Captured by the Desert Tyrant - Chapter 30

Seeing Latifa’s tearful face, Hades unexpectedly shook his head firmly.

“You can do it.”

“Isn’t that crazy talk?”

“No. If it was too crazy to handle, I would have noticed.”

“But you didn’t notice last time…”

“My, you talk a lot!”

“W-well, I can do it then.”

At Hades’ scolding, Latifa quickly approached the horse. Indeed, at first glance it seemed to be a docile horse. As she carefully made eye contact with the horse, unexpectedly the spirit appeared quickly.

[Apple, apple!]

“Oh, hello?”

[Apple.]

“Um, apple?”

[Give me an apple! Apple! I want an apple!]

-Neigh!

“Eek.”

The seemingly docile horse suddenly reared up on its front legs and started making loud neighing sounds. Latifa let out a small scream and stepped back, while Hades quickly rushed over to grab the reins and calm it down.

“Whoa.”

But the horse kept shaking its head and neighing ‘neigh’. Meanwhile, the spirit kept endlessly muttering only the word apple.

[Apple! I want to eat an apple! Give me an apple! You’re mean! Apple! If you don’t give me an apple I’ll kick you too!]

“General!”

At the threatening words, Latifa quickly pulled on Hades’ arm holding the reins. The excited horse immediately started kicking with its hind legs.

If Latifa hadn’t pulled him, he would have been kicked by the hooves right away.

“I see. This one is crazy. We’ll have to send it back to the stables.”

As Hades said this, Latifa quickly interjected.

“No. That horse isn’t crazy, it just wants to eat an apple.”

“Were you able to communicate with it?”

“I can’t exactly communicate, but it keeps saying it wants an apple.”

“An apple…”

“Yes! It says it’ll kick if we don’t give it an apple. It’s not listening to me and only saying what it wants.”

“There are a lot of apple trees in the Appaloosa plains where it’s from… But for an animal to have preferences too? What ridiculous creatures.”

Hades listened seriously to Latifa’s words, then disappeared briefly and reappeared with a pouch of apples. As soon as he took out an apple, the horse went crazy, prancing and neighing.

“Well, let’s see if you’re right.”

Hades tossed the apple to the horse, and the horse frantically ate it while wagging its tail. Then, as if by magic, it became docile and flicked its ears.

Hades stared blankly at the scene for a moment, seemingly a bit surprised, then burst into laughter and put his arm around Latifa’s shoulders.

“Haha! Look at that! It really was possible. Amazing! What an incredible ability!”

“See? I told you it wasn’t a lie.”

Latifa’s mood was also improving along with Hades’ repeated praise.

‘I thought I’d be treated like a witch, but I’m glad he’s so happy about it.’

Watching Hades smile with satisfaction, she felt her heart swell with pride for some reason.

Hades kept muttering excitedly.

“You’ve been hiding such an amazing ability all this time? Is the empire full of fools? You, can you also…! Can you do this one too?”

Like an excited child, Hades rummaged through the animals and held out a yellow chick to her. On Hades’ large hand, the chick tilted its head with an expression of not knowing why it was there.

-Peep?

“Pfft.”

Latifa had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter at the sight of the mismatched pair – the imposing General Hades and the tiny yellow chick.

**

In the prince’s palace of the Grand Bazaar, bathed in warm sunlight.

“Prince Ruhan.”

Ruhan, who was drinking mint tea from an elegant glass cup, greeted the tall man who entered and asked.

“Oh, Irgos. How is it?”

Ruhan’s loyal servant Irgos knelt to pay his respects and said.

“I’m afraid the situation isn’t very good. The elders and sages are people who value legitimacy, so they will support Prince Ruhan, but it seems Prince Tarek is wooing the merchants of the Grand Bazaar.”

“So that fool has started using his brain. I’m sure his mother taught him that trick anyway.”

Ruhan crossed his arms with a look of contempt.

The Sultan was a symbol of a benevolent and wise leader. It was only natural that such a Sultan would not simply pass on the position to his beloved first son.

It was the tradition of the desert kingdom to consider not only the royal bloodline, but also virtue, reputation, and character in determining the next successor.

Even for the 1st Prince Ruhan, renowned for his kind personality and wisdom, if he couldn’t completely win over the hearts of the Grand Bazaar, Tarek could potentially become the next Sultan.

“It seems he’s been building his influence in the fruit market under the command of Lord Serza.”

“What has Tarek done for them?”

Irgos took out a scroll and handed it to Ruhan, who unrolled it and read it carefully.

“Prince Tarek convinced Serza to lower the brokers’ (people who make a living by bargaining) fees? Is he trying to threaten the order of the market?”

“But the sellers are greatly pleased that the amount has been reduced.”

Ruhan raised his voice as if it made no sense.

“The brokers are mostly the extreme poor of the Grand Bazaar with no capital! If you lower their fees, what are they supposed to live on?!”

“But we must also consider the thoughts of the influential merchants. If you can’t win them over, Your Highness will gradually lose influence over the market.”

Ruhan put down the scroll, clutching his forehead as if he had a headache. This time, even the cool mint tea that usually cleared his head was of no help.

“It’s just temporarily blinding the merchants’ eyes to gain popular support. When the number of brokers decreases, the bargaining prices will soon rise. When fruit prices go up, other markets will gradually look to raise their prices too.”

