“I can’t do that.”

Latifa flatly refused. She had been deceived by Hades too many times to fall for his sweet talk.

“My future Frau is quite negative. I prefer to see the positive side.”

“Who would be happy about becoming someone’s private property?!”

“The term ‘private property’ is just a pretext to protect you.”

“Protect me?”

“Even if you go to the Grand Bazaar now, your status would be nothing more than an imperial prisoner with white skin and light hair. In that case, I would have no grounds to protect you.”

“That…! I didn’t come here because I wanted to!”

“Once I achieve my goal, I’ll send you back to the Empire intact. With plenty of gold, jewels, and numerous servants.”

As if!

Latifa glared at him, wanting to shout those words.

“Though I might seem like a nice person at first glance, I have quite a few enemies in the Grand Bazaar.”

“Hah!”

Latifa snorted, marveling at his brazen personality to call himself a nice person.

“To avoid my enemies and exercise my rights by bestowing upon you the name of Kaleb, the only position available is that of a Frau. Unless you want to become my real wife.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Yes. I’m not keen on marriage either. And I don’t suppose you want to be my concubine?”

“General Hades!”

“Never underestimate your value. You can become an existence far more valuable than a concubine or a lord’s wife.”

Latifa had to admit that Hades’ eloquence was far above average.

She carefully spoke, making sure not to reveal any hint of being swayed by his flattering words.

“That existence you speak of is related to my ability, right? But this isn’t an ability that can do such great things. It’s certainly a wonderful ability, but it has its limitations-”

Hades cut her off abruptly.

“Stop being modest. You’ve already saved all of our soldiers here. That’s something to be proud of. It’s a truly remarkable feat that not just anyone could accomplish.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed by his sincere praise of her achievements, Latifa lowered her eyes.

Having rarely received compliments before, she didn’t know how to respond to such words.

Unable to find words for his praise, she ended up changing the subject.

“It seems like a very unfavorable condition for me. I don’t know what you’ll do to me. I’m just a weak woman with nothing…”

“I have absolutely no interest in women. I’ll specify everything about your personal safety in the contract, so don’t worry.”

He replied in a slightly cold voice, lying down on the bed and burying his face in an expensive-looking cushion.

“Then what am I supposed to do? I mean, as your Frau?”

He sighed and made a slightly pained sound as if he had a headache, speaking from within the pile of cushions.

“Ah… I’ll explain that later.”

“You seem tired.”

At Latifa’s words, he peeked his face out from the cushion pile to look at her.

“…I’m not tired.”

His face looked somehow extremely tired as he said this, so Latifa chose to look at the rain pouring outside the tent instead of replying.

In truth, Latifa had no choice. Her homeland was gone, and there was no one to protect her.

Although she was in a position where she had to do whatever Hades demanded, he never forced her and gave her the opportunity to choose.

‘If he were truly a bad person, he would have forcibly taken me away before Brenda drugged me…’

But Hades didn’t do that. Even though he vaguely sensed her secret ability, he respected her choice at the time.

Becoming his Frau.

‘Maybe it won’t be so bad.’

Since meeting Hades, she had been experiencing amazing things she had only read about in books.

New environment. New people. New opportunities.

Clutching her chest that was somehow starting to flutter, she quietly watched the rain pouring in the desert.

“I never thought I’d see rain in the desert… It’s quite atmospheric.”

The hot herbal tea had all cooled down, and only the thick jasmine scent wafted from the brazier.

**

“General Hades, today’s report… Oh, what are you doing?”

Manut entered Hades’ tent with the day’s report.

Latifa was sleeping soundly in the corner of the bed, hugging a desert fox, while Hades was giggling as he twisted her long silver hair around his fingers.

“I understand why people keep pets now.”

“Um… because they’re cute?”

“The feeling that this small creature is entirely dependent on me isn’t bad.”

Still unable to comprehend his thoughts, Manut shook his head.

“Are you really going to appoint that woman as your Frau?”

“Why not?”

Manut heaved a big sigh. It was already too late to say no, as Latifa’s presence had become too significant in the camp.

Somehow, rumors had spread among the soldiers that the silver-haired woman by Hades’ side was a symbol of luck, and she was being revered unofficially.

“Right. Have we collected enough water? The desert cacti will soon be plump with moisture, so send out search parties to harvest them and secure more water and food.”

He spoke more seriously than usual as he gave instructions to Manut.

“Yes. I’ve already given all the orders. This will further increase your reputation, General. I’m glad our efforts are paying off.”

At the mention of his reputation rising, Hades’ hand, which was wrapped in silver hair, paused.

The silver hair coiled around his dark fingers was quite contrasting, but they complemented each other well, like a silver ring.

“It’s rain after 20 years in a situation without water. If we hadn’t come to higher ground, we would all be dead. We all pay our respects to your leadership and this miracle, Ignite.”

Manut bowed sincerely to Hades.

“Unnecessary.”

