-Clop, clop.

Numerous desert warriors were passing through the massive coniferous forest. At the very front of the long military procession was a large black horse, upon which sat Hades and Latifa.

Several hours had passed since the silent procession began. Latifa was constantly tense due to Hades sitting right behind her, causing cold sweat to run down her entire body.

“Hey.”

“…!”

Latifa was startled by the sound of Hades calling her from behind, gripping the saddle tightly. She was still not used to the man’s breath touching her back. No, it felt like she would never get used to it for her entire life.

“No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange.”

“…What is?”

“That hunting dog from back then.”

‘Why do you keep obsessing over that incident?’

Latifa took a deep breath, nervous about revealing her ability to communicate with animals.

“It was quite well-trained. I’ve trained hunting dogs before, so I know.”

“…So?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Hades abruptly ended the conversation after saying that. Latifa cautiously let out a sigh of relief at the anticlimactic end to their exchange.

“There’s definitely something going on.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. By the way, do you know where we’re going?”

“You said we’re going to a neutral country, right? If it’s near the desert, then probably the Sorte border…”

From Latifa’s perspective, if the desert people were stopping by a neutral country on their way back to the desert, the only place with many small kingdoms bordering the desert was the Sorte border.

“That’s right. We’re going to the Sorte border. We made a deal with the countries there.”

“…In exchange for accepting us?”

“I thought Imperial people were mostly stupid, but I guess not.”

‘The only stupid one in the Empire was probably the Emperor.’

Latifa moistened her dry lips with a bitter feeling.

“We agreed to purchase all the food and supplies needed to cross the desert from there. It’s a considerable cost. In exchange, they agreed to accept the prisoners.”

“…Why go through all that trouble?”

They had already trampled her homeland, so why put on this act of kindness now?

Latifa felt a sharp edge to her thoughts, perceiving the desert people’s actions as hypocritical.

“We desert people don’t covet what doesn’t belong to us like some others. Remember that the Empire was the one who invaded us first.”

Hades spoke calmly. There was nothing wrong with his words. That’s why Latifa was left speechless and increasingly confused about how to deal with him.

“In any case, I don’t want to waste much time in the Sorte border.”

“…”

“That’s why I need you.”

“…Me? You need me?”

Latifa was startled by words she had never heard before. That she was needed. Perhaps it was truly the first time in her life hearing such a thing, leaving her staring blankly ahead.

Her heart, which had just calmed down earlier, began to beat rapidly again.

‘He needs me? Why?’

“Let’s make a deal. I want to buy your skills.”

“Skills?”

“You can speak the desert language fluently, can’t you? Can you read and write it too?”

“I-I can’t write it.”

“Good. There’s no need to write. As long as you can communicate verbally to read ledgers and transfer prisoners, that’s enough.”

‘Ah, so he wants an interpreter.’

Latifa understood how the situation was unfolding. Finally, her racing heart calmed a little, and her frozen hands and feet began to thaw.

Due to the considerable distance between the Empire and the desert, there had rarely been any official exchanges between them.

There were many small countries in between, and the Empire itself tended to dismiss desert people as uncivilized, so the desert language was not considered worth learning.

That’s why even she had such a hard time learning the desert language.

‘It was really difficult. If it weren’t for that book, I wouldn’t have even thought of learning it. I spent hours reading in the vast imperial library, losing track of time.’

“We’re wasting a lot of time translating from the desert language to local dialects, then from those dialects to the languages of small countries, and finally to the Imperial language.”

‘So the interpretation process was more cumbersome than I thought.’

“Aren’t there any desert people who can speak the Imperial language?”

“There are a few. But it takes a long time to learn languages.”

Latifa nodded obediently. There was no particular reason to refuse such a request. Besides, if she could contribute to safely transferring Imperial citizens to a third country, what was there to hesitate about?

“Alright.”

“…Hah.”

However, Hades sighed as if something about Latifa’s positive attitude displeased him.

“Hmph. You have just the right personality to get swindled at the Grand Bazaar.”

“What did you say?”

Latifa frowned at Hades’ seemingly mocking tone. She couldn’t understand why he was picking a fight when she had readily agreed to interpret.

“I said we’d make a deal.”

“There’s no need for a deal. It’s good for me too, to help transfer the Imperial citizens.”

Besides, as a prisoner, she wasn’t in a position to make deals. Wasn’t she just supposed to do what Hades ordered? Why use such a grand word as “deal”?

“Listen. Saying I want to make a deal means there’s something of value among what you possess.”

“I said I’ll interpret, didn’t I?”

‘Can’t he understand what I’m saying?’

Thinking Hades might not understand, Latifa turned her head to look at him.

His black pupils, which had been staring straight ahead, glanced at her briefly before returning to the front. He seemed somewhat displeased.

“…You just devalued yourself. Well done.”

‘I devalued myself?’

At those words, Latifa felt as if she had been hit on the head. She had never thought of herself as having any value, so the very idea of losing value seemed strange.

“If you don’t raise your own value, who will?”

“…”

“Still not ready for business, I see. I’ll propose a deal again later.”

Hades muttered incomprehensible words in Latifa’s ear.

**

The procession finally stopped after the sun had completely set. Though not quite at the tent where Latifa had awakened, the desert people set up several makeshift tents by erecting poles. They also lit fires here and there to ward off the cold dew of the coniferous forest.

The soldiers and prisoners huddled around these bonfires to sleep, while the sentries on duty watched their surroundings with alert eyes, seemingly not drowsy at all. It was a very well-disciplined army.

