforting.”

Manut chuckled as he left the tent.

“He might look rough, but he doesn’t seem like a bad person. Right?”

In the silence that returned to the tent, Latifa quietly muttered as she tore small pieces of bread and scattered them on the ground.

Then, the sandy floor stirred, and three small gerbils popped out, squeaking happily. They were the ones that had been moving around since Manut took out the food.

“The rats in the Empire look scary, but you guys are cute.”

A small silver spirit rose above the head of one gerbil that was delightfully munching on the small bread pieces Latifa had scattered.

Focusing on it, a cute voice was transmitted to her mind.

[Your family is really big. Are you moving too?]

“I don’t know either.”

[You’re going without knowing where?]

“Yeah. That’s how it turned out. Where are you guys going?”

[We’re going to a high place.]

“A high place?”

[Yes. We have to go to a high place.]

“Why?”

[Because…]

The gerbils began to tell Latifa stories of the desert while nibbling on bread crumbs. Latifa listened to their stories while tearing bread, but soon fell asleep due to the strong medicine.

Another day in the desert was passing by.

**

Latifa woke up early the next morning. It was because of a strange noise coming from outside.

Outside the tent was noisy with the sound of many soldiers murmuring.

“Mmm. What’s going on…”

Latifa got up from her place, smoothing her messy hair. A thick leather blanket was covering her, though she didn’t remember when she had covered herself with it.

She looked around, still dizzy from the medicine. There was no one in the room lit by the purple dawn light of early morning.

Hades’ bed across from her was empty, but unusually, his usually neat place showed signs of being hurriedly disturbed.

“What’s this?”

Somehow, an uneasy feeling unlike usual began to creep in.

Latifa quickly tried to lift the tent’s curtain to look outside. But the guard watching the front of the tent blocked her.

“Please go back inside. The general’s orders were to absolutely not let you out.”

“What’s happened? It’s so noisy outside.”

“A big problem has occurred.”

“A big problem?”

“More than half of the water disappeared overnight.”

“What? The water?!”

The water disappeared?

Water was the most important thing when crossing the desert, and even when supplies were replenished in the border area, it was the essential item given top priority in terms of security.

Latifa, having seen how much attention Hades paid to water while doing translation work, was very surprised.

“Why, why did it disappear?!”

“I’m not sure of the exact cause either.”

It would still take a full month of travel to reach the Grand Bazaar.

But if more than half of the water had disappeared, it meant these many people were essentially stranded in the middle of the desert.

“Then what’s going to happen now?! Water is the most important thing, isn’t it?!”

“I don’t know. Everything depends on the general.”

“Everything depends…?!”

The soldier said grimly with a hardened face.

“Either reduce the number of people by half. Or everyone tightens their belts and withers away. It’s one of the two.”

‘Reducing the number of people by half definitely doesn’t mean sending them back to the Empire!’

Latifa had to bite her lower lip to keep from screaming at the shocking news.

“Anyway, all the soldiers are excited now, so we don’t know what dangerous things might happen. So you absolutely must not come out.”

The soldier said that and closed the curtain again. She looked worriedly at Hades’ empty bed.

“Surely there will be a good solution where everyone can live…! Surely…”

‘Hades may be an unlucky and arrogant man, but he’s capable enough to bring down the Empire in one go. So he’ll somehow come up with a good solution.’

But if he says he’s going to reduce the number of people by half.

‘I’ll definitely be included in that.’

Latifa’s hands and feet were getting cold again at the threat to her life that kept coming back just when she thought she could forget about it.

Outside, people were still shouting and in chaos.

Latifa, who had been pacing around the tent with anxious eyes due to the dangerous atmosphere, noticed the bread crumbs left by the gerbils last night and fell into thought.

‘Come to think of it, yesterday the gerbils…’

Concerned about the story she heard yesterday, Latifa quickly began to gather the remaining food.

“I need to hear it clearly from somewhere else too.”

Muttering that, she put on a dark robe tightly and prepared to sneak out.