Chapter 7: The Witch, the Knight, and the Love Potion
Chapter 7: The Witch, the Knight, and the Love Potion
SAFINA rushed to the island, his wrinkled face crumpled with worry, and wept tears of joy for Rose’s safety. Rose spent the time since Harij’s departure tormented by not having been able to do anything on her own after how much she insisted she would be fine, so when she saw Safina crying for her sake, she finally let go of the self-hate and allowed herself to be grateful she was all right.
Then, with Safina’s assistance, she cleaned up the mess the thief made. Once they finished tidying the place, they sat down to enjoy a cup of tea at the table bathed in soft sunlight.
During their pleasant teatime, the bell rang, announcing a visitor.
“He couldn’t have come back, right…?”
The color drained from Rose’s face, not because she worried the thief had returned, but out of concern for the man she wholeheartedly hoped was getting some much needed rest. She peered out the window and saw exactly who she expected to be there.
But even at this distance, something seemed amiss.
“…Lord Harij? And he even has one of our footmen with him…,” a surprised Safina observed through the window with her. “Pardon me, Lady Witch. I shall go out to meet them.”
“O-Okay.”
Flustered, Safina dashed outside.
At the forest dock, Harij leaned on one of the Azm family servants like a sick person. They must have left the house in a rush, because the servant was still dressed in his indoor uniform.
Rose rummaged through the bottles on the shelf while Safina went by boat to fetch Harij. She carefully picked through the bottles, trying to figure out what was ailing him and why he chose to rely on her instead of a doctor.
“What is the meaning of this?! What in the world happened?!”
“I can never apologize enough! I gave him a different medicine that I mistook for his lordship’s pick-me-up…!”
“I’ve pardoned you for that! That’s enough! Don’t touch me! Go home!”
Things were noisy outside.
Rose couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she was surprised by the urgency and anger in Harij’s voice. This was the first time she heard him shout like that.
She threw open the front door. Safina tumbled into the room together with Harij.
“What happened? What are your symptoms? Call for a doctor!”
Kneeling, Rose examined Harij. Maybe he caught a cold after swimming in the frigid lake. Harij’s face was burning a deep, dark shade of red. His condition was already far beyond what she could treat.
Harij tried to push himself up with his elbows but couldn’t rise to his feet. He clenched his teeth.
“No doctor. Safina, leave.”
“I can’t leave you like this, my lord…!”
“Just go! Lady Witch can cure me!”
“What?” Rose and Safina exchanged looks. “…I can?”
Then his condition was related to a witch’s secret potion. Rose changed her approach.
“You were poisoned, weren’t you? Do you remember the characteristics of the poison? What it tasted, smelled, or looked like? Please tell me everything you remember.”
Harij shook his head, scattering drops of sweat from his drenched forehead. “It’s a matter of utmost confidentiality. Safina, please take the footman and go.”
Safina had to relent when he discovered the reason for his lord’s stubbornness was due to his work. He knew all too well that Harij wouldn’t back down once he made up his mind. Seeming to decide that leaving his lord to the witch as soon as possible was for the better, Safina quickly stood.
“…As you command, my lord. Lady Witch, please take care of him.”
“I swear upon my life that I will.” Rose looked Safina straight in the eye and gave a firm nod. Even if she didn’t know what poison it was, Rose would never abandon Harij to his fate.
After Safina left the hermitage and returned home with the footman who’d been waiting anxiously outside, Harij collapsed on the floor. He seemed to be in excruciating pain. His breathing came out shallow and rapid.
“I’m going to touch you now.”
Rose ran her hand over Harij’s skin. His whole body jumped at her touch. She instinctively pulled her hand away from the burning heat radiating from him, when Harij caught her wrist.
He moved quicker than she could react. Sweat coated his large palm. His grip was firm enough to crush a rock, but it didn’t hurt. Rose could tell that even in his current chaotic state, he was being careful not to harm her.
“I’m going…crazy… Is there…no antidote?”
His husky, breathless voice was so seductive, it sent shivers down her spine. Sweat trickled down Harij’s chin.
“You know what potion you drank, then?”
“Yeah.”
She heard him loudly swallow.
“Your handmade…love potion.”
She froze for a whole five seconds.
“…Pardon?”
“I accidentally drank the last one I bought from you.”
Accidentally…? Rose was struck speechless. That’s the last potion you should drink by accident.
