‘Huh?’

Latifa, thinking she had misheard for a moment, asked Ruhan again.

“Ruhan. The rabbit’s name is Lime, right?”

“…Y-yes, it is. Why do you ask?”

Ruhan waved his hand, sweating profusely for some reason. Latifa tilted her head again and whispered to the rabbit.

“Lime?”

At Latifa’s call, the rabbit chewed its small mouth and tilted its head to the left. Its expression seemed different from usual.

‘Then what is your name?’

Latifa made eye contact with the baby rabbit and asked its name inwardly.

“……”

At the adorable rabbit’s answer, Latifa’s concentration was instantly shattered, causing the spirit to quickly dissipate.

“Lati?”

As Ruhan called out to Latifa with a worried expression at her dazed appearance, the rabbit in Latifa’s arms reacted to that name and began to move vigorously.

Seeing this, Ruhan hurriedly stroked the rabbit’s head to calm it down.

“L-Lime, why are you acting like this. I think it’s too happy to see Lati. Lime, calm down.”

‘Did he really name the rabbit after me? Why?’

“Ah, I almost lost my mind because Lime is so cute.”

Since she couldn’t suddenly ask why he had given the rabbit her name, Latifa responded with a calm appearance.

“That’s right. It’s really a cute and lovable child. Its fur is a beautiful color, and its eyes are round and sparkle so beautifully that I sometimes find it breathtaking, not to mention how clever its behavior is.”

Ruhan rubbed the face of Lime, no, rabbit Lati, with his finger with a truly happy expression, but his gaze was directed at her, making her feel a little embarrassed.

“Lime really likes Ruhan.”

“Does it look that way?”

Ruhan continued speaking to Latifa with a bright smile, as if pleased.

“I like Lime the most too. Really. It’s become so precious to me now that I wouldn’t want to exchange it for anything in the world, to the point where I can’t help it. I really like it.”

‘But why give my name to a rabbit you cherish so much? Ruhan is quite an unusual person, isn’t he? Are all desert people like this?’

Thinking about it carefully, it occurred to her that since Ruhan was Hades’ close friend, he might be a bit eccentric too.

Like how he had hidden his identity as a prince in the market.

‘It all makes sense since he’s the best friend of General Hades.’

Latifa nodded with a completely understanding expression.

“When I’m with it, I become so comfortable that I forget all about my position. All the headaches disappear, and I feel like I’m floating, to the point where I want to keep touching it…”

After saying that, Ruhan looked at Latifa and blushed, seemingly a bit embarrassed by his passionate confession about the rabbit.

“This is all just about the rabbit, of course.”

“This child is Ruhan’s oasis, isn’t it?”

Latifa said with a gentle smile. Ruhan let out a small sigh and took the rabbit back from Latifa’s arms.

“Rather than an oasis, it’s more like a desert mirage. Come, Lati. Shall we look around some other places?”

‘A mirage? An illusory phenomenon that appears in front but has no substance?’

Ruhan spoke with somewhat meaningful eyes, but as he soon took Latifa to show her around various parts of the prince’s palace, she completely forgot to ask about the meaning of the mirage.

Even after Asti returned, Ruhan seemed to enjoy the rare leisure time and spent a long time with them until they returned to the harem palace in the evening.

Even after arriving at the first gate of the harem palace, Ruhan kept holding them back, trailing off his words as if something was unsatisfactory.

“Why don’t you have dinner at my palace before you go, Asti?”

“Oh, come on. I’m busy in the evening too, elder brother Ruhan. Mother said she wanted to go to the hammam together.”

Asti waved her hand coyly and stuck close to Latifa’s side. Ruhan made an overtly sad expression and spoke to Asti as if feeling hurt.

“Refusing your elder brother’s invitation when we haven’t seen each other in a while. Have you grown up so much already?”

“Hehe. I’ll come play again next time.”

“Alright. Come visit again next time with Lati. I’ll have them prepare the honey bread you like.”

Ruhan, who had been patting Asti’s head, approached Latifa and gave a slight bow.

“Thanks to Lati, I had an enjoyable time.”

“I had fun too, thanks to Ruhan.”

At those words, Ruhan chuckled.

“Your enjoyment and my enjoyment are of different textures. You probably can’t imagine how meaningful today was for me.”

“Ruhan always says such pleasing things. You must be popular with women.”

When Latifa made a joke, Ruhan started sweating profusely again and hurriedly began to make excuses.

“N-no, that’s not true at all. It’s not like that! Please don’t misunderstand!”

“Yeah, Latifa. Our elder brother Ruhan is really popular. He gets marriage proposals every other day.”

“Oh my, goodness. You must be pleased.”

“Asti! Lati!”

Asti and Latifa giggled at Ruhan’s expression, which looked like he might cry at any moment. After being constantly pushed around by Hades until now, it felt strange to see Ruhan being flustered by just one of her words.

“Let’s really go now. We’ll get scolded by mother if we’re late.”

Asti took Latifa and passed through the first gate. Latifa waved her hand to Ruhan, bidding farewell.

“Well then. If we have the chance, let’s meet again, Ruhan.”

“I’ll be counting the days until I can meet you again, Lati.”

As Latifa entered through the gate after saying goodbye, Ruhan also waved his hand with a bright smile. He continued standing there until the majestic main gate of the harem palace closed as the dark night shadows fell.

**

As Ruhan entered his prince’s palace, a servant bowed his head to him and said:

“Prince Ruhan. There is a message just delivered from the Sultan, which I have placed on the cherry wood desk in your study.”

“From Father? I see. Thank you for your hard work.”

Before entering his bedroom, Ruhan stopped by his study.

“I wonder if there was something displeasing about how I handled my work.”

From ancient times, when the Sultan’s princes came of age, they were assigned tasks befitting their abilities.

