Latifa again mounted the camel with Hades and began marching towards the highlands of the desert.

“Is there a reason we must head to the highlands? Can’t we just collect rainwater when it rains?”

“Once every few decades, very rarely, a large amount of rain falls in the desert. The lowlands flood with so much water that people drown.”

“It rains that much?”

“It will be a spectacular sight. That’s why all the animals are heading to the highlands too. Their animal instincts warn them of danger.”

“But what if the animals are wrong…?”

If the animals’ intuition was wrong, the entire army heading to the highlands without water could perish in the desert.

“There are records summarizing the climate and signs in this area. Exactly 20 years ago, heavy rain fell here and flooded the entire region. Even though rain clouds aren’t visible, the climate now matches closely with that time.”

‘As expected, he leaves no gaps.’

Latifa nodded, inwardly impressed by his judgment and insight. He wasn’t the top general of a country for nothing, even if he was a mad dog.

“But what if… what if it doesn’t rain…”

“Then I’ll give you the honor of dying together with the honorable flame, Ignite.”

“…”

The Hades that Latifa saw was truly a strange type of leader. He would control his subordinates with a cold and manic demeanor, then suddenly switch to a relaxed and cheerful attitude.

He overflowed with both confidence and arrogance, and just when he seemed realistic, he would unfold absurd idealism that bewildered his subordinates.

Truly, unless a person was mad, they couldn’t change so drastically in an instant.

“Why didn’t you tell the soldiers the truth? That it will rain. Everyone is worried about water.”

“That’s more fun. It also tightens discipline as they’ve likely grown lax. An army must always maintain tension.”

“Fun? You scare people for fun?”

Another assessment of him was about to be added.

‘He’s even petty.’

He readjusted his grip on the camel’s reins and said to Latifa:

“I’m not trying to scare people for fun. Rather, it’s the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

“Instead of scaring them, I’m trying to give them fun. Let’s talk about the details when your body has healed. You really are a talkative woman.”

Hades chuckled and adjusted Latifa’s robe to protect her from the desert’s hot wind.

**

Several days had passed since they entered the highlands.

Today too, everyone was getting exhausted from the continuing heat, but unlike the others, Latifa couldn’t help but tremble with tension.

The sky was a bit cloudy, but not much different from usual.

There wasn’t particularly any wind blowing, nor any humidity felt, just the strong smell of sand.

In other words, it was a day with no signs of rain at all. Thinking that countless lives were at stake, she couldn’t calm her mind at all.

‘It’s not raining…!’

Moreover, due to the continuing effects of the poison, her body kept weakening, and she had little time fully awake during the day.

The desert was scorchingly hot, but her body was drenched in cold sweat, her temperature gradually lowering to the point of feeling cold even in the middle of the day.

She couldn’t even properly control her body, unable to ride the camel with Hades, and could only lean back in the wagon following behind, petting the desert fox.

“Haa…”

Just as she was barely swallowing the medicine Manut had brought, the march suddenly stopped. It was a bit strange for the march to stop in the middle of the day, not evening, so Latifa put down the fox and poked her head out.

The soldiers gathering at the back and Hades standing there seemed somehow ominous.

She held her breath and eavesdropped on what the surrounding soldiers were saying.

“He’s going to punish the guards who failed to protect the water.”

‘What?! He’s going to kill people?!’

Latifa inhaled sharply and stood up abruptly.

“Suddenly?! The general must be having another bout of madness.”

“The route has changed, and rations are being distributed the same as before. No one’s saying it, but it’s about time to start reducing the number of people.”

“They say there’s only a week’s worth of water left.”

‘He’s gone mad! He’s really gone crazy because it’s not raining! All because I said it would rain…! I have to stop him!’

Latifa rushed out of the wagon without another moment’s thought.

**

“13th Battalion, assemble in line!”

As Hades called for assembly with his sword drawn, the dark-skinned desert warriors moved in perfect unison, forming a flawless line without a speck of dust.

Hades asked the general standing at the very front:

“What was your duty?”

“To… to safely store supplies for the march, sir.”

“Did you fulfill that properly?”

“We… failed to fulfill it, sir.”

“Then, do you have any complaints if I were to mete out punishment for failing your duty right here and now?”

The soldiers’ faces were turning pale at Hades’ repeated questions. And at that moment, Latifa came running, shouting:

“General Hades!”

“…”

All eyes turned to her in that instant. Hades looked down at her indifferently with his pitch-black eyes.

Latifa whispered softly as she clung to his arm.

“Wait, wait a moment. This, this isn’t right. We, we had another plan…”

“What plan?”

At his dispassionate question, Latifa panicked and raised her voice:

“You said it would rain!”

“Rain? I’m hearing this for the first time. Step aside. You’re in the way.”

Hades pushed her away ruthlessly, as if he truly had never heard such a thing before.

‘Why, why is he acting like this?! Has he really gone mad?!’

Latifa quickly looked around, searching for Manut. Manut was also one of the accomplices who knew about the rain, so she had to find him to stop Hades’ actions.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

Latifa, grasping at straws, grabbed his arm holding the sword again and continued to plead. But he coldly ignored her, only staring at the trembling guards.

“You believed it would rain! Can’t we wait just a little longer?! This isn’t right!”

Latifa, enraged, tried her best to divert his attention somehow. Finally, she turned his face to make him look her in the eyes.

“General Hades! Please! Stop this! I beg you!”

