Captured by the Desert Tyrant - Chapter 9
After arriving at Sort Byeon-gyeong, Latifa had to move around very busily. Hades seemed intent on getting his money’s worth for the 15 gold bars, calling for Latifa from the crack of dawn to handle various tasks here and there.
“They’re asking 30 gold coins for 500 geun of dried dates.”
“Too expensive. 25 coins.”
When Hades shook his head, Latifa began negotiating in the imperial language. Even merchants who initially refused to budge on the price eventually agreed to Hades’ offer, suggesting he had quite an eye for business.
“They say if we order the leather now, it will arrive in two days.”
“That’s fine. Tell them there will be a 2 pun penalty fee if it’s even one day late.”
“Um… What’s a 2 pun?”
“You don’t even know what 2 pun is?”
Of course, Latifa’s desert language wasn’t perfect, so there were some difficulties, but overall things seemed to be going smoothly.
The stares of the soldiers who kept whispering about her and Hades were a bit uncomfortable, but they would be leaving soon anyway.
The imperial prisoners brought by Hades’ soldiers were also being gradually transferred to other small countries.
“These desert people are better than the emperor who abandoned us.”
“That’s right. We thought we were going to die for sure!”
“Being alive is the most important thing.”
“The empire will be rebuilt. They say the desert people will just go back to the desert.”
Latifa smiled faintly as she overheard the imperial refugees whispering. She felt proud that she was now contributing, even if just a little, to saving their lives, when she hadn’t been able to do anything for the imperial citizens while in the palace.
“Have you heard the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“They say one of the princesses is being held hostage by the desert people.”
At the word “princess,” Latifa’s head turned immediately.
‘Could it be, has my identity been discovered?!’
With an anxious heart, Latifa approached them cautiously and asked.
“Um, what do you mean by princess? Can you tell me more about it?”
An old man replied.
“I heard the desert people are trying to take one of the princesses to the desert.”
“To the desert? Which princess?!”
“Who was it again? There are so many princesses, I can’t even remember the name.”
“It’s that woman who was the most arrogant and haughty! The one who was said to be the most extravagant!”
“Ah, right. The blonde one.”
At the mention of blonde hair, Latifa secretly let out a sigh of relief. But it wasn’t time to be completely at ease.
‘A blonde princess who was the most extravagant…’
It could only be the Third Princess Aris.
Aris, Latifa’s half-sister, had strong backing from her maternal family and was known for her intelligence and political acumen. Her name was occasionally mentioned as a potential candidate for the next emperor.
“Why are they taking her to the desert? Didn’t they say they would release all the refugees?”
“They probably want to show that they’ve won the war by taking the bloodline of the defeated country’s leader.”
“Will she be killed if she goes?!”
Surprised, Latifa asked, and the man tilted his head.
“From what I hear, they say they’re going to present her to their king.”
“…How can that be.”
“Such a princess, even if she stayed in the empire, she’d only get beaten up.”
“Yeah. We don’t need a woman like that either!”
“The royal family who sucked our blood dry. There’s no need to pity them!”
‘…Princess Aris.’
Latifa recalled the first time she encountered Princess Aris. They met in the royal library. Aris, who usually didn’t frequent the library and sent her maids or servants instead, was there that day for some reason, looking for a book when she ran into Latifa.
But Aris, not realizing that Latifa was also a princess, arrogantly ordered her to bring her a book, mistaking her for a maid.
‘It’s understandable. I didn’t have any maids with me, and the clothes I was wearing weren’t that fancy.’
Faced with Aris’s arrogant command, Latifa, lacking the courage to say that she too was a princess, simply brought the book silently and then fled as quickly as she could.
That was the first and last time she encountered her. Aris, always glamorous and shining brightly, lived in a completely different world from Latifa.
‘So Princess Aris is alive. That’s a relief.’
Although she had never thought of her as family, it was somewhat comforting to think that at least one of the royal bloodlines she had thought were all dead was still alive.
‘But if Hades finds out I’m a princess too, will he take me as a hostage as well…?’
Don’t be ridiculous. Aris and I are completely different. Aris is good at horseback riding, excellent in etiquette, and has consistently studied politics and economics. She’s nothing like you, timid Lati.
A clear answer immediately came to mind.
‘Someone like me would just be killed.’
Latifa smiled bitterly as she hugged the scrolls in her arms. There was still a mountain of work Hades had assigned her to do.
**
The inside of the large tent, though rugged, was properly furnished, giving off a rather sophisticated atmosphere.
A luxurious wool carpet and oil lamps. A large brazier and a beautiful patterned incense burner. On the bed covered with soft silk cushions, layers of diaphanous silk blankets were piled up.
A messenger hawk was even perched on the golden torch stand next to it, preening its feathers.
“It seems our departure will be moved up by about two weeks.”
Manut said, putting down his water pipe, seeming pleased. A strong scent of jasmine wafted from him.
“How is it?”
Hades was taking a sip from a small cup of tea.
“Honestly, I have to admit it. I didn’t expect things to progress this quickly just because we solved the interpreter issue.”
“It’s because you kept pestering me that I’ve been running around so busily. How could the schedule be moved up this much just because we got an interpreter?”
“As expected of the wise great general. Still, 15 gold bars is too large an expense.”
“I don’t intend to pay it.”
Hades said matter-of-factly as he put down his cup. Manut was even more surprised and asked.