“There is an antidote, but I don’t have the ingredients on hand. How much did you consume?”
“I don’t know. I threw it away as soon as I realized it tasted different from what I normally take. At least a whole gulp.”
“Well, even if you accidentally consumed the whole bottle, the symptoms should subside after half a day of loving someone…”
“You expect me to wait this out for half a day? I can’t survive that long! Besides, I haven’t fallen in love with anyone. I didn’t ingest anyone’s fluids.”
Was he in this much pain because the spell was left incomplete? The surge of magic that lost its destination must’ve been running rampant in his body.
Harij tried to stand up but lost his balance.
“Watch out!”
He slammed into the table on his way down. One of the cups fell off the table in the process.
SHATTER!
The porcelain cup broke with a loud crash.
“Are you all right?!”
Blanching, Rose examined Harij thoroughly to make sure he wasn’t injured. Some tea had spilled on him, but only a small amount that could be easily wiped off. She was relieved he wasn’t hurt.
“Thank goodness you weren’t hurt, Mr. Client—”
“Harij.”
Harij suddenly stood and cupped her cheeks in his palms.
“…Wha?”
Feverish and glistening ultramarine eyes watched Rose. She lacked the courage to return his gaze, but was also forbidden from turning away.
“…Mr. Cli—”
“Call me Harij.”
Her cheeks went numb under his hands. Harij slowly tilted his neck toward her as she stared dumbly back.
For fraction of a second, Rose couldn’t think. Through her wide eyes she watched his stunning face come closer. Her partially open lips were covered—by none other than Harij’s other hand.
“……”
This situation seemed oddly familiar.
When Rose stayed silent, the coarse hand that was acting as the last barrier his self-control could manage gently pulled away from her lips.
“…Things just got worse.”
“…Um, I can see that.”
Harij buried his face in Rose’s shoulder, uttering a low growl.
The spilled tea was none other than what Rose had been drinking. Some of it must have gotten in Harij’s mouth and eyes when it fell.
Realizing the situation, Rose screamed on the inside. How could this of all things happen?! She couldn’t stop the cold sweat from coating her back.
“Dammit! …You managed to get through this?” Harij groaned, pressing a hand to his chest to suppress his roaring heart. Every time he spoke, Rose’s shoulders trembled. His feverish breathing caressed her skin through the fabric of her clothes.
Harij seemed to be exerting his utmost strength to control himself—however, the hands touching her were as gentle as ever.
She heard a moan slip through his clenched teeth. Rose stood perfectly still, unable to do anything. She was scared she’d end up stimulating him further.
“I’m sorry. Just for a little bit,” Harij whispered.
“J-Just for a little bit?”
“Yeah, just for a little bit.”
“Just for a little bit,” Rose repeated again, unable to pinpoint exactly what that entailed.
Harij pulled her head to him. He had her hood off before she could blink.
His hands brushed past her ears. His fingers, buried in her hair, stroked her scalp. He ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying the sensation of it tickling his skin. Then, his pinkie finger brushed along her nape. Almost immediately, a tingling sensation coursed through Rose. It was the same sensation she had when she became the love potion’s test subject.
Rose was reveling in the pleasure brought by his hands running through her hair when he suddenly embraced her so tight, it messed up her long tresses. Harij’s lips brushed over her ear, then lingered there longer to enjoy the taste of her. He exhaled a long, breathy sigh and then calmed his breathing.
“…Rose.”
His heady sigh tickled her neck as if begging for a kiss.
His honeyed voice melted her. Her face burned. She had turned bright red, as opposed to Harij, who had regained a healthy color thanks to the magic being completed.
Carefully, Harij separated from Rose. But then, he embraced her again after seeing her flushed cheeks, quivering lips, and shimmering eyes.
“I can’t let go. You’re too cute.”
Oh my god! Rose screamed on the inside.
“You should let go!”
“I can’t… You’re just too cute…”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
Oh, how she wished she could faint. God truly had turned a blind eye on the Witch’s hermitage.
“P-Please put a little space between us first, then,” Rose proposed, thinking he might calm down if they weren’t touching. Harij heartlessly rejected her idea.
“Believe me, if I could, I would. I’ve tried many times and failed.”
You drank a love potion, not super glue, Rose retorted in her heart. If he didn’t look so serious, she would have said it out loud.
“Forget that. Call me Harij,” he whispered in a husky voice, still holding her close.
“Impossible. Never happening.”
