‘Who would believe a mad dog when it says it’s not mad……’

Making such an unbelievable lie that even a five-year-old child wouldn’t believe, and then calling it a secret only he knows.

Latifa, dumbfounded by Hades who uttered such a joke-like statement while being sincere, could only let out a hollow laugh.

“You have a bad personality. Expecting others to believe your words while not believing their secrets.”

“That’s……”

She was caught off guard in an instant.

Latifa pondered, feeling the strange heat rising from the tips of Hades’ fingers tickling her hair.

Should she really reveal her secret to this man?

Should she disclose the mysterious ability that her mother told her to keep hidden and live normally, to Hades Caleb, a desert man who was neither an imperial nor a close friend?

‘To make him believe it’s going to rain, I guess I have no choice but to tell the truth.’

“Come on. What’s your secret?”

Urged by Hades’ words, Latifa, having no other option, finally let out a big sigh and mumbled.

“I can talk to animals. So I heard what the animals were saying. That it’s going to rain, so they’re all moving to higher ground.”

Latifa closed her eyes tightly. She anticipated what would come next.

‘You’re crazy’. Or ‘You’ve lost your mind’. It was obvious such words would follow.

Preparing for the disbelieving words to come, Latifa was startled by Hades’ next words and turned around to face him. Somehow, his lips were curved into a straight smile.

“What kind of animals?”

“……? Are you really believing me?!”

Latifa timidly asked back. Then Hades, continuing to fiddle with her fallen hair with his fingers, whispered softly.

“Didn’t we agree to exchange secrets?”

“I can’t believe you’re believing me right away……!”

“I wasn’t wrong.”

“Pardon?”

“Starting with the hunting dog. The mad horse. And even now, although many things don’t make sense, if you have the ability to talk to animals, everything can be explained.”

“Ah, you knew?!”

“What do you think I brought you to the desert for?”

‘Indeed, this man is not ordinary. He knew everything!’

“Who else knows?!”

“I’m not stupid enough to go around blabbing about such things.”

“Ugh.”

Come to think of it, there were several clues that he had noticed.

The persistent questions about the hunting dog, the surprisingly easy task of finding the sibling of the rampaging horse, and his statement that he needed Latifa’s ability.

Latifa couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was always in the palm of Hades’ hand. She had to admit that she had failed in her efforts to hide her ability until now.

Hades gripped both of Latifa’s shoulders and met her gaze.

“You didn’t have such an arrogant thought that I might have taken you to heart as a woman, did you?”

At his words, Latifa couldn’t help but make the most incredulous expression she had ever made.

‘What? Take me to heart as a woman? Does he think I’d fall head over heels for the enemy’s great general just because he’s a bit handsome?’

The pressure of Hades’ hands on her shoulders was gradually increasing. Latifa, her pride hurt, looked straight at him and shook off his hands.

“I thought your excessive kindness was suspicious, but I never once thought that way.”

“Smart. That will make things easier. You said it’s going to rain, right? Tell me in detail. We don’t have time now.”

Hades hurriedly gathered the scattered scrolls inside the tent and spread them out on the chests, urging her to explain in detail.

**

“Great General Hades.”

As Hades continued not to appear, Manut entered the tent, kneeled, and paid his respects. It was a gesture asking for a decision on how to proceed.

Thinking rationally, it would be right to boldly reduce the number of marchers and select only the remaining ones to go to the Grand Bazaar. After all, everyone couldn’t wait for death in the middle of the desert.

“Manut. Tell the entire army to distribute water and food in the usual amount.”

Hades was continuously calculating something in the corner of the tent, tapping on an abacus and drawing over the map.

“Pardon?”

“We will all survive and go to the Grand Bazaar.”

“Gr-Great General. But now is not the time for such luxury! Don’t you know?”

“We’re changing our route. We’re going to higher ground.”

At the mention of higher ground, Manut turned even paler as he looked at Hades. The current march was positioned in the lowlands, the shortest distance to the Grand Bazaar.

Changing the route to higher ground meant that the journey to the Grand Bazaar would be extended by about two weeks.

Changing the route when water was already scarce? And telling the entire army to distribute the same amount as before? Manut suspected that his lord might have really gone mad.

“Great General!”

“You’re being noisy while I’m trying to calculate!”

Finally, Hades irritatedly drew his sword and stabbed it into the chest. At this resolute action not to disobey orders, Manut timidly lowered his voice and pleaded.

“At least tell me the reason……”

“They say it’s going to rain.”

Hades casually pulled out his sword again and tucked it well into his waist.

“Pardon? Here? Who said so?!”

“Our goddess.”

“Go-Goddess? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“……”

“But this area hasn’t had a drop of rain for 20 years?! It’s impossible! There’s not even a rain cloud in sight!”

It could come in the 21st year, Hades muttered indifferently. Then he nodded towards one corner of the tent.

“Cover her with a blanket.”

In the direction Hades pointed, Latifa was lying face down on a makeshift bed.

“Gr-Great General. I really don’t understand. Your actions……”

“Shh.”

Hades, seeming a bit irritated, chided Manut to be quiet.

Manut quietly covered Latifa well with the blanket and quickly left Hades’ tent.

**

The next day, Latifa was examining the place where water had supposedly poured down, following Hades. For some reason, he had brought her along.

“It was staring at me like this. Standing upright on two legs like a person, without making a sound, I tell you?”

