Chapter 5: The Witch’s Hermitage Floating in a Puddle

 

 

 

Chapter 5: The Witch’s Hermitage Floating in a Puddle

 

ROSE carefully removed the mud from the fresh green herbs using lake water. Even in the sweltering heat, the cool lake felt pleasant.

The bright-blue sky reflected on the water’s surface. Rose’s eyes were drawn to the sky by a peculiar scent carried on the wind. It might rain today. Rose shook out the freshly washed herbs, pulled the small boat to shore, and flipped it over.

After entering the hermitage, she worked in silence until she heard the jing-a-ling of a bell. The sound informed her that a visitor had arrived at the forest’s dock.

She peered stealthily out the small window to find a man she knew well standing outside. It was Harij, who she hadn’t seen for a few days. He seemed to have dropped by on his way home from work. He even had a basket with him. Yes, it was that basket!

Rose excitedly cleared the table and laid out the tablecloth. She flipped the boat back over and rowed it out to meet him.

“Welcome. Thank you for coming.”

“…Sure thing.”

When she arrived at the dock, Harij was staring at her, speechless. She tilted her head with the unvoiced question of “What’s wrong?” but his eyes remained glued to her face.

She rubbed her cheek with her robe’s sleeve, assuming it must’ve gotten dirty while she was washing the herbs. But there wasn’t anything on her sleeve when she checked it.

Harij boarded the boat and cupped Rose’s cheek with his hand—it was the opposite cheek from the one she had just wiped.

“Is that the one that’s dirty?”

“No…well, yeah. Let’s say it is.”

Another vague answer from him, but Rose let it pass. After all, Harij’s other hand held the basket.

I wonder what sweets he brought me today. She had been treated to delicacies daily since she began staying at the Azm mansion, but she had even greater anticipation for the ones Harij delivered to her personally.

Rose peered up at Harij, and he gazed down at her, the corners of his eyes softening slightly. He seemed to be in a good mood. Work had kept him busy lately, but something good must have happened while he was away. Harij’s happiness was Rose’s happiness.

Once they arrived at the island, Rose assisted the basket—which happened to be carried by Harij—off the boat, escorted the basket to her hermitage, and opened the door so the basket could come inside. Harij followed her, smiling from ear to ear.

Rose planned to ask all about his day over snacks and was about to show him to the chair when she realized there was something she had to do first.

She slinked up to Harij and held out both hands, careful not to let her excitement show.

“What?”

“Thank you for the souvenirs.”

Well, I botched that. She had been trying so hard to control herself, but her lips had quirked up in a goofy grin.

“……”

Meanwhile, Harij’s good mood took a sudden nosedive. His smile flipped upside down and he sullenly looked at the basket.

“So the basket was why you were so happy to see me?”

“H-Happy? Me? Never.”

“I can tell even if it doesn’t show on your face.”

How can that be?! Rose was speechless. Keeping her face devoid of expression was necessary to protect the secret that witches don’t tell lies. Letting her emotions show now that she would be interacting with humans more than ever meant she wouldn’t be able to protect that secret any longer.

“I can’t believe it… Has it become that easy to read how I’m feeling?”

Rose was in shock that Harij had seen through what she believed was an impenetrable mask. He patted her several times on the head as if she needed that extra consolation.

“Don’t worry—you only become that way around me, and I can always back you if you slip up.”

That seemed even more embarrassing in its own way, but Rose pretended not to realize it as she quietly bowed her head.

Harij had brought her an apple pie pocket, which consisted of sweet sautéed apples sandwiched between cookie-like rectangular pastries.

The scent of cinnamon permeated the sweet and tart apples. With every bite, the tender fruit delighted her teeth.

The basket smelled of cinnamon, so she left that spice out of the tea she prepared, giving it a different flavor. It married perfectly with the pie pocket’s sweetness, doubling how delicious everything tasted together.

They ate the pastries in their usual seats. How strange for it to have become only natural for her to enjoy a peaceful snack in the witch’s hermitage with Harij. You never know what life has in store for you.

“What have you been up to lately?”

It had been four days since they last saw each other and even longer since they had the chance to sit and have a relaxing chat. Rose swallowed her mouthful of pie before answering.

“The other day, Tien brought wedding shoes for me to try on. Every single pair had stupidly high heels. He made me try on dozens, saying I need to increase my height if I want to look good standing next to you…”

She could never speak of the confidential information pertaining to Tien as her client, but she could talk about him as a friend. Plus, she was just so happy to have something to share with Harij that concerned him, too, she became all the more talkative.

“I think I ended up trying over twenty pairs before Tien gave the okay. By the end, I didn’t have the strength to move, so Mr. Safina lifted my feet and changed my shoes for me.”

Rose continued talking without realizing Harij’s temples were twitching.

“And one of the footmen, I forget which one”—the Azm mansion employed two footmen, but Rose could never remember who was who—“lent me his hand because I was so unsteady on the high heels, a newborn goat could walk better than me—”

“I’m sorry, Rose.”