“Only while the potion is active.”
Well, duh. You’ll only want me to say your name while under the influence of the potion. Don’t make it sound like you’re making a great sacrifice with this compromise.
His arrogance was still in full swing even after accidentally ingesting a love potion.
Rose could nitpick in her mind all she wanted, but it didn’t matter when she couldn’t say a single thing out loud. The warmth of his embrace and the love he was showering her with was wreaking havoc on her heart.
“Please,” he breathlessly pleaded, sounding truly fragile.
His weak voice almost convinced Rose that he would die if she didn’t utter his name.
Nervous tension stiffened the fingers hugging her. Feeling those hands on her back finally made her give in.
“Okay, Sir Harij, then …”
“Rose…”
Just when she thought he couldn’t hug her any tighter, he knocked his forehead against hers. His joy was transmitted through their intimate touch.
In an instant, Rose’s body felt as if it were on fire. The cold blue of his eyes softened into honeyed pools. Unable to withstand his sex appeal nose to nose, Rose squeezed her eyes shut.
“…Rose, that’s dangerous.”
Rose cracked one eye open, unsure of what was so risky about it, and stole a peek at his face. Eyes blazing with passion devoured her. His gaze alone conveyed how badly he wanted Rose.
Harij let out a groan as if he were enduring great anguish while she stared back at him. He licked his lips to distract from his thirst. His tongue moved so seductively across his moistened lips, it gave her delicious chills that made her hair stand on end.
“Please keep your eyes open.”
Right. That’s a good idea. Rose nodded so many times she thought her neck might snap. But his face is still too close! She mustered every last fiber of control to avert her gaze.
“I’ll want to pursue you if you flee.”
“Are you trying to kill me here?! What do you want from me, then?!” Crying out, Rose extended both hands to push Harij as far away as possible. But no matter how much she pushed, she barely created a gap between them, because his hands still cupped her cheeks.
Rose was in tears as she tried to pry herself away from him. That’s when she noticed someone outside the window.
Their eyes met. Three children were peeping in through the window. They were the same kids who had thrown mud balls at her and took her roasted potatoes home. It looked as though they had taken the boat out to her island. Safina and the footman had rowed the boat back to the forest side when they left. The children likely only came out to her island because they thought the Witch was alone.
Their little fingers gripped the sides of the window frame so they could pull themselves up on their tiptoes and peep inside. Three sets of eyes bore holes through Rose and Harij.
At Rose’s glance, the children scattered. Regaining her senses after freezing for a whole minute, Rose thrashed around.
“Wh-What do you think you’re doing?! Stink bug! Piece of crap! Stupid jerk!”
“You’re so cute.”
“I’m not cute, you piece of shit! The children saw us! They are going to spread rumors!”
“Let me take full responsibility for you.”
“You really are stupid! Love potions exist for the sole purpose of stealing such a promise from people of your standing! This potion is used just for that, you fool!”
Rose was so upset she let her foul mouth run wild and true.
Her crush nearly kissed her, called her cute, hugged her, showed off his affections in front of other people, and made her curse like a sailor—Rose just couldn’t keep it in any longer.
“Nnngh… Uwaaaah….”
Before she could stop herself, she broke down sobbing like a child. Tears spilled endlessly from her deep-forest-green eyes.
“Ugh…hiccup…sob…hiccup…”
“Please, I’ll do anything you say. Tell me whatever you wish for—just please, I beg of you, stop crying.”
Her tears deeply unsettled Harij. He put his hands on her shoulders and peered into her watery eyes. Rose hiccupped as she cried so hard her nose ran.
“Th-Then…p-please…come back to your…senses…this instant.”
“I’m sane.”
Rose buried her face in both sleeves and wept.
Like hell he’s sane! I’d have an easier time believing a drunk who claimed he wasn’t drunk!
“Then…l-let go…of me…,” Rose sniffled between sobs.
Exhaling loudly, he slowly removed his hands from her shoulders, the lines in his brow deepening—and immediately enveloped Rose in his arms again.
“I can’t. This is as far as I can go.”
“Y-You said anything! You would do anything I asked for, you butthead!”
Rose had never even spoken to her grandmother like this during her rebellious teen phase. And here Harij seemed to find even a crass Rose to be loveable. His finger wiped away the fountain of tears streaming from her eyes due to the ridiculous situation she found herself in.
“Do you truly not want me to touch you?”
