When Latifa asked about that person, Yanan hastily changed the subject and pushed the silver tray towards me.

“She was the mistress of the former Caleb estate.”

“There was a mistress?”

“Well, what I mean is… General Hades wouldn’t appoint you as Frau without reason.”

Yanan continued, changing the topic.

“We can’t know the general’s intentions, but our job is to be loyal to him. Eat quickly, unless you want to see my head roll.”

The mistress of Caleb estate?

Latifa mulled over the word “mistress” again.

‘If she was the mistress, does that mean General Hades’ wife…? Or perhaps his mother.’

But there were no people at Caleb estate who looked like General Hades’ parents. Suddenly, she recalled how Hades had once been horrified at the idea of ever getting married.

‘Could it be that he had a woman before?!’

“Hurry and eat.”

At Yanan’s earnest request, Latifa stopped thinking about the mistress. She picked up a small but antique-looking silver spoon and scooped up some meat stew filled with the scent of spices.

“Ugh…”

“Remember. Plump baby pig belly.”

She smiled and reminded Latifa again.

“Yes. Chubby baby pig belly. Ugh…”

Latifa squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the food into her mouth.

In the Grand Bazaar where everything was intense, even the food exuded a strong character. Latifa wasn’t sure how long she could endure in this intense country.

**

Having barely eaten enough to satisfy Yanan, Latifa was walking out of the arched corridor when she encountered Hades approaching with an excited expression.

His black hair gleamed like obsidian in the morning sun, and the sharpness in his eyes reflected an unyielding confidence that made him stand out even more.

“Good morning.”

“The industrious people of the Grand Bazaar started their morning long ago. To call this morning shows how lazy you are.”

But his words, completely mismatched with his handsome appearance, were those of General Hades with his twisted personality.

His habit of never letting a single word pass pleasantly was now perfectly adapted to.

There’s a saying that a word can repay a debt of a thousand nyang, but his way of speaking was at a level where one should pray not to get beaten up somewhere rather than repaying debts.

‘Well. With that personality, who would dare hit him? Unless he’s the one beating someone up. How can he be so vicious and twisted!’

“I guess the Grand Bazaar rises early because the sun comes up early. If I’ve offended you, please forgive me.”

Stung by being called lazy, Latifa slightly bent her knees and nodded her head.

“Is that the imperial etiquette?”

He asked, raising his black eyebrow.

‘Oh no.’

Latifa froze slightly at the imperial court etiquette that had come out without her even realizing it.

‘He said royal blood would pay the price no matter what.’

Hades, who had made her half-sister Aris a maid in the palace. If it was later revealed that she was a princess, he might inflict an even more terrifying punishment, accusing her of deception.

‘Princess Aris probably doesn’t even know the desert language… Brenda must be there too.’

Although she had never called her “sister,” she was undoubtedly Latifa’s half-sister. To be captured and made a maid in a country where she couldn’t even communicate, just because she was a princess.

Thinking of her suffering like that filled Latifa with pity.

-Snap!

“Hey. What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Startled by Hades snapping his fingers loudly in front of her, Latifa, who had been thinking about Aris, jumped back in surprise.

“Ah, I just felt dizzy for a moment…!”

Latifa stumbled, pretending to lose her balance, unable to find words to mumble.

But perhaps because her acting was too clumsy.

In the end, one of her legs buckled and she lost her balance, falling over.

“Eek!”

As the hard marble floor approached her face, Latifa closed her eyes tightly and screamed.

But contrary to her expectation of feeling tremendous pain, the floor was incredibly soft.

‘Huh? Why doesn’t it hurt?’

Surprised by the unexpectedly cushy feeling, Latifa firmly grasped the soft floor.

-Squish.

That floor was soft and squishy, but firm inside so her fingers couldn’t sink in any further.

It was hot. And she could hear a loud, strong heartbeat going thump, thump, thump.