Harij elegantly set down his teacup.

She was just getting to the good part, too! Even though Tien had been a guest, the clincher was that he ended up getting a scalding lecture from Ms. Tala for bossing Rose around until she nearly tripped and fell into the wall. Harij directed a pointed look at Rose, who was on pins and needles with anticipation to tell him that last bit.

“I forgot to tell you: I don’t want to hear you talk about other men today.”

“…Oh? Okay. Shall I tell you the rest tomorrow?”

“I don’t want to hear it tomorrow or the day after.”

Then when am I supposed to finish my story? Rose tossed a piece of pie into her mouth. As she savored the taste, her cheeks turned redder than an apple.

Oh yeah, this man is in love with me.

She occasionally—or rather, quite often—forgot that. It didn’t help that she also didn’t know what topics were off-limits between couples.

Furthermore, there were probably things that were okay or no good for others that did and didn’t work for both of them and vice versa. This was one thing they would have to discuss and learn about each other as a couple.

Harij was very interested in learning about what kind of life Rose was living at the Azm mansion. He spared no effort in making sure it was peaceful—of that, she was sure.

Nevertheless, he likely didn’t enjoy imagining her getting along well with other men in his absence.

“Okay… Let me see, oh yes, a fawn was born in the forest. As I was watching, the mother brought her face near the amniotic sac and…”

She had picked the topic at random, but Harij happily listened to this story without a word of complaint.

∴ ∵ ∴

ONCE they finished eating, Rose left her seat to wash the dishes. She needed to do that right after eating since she spent her nights at the Azm mansion. She couldn’t be as lazy as before.

“Phew. That should do it.”

Rose turned around after scrubbing the dishes so thoroughly that not even Harij could complain—and was met by a surprising sight.

“…Are you sleeping?”

She thought he was awfully quiet, but she never imagined it was because he’d fallen asleep. She tiptoed over to him just in case and stole a peek at his face.

“…He’s asleep.”

What skill he had to fall asleep sitting perfectly upright in the kitchen chair. Maybe his crossed arms were what kept him balanced, because he looked as stable as if he were awake. His expression was far from peaceful. He must have been tired, to look tense even in his sleep.

Crouching, Rose propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. She studied every facet of Harij’s face, beautiful as it was even when taut and asleep.

Harij continually took extra steps to ensure Rose was adapting to life at the mansion even though he had recently been reassigned to a new post. He also had his hands full running around preparing everything for the wedding, which Rose had no interest in dabbling in.

The opportunities for them to eat together had been steadily decreasing, showing just how incredibly busy Harij was these days. He might have been pushing the limit coming home as often as he did in the beginning to make sure she settled in all right.

Today over the pie pockets, he’d told her he was finally able to get some time off. His break would be short-lived, though, because he needed to return to the palace just past noon tomorrow.

If he was going to rest here anyway, she wished he would do it in bed, but Rose was incapable of carrying Harij without assistance. She couldn’t possibly roll him onto the floor and heave him onto the bed like a log. And if she happened to wake him, he definitely wouldn’t consider going back to sleep.

Rose was surprised that instead of worrying that she would have to touch Harij, she was more worried about him. She had grown exceptionally accustomed to being with him.

“…Goodnight,” she whispered, sitting with her back leaning against the leg of Harij’s chair. She reached for one of the books littering the messy floor and softly opened it on her lap.

∴ ∵ ∴

RAIN pelted the lake. Torrential rain shook the flowers and bounced off the ground. The witch’s hermitage seemed to be floating on top of a giant puddle.

The crisp sound of flipping paper echoed loudly through the chilly air. Rose was reading a book she had propped up against her knees. Her nose was close enough to brush against the pages. She wouldn’t have been able to read the letters if she didn’t hold it that close because the room had darkened.

“…Rose?”

She thought she heard someone say her name. Drawn by that muffled sound, she lifted her face from the book.

Her gaze wandered the room until it locked with dazed eyes. The sole pop of light in the dim room, Harij, stared at her from the chair.

“It seems I fell asleep.”

“I’m sorry. I planned to wake you before it got this dark…”

“Nah. Sorry I fell asleep on you.”

Rose glanced out the window and was astonished to see the rain coming down hard enough to classify as a storm. She had been too engrossed in her book to notice.

“…It’s raining.”

“We can’t use the boat in this weather. Let’s wait until it lets up.”

It was very dark out with the rain clouds blotting out the sky. From the look of things, it was near nighttime. The hermitage didn’t have grand clocks like the Azm mansion, so Rose couldn’t tell the exact hour.

Luckily, there was no carriage to pick them up today, since Harij had refused it. Otherwise, the coachman would also be trapped in the rain waiting for them.

The rain pounded against the thin roof, which could have easily blown away in the storm. It sounded strangely more violent than she had ever heard it before.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the lake turned into the sea…”

“Lakes cannot become the sea.”

“I know that.”