“…”

Hades’ eyes flicked briefly to meet her blue eyes. In that moment, Latifa realized that his eyes were no different from the usual arrogant Hades.

‘Wait. Something’s off.’

She knew what Hades’ eyes looked like when filled with madness. She had seen and experienced it directly.

But this time, his eyes were ambiguous, hard to say they were filled with madness. His black eyes showed not a trace of insanity.

“This… This isn’t the mad dog.”

Just as Latifa muttered softly, staring at him with blank eyes.

-Tok.

Something cold lightly hit Latifa’s nose bridge.

-Tok, tok.

“This is… a water droplet?”

“…Rain, it’s raining!”

“Rain? It rains even here in the desert?”

-Shaaaa.

“It’s raining! The desert guardian deity’s blessing has come!”

At the sudden rain, the desert people shouted in joy, some bowing to the ground in reverence, others bewildered but quickly extending their hands to catch the rainwater.

“Hey, did you hear? That woman just said it would rain!”

“My goodness, what’s going on! She must be a symbol of luck!”

“She’s a goddess. How else could it rain in the middle of the desert if not for a goddess?!”

At the soldiers’ shouts, Latifa snapped back to her senses and looked at Hades again. He was smiling mischievously with his usual playful expression.

Latifa blankly stood in the pouring rain, mulling over what had just happened.

Hades had tried to kill his subordinates, and she had run to stop him. Then she had shouted loudly for all the soldiers to hear that it would rain.

And then it rained. As if by magic, the rain started falling.

“You. On purpose…!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“General Hades! You used me, didn’t you?! My goodness! No human could do such a thing! You, you knew I would come out?!”

Latifa shouted at him in disbelief, protesting. But her faint cries were drowned out by the falling water.

Hades immediately pulled her into his arms, lifting her up, and quickly gave orders to his soldiers.

“All troops, march to the rocky cliffs up there! Secure a position on the upper cliffs! There’s plenty of time to collect water later, so quickly protect the livestock and camels, and cover the supplies with blankets so they don’t get wet!”

“Yes, General!”

“Move quickly if you don’t want to drown here! This is the goddess’s blessing! The guardian deities are watching over us!”

“Yes, sir!”

Hearing the soldiers’ strong voices that weren’t drowned out even by the rain, Hades smiled faintly.

“As expected, you have sufficient qualities. I wasn’t wrong about you.”

He said this to Latifa, who was still protesting and struggling, then quickly loaded her onto his camel and mounted it himself.

The pouring rain in the desert and the soldiers rejoicing in chaos.

It was truly a spectacular sight to behold.

**

The rain continued all day and was still pouring down fiercely the next day as if a hole had opened in the sky.

It should have felt refreshing to see such rain after the stifling heat, but Latifa wasn’t feeling very cheerful as she was now inside Hades’ tent.

“Phew… Would you like a cup of tea?”

Hades’ face looked truly satisfied as he drank a strange herbal tea brewed with hot water from the small, elegant brazier in the center.

“You’re still angry with me.”

As he moved on the silk blanket, a strong scent of jasmine flowers wafted out along with the herb smell.

“Isn’t the rain a magnificent sight?”

Latifa answered curtly while gently stroking the fur of the still frightened and trembling desert fox.

“You could have given me a hint that it was all an act.”

“It wasn’t an act.”

He said with a chuckle.

“No. It was an act.”

Latifa replied with strong conviction. Hades was silent for a moment, then blurted out:

“My Frau is sharp-witted and demanding.”

“Since you brought it up, let me ask. What exactly is a Frau? You sometimes call me Frau.”

“A Frau is a Frau, what else?”

He gave the same answer as last time.

“No, I don’t understand what a Frau does. What, is it like your assistant or something?”

Although Latifa had learned the desert language, Frau was a word she had never heard or seen before.

“Assistant? Hmph. A Frau is not such a trivial thing.”

Hades put down the steaming golden teacup and explained:

“A Frau, you see, means ‘the master’s happiness’.”

“My goodness. The master’s happiness, it was even more despicable than I thought.”

Latifa said with a frown at the intuitive meaning of the word.

“A Frau is not such a despicable thing. Of course, there might be people who make their Frau do despicable things… But I’m definitely not one of them.”

-Shaaaa.

It was still noisy outside with the pouring rain, but inside the tent it was quiet with just the two of them.

“My words might have come out a bit strange, but a Frau is absolutely not like a concubine or a royal consort.”

“How can a Frau be any different from a concubine?”

He took another sip of warm tea and said:

“Wives and concubines are treated as people, but Fraus are not. Legally, Fraus are not considered people. They’re usually treated as the master’s private property.”

“How could that be…! You mean they’re not even treated as human?! That’s absolutely unacceptable!”

‘How can he treat a person like a slave?!’

No matter how much Latifa had no one but Hades to rely on in the desert, she didn’t want to help him while being treated like that.

“To wealthy people, a Frau can be anything. Some people appoint their very expensive pet cat as a Frau, while others give the title of Frau to their beautiful villa. It’s not that Fraus aren’t treated as people, but rather that a Frau can be anything.”

“So you’re saying I’m on the same level as a cat or a building?!”

“No, no. That’s not what I’m saying.”

Hades spoke in a calm voice, as if trying to soothe Latifa’s anger.

“I’m saying that you, having inherited Caleb’s name, can become anything. Perhaps even something that transcends humanity… You could become anything. Even a goddess-like being.”