Because of Hades, who had somehow become harsh since Ruhan appeared, Latifa looked at them with an anxious expression.

“Ahaha. As expected, it was an unnecessary worry for the invincible Hades, who’s worth a hundred men.”

Ruhan gave Hades a gentle smile, then met Latifa’s eyes looking at him and slightly blushed, lowering his head.

‘He seems to be very shy. He was like that when I first saw him too.’

She recalled Ruhan’s appearance on the day they first met, constantly blushing in front of Latifa.

“No. Ruhan, I didn’t mean you were unnecessary, but that the deal itself was unnecessary.”

“Huh?”

As Ruhan wore a blank expression, Iota showed Tarek’s injury to the people gathered in the hall and sobbed.

“Everyone. Look at this. The shoulder injury of our Prince Tarek! Prince Tarek is a warrior among warriors who can wield a sword freely, but how great must his distress be to have injured that excellent shoulder?! He may never be able to hold a sword again!”

It was a voice filled with even more malice, far from persuasion.

When Latifa looked at Tarek, he was just biting his lower lip with a somewhat flustered expression.

Seeing that, Hades sneered scathingly.

“Ruhan. Tarek is a useless man. He can’t even beat his own mother, so that deal you made was useless from the start. Tarek persuading Iota? Even a passing dog would laugh.”

At those words, Ruhan muttered with a somewhat regretful expression.

“Oh dear. My mistake.”

“That guy isn’t wrapped in a skirt, he’s trapped in one. We can’t use Tarek until that skirt is torn. Ruhan, get your head straight.”

Hades tapped his own head with his finger, gesturing to him as if telling him to come to his senses.

“I just wanted to be of help to you.”

“Have you been distracted by something else lately, Ruhan? And how did you so easily−”

While Ruhan and Hades were talking back and forth, suddenly the desert fox that had been quietly nestled in Latifa’s arms started tugging at Latifa’s clothes with its mouth.

“Fox, don’t do this. We can’t cause a disturbance here.”

Even as Latifa kept stroking its head and soothing it, the fox continued to whimper and shake its muzzle as if it had something it wanted to say.

Finally, Latifa concentrated on the fox so that others wouldn’t notice, and soon a thin silvery spirit rose from above the fox’s head.

‘Stay still, fox.’

[Lati! Lati! They threw me! Water! Cold!]

‘Huh? What are you saying?’

[Thrown in water! Over there! The fat one. My leg! Hurts! Stepped on my leg! Water!]

The word ‘water’ mentioned by the fox quickly flashed through Latifa’s mind.

‘Wait. Are you talking about the day the water pouch was torn!’

Recalling the incident when the bag was torn during the desert crossing, causing more than half of the water to disappear and causing many people trouble, Latifa quickly looked in the direction the fox was pointing.

There was where the guard soldiers protecting Iota were gathered.

‘It’s among those people? They threw you?’

[Yes! I was in a hole. That one took me out. Then fell in water. Cold! That fat one!]

Indeed, among Iota’s guards stood a man with a large, fat build.

Animals may have lower intelligence for counting, but they have much more developed sight and smell than humans, and good memory too.

She couldn’t blindly believe the fox’s words, but it was still a situation worth suspecting.

‘That man might have torn the bag containing the water.’

Before, she didn’t understand the actions of the culprit who deliberately dumped the water because she didn’t know the political situation of the Grand Bazaar well, but now she could vaguely understand.

‘If it’s Iota, the mother of the second prince, she would have wanted to eliminate General Hades, who achieved merit in the war.’

While Latifa was making such speculations, Hades finished his small argument with Ruhan and handed her a small scroll.

“The final pleading will be soon. This is Tarek’s prescription that Omar smuggled out.”

“Prescription?”

“This prescription states that his wound is not that deep. With this, we can end the trial in one go, Latifa.”

“With just one prescription?”