Harij knelt and gazed up at Rose. Worry wavered in his ultramarine eyes framed by long eyelashes. Rose could only glower at the man who knew too well how to use his good looks to his advantage.
“You’ve stopped crying?”
“Mr. Client—”
“Harij.”
“S-Sir Harij, I-I won’t stop crying, because you won’t control yourself,” Rose protested through her sniffles.
“If you only knew. There’s so much I would like to do and I’m holding back on all of it.”
“How are you holding back?!”
“I’m restraining myself from asking you to sleep with me like my very life depends on it.”
Harij stared at Rose with a look so dead serious it could kill. His terribly sharp gaze wasn’t from anger or resentment; instead, it held a mysterious quiet.
In the face of this expression that made it seem as if Harij were suppressing bubbling hot magma, Rose stopped breathing. Her legs buckled and she pitched forward. Harij caught her in his arms once more.
“What’s wrong?”
“…My legs gave out.”
A storm was brewing in her heart.
Never in her wildest dreams did Rose imagine a day would come when he would stare at her with such passion burning in his eyes. Even if it was only the potion speaking, his words were far too stimulating for Rose, who had secretly crushed on him for four years.
“Huh? …I’m sorry. Did I scare you with that comment? I’ll help you sit down.”
Harij sat against the wall while still supporting Rose. He sat her on his thigh and gently pulled her into his chest. Going along with it, Rose leaned against him.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. He slowly stroked her hair as it cascaded down his chest. What Harij was preventing himself from doing surely wasn’t this gentle touch, but something more intimate.
Rose vividly remembered the carnal desires she felt for him after drinking just two drops of the potion. She laid a hand on the area that had ached for him. Harij was wrestling with the love potion’s effects and holding back for her sake. He fought with every fiber of his being to not hurt her.
Bliss filled her very being. Rose had never known such joy before.
Sure, she was startled, confused, and even angry at times, but Rose loved Harij. She loved him on an entirely different level than the feelings the potion temporarily gave him.
Of course she was happy. If this were to be a once in a lifetime event, then she wanted to give in to this euphoria that was more than one woman could handle.
The column of Harij’s throat moved when Rose remained silent with her head down.
“Rose, I’m begging you, please, whatever you do, don’t sleep in front of me,” Harij whispered in a voice so husky, it couldn’t hide his desire.
Rose’s eyes snapped open and she nodded several times. Harij’s chest shook with a wry laugh over how fast she whipped her head up and down.
“Why don’t we talk? Better to have a distraction than just sitting still.”
“Let’s do that.” Rose wholeheartedly agreed.
Gaining a little more control, Rose unconsciously squirmed into a more comfortable sitting position. Harij immediately panicked and locked her in place between his arms.
“…Um?”
“I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable for you. But, I implore you, please sit still.”
For a moment, Rose wondered why he apologized before she realized where she was sitting. No wonder she was uncomfortable—she was sitting on top of his muscular and hard thigh.
“Wh-Wha…”
She had been so out of sorts, she never even noticed where she was. Harij lifted her off his leg before she could fly into another flustered rampage, and switched to sitting cross-legged. He placed her back on his lap before she could protest.
“This should be more comfortable for you.”
How comfortable you are as my chair isn’t the problem here… Rose wisely chose silence over a losing argument.
“Since I have you here, can I ask you something I’ve been curious about?”
“…Go ahead,” Rose answered, exhausted.
“You once said you’ve known about me for four years. How?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“To satisfy my curiosity. I want to know if you viewed me as an object of contempt, were indifferent toward me, or had a good impression of me.”
Harij’s voice rained down on her from above with its usual calm. But Rose could feel his heart racing at a tremendous speed from where her face leaned against his chest.
She could tell he was eagerly waiting to hear her answer. Rose buried her face in his chest to hide the red of her cheeks.
“I saw you in the capital. You were wearing your blue cloak. I learned your name…then.”
“Did we talk?”
“No, we didn’t exchange a single word.”
“I’m surprised you remembered me, in that case,” Harij said, sounding amazed, though his heartbeat sped up.
Realizing it made him happy that she remembered him, Rose buried her face deeper and mumbled, “Yeah.”
The potion’s effect wore off as suddenly as it came on.
“Rose.”
The way he spoke her name said it all. His passionless tone was like the calm enshrouding the lakeside at dawn.
“Thanks. I’ve calmed down.”
Harij patted her on the head. His touch was casual, telling her that the effect of the potion had truly subsided.