Hades dropped Latifa off at his tent and then went back and forth along the length of the long procession, overseeing everything.

“We’ll join the main force in a week. The soldiers must be very tired, so make sure there’s no shortage of supplies.”

“Yes! Understood, General!”

“Good work.”

Hades turned his horse’s head and frowned upon seeing Manut blocking his path.

“General.”

“If it’s nagging, just keep your mouth shut.”

Manut quickly rode his horse alongside Hades and carefully conveyed his words.

“It’s not nagging.”

“If the words ‘woman,’ ‘Imperial,’ or ‘dignity’ come out of your mouth even once, I’ll draw my sword immediately.”

Hades preemptively struck, correctly guessing that Manut was about to nag about Latifa.

“…This is no joke. All the soldiers are whispering about her.”

“I’m keeping her around for a purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“She can speak the desert language. She has value to be used.”

“I know that. But it’s not to the extent that she needs to share your tent and always accompany you. It’s lowering your reputation, General.”

“Does the mad dog still have a reputation left to lose?”

Hades chuckled. Manut could only close his mouth without retorting to those words. Seeing Manut like this, Hades spoke as if telling him not to worry.

“Right. I can’t keep her with me forever.”

“What do you intend to do?”

“When we get to the Sorte border, I’ll use her as an interpreter. Find someone among the refugee groups she was with who can look after her.”

“As expected, you are wise, General.”

Manut’s face brightened as he bowed his head in respect from atop his saddle.

**

Inside General Hades’ makeshift tent. Although called makeshift, it wasn’t too simple, being the general’s tent after all.

An antique carpet was spread on the ground, and a simple bed was made with various chests and boxes.

Sitting alone on top of it, Latifa slowly pondered the words Hades had said earlier.

-If you don’t raise your own value, who will?

‘Do I even have any value to raise?’

Thinking about herself only made her sigh. The value of being an imperial princess was now useless anywhere.

Moreover, she wasn’t inherently clever like other royal bloodlines, nor did she have a particularly good way with words. She didn’t have outstanding physical strength or strikingly beautiful looks either.

Even her ability to talk to animals was a very minor ability, with many limitations and little use.

‘Just because I can communicate doesn’t mean chickens will lay more eggs or cows will produce more milk.’

Last time she was lucky to throw off the hunting dogs, but there was no guarantee such strokes of luck would continue in the future.

“It’s fortunate that I at least know how to speak the desert language.”

The reason Latifa learned the desert language was simple. She just learned it because she had nothing else to do.

In the imperial family with over twenty princes and princesses, the existence of Latifa, whose mother was of insignificant origin, was minimal.

The Emperor’s trust was steadily declining, and amidst the ongoing power struggle for the next successor, Latifa didn’t want to fall out of their favor.

Living quietly and smoothly was the wish of both her and her mother.

So Latifa stayed away from things like horseback riding, dance parties, and tea parties, and instead buried herself in books in a separate palace.

Even then, fearing rumors of getting involved in politics, she didn’t dare touch books related to kingship or practical affairs, only reading fairy tales and novels meant for children.

-Princess, there’s a book you might find interesting. How about this one?

It was then that the imperial library administrator offered her an exotic desert book. Although filled with incomprehensible languages, Latifa couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful illustrations inside.

Dark-skinned beautiful women and handsome men, splendid costumes, unique buildings, animals she had never seen before, and exotic backgrounds. Even the faint foreign scent wafting from the book.

All of it captivated Latifa, and from then on, she started learning the desert language. She wondered if the administrative clerk who taught her the desert language was still alive and well.

While lost in these idle thoughts, a low male voice sounded behind her.

“Are you feeling better?”

She quietly nodded at his words. In fact, her whole body was aching from riding a horse all day in a stiff posture. The wound on her leg was still stinging too.

“The fruits from the Empire really taste bad. I hope you won’t complain about being given such garbage.”

Hades, who had entered the tent, took out two or three apples and placed them next to her. Then he turned away without lingering and plopped down on a pile of blankets stacked nearby.

Latifa picked up one of the shiny red apples placed beside her. It was a decent apple, making her wonder how they managed to get such fresh ones even during wartime.

“This is quite high quality. It’s amazing there’s still something like this left during the war.”

“You call this high quality? Nonsense. Even the horses in the Grand Bazaar won’t eat such tasteless apples.”

But the apple beside her was indeed of good enough quality to be supplied to the imperial family without much issue.

Latifa carefully picked up an apple and took a bite. It was crisp, and the flesh was properly ripened and sweet.

‘It’s delicious!’

She couldn’t tell if he was trying to disparage the Empire by calling this garbage or if it really tasted bad to him.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Hades watched her eating the apple intently with an expression of utter disbelief.

“The fruits at the Grand Bazaar are extremely sweet. You’ll be overwhelmed by their sweet aroma before you even put them in your mouth.”

“Can fruits grow there even though it’s a desert?”

“Lychee, mango, pomegranate, dates, and even pomelo – all fruits are fresh and sweet.”

“That sounds delicious.”

“When you come to the desert, make sure to try them. You won’t even look at apples like these.”

“If I ever go there…”

As Latifa was mumbling her response, someone called for Hades from outside the tent.

“General Hades.”

“Yes, come in.”

As the tent flap opened, Manut entered along with a woman. Latifa’s blue pupils widened upon seeing that woman.

“Brenda!”