Latifa looked at Hades while imitating the creature she saw yesterday. Seeing Latifa standing straight with her hands gently folded in front, staring at him, Hades quickly turned his head to the side.

Judging by his slightly shaking shoulders, he was clearly trying to hold back laughter.

“Don’t laugh! They were really strange-looking creatures!”

“Pfft.”

“I’m not lying. Their body and tail were this long, and their eyes were so hollow……”

“Meerkats.”

“What?”

“What you saw were meerkats. Pfft. Haha. Ahaha!”

Hades, who had been giggling, finally burst into loud laughter, finding it so funny how Latifa clumsily imitated the meerkats.

“What did they do?”

“……I’m not imitating them anymore.”

Latifa replied with a sullen expression, as Hades only laughed at what she had seriously tried to explain.

“Hahaha! I should thank the guardian spirits. For letting me see such a funny sight.”

“I’ve never seen such animals before! I could be wrong!”

Hades laughed like a truly insane person. He laughed so much that small tears even formed at the corners of his eyes.

Barely containing his laughter, Hades patted Latifa’s shoulder and said cheerfully.

“To think you can even communicate with animals you’ve never seen before, what a wonderful ability.”

“……It’s not a very useful ability.”

“Oh, no. It will be very useful. My Frau. I guarantee it.”

“Frau?”

‘What’s Frau?’

Latifa tilted her head at the unfamiliar desert word that suddenly came out, but as he took her hand and walked towards the supply wagon, she missed the chance to ask.

“Oh, it’s that woman. That silver-haired woman.”

“Is she really a symbol of luck? Looking at such misfortunes happening, she might be a symbol of bad luck. The imperials might be cursing us.”

Now accustomed to the murmurs and curious gazes of the desert warriors, Latifa followed Hades. There, he showed her a large leather pouch.

“What’s this?”

“The bottom parts of all the water pouches were torn, causing water to leak out.”

Looking closely, there were indeed small marks on the bottom parts as if torn by something sharp.

If there had been a large hole, the sound of water dropping would have been loud, but it seemed that people hadn’t noticed for a long time as water seeped through small holes.

The sandy ground they were standing on was still soaking wet, having absorbed so much water even in this dry wind.

“Oh no. Did the leather rot and tear?”

“As you know, these leathers were newly supplied from the border region.”

“That’s right. There’s no way new pouches would tear…… Unless someone did it on purpose.”

This time, Hades held out another pouch. That pouch was wriggling as if there was a living creature inside.

“And this one injured its leg and couldn’t leave the wagon, so it remained.”

When Latifa opened the pouch, a sharp and small muzzle poked out.

Soon after, large flat ears popped up, and a small wheat-colored creature with a cute face started licking Latifa’s hand with its pink tongue.

“Ah! Is this a cat……?”

“It’s a fox. Don’t you know foxes?”

“Imperial foxes don’t look like this!”

“Our foxes look like this.”

“Ah, it’s so cute……!”

Enchanted by the cuteness of the small desert fox, Latifa exclaimed in small gasps while gazing at it in amazement.

Hades secretly took out dried dates from his chest and placed them in Latifa’s hand while looking around. At his cautious behavior, Latifa also secretly put the dates into the fox’s mouth.

The fox, seemingly starved, gobbled up the fruit hastily.

“Originally, it should be executed immediately for the capital crime of wasting precious water, but for now, you can keep it.”

Surprised by the words ‘capital crime’, Latifa looked closely at the desert fox. The fur of the small fox with an injured leg was soaking wet.

“You said it remained in the wagon, right? Did this fox tear the water pouches?”

“……Yes.”

Hades nodded with a somewhat dubious expression. At his behavior, which seemed like he was watching the eyes of the surrounding soldiers, Latifa stroked the wet fox’s head, saying she understood.

‘He’s telling me to find out. Whether this fox is the real culprit or not.’

Realizing Hades’ true intention, Latifa quickly focused her mind on the fox, trying to summon her spirit power.

However, the fox, seemingly terrified, immediately retreated into the pouch after eating the dates, not even showing its face.

“It doesn’t seem possible right now.”

“How troublesome.”

“I told you it’s not a very helpful ability. I don’t even know when the ability will manifest.”

“You were so busy hiding it, how could you properly know about your ability.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“If you have an ability, you should use it. Knowing what you can do, and where your limits are. That’s the most important thing.”

“……”

“Well, I was wrong to expect such things from a foolish imperial.”

“Hey!”

When Latifa flared up at being called foolish, Hades chuckled and ruffled her silver hair.

‘Even though I was raised with high-class education as a princess, he keeps calling me foolish.’

This is frustrating. She couldn’t tell the truth about being from the imperial palace either.

Latifa pouted but carefully held the pouch containing the desert fox to her chest. For now, she might be able to communicate if she kept it with her.

‘Is this why he said he needed my ability?’

“There’s a mountain of things I need to teach my Frau.”

However, what Hades asked Latifa to do was not to train animals or communicate with them.

To become his Frau. That was what Hades demanded of her.

“By the way, Great General. What’s a Frau?”

“What?”

“Frau. You keep calling me Frau. What exactly is that?”

“Frau is Frau.”

Hades replied as if it was obvious to Latifa’s question. His answer flowed so naturally that Latifa couldn’t even respond and just let it pass.