‘Wait, this isn’t the floor, it’s…’

“That’s my chest.”

Hades’ cold voice, devoid of any playfulness, rang in Latifa’s ear.

“…”

So, what Latifa was lying on top of now was Hades.

Not only had she fallen on top of Hades, but she had also groped his chest. Realizing this fact, she didn’t dare to open her eyes.

And this soft surface was clearly the feeling of bare skin, not clothes.

‘I, I, I touched a man’s chest…!’

Latifa, who had never touched a man’s bare chest in her life, simply froze like a stone.

To think she had groped the chest of not just anyone, but the general of a country, the mad dog Hades!

It was a situation where she wished she would just faint and lose consciousness.

The situation was so surreal that she felt dizzy from the lack of sense of reality.

“Sigh. Get up.”

When Latifa remained frozen, not moving an inch due to the strange sensation she was feeling for the first time in her life, Hades let out a long sigh. His exhale was vividly transmitted through their closely pressed bodies.

The feeling was spine-chilling as she heard his feral, low rumble through his stomach.

“Didn’t you hear me? That’s my chest, so get up.”

At those words, Latifa slowly opened her eyes and raised her head, seeing Hades’ face directly as he lay on the floor.

He wore an ambiguous expression that didn’t seem angry, nor particularly amused. If she dared to guess, it looked like the face of someone who didn’t know what expression to make in this situation.

‘Is the mad dog flustered in his own way?’

It was understandable that he would be flustered, as surely no one in his life had ever dared to do something so bold to the mad dog.

Just as Latifa was about to quickly get up, she saw a faint silver aura, like the one she saw around animals, rising around him.

‘Wait. The aura again…?’

“Get off now.”

Hades said, grasping her pale wrist that was still on his chest. And at the same time, she heard another voice through the aura.

Though his voice was as cold as ice, the heartbeat felt through her palm beyond the thin fabric and the hand gripping her wrist were so hot that she didn’t know what to believe.

‘W-what? Why is the aura appearing again?’

“Pardon?”

Soft?!

She was surprised to hear his voice, but she was even more shocked that the words from the aura said “soft”.

“I told you to get off.”

His sharp voice was heard again. The hand gripping Latifa’s wrist tightened a bit more.

‘Why do I keep seeing his aura? And is this really General Hades speaking? Am I not hearing things?’

Thousands of thoughts crossed her mind in a short time. Looking around, there were no other animals visible that might cause the aura to appear.

Finally, Latifa decided to test whether the words she was hearing were indeed his inner thoughts.

“It’s soft, isn’t it?”

As Latifa cautiously spoke up, he looked at her with a deeply furrowed brow.

“What is?”

His voice was still cold, but she detected a slight tremor in the low rumble.

Latifa swallowed dryly and spoke a bit more boldly in response to his subtle reaction.

“You know better than I do what’s soft.”

The moment she heard the dumbfounded voice of a bewildered man through the aura, Latifa couldn’t help but smile slightly.

It was the most foolish-sounding voice of Hades she had heard so far.

“Hehe.”

“You fall suddenly and then laugh. Did you hit your head?”

At his sharp voice again, Latifa wiped the smile off her face and racked her brain.

‘If I tell him I can hear his voice now, Hades might become wary and stop helping me.’

Presumably, no one would be pleased to hear that someone else could hear their inner thoughts.

Latifa spoke calmly, as if nothing was wrong.

“This is soft, you know.”

“What?”

“I thought you were a cold-blooded person without blood or a heart, but I guess not. You’re similar to other people.”

“…”

He just stared blankly at Latifa, like someone who had been hit hard by something.

Beyond her grasped palm, a slightly stronger heartbeat began to pound, thump, thump.

“Don’t say such useless things!”

Hades, who had been silent, suddenly burst out in anger and shook off her wrist. The faint silver aura dissipated in the air and the inner voice was no longer heard.

