Hades, wearing an outfit similar to Latifa’s, had his black hair drenched in sweat and was slightly panting, as if he had just finished exercising somewhere.

“Oh, you startled me! Isn’t this a window?”

“Do you have a problem with me walking as I please in my own house?”

“This is your house?!”

“Yes. This is the Caleb estate. Tsk, even dressed in dignified black clothes, why do you look so shabby? Is it because you haven’t eaten?”

“Caleb estate…”

Latifa, still not over the shock of arriving at the Grand Bazaar, muttered absentmindedly.

It seemed like she had just closed and opened her eyes, but she couldn’t believe she had arrived in such a bustling city from an empty desert.

And the fact that she was sitting in Hades’ house, in his bedroom no less, was quite shocking.

Hades plopped down next to Latifa and picked up a light green fruit from the small table.

As he split the fruit in half with his bare hands, flesh resembling an orange was revealed.

-Crunch.

As he roughly bit into the flesh, a refreshing scent filled the air. Reflexively, her mouth began to water.

-Gulp.

The sound of Latifa swallowing her dry saliva was quite loud, causing Hades, who was biting into the flesh, to glance at her.

“Who was it that said they couldn’t eat desert food because it was nauseating?”

Hades had a talent for saying things that made people feel bad, even if it was just one sentence.

A normal person might have offered her one, saying “Do you want some?” But he just started eating the fruit deliciously right in front of her.

The sound of the flesh tearing more chewily than an orange, the sound of the juice dripping, and the exotic and tangy scent rising from the flesh made her mouth water so much that her head was spinning.

‘Come to think of it, have I eaten anything all this time?’

-Grumble.

Finally, a loud growling sound erupted from her stomach.

“It seems a strange bird has entered the garden. That’s a cry I’ve never heard before.”

Despite clearly hearing the sound from Latifa’s stomach, Hades spoke nonchalantly. Latifa, still clutching her dizzy head, snapped at him.

“Looks like you brought me here just to tease me.”

Only then did Hades chuckle and start peeling another fruit.

“I can’t feed you just anything, so I checked if it was ripe first.”

Having skillfully peeled the skin, he held out the fruit to her.

‘That orange doesn’t look ripe. Won’t it be really sour if I eat it?’

Somehow imagining Hades bursting into laughter at the sight of her frowning after eating an extremely sour fruit, Latifa looked at him with a dubious gaze.

“Eat.”

“Isn’t it unripe?”

“It’s ripe.”

“It doesn’t look like it.”

“It is.”

“I know enough to know that it should turn orange to become sweet. This is an orange, right?”

“You’re so suspicious. Well, I understand, given that you almost got poisoned.”

Hades chuckled and popped a piece of fruit into his mouth. His expression remained completely unperturbed.

‘Isn’t it sour?’

Encouraged by his calm demeanor, Latifa plucked up a bit of courage and tore off a piece of the fruit in his hand. The tangy smell already made her mouth water.

“I told you before. The fruits of the Grand Bazaar are on a different level from the Empire. I’m glad to be able to serve you personally.”

At Hades’ words urging her to try it, Latifa finally closed her eyes tightly and put the fruit in her mouth. And she let out a small exclamation at the fruit she was tasting for the first time in her life.

“Ah!”

‘It’s really delicious!’

It was incomparably sweeter than any fruit Latifa had eaten until now.

‘Delicious! What is this? Sweeter than an orange and more refreshing than an apple! The slight bitterness at the end is even more addictive…!’

Latifa snatched the fruit from his hand, forgetting her dignity. It was irresistible.

She didn’t know how many days she had been unconscious, but it had been a long time since she had eaten real food, and before losing consciousness, she only remembered constantly throwing up.

And now, such fresh and sweet juice.

‘Something this delicious is cheating…!’

Feeling happy at the sweetness that seemed to melt in her mouth, Latifa continued to pop the fruit into her mouth.

“Do you trust my words a bit more now?”

“I, I didn’t intentionally disbelieve you. It’s just that I’ve never eaten an orange of this color before.”

“This is called a pomelo, it’s different from an orange.”

“Pome…lo?”

“The desert climate is so hot that all fruits ripen to be numbingly sweet and dizzying. Moreover, this is the Caleb estate. Even the smallest pomelo won’t be allowed in unless it’s of the highest quality.”

Latifa looked at him while frantically putting fruit in her mouth. He was in the process of peeling another pomelo and placing it next to her.

“Latifa.”

“Yes?”

“Now that you’ve become my Frau, you must trust me completely.”

“…”

“I told you I have many enemies here. Many will try to bring me down by offering you sweet things and trying to make deals. I can’t stop all of that.”

‘What could I possibly do that would make people flock to me?’

Latifa nodded, listening to the story somewhat nonchalantly.

“But remember this. Only I, Hades Caleb, have the ability to give you the sweetest things.”

‘If he says it one more time, I’ll get calluses on my ears.’

Tired of his endless self-praise, Latifa just kept eating fruit, saying she understood.

“Is there any more of this? I want to eat more.”

“My Frau seems to come quite cheap. I can win your heart with just a small pomelo. If your lifestyle becomes too frugal, it won’t reflect well on my reputation.”

‘What is he talking about?’

“Do you have any bad habits? Like extravagance or vanity?”

“I don’t have such things.”

‘I didn’t do such things even when I was a princess.’

Latifa answered with a blank expression.

“You should develop some. To keep up with Caleb’s standards.”

It was still his incomprehensible talk.

Hades, who had been quietly watching Latifa eat fruit without a word, suddenly cleared his throat and gave her a meaningful look.