“Now that Iota is misleading people with the severity of the wound, there’s no better evidence than this.”

Certainly, Iota was currently drawing sympathetic public opinion by claiming that Tarek had suffered a deep wound.

‘If we show this and prove that his injury is not severe, the grounds for punishment will disappear!’

Finally relieved, Latifa accepted it and nodded her head resolutely.

“Alright. I’ll trust you, General Hades.”

“Oh my. There was no room for me to intervene.”

Ruhan, who had been watching everything, muttered bitterly while looking at Latifa.

“Ah, General Hades. Come to think of it, your guess might be right.”

“What do you mean?”

Latifa slightly bent her upper body and whispered softly in his ear.

“It seems like it wasn’t this fox that tore the water pouch last time. The fox says that among those soldiers over there, someone threw it into the water. And injured its leg too.”

Hades’ eyes quickly flashed towards where Latifa pointed.

And a low, anger-filled rumble flowed ominously from his mouth.

“I see, Iota… Old vixen, I knew it was your doing.”

Latifa trembled somewhat at the deep anger embedded in Hades’ voice.

“But there’s no physical evidence. And it’s not certain either.”

“No. It must be that woman’s doing. Only Iota would plot such a vicious act.”

Frightened by his ominous voice, Latifa quickly tried to calm him down, but coincidentally, the Sultan announced that the trial was resuming.

“Well, let’s end the break here. Let’s begin the final pleading. Iota.”

Latifa adjusted her posture again, and while everyone turned their heads towards the Sultan, Hades continued to glare at Iota with fierce eyes.

At the words ‘final pleading’, Iota stepped forward in front of people, sniffling tears.

“Because of that woman, all my subordinates could have died in the desert. Thousands of lives…!”

Hades could be felt trembling and spewing anger between his teeth.

With an uneasy premonition rising, Latifa bit her lip and rolled her pupils back and forth.

‘I should have told him later, why did I say it now?’

“Whether she instigated the lion or not, the responsibility for the lion lay with that wench, and because of that lion, Prince Tarek’s shoulder was severely injured. I request that that wench who insulted the Basili dynasty be punished.”

Hearing Iota’s words, Hades growled in a low voice audible only to Latifa.

“The one threatening the noble spirit of the desert warriors and insulting the Basili dynasty is you. That wicked woman should be punished immediately… Damn it!”

Hades speaking like that seemed to be barely suppressing his anger.

The Sultan spoke to Latifa in a dignified voice.

“Hades’ Frau. What is your final pleading?”

Latifa quietly bowed her head while glancing at Hades, who was breathing roughly and holding back his anger beside her. Then she handed Tarek’s prescription to the Sultan and said.

“As the Sultan is wise, if you look at the prince’s prescription, you will know that the prince’s wound is not deep enough to cause an uproar by opening a trial.”

“Th-that, where did…?!”

Iota’s complexion began to turn pale blue upon seeing it.

At the Sultan’s gesture, the Sultan’s advisor read the scroll and gave his opinion.

“After the prescription of willow branches good for stopping bleeding and safflower seed extract to strengthen bones, there’s not much noticeable treatment afterwards. At most, there are a few more ingredients to replenish vitality, but it seems the measures for the shoulder wound were already completed long ago.”

At the brief content of the prescription, everyone gathered in the hall began to look at Prince Tarek’s injured shoulder.

“Is Prince Tarek exaggerating? Well, Prince Tarek has always been strong, so this kind of injury would be nothing to him.”

“Unless it’s a serious injury… Is there a need to make such a fuss over such a lightly scratched wound?”

Prince Tarek, who suddenly became the center of attention, bowed his head while clutching his injured shoulder, and Iota stepped forward to defend him, speaking on his behalf.

“I-is the size of the wound important? Isn’t the fact that Prince Tarek was injured what’s important? Please don’t obscure the essence of the incident. If such an incident is overlooked without punishment, the people of the Basili dynasty will have nowhere to appeal if they suffer harm from someone.”