“Pardon? Didn’t you even write a contract?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s a bit…”
“The place of payment on the contract is listed as Caleb’s private property.”
“…Huh?!”
“We’ll take her to the Grand Bazaar.”
“…Pffft! *cough* *hack* Great General!”
“Ugh, disgusting. Where are you spitting?”
Unlike Manut, who was coughing in surprise, Hades calmly sipped his tea.
“What use is an imperial who can speak the desert language if we go to the Grand Bazaar?!”
“It seems that woman has other abilities.”
“…Pardon?”
“I have a hunch, but no concrete evidence yet. I don’t think she’ll tell us even if we keep asking.”
“What kind of abilities are you talking about?”
“Something more impressive than desert or imperial language skills.”
Hades spoke with a confident voice. She clearly had other secrets. It might be an ability that could be useful to Hades.
“No, Great General. Even now, my subordinates keep asking me. Who on earth is that woman? What am I supposed to tell them?! And now you’re saying you’ll take her to the Grand Bazaar?!”
“She’ll have something to do for Prince Ruhan.”
“If it’s for the Prince, that’s even more reason not to! Aren’t we on the side that supports the pure bloodline of the Basili dynasty? There’s nothing good that can come from getting involved with imperial people.”
“Shut up.”
“Now that Prince Tarek has come of age, it’s time for you to care about your reputation too, Great General.”
“Who’s going to stop a mad dog from doing mad things?”
Hades didn’t say anything more after that. Manut also puffed on his water pipe, looking frustrated.
Just then, a soldier burst into the tent noisily to report.
“G-Great General! A horse has gone mad and is rampaging!”
**
Next to the wide plain where the desert people had set up camp, several fences had been erected to tie up the soldiers’ horses.
Usually, only gentle horse neighing could be heard from this place. But now, accompanied by a loud roar, one horse was rampaging wildly.
−Neigh! Neeeigh!
“Get out of the way! Everyone, step back!”
“The other horses are getting hurt too! Quickly, throw a lasso!”
“Damn it, it’s dangerous!”
A large gray-haired horse was running around madly, crashing into things here and there. Several people rushed in to try and stop the horse.
But because it was such a large warhorse, even one misplaced kick could lead to death, making it a dangerous situation that was hard to properly handle.
Eventually, the horse, injured from colliding with various objects, became even more frenzied and began charging towards another camp.
“Get out of the way!”
“You’ll die!”
“Kyaaa!”
“Herd it towards where the boxes are stacked!”
The men piled up large, heavy boxes to lure the horse. But the horse seemed to have gone completely mad, smashing even those boxes and starting to rampage through the entire camp.
“Just kill the crazy horse!”
“We have to get close to kill it! We can’t get near it!”
“Shoot, shoot arrows!”
“Damn it, are we really allowed to kill it?! Do you know how much that horse costs?!”
Latifa, who had been checking ledgers inside, also ran out to assess the situation amidst the commotion of people and the sound of things being smashed.
‘Did it eat some poisonous grass?! How can a horse suddenly go wild like this?!’
−Neeeigh!
The gray horse was charging at the men who were approaching with swords and bows, foaming at the mouth. And then Latifa heard the horse’s voice.
[Take me there!]
−Neeeigh!
‘I heard the horse!’
−Crash!
The sunlight reflecting off the desert people’s swords seemed to agitate the horse further, and it started kicking its hind legs violently and fleeing here and there.
[Take me there! I want to see!]
Hearing the clear words “I want to see,” Latifa quickly approached where the horse was rampaging. There might be something she could do to help. If it were truly a mad horse, it wouldn’t have been able to communicate.
“Woman, get out of the way!”
“Do you want to die?! Move!”
But as Latifa approached, the soldiers pushed her away angrily.
“Just a moment! I just need to look for a moment! Let me through!”
‘Ah, I need to see the spirit! That’s how I can talk to it!’
She needed to get close to meet the silver spirit to be able to talk to it, but the soldiers were blocking her way, making it impossible to get near.
“That’s a mad horse!”
“It’s not mad! Let me try to calm it down! I just need to get a little closer! Please!”
“Hey, this woman’s gone mad too, someone take her away!”
−Whoosh!
Finally, as an arrow shot by someone stuck into the ground, the horse reared up on its hind legs and started snorting.
“Throw the lasso now! What are you all doing, unable to control one horse!”
Hades, holding a bow, was shouting as he ran over from the other side. He drew his bow again and fired several arrows in succession towards the ground.
−Whoosh! Thud!
As the arrows struck the ground, the horse continued to stand on its hind legs and started wailing. In the gap that finally opened, the soldiers threw ropes to restrain the horse, and were finally able to subdue it.
But even as it was restrained by ropes and fell to the ground, the horse continued to make crying sounds and writhe.
“Usually they calm down when they fall, but this one seems to have gone completely mad.”
Hades was walking towards the horse, drawing his sword. Seeing the flash of his blade, a chill ran down Latifa’s spine.
‘Oh no! He’s going to kill it!’
−Neeeigh!
[I just want to see my sibling!]
‘It says it wants to see its sibling?!’
Hearing the horse’s voice clearly, Latifa shouted and ran forward.
“Wait! Great General Hades! Please stop!”
Hades’ sword rose high in the air, flashing.
*
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One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
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Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
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