“Then should we report to the Sultan first?”

“If I report to Father immediately whenever something happens, Father will think I’m incompetent. It’s my duty and mission to resolve it myself.”

As Ruhan sighed, Irgos watched carefully before finally speaking up.

“Moreover, these days General Hades has been causing resentment among the nobles by imposing special taxes on a whim.”

“I’m sure everyone rushed to criticize Hades again.”

Ruhan was genuinely worried about him.

“General Hades is on Prince Ruhan’s side so there’s nothing to worry about, but given the timing, his reputation could affect Your Highness’s reputation as well.”

“Irgos. I swear by the desert gods, he is absolutely not an evil person. Even imposing the special tax was his own solution when the nobles tried to take even the meat meant for commoners for their banquets. Aren’t they all holding victory feasts here and there?”

“I know that too. But his methods are quite brutal… Besides, there are rumors lately that he’s planning something strange.”

Irgos carefully spoke to Ruhan.

“What kind of thing?”

“He says he’s going to hold a grand feast to appoint a Frau soon. He even personally sent an invitation to Lord Serza asking him to attend.”

“Hades? A Frau?! He didn’t say anything to me!”

“That’s what I find suspicious too. Aren’t General Hades and Your Highness close friends of many years? It bothers me that he didn’t consult with Your Highness at all about appointing a Frau, of all things.”

Ruhan frowned slightly and leaned back on the large sofa with elaborate red and gold embroidery.

Irgos continued with a worried face.

“Even though General Hades is completely on Prince Ruhan’s side… If by any chance, even the slightest possibility, he turns his back on us…”

“That’s enough, Irgos.”

Ruhan cut him off.

“Hades is not that kind of person. Don’t plant seeds of doubt for no reason. Doubt starts as a small sprout but quickly grows into a large tree. The Frau is probably just one of his eccentricities. No one can stop him, can they?”

“But…”

“Ahem. Have some mint tea.”

“…I don’t like mint.”

“What a strange taste.”

“With all due respect, mint is stranger.”

“You don’t understand the refined taste of mint.”

“…Isn’t mint just an herb for cleansing the palate? Even Your Highness who enjoys it…”

“Tsk. Like someone who doesn’t know taste. Don’t say such things carelessly elsewhere.”

Ruhan closed his eyes quietly while drinking his mint tea.

**

Latifa stroked the head of the cute yellow canary.

“You’re so cute.”

The canary chirped happily and hopped around. Latifa carefully picked it up and put it in a cage decorated with pretty gold ornaments.

“I can’t do any more today, General. My eyes feel like they’re going to pop out.”

She had attempted to communicate with over twenty animals just today. For several days now, she had been using her ability on various animals with him.

‘But where did this man bring all these animals from?’

Latifa pondered as she looked at the rare animals like the crocodile and turtle in front of her. He brought new animals she had never seen before every day.

‘Are they from Kaleb’s private property?’

Hades was still scribbling something on a scroll. After carefully writing something down to the very end, he tied up the scroll and said clearly.

“From what I’ve observed so far, communication doesn’t go well with animals that have bad heads.”

‘Heads? Really, his word choice…’

But it was true. Relatively intelligent animals like hunting dogs, camels, and horses were easy to converse with, while other animals didn’t communicate as smoothly.

It wasn’t so much that the conversations didn’t flow well, but rather that the spirits didn’t seem to properly inhabit them.

Even when spirits were present, there were many cases where they would just blurt out whatever they wanted to say without the conversation progressing.

“It seems communication goes better when you concentrate or build a bond.”

“It does seem that way.”

“Good. Very good.”

Latifa quietly looked at Hades’ face as he nodded in concentration one last time. These days, whenever she had a chance, she tried to read Hades’ mind again by focusing. But his spirit never appeared again.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Latifa shook her head lightly and smiled brightly. Hades looked at her and stroked his chin for a moment, then suddenly lowered his voice and said.

“Latifa, I’m going to appoint you as Frau in a few days. But before that, there’s a friend you need to get to know.”

“A friend? Is it another animal?”

“Yes. It’s a really interesting friend, and you’ll soon come to like it too. No, you’ll have to.”

He giggled and beckoned for Latifa to follow him.

“It’s not here?”

“Ah, that friend prefers to be alone.”

‘This is suspicious.’

Somehow the atmosphere was different from usual. Latifa raised her guard a bit and carefully followed him deep into Kaleb’s private property.

And as soon as they passed under the dark sand wall, Latifa froze at the sight of it.

‘W-what is that!’

-Roar!

The moment she heard the roar of the large, light ochre beast inside the sturdy wooden cage, Latifa felt a threat to her survival and couldn’t say a word.

Even its roar was threatening.

General Hades pulled the hesitating Latifa’s shoulder towards the wooden cage.

“G-General!”

“This much is needed to be called Kaleb’s level.”

As Hades pushed her closer to the cage, the yellow beast’s eyes flickered sharply as it looked at Latifa.

-Roar!

They were the eyes of a predator that turned everything it looked at into prey.

Latifa couldn’t bear to make eye contact with it and lowered her head. But Hades spoke to her in a proud voice, as if introducing it.

“Greet the king of the savanna, my Frau.”