‘What nonsense is she spouting!’

Latifa sensed that the trial was over at Iota’s sophistry and the murmuring of the people.

But it was too early to be completely relieved. Hades’ rough breath was still reaching Latifa’s ears.

At that moment, Iota, who was driven into a corner, suddenly began to shed transparent, glass-like tears and pleaded to the Sultan.

“You’re all too much. If Prince Ruhan had been injured like that, would you have said the same? If Prince Tarek had been born of the legitimate queen, he couldn’t have been treated so poorly! Oh, Prince Tarek. I’m sorry. Because I’m just a concubine, my power to protect you is too weak!”

“Iota…!”

The Sultan tried to comfort Iota with a regretful expression, but Iota firmly pushed away the Sultan’s arm.

“It’s fine, Sultan. I don’t want pity. Prince Tarek is also a proper member of the Basili dynasty, should he receive such treatment compared to Prince Ruhan?”

As soon as he heard those words, Ruhan’s complexion darkened, and Hades, who had been trembling with anger, finally stood up from his seat and shouted at Iota.

Latifa had no time to stop him.

“Damn it. How dare you, Iota…! You dare to compare him with Ruhan? A mere Prince Tarek with your wicked and dirty blood mixed in?!”

Suddenly, a rough and loud voice that could shake the entire audience hall burst out of Hades’ mouth.

Iota sobbed, wetting her beautiful face with tears while shaking her disheveled hair.

“I heard that at General Hades’ banquet, our Prince Tarek wasn’t even recognized as having royal blood. They say he was ignored, saying only emperors could step forward. You don’t know how heartbroken that child must have been, how deep that emotional wound is, Sultan! Because to others, only the ‘insignificant’ shoulder wound is visible!”

Seeing her sobbing appearance, veins bulged on Hades’ neck and a chilling light flashed in his eyes.

“I went along with this ridiculous trial, and after tainting the royal blood with your wicked body, now you’re threatening the Grand Bazaar and acting shamelessly, Iota!”

“Hades, this is the royal palace!”

A flustered Ruhan reached out towards Hades, but Hades had already quickly lunged forward.

“Oh my! The old musk fox is causing a ruckus in the noble palace, spreading musk scent! What were the palace guards doing! Why haven’t they captured and killed this fox immediately!”

“Kyaaak! Sultan! Sultan!”

Seeing Hades suddenly charging like a beast, Latifa couldn’t even understand what was happening for a moment.

“Ge-General Hades…?!”

The situation was so sudden that it felt like a dream.

As the startled Latifa tried to get up from her seat to stop him, Ruhan grabbed her tightly.

“No, Lati! Hades is dangerous right now! If you go, you might get hurt too!”

“Ru-Ruhan. H-how.”

Latifa barely opened her mouth, too shocked to speak.

“Uwaah! The mad dog of the Grand Bazaar is running wild!”

“Damn it, mad dog Hades! Royal guards! Capture that man!”

People caused a commotion and avoided getting caught in the crossfire, while Tarek called for the royal guards to subdue him.

Iota was terrified at the sight of the enraged Hades approaching her and hid behind the Sultan, while he was blocked by the polearms of the guards protecting the Sultan and was yelling loudly.

“Come out! You lowborn wench! I said come out! Move aside! How dare you block the path of Ignite?! Move! I must punish that fox with my own hands!”

Four or five armed guards rushed at him, but Hades instead kicked them away with one foot.

Iota wailed but still shouted at the guards.

“What are you doing! Draw your scimitars and stop him! Are you trying to let the Sultan get hurt?!”

“Iota, shut that disrespectful mouth! You don’t even have the right to mention the Sultan! And you dare to touch the lives of my soldiers too?! Are you even human? You’re just a fox blinded by greed!”

Hades, shouting in the middle of the Sultan’s audience hall, was truly like a mad dog incarnate.