“I am a god-like being feared by all in the Grand Bazaar, no, in this entire world. I am the one who received the title of Ignite, the flame of flames. Don’t dare compare me to ordinary humans.”

Hades spoke threateningly. Slightly intimidated by his force, Latifa quietly got up, saying she understood.

‘Why does it keep appearing and disappearing? And General Hades isn’t even an animal? This has never happened with anyone else before.’

While she was pondering, Hades got up, muttered some curses under his breath as he fixed his clothes, and then carefully asked.

“Are you still dizzy?”

“Huh? What?”

“You said you were dizzy when you fell.”

Reassured by his voice, which had become quite gentle unlike when he was threatening earlier, Latifa answered with a bright smile.

“Yes. I’m not dizzy anymore!”

He was silent for a moment, then turned his back abruptly and walked out of the arched corridor, grumbling.

“…There’s not a speck of dignity or grace in that smiling face. Falling flat anywhere when feeling dizzy! There’s a mountain of things to teach at Caleb!”

‘Even though I was a former princess, to say I lack dignity is a bit…’

Her pride was slightly hurt by his complaint. But since she couldn’t tell the truth, she just pouted her lips.

At that moment, General Hades, who had been striding quickly down the corridor, turned slightly and shouted at Latifa.

“Hurry up and follow me. Don’t dawdle. You’ll be the only person who hasn’t done anything by the time the Grand Bazaar’s sun reaches its peak!”

“Ack! Wait a moment!”

Urged by Hades, Latifa quickly moved her feet without time to ponder again about the aura appearing around him. Hades was already standing at the end of the corridor, looking at Latifa.

“Your steps are too slow!”

“It’s because your stride is too long, General!”

“This is the Grand Bazaar, where everything moves ahead in the blink of an eye. Don’t even think about dawdling here.”

Latifa quickly gathered her wits, lifted her long skirt, and hurried after him.

**

“What is all this?”

Latifa stared ahead with wide eyes.

-Baa, neigh, cluck cluck.

All sorts of animals were gathered in front of a small yard.

Goats, horses, sheep, camels, chickens, and even strange animals she had never seen before!

“This is a test to make you a Frau.”

“A test of my abilities?”

“You’ve been slow-witted for days, but now you’re finally starting to understand.”

“But as I said before, my ability is minimal and has limitations. I don’t know what to do or how to do it.”

“Then can you clearly tell me what your ability is and what its limitations are?”

At his words, Latifa was struck speechless.

She knew she had the ability to communicate with animals and that there were limitations, but she didn’t even properly know what those limitations were or the conditions under which she could use her ability.

“No.”

To Latifa’s dejected reply, he said with a confident smile.

“That’s why I, who have become your master, will personally find out for you. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in a hundred battles. If I properly understand your potential, you’ll be able to navigate well on your own later, even without me.”

General Hades’ words were certainly correct.

Until now, Latifa had only focused on hiding her ability as her mother advised, and had never even thought of using that ability recklessly.

Moreover, there weren’t many animals to see in the imperial palace, and there was no one to objectively evaluate her ability, so she had often doubted whether her ability was real.

‘I often thought I might be crazy. I wondered if I was hearing or seeing things because I was lonely.’

Latifa nodded with a bitter expression, agreeing.

“Well, let’s begin.”

General Hades sat down on the ground with a thud, taking out a scroll and a large eagle feather pen in a serious manner.

His serious attitude made her nervous as well.

“What should I do?”

“I’ve brought animals with strange behaviors or illnesses from the Grand Bazaar’s livestock market. Try to find out the cause, like how you calmed the mad horse in the barracks.”

As he urged her to get started with a nod of his chin, Latifa took a step forward and approached the large horse tied up right in front.

“Ah, hello?”

“Be careful. That one injured two merchants with its back kicks.”

‘You think I can treat such a dangerous animal just by talking a bit!’

Latifa turned to him with a pained expression at the frightening words.