These were minor tasks that were too trivial for the Sultan and vizier to handle, encompassing various fields not limited to administration, military, and judicial affairs, and the ability to handle these tasks greatly influenced the selection of the future Sultan.

Worried that he might have made a mistake in his work, Ruhan approached the cherry wood desk, where a law book he often read was placed.

“If it’s a law book, there are many here too. Is he telling me to study more about trials?”

It wasn’t particularly bound in gold leather, nor was it a special law book in any way.

The only unusual thing was that the book was open rather than closed, and a yellow daffodil was placed on it.

“Is there a clue on the open page? And a daffodil on top of it.”

Ruhan examined the page where the law book was open. It was the preamble, laws, and clauses related to the rather ordinary ‘crime of theft’.

But knowing that his father, the Sultan, wouldn’t have sent this without reason, Ruhan began to read the open page carefully.

“Theft in the Grand Bazaar is a serious crime. This is because all goods, land, services, etc. flowing into the Grand Bazaar are primarily and absolutely owned by the Sultan before being private property, so theft is ultimately an act of stealing from the Sultan. This right is given to the Sultan to efficiently resolve disputes and conflicts between merchants, and for this duty—”

Ruhan trailed off as he read the preamble on theft without thinking.

“…primary ownership is absolutely with the Sultan, absolutely.”

He quietly repeated the previous content and stared blankly into space.

—Hades has already appointed her as private property.

Ruhan recalled what Rashid had said in the audience chamber on the day of Latifa’s tumultuous trial.

“…Private property.”

Latifa was not human in the Grand Bazaar. No, she was a living human, but not a person in the human realm.

Ruhan could fully understand why his father had left such a message.

The wise Rashid had noticed everything and not just passed on the law book and flower, but had given a reason why he must absolutely become Sultan.

“This can’t be. How could I dare covet what belongs to him? He is my dearest friend.”

Ruhan muttered, shaking his head vigorously.

“But…”

Although Hades had said with his mouth that he had no interest in her as a woman, Ruhan knew that his gaze towards her was different.

His eyes, which were always either calm or filled with madness, reminded Ruhan of the rough desert whenever he saw Hades looking at Latifa.

A desert where the smell of sand being heated by the hot sun and heat wafts up, shimmering mirages constantly rise, and a thirst persists that continues no matter how much water you drink.

With eyes containing such a passionate desert—quietly crumbling dust, but never knowing when a powerful desert wind might blow—Hades was looking at her.

“…How foolish, to try to deny the hottest flame in the world despite being called the flame of flames. My old friend.”

Ruhan muttered to himself as he picked up the single yellow daffodil.

“No, perhaps it’s wise. Once you realize it, a man’s heart is nothing but pain.”

One of the meanings of daffodils is self-esteem. When the Sultan asked if Hades had feelings for Latifa as a woman, Hades vehemently denied it.

“If only you had told Father earlier that you loved her, would it have been easier to give up?”

Ruhan tucked the single daffodil between the pages of the law book his father had sent down and closed it. The petals would be crushed and the sap would spread, sticking the pages together, but what did it matter?

“There’s nothing good about putting up useless pride.”

That night.

On that dark night in the Grand Bazaar, where the sound of an owl hooting could be heard in the distance, Ruhan couldn’t sleep and fiddled with the emerald ear cuff hanging on his ear for a long time.

**

Early in the morning, the scenery of Caleb’s private property was a bit different from the usual desolate landscape thanks to Hades, and it was lively.

The bright morning sunlight was dazzlingly shining on the floor of the turquoise crafted arch corridor leading to the main gate of Caleb’s private property, and dark-skinned servants were busily running back and forth above it.

“Did you put in the roasted peanuts too? We need to add hazelnut syrup too, so hurry up.”

“That hasn’t arrived from the kitchen yet! When I went to check, they were still wrapping steamed rice in banana leaves. It’ll take a while!”

“No! It’s too late! You and you, quickly go to the kitchen and help out. We’ll take care of things here.”

“This clothing! Isn’t the color too flashy? Lady Hagnu doesn’t usually accept colors like this!”

“The head maid said to include everything. Just put it all in! We’ll be in big trouble if even one thing is missing.”

Large and small chests were piled up on the corridor, and Lukwan, who was preparing the cart in front of the main gate, was shocked to see the mountain of items piled up before his eyes.

“Hey guys, are we moving somewhere?”

Hades was nowhere to be seen, but Yanan was directing everything and slapped Lukwan’s shoulder.

“Lukwan, bring out two more carts. We need at least five carts.”

“Ouch. Sister, that hurts! Why not just load everything onto a four-wheeled cart at once? Why bother bringing several two-wheeled carts? What’s going on to cause all this fuss?”

Lukwan grumbled but soon seemed to realize something on his own and spoke to Yanan in a surprised voice.

“D-don’t tell me? Are these gifts for Lady Hagnu? From Caleb?!”

The gates leading to the harem get progressively smaller, so gifts going to the concubines could only enter on two-wheeled carts, as per the rules.

Yanan said nothing as she carefully wrapped each chest with dark teal silk fabric.

She meticulously wrapped each square chest with silk cloth, tied a beautiful triple knot, and even attached a small jeweled clip to secure the end.

Not content with just that, Yanan neatly arranged two fresh flowers and blue leaves at the end of each clasp.

“Sister Yanan has always liked Lady Hagnu. But did you get permission from Hades for these gifts? If Hades finds out, he might be shocked…”

“I have seventy lives, so I’m not worried.”

Yanan said this and laughed as she thumped down a large chest she had just finished wrapping.

—Neigh!

At that moment, a camel came galloping towards the main gate of Caleb’s private property from afar. Manut was riding on it, fully armed.