Until now, Harij was talking to her to distract himself. But before they’d talked much at all, he suddenly grew silent, and the next moment he opened his mouth, he had returned to normal. What a lackluster and anticlimactic end.
Harij removed Rose from his lap by her shoulders and stood up. Following his lead, Rose slowly climbed to her feet. The areas that had been in intimate contact with him were moist. Shockingly cold air slipped through her clothes, and she shivered.
Until only a few seconds ago, they had been close enough to melt into one, and now not even their fingers touched. What should have been a natural distance between them felt incredibly lonely.
Unlike Harij, who was freed from the potion’s spell the moment it wore off, Rose was still stuck in the moment.
I’m in shock. I knew what that potion was capable of and that the illusory bliss was temporary. So why am I so depressed?
Rose was heartbreakingly disappointed now.
“Rose.”
He spoke her name in that familiar, firm tone of his. They stood facing each other. Rose cast down her gaze, unable to look directly at him.
“Yes?” she answered in a small voice incapable of concealing her despair.
“I want you to marry me.”
“Ok—ay?” Rose whipped her head up. She couldn’t comprehend the words she heard.
Harij patiently waited for her answer, looking as serious as he might on an important mission. As far as she could tell, he wasn’t under the magic’s influence anymore.
“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier…? This potion exists just to trick these words out of people…”
“So I heard.”
Since he wouldn’t back down, his mind was probably still suffering from the residual magic in his system. He wasn’t willing to take her advice. Rose slowly repeated herself as if trying to persuade a disobedient child.
“I am a witch, and as a witch, I…don’t believe it is wrong to manipulate the human heart with magic. However…” The words clogged in her throat. She wrestled past the lump to convey her true feelings. “Presumptuous as it may be, I want you…to be happy…Mr. Client.”
To honestly tell Harij that she wished for his happiness took a lifetime’s worth of courage. After all, he knew that every word she uttered was exactly how she felt.
“I’ll be happy if I marry you.”
“Even if you mean it, you can’t marry me. For I am a witch.”
Harij arched a skeptical eyebrow at her outright rejection. “Why does being a witch make it so we can’t marry?”
“You honestly have to ask? Witches are different from humans.”
“Plenty of humans suck at telling lies.”
“That’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
“Then what else is a problem?”
Rose was stumped. Born and raised as a nobleman, Harij should have known the answer, but she felt the need to check now.
“As you very well know, witches don’t belong to any country. We don’t abide by the laws of mankind. As a man who lives supporting his kingdom, are you prepared to marry a woman not bound by the same rules?”
“I’m fully prepared. It doesn’t bother me one bit. Plenty of people marry someone from another country, with different religions and laws.”
“Y-You should know this, but not abiding by the law means you can’t have me punished no matter what dangerous potions I make or who I sell them to.”
“The same applies to blacksmiths.”
Harij was right. Rose lived her whole life believing the same thing.
“But…you are a knight. Will your ethics as a knight allow you to overlook me being acquitted of crimes when I should be punished by your laws?”
Wouldn’t that be humiliating for him? Wouldn’t it be unbearable for him not to uphold justice?
“Can’t say. My heart will guide me should that time come. I might let it pass, or I might find a way outside the law to settle things. You don’t have to use that as the reason to avoid marrying me.”
Harij snuffed out this line of thought that hinged on his emotional response. His assertion was so on point, it stole her breath for a second before she stubbornly argued back like a sore loser.
“A-Also, witches generally don’t marry.”
“Then how did you come into this world?”
“Mother…received seed from somewhere…as did my grandmother, and great-grandmother before her. Thus, when the day comes for me to pass down my magic to a child, I will receive seed from—” Rose couldn’t say the rest, because Harij was glaring fiercely at her.
He noticed her recoiling and softly sighed.
“Then I can be the provider of that seed. And we can get married while we’re at it.”
“But witches…” Rose didn’t know how to convince him. Driven into a corner, she let the truth slip. “…Witches are such beings that people rejoice…when they die.”
The truth surprised her. Rose clamped her hands over her mouth.
She had relegated those thoughts to the back of her mind and believed she had long since gotten over it.
“Well, either way, it’s for the better!”
Yet, all along, she never realized how much the words she heard four years ago still haunted her.
“Rejoice…over their death?”
Rose vehemently shook her head. With how sentimental she was right now, she feared anything she said would turn into spilling her guts.