“Even though you predicted the rain by looking at past records, the fact that you came up with such an idea is truly amazing.”

He spoke excitedly to Hades.

But Hades wasn’t entirely pleased with this.

Hades needed to remain not as a charismatic figure of the Grand Bazaar, but as a mad dog who might cause trouble at any time.

Because that was the only way he could survive.

**

The sky that had cleared after a long time was so clear and blue that not a single cloud could be seen.

Latifa looked up at the sky until her neck hurt, having never seen such an overwhelmingly blue sky even in the Empire.

The endless blue was almost dizzying.

‘In this vast and wide world, I was just a tiny speck of dust. The world I had seen was too narrow.’

As desert soldiers were sharpening their blades or chatting nearby, she paced back and forth at the entrance of the tent with her robe pulled up to cover her head.

Suddenly, she was startled by the sensation of someone pulling her.

“Eek!”

“Shh. Who gave you permission to go outside the tent?”

Hearing Hades’ voice, Latifa replied without even turning around.

“It’s just right in front of the tent anyway.”

Perhaps due to the ground still retaining moisture, it was a clear day with a cool breeze blowing, so the part where he touched her hotly was actually at a pleasant temperature.

But even if that warmth felt good, she wasn’t in a position to fully trust Hades, so she brushed off his hand.

Undeterred by her cautious behavior, Hades began to twist her silver hair that peeked out from between the hood of her robe around his index finger.

“What is it?”

“It’s pretty.”

“Ugh…!”

Caught off guard by his sudden compliment, Latifa once again lost her words. Seeing her stiff reaction, Hades added teasingly.

“Let me clarify so you don’t misunderstand. I mean the color is pretty.”

‘Damn it!’

Her fist clenched unconsciously at his mocking tone.

“Did you take your medicine? How’s your body? Can you move around a bit today?”

“I took it, but…”

Behind them, a desert soldier bowed his head and reported.

“General Hades. The search parties have found a cluster of cacti.”

Hearing this, Hades smiled and tapped Latifa’s shoulder.

“Right, women like flowers, don’t they?”

“Flowers?”

“Yes. I told you before. I’m not a boring man. I’ll show you clearly today.”

Hades seemed a bit excited as he tightly grasped her hand and led her to his camel.

**

After riding the camel for about an hour.

“There it is.”

Hades pointed to a seemingly empty sand dune as he slowed the camel’s pace.

‘There’s nothing here, let alone flowers?’

Latifa tilted her head at the empty sand dune. But soon she nearly fell over in surprise at the spectacle unfolding below the dune.

“Ah…!”

Below were red and purple flowers blooming in profusion.

No, ‘profusion’ wasn’t enough to describe it.

It was like a vast and beautiful sea made of flower petals.

“The rain, equivalent to a year’s worth of rainfall in the Empire, caused the cacti buried in the sand to emerge and bloom.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life!”

“It’s a spectacle that even desert people rarely see. Whoa, let’s stop here, desert puppy.”

He tied the camel’s reins and dismounted in one motion, then helped her down. Even as she was being held by him to dismount, Latifa couldn’t take her eyes off the spectacle of flowers spread out before her.

Even the imperial palace gardens of the Empire, which had reached the height of luxury, were not this beautiful.

“Ordinary men try to appease women with a bouquet of flowers, but don’t expect such trivial things from me, the absolute Ignite.”

Hades, in a rather courteous posture, took the hand of the distracted Latifa and led her down the sand dune covered in flowers.

“I present this spectacle to you, who might become my Frau.”

Latifa was speechless at the overwhelmingly grand and beautiful desert landscape.

The sight of tens of thousands of cacti simultaneously bursting into fresh, red flower buds was too much for human language to express.

“Even in the Empire, you couldn’t see a scene like this…! The desert… The desert is really…”

Unable to finish saying “The desert is really amazing,” Latifa reached out her hand to touch a large purple flower.

The soft petals felt between her palms made it seem like she was dreaming.

“Latifa.”

Among the blooming red petals, Hades, with his black hair and exotic skin color, held out a red cactus flower to her.

Hades Kaleb Ignite.

At this moment, he didn’t look like the ferocious and cruel mad dog, but no different from an ordinary man.

To think that the man she had found so frightening could look like just an ordinary man standing among a field of flowers. Finding it ridiculous even to herself, Latifa smiled brightly with her lips curled up.

“That’s the brightest smile I’ve seen from you so far.”

“It’s because flowers really don’t suit you.”

He clicked his tongue and slowly approached Latifa.

“Desert cactus flowers contain a small amount of nectar, so they’re good to eat as is, and if you dry them well, they make good food.”

“Ah, so we can secure more food with this too!”

As Latifa said this, suddenly a red flower was thrust in front of her lips. And Hades’ low voice resonated dreamily.

“Latifa. Will you become my Frau?”

“…!”

“If you agree to become my Frau, I’ll grant you the honor of the first taste.”