“Ahem, come to think of it, this is our house.”

“Why?”

“Do you believe now that I’m not a beggar?”

Latifa burst into laughter at the sudden question.

She had no idea he would remember what she had said before about Hades possibly not being penniless.

“Pfft. Hahaha! You’ve been thinking about that all this time?!”

“It just came to mind now.”

“Hahaha! You must have been keeping it in your heart!”

‘He’s not a child!’

“Hey!”

“Alright. You really weren’t a beggar. Hahaha!”

Hades raised his voice with a slightly embarrassed expression, but Latifa’s laughter, once started, wouldn’t stop.

**

On the outskirts of the Grand Bazaar’s separate palace where victory banquets were being held for three consecutive days, Iota, wearing a deep pink veil, was speaking angrily to two men.

“I clearly told you to tear the water sacks! How did this happen?!”

“We, we did exactly as you ordered, Lady Iota.”

“Yes. Though there was clearly a shortage of water, miraculously it rained, allowing us to arrive more abundantly than usual!”

The two men were soldiers who had secretly torn water sacks in Hades’ camp.

“You fools! Then you should have ruined the rest too!”

“After that, the security became so tight that we couldn’t even get near the supply wagons.”

“Yes, we really did our best.”

“Damn it! It was the last chance to get rid of Hades!”

Iota said, grinding her molars.

“Of all times for it to rain then! Hades Caleb, such a lucky bastard… He should have just died on the battlefield, but he has such a long life!”

The two men cautiously spoke to Iota, who was losing her temper.

“It’s because General Hades has a goddess with him.”

“There are widespread rumors that the rain came because of that goddess.”

Iota tilted her head at their strange words.

“Goddess?”

“Yes. General Hades has acquired a woman he carries around, and it’s said that woman predicted the rain.”

“No, I heard she didn’t just predict it, but actually controlled the weather?”

“I heard she predicted it though?”

“They say she has mysterious powers that can even change the weather.”

“Wasn’t it precognitive ability?”

Iota asked the men who were spouting strange words.

“What are you talking about? A goddess?”

“Well, Lady Iota…”

The men lowered their voices and began to relay in detail the events that had occurred while crossing the desert.

After hearing everything, Iota raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Oh ho. The mad dog is plotting something again for Prince Ruhan. Alright, I understand, so you two can go now. You know this matter must be kept absolutely secret, right?”

“Yes, Lady Iota.”

As Iota was holding out a purse of gold coins to them, two of her maids approached and said,

“Lady Iota. General Hades is said to be arriving at the banquet soon.”

“Even the mad dog can’t be a gentleman. I understand.”

Iota readjusted her veil and headed towards the palace banquet hall, led by her maids.

**

“Hades!”

Ruhan, spotting Hades standing on a secluded terrace of the palace annex where the banquet was being held, immediately called out his name and ran over.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Prince Ruhan.”

Hades knelt respectfully to pay his respects to Ruhan.

“It’s alright. No one’s here! My goodness, I thought you were badly injured, but you’re fine!”

Ruhan waved his hand at his polite attitude and helped him up.

“If Your Highness says so, I shall speak informally.”

Hades ruffled Ruhan’s chestnut hair with a playful voice.

“Hades, I sent word for you to attend the banquet, but I didn’t expect you to come right before it ended.”

Ruhan spoke happily to Hades.

His kind brown eyes were directed at Hades, and Hades, unlike his usual mad demeanor, looked back at him with calm black eyes.

“I didn’t know I’d come to the palace banquet either. But Ruhan, if you tell me to come, I should come, right?”

“What are you saying! Hades, as the Grand General who brought victory to the empire, of course you should have attended the procession and banquet! The Desert Kingdom is truly grateful for your contributions.”

At those words, Hades smiled cynically and said,

“That’s my job.”

“Father also praised you a lot.”

Not noticing that cynical smile, the innocent Ruhan smiled brightly and plopped down next to Hades.

“It was truly an amazing banquet. We saw all kinds of spoils of war, ate delicious food until our stomachs burst. Everyone was in such a good mood that even Iota danced with swords in the center of the banquet hall!”

“For that fox to dance with swords in front of so many eyes, the Sultan must have been extremely pleased. No wonder, even the soldiers guarding the palace gates were so drunk they could barely recognize my face. Ruhan, look at that.”

Hades pointed to the terrace floor with a mischievous expression. There were several swords lying there.

“I swiped the equipment of the drunk guards, so now they won’t be able to escape responsibility.”

Seeing the soldiers guarding the annex entrance swaying from fruit wine and barely managing to salute, Hades had imposed his own punishment.

Now at roll call, they would have their wages docked for losing their equipment.

Ruhan burst into laughter at his friend’s unchanged odd behavior and put his arm around his shoulder.

“It’s fine to drink in high spirits at a victory banquet, but if they can’t even recognize your face, they deserve punishment.”

“Right. I was so upset I was going to punish them myself, but I had some good things happen today, so I let it go. I didn’t want to ruin my mood.”

Remembering Latifa eating the pomelo, Hades spoke with a rare soft smile, causing Ruhan to look at him with a slightly surprised expression.

Having seen Hades’ face for several years, this smile had a different atmosphere somehow.

“Has the mad dog of the Grand Bazaar finally come to his senses? It must be related to requesting a physician skilled in women’s diseases! Is it a woman?”

“Hmm. Who knows.”

Feeling somewhat awkward at Hades’ strangely cold attitude that seemed to draw a line, Ruhan watched his reaction.

“Hades. Won’t you tell me what’s going on?”