Latifa, who had suddenly found herself standing on the altar in the middle of the stadium, faced the highly excited lion and shouted.

“O king of beasts who has entered this unfamiliar desert!”

-Grrrr!

The lion, its yellow eyes flashing and its tawny mane greatly puffed up, was approaching her with its claws extended, emanating killing intent. And above it, a silvery spirit that only Latifa could see flickered.

[Latifa.]

‘Are you alright where you were stabbed by the sword?’

Latifa carefully addressed the spirit.

At that, the lion lowered its upper body and growled threateningly.

[This doesn’t even hurt! As promised earlier, I had no intention of harming humans! But those lowly humans insulted me first, and I couldn’t stand it. I was a king, Latifa! Give me the respect of a king!]

As the lion started to act as if it might change its mind and eat her at any moment, Latifa quickly began to soothe it.

‘I’m sorry. They must have been frightened because you looked so strong. You are a king, after all.’

[Hmm.]

‘A king recognizes petty people, but petty people cannot recognize a king. So don’t mind the minor insults. What’s important is what comes next.’

[I’ll be watching, Latifa.]

Seemingly pleased with Latifa’s humble attitude and tone, the lion calmed down a bit and gave her a warning.

Latifa carefully raised a small dagger and pointed it at the lion.

It was a dagger made of ebony wood, similar to the black ivory dagger the maid girls had told her about.

-Grrrr.

[Although I was once a king, I have not lost my honor and pride.]

“As the noble guardian of the desert night, I command you to show me respect.”

-Grrr.

[If my end is to be a plaything in a cage, I would have no face to show my cubs who lost their lives. I will choose honor. That is what befits a king.]

As Latifa looked at the lion, she was reminded of the emperor who showed no interest in his children or the empire. The lion choosing honor seemed far more noble and dignified than that incompetent ruler.

‘I should appear as dignified as a king like you.’

Like a real goddess.

[A king is not made by someone else’s command. It is something you seize for yourself, Latifa.]

Smiling at the great lion who even gave her advice, Latifa asked.

‘O king of the savanna. Are you ready to become the messenger of the noble moon goddess?’

[Are you ready to become a goddess yourself?]

-Roaaar!

The lion opened its huge mouth wide towards Latifa and let out a mighty roar, then raised its massive upper body high.

Latifa stared at the lion without blinking an eye. A goddess shouldn’t be frightened by something like this, after all.

“Kyaaaa!”

The sound of people screaming echoed.

However, contrary to people’s concerns, the lion was docilely, no, reverently bowing its head under Latifa’s dagger.

Latifa smiled as she looked at the honorable lion.

‘Tell me your name.’

The lion, its fur glowing golden in the last rays of sunset, gently nodded its head and slowly licked her hand.

[My name is Caesar. Only the name Caesar is allowed for a king, Latifa.]

‘Caesar. What a splendid name.’

-Grrrr. Grrr.

[It is an honor to be called by the goddess.]

‘I will not forget and will respect your noble will.’

After thanking Caesar, Latifa completely removed the robe that had been wrapping her body.

The last rays of sunlight separating darkness and light sparkled on her beautiful silver hair, and as her goddess-like splendid appearance was revealed, people burst into thunderous cheers.

“The moon goddess, Callende! She has tamed the golden lion!”

“The golden lion that no one could tame kneels before a mere woman! This is a miracle!”

“The Grand Marshal Hades who brought such a woman is truly amazing…! Look at that moonlight-like skin and hair!”

“She’s a goddess, a goddess! Grand Marshal Hades’ Frau is not human, but a goddess!”

‘I did it…!’

Clutching her heavily pounding heart at the people’s cheers, Latifa opened her mouth to carry out her real mission.

“The guardian of the desert night and the king of beasts have personally descended to the kingdom of desert people, Grand Bazaar, to greet you! Who is the legitimate bloodline of your king, the Sultan, to receive this greeting?!”

Latifa signaled to Hades.

**

The people who saw Latifa gently tame the lion gasped in delight.

“Even a trained lion would bare its teeth without a whip!”

Serja, who was beside Hades, muttered in blank amazement. Hades responded with a proud laugh.

“Because she’s a goddess.”

He quickly crossed the stadium to where Manut had tipped him off during the banquet that Ruhan was.

Indeed, there were Ruhan and Ergos, staring blankly down at the stadium with their robes pulled down.

“It seems we have some uninvited guests.”

“G-Grand Marshal Hades!”

One of the two figures, Ergos, turned to Hades in surprise.

But Ruhan just stood there blankly, not even taking his eyes off the stadium. Ruhan’s chestnut-colored eyes were passionately fixed on Latifa.

“Ruhan. Since you came even though I didn’t call you on purpose because you failed to tame the lion, it seems you really are a man with the fate of a king.”

At Hades’ playful voice, Ruhan finally sensed his presence and turned around in surprise.

“H-Hades!”

Ruhan asked him with a dazed face and startled rabbit eyes, stammering.

“Th-that woman… I mean, Lati… Why is she there…?”

“Lati?”

Hades’ eyebrow twitched noticeably at the familiar yet unfamiliar word that came from Ruhan’s mouth.