Harij pondered her statement for a while before looking as if he had just recalled what she was referring to.
“…Four years ago, in the capital… You’re talking about that one time?” Bitterness distorted his features as he drew on a specific memory. “You overheard what they said?”
Unable to lie, Rose nodded while wryly giving him credit for remembering what must’ve been an insignificant event in his life.
“…Yes.”
“…Then you heard some hurtful things.”
The gentle voice that comforted Rose first and foremost touched on her old scars.
Yes, Rose was definitely hurt at that time. It had hurt her so deeply that she subconsciously tried to forget the pain.
Even though Harij was initially repulsed by the idea of the witches’ secret potions, never once did he let his disgust turn to her, the Witch. After learning she was a young woman, he began treating her as he would any lady. He grabbed things that were too high for her to reach, worried after her health, and always brought her sweets.
What had started as a mere crush four years ago was encouraged enough to bloom into actual love.
“Let’s return to the topic at hand.”
“Huh?!” Startled, she yelped through her fingers.
Rose was positive she had brought the topic to a close with her sound argument. It was doubly backed by Harij remembering the incident. He knew countless people hated witches.
Nobody would want a wife whose death would be a celebration for others.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Why? Because…witches are an object of such hatred people find it pleasing when they—”
“Listen here. If there’s even a single person who’s happy about your death, I’ll pummel him until he doesn’t know what hit him.”
Pummel. Rose’s cheeks twitched at the unusually aggressive word choice from Harij. Seeing her reaction drew an annoyed sigh from him.
“You keep repeating ‘witch this, witch that.’ I came here to place an order with a witch. I knew who you were from day one. Rose the Witch is the woman for me.”
“Um?”
“You really don’t get it? You never considered why I rushed here without changing?”
Rose’s gaze went straight to Harij’s clothes. Come to think about it, last night he came during an hour when most people were still awake. Who knew what scandalous rumors would spread about the knight who visited the Witch’s hermitage at night. His traveler’s cloak wasn’t among his things she collected off the shore. Quite the contrary, he had been wearing the blue cloak symbolizing that he was a Royal Knight.
Rose blinked several times.
“Listen to me well, Rose, and be sure to remember this,” Harij said patiently, as if instructing a child. “The Witch may tell a lie to save me out of her enormously kind and meddlesome heart, but most men have ulterior motives when they put their life on the line.”
Harij inched closer. Rose flinched.
“There isn’t a man out there who would dive into a freezing lake to save a woman he isn’t in love with.”
Though he said it with a strained laugh, his serious eyes held Rose hostage. He slowly edged closer, careful not to frighten her, and rested his hand on her cheek.
“You just have to answer this one question—do you love me?”
Rose was a witch. Witches who used magic couldn’t tell lies. And Harij understood that perfectly.
Realizing his true intentions, Rose blushed. He went down on one knee and stared into her teary eyes.
“…I don’t want to…answer…because it will be a lie.”
That was the trick Harij taught her out of kindness.
“Aren’t I the only person to whom you can honestly say, ‘I don’t want to say anything because it will be a lie’ when it shows up on your face?”
These words could only be said to Harij because he knew the witches’ secret, and she could only say it to him because she trusted him.
“You’re surprisingly stubborn,” Harij teased, accepting her stubbornness with an ecstatic smile. After all, Rose could have easily told him if she hated him.
Harij slowly leaned toward Rose’s apple-colored cheeks. Even though the potion had worn off, his burning, passionate eyes came closer.
Rose squeezed her eyes shut. She knew exactly why Harij had asked her not to close them while under the potion’s influence.
And then, it happened—
“Eat this! Mud bomb!”
SPLAT!
A mud ball was thrown at the back of Harij’s head.
Rose and Harij, who stopped breathing at the same time, slowly looked at the front door. A bunch of children with handfuls of mud balls stood there. Adults armed with hatchets and hoes were right behind them. The grown-ups apologetically averted their gazes.
“Er, sorry about that… The kids told us the Witch was being assaulted by a man… So we rushed over hoping to help…,” one of the men said awkwardly.
Did the kids summon their parents out of a debt of gratitude for the roasted potatoes? Blushing like wildfire, Rose pulled away from Harij.
“Get away from the Witch! Even if she’s a witch, she’s a girl, too, y’know!”
The kids drew back their arms, ready to launch the mud bombs. Rose dropped to the floor.