And then a dignified voice was heard from the stadium.

“The guardian of the desert night and the king of beasts have personally descended to the kingdom of desert people, Grand Bazaar, to greet you! Who is the legitimate bloodline of your king, the Sultan, to receive this greeting?!”

Latifa was now speaking to the audience with a noble appearance. The lion was lying leisurely at her feet, baring its fangs towards the stands.

The gentleness of her stroking the lion softly and the cruelty shown by the lion’s fangs, warning that it would not forgive anyone who touched her.

Latifa’s appearance holding the black dagger was the very embodiment of Callende, the moon goddess.

“My Frau. My goddess is calling us.”

Hades whispered cheerfully, pulling Ruhan’s shoulder.

“How about it. It’s all mine. From that silver hair to the white toes, all of it.”

“Hades, this is…”

“My happiness, Frau. Ruhan. That is my happiness.”

Hades was looking down at Latifa in the stadium with a truly happy expression. It was a sight of Hades genuinely rejoicing that even Ruhan had never seen before.

“We don’t have time, Ruhan. I’ll go down first, and when I give you the signal, come down. Then you’ll become the king. The king of this Grand Bazaar. It’ll be an incredible spectacle that will be talked about for the next 3 months!”

Hades spoke to Ruhan in an extremely excited voice and quickly turned his back to go down. He leaped over the boundary wall between the stadium and the upper seats in one bound and approached her.

Meanwhile, Hades glanced at Tarek, who had collapsed holding his shoulder next to the boundary wall.

“Ugh! You…! This is all your doing, isn’t it!? How dare you harm a royal?!”

Red blood was flowing from Tarek’s shoulder. But even at a glance, it didn’t seem to be a deep wound, so Hades just snickered and turned away.

“This time, it wasn’t my doing.”

**

Latifa, who had signaled Hades to come down, swallowed dryly as she saw the black-haired man running towards her.

“Callende! O moon goddess who guards the desert night and my Frau, Callende!”

Hades spread his arms towards Latifa with an extremely moved expression. Not content with that, he knelt down reverently, his black eyes sparkling with worship.

Latifa was rather flustered by his respectful attitude.

‘What? Is Grand Marshal Hades treating me like a goddess too?’

Latifa was dumbfounded by the sight of Hades playfully winking at her from a position invisible to others.

‘Does he want to play around even in this situation?’

Of course, since the sudden plan of releasing the lion and making a surprise appearance was entirely Latifa’s, she was in no position to complain about his reaction, whatever it might be.

Latifa asked him in a solemn voice, as if cutting off his playfulness.

“Are you of the king’s bloodline?”

Although they had never practiced together, Latifa accurately pinpointed what he wanted and responded wisely.

Hades placed his hand on his chest as if trying to appear humble and said glibly.

“O beautiful goddess and my happiness, Frau. I am not of the king’s bloodline. I am merely Caleb, though I am the flame of flames, Ignite. The king of Grand Bazaar, the Sultan’s bloodline is elsewhere. If you give me your noble hand, I shall introduce you to the Sultan’s bloodline.”

At his exaggerated words as if performing a play, Latifa put the dagger in her waist and held out one hand to Hades, saying.

“Glory of the desert to you.”

Hades seemed to like those words very much, as he reverently took Latifa’s hand with both of his and pressed his lips to it.

“Ah!”

Not expecting Hades to kiss her hand, she stiffened in surprise. Red blood from the wounded Caesar was smeared on her hand.

However, at the reverent hand kiss, the people watching them from above began to cheer and applaud.

Prince Tarek’s injury was already invisible to the people.

There was no greater spectacle than the beautiful moon goddess, said to be Hades’ Frau, descending and taming a lion.

Moreover, the handsome Hades, who was rumored to be tyrannical but had no scandals with women, knelt down of his own accord and reverently kissed the goddess?

It was an unprecedented sight, no, one that would never be seen again.

Now the stadium was completely enveloped in darkness, and large torches began to light up around them one by one.

Whoosh, what could be seen under the blazing red light were Hades’ lips stained with the lion’s blood.

At the wild appearance of the burning shadows, darkness, and blood intermingling, Latifa felt her heart sink for a moment.

He too did not take his eyes off Latifa’s blue eyes filled with the blazing torch as he wiped the blood from his lips with his thumb.

Swish, where his dark thumb had brushed, it scattered darkly red like a scar left by a wild beast, and the corners of his mouth were turned up in satisfaction.

As her heart sank once again, Hades whispered in a voice so low only she could hear.

“I thought I had picked up a timid little rabbit, but I was wrong.”

She took a small deep breath to calm her surprised heart and quietly retorted.

“…Are you disappointed that I’m not?”

Hades didn’t answer that question, only slightly curving the corners of his eyes charmingly. Then he suddenly stood up and shouted towards the upper seats.

“The legitimate bloodline of the great Sultan who oversees the vast city of merchants, the essence of the desert kingdom, the home of desert people, the prosperous Grand Bazaar is here! Please reveal your precious form and proudly lead the glory of this place!”

-Waaah!

With the sound of people cheering, their play was moving towards its climax.

Now it was time for another lead actor to appear.