Rose lit a lamp and rummaged through the kitchen. Unfortunately, they were in the height of summer, and she had spared herself the trouble of buying things she wouldn’t normally need until winter. Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a crumb of food anywhere in the house.

The rain wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon. If she had known this was going to happen, she would have left half the apple pie pockets in reserve for later. Rose wasn’t hungry, but she’d feel terrible if Harij was.

Come to think of it, she had received an unopened bottle of brandy from a client a while back. As she groped around the shelves for the brandy, the letter from L fell out. She picked up the letter she had randomly stuffed into the shelves and shoved it into another random spot. This was why her place was never clean.

She managed to find the brandy and dusted the cork off with her robe. She turned to Harij, holding the lamp up to the bottle’s label.

“Want some?”

“Sure.”

Rose poured the brandy into plain cups meant for everyday use and placed them on the table. It couldn’t be helped that she didn’t have fancy glasses or a comfy sofa. Not only was the hermitage small and cluttered, but the bed was the only other place to sit.

“It doesn’t look like it will let up anytime soon.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Rose was starting to get anxious. Sure, she had to worry about leaks and the house being blown off the island with them in it, but her greatest concern lay with the rain physically preventing them from returning to the Azm mansion. If this downpour kept up, she and Harij would end up spending the night together in this confined space.

They had seen through the night in this hermitage together once before. Harij was a perfect gentleman then. Their relationship had been that of a suspicious witch and noble knight. But what about now? Harij no longer hesitated to touch Rose, and she also didn’t mind—

“Uuuuummmm!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I felt it necessary to do research because of my ignorance—marriage research, that is.”

I need a distraction! Rose slammed her cup of brandy on the table, walked over to the spot where she had piled up her recently purchased books, and returned with three of them.

“Marriage in this country is the legal union of two consenting people who swear an oath to each other in God’s name. A married couple consists of two people who are socially and economically united, and husband and wife each have their own obligations and rights… Does that sound right?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.”

Rose thought back to what Harij once tried to tell her: “The only unchanging promise I can give you is marriage.”

At the time, she was too much of a nervous wreck to really think about what he meant, and she also didn’t have adequate knowledge about marriage to get what the big deal was, but now she did.

The page Rose had opened the book to addressed bereavement as well. When she saw it for the first time, she was so surprised, she had to reread the same paragraph several times.

According to the book, the married status still held even after a spouse was deceased.

Most animals do not remain faithful to their deceased mate. If one of the pair dies, the one left behind will find a new mate and have children. Nothing is dedicated to the corpse—the animals move on.

Yet humans continue to dedicate their futures and responsibilities even in death, maintaining the “marriage” bond.

An unchanging promise really would last forever. He offered her an everlasting oath that wouldn’t change over the years and decades to come—even in the event of his death.

Rose was overcome with joy—an even greater joy than she experienced when he first asked her to marry him.

“…I also learned about how there are different types of marriage: those that are simply bound only by law and those who desire the union. All the married people I have ever known have been morally compromised clients who come seeking the witch’s secret potions despite already having a spouse. So I decided to ask people who aren’t my clients—granted, they all work at your mansion.”

“You can trust them.”

“I believe so, too. Would you like a refill?” Rose asked, noticing Harij’s empty cup.

“Nah, I’m good,” he said with a shake of his head. He would typically drink another two cup’s worth.

“Are you sure?” Rose confirmed before continuing with her story. “So I asked Mona first.”

She still hadn’t become close to Mona yet, but the young maid no longer cringed when they passed each other in the halls. She hadn’t gotten over her innate fear of the witch, but she seemed to be growing more comfortable around her. As evidenced by the fact Mona took Rose’s puzzling question seriously and answered despite her initial hesitation.

“She described marriage as ‘future stability.’”

“I see.”

“I asked Mr. Safina next.”

Rose directed a sidelong glance at Harij because he had only just told her “I don’t want to hear you talk about other men today, tomorrow, or the day after.”

He showed no reaction, so she continued, “He said marriage is the ‘fertile ground for the seed of love.’”

She also asked the two footmen but couldn’t remember what they said, so she left that part out.

“I asked Ms. Tala last. She said marriage means ‘continuing to walk life together.’”

“What did you think after hearing everyone’s opinions?”

“The answers varied, but none were wrong. It led me to the conclusion every marriage is built differently by the two people involved. That is why…” Rose grabbed the brandy cup and downed the contents. This was something she couldn’t say without liquid courage. She stared at the bottom of the cup as she confessed the rest. “I believe that talking about marriage—about life—with you is our own form of being…married.”

At some point along the way, Rose and Harij started communicating without being nervous or hesitant about offending or being offended so that they could better understand each other. Rose became confident in her feelings for Harij and in his feelings for her.

“I see,” he whispered in a voice smoother than warm hot cocoa.

Harij probably helped Rose out in more ways than even she realized.

As someone who had only experienced life in the hermitage, Rose knew little to nothing about the outside world. She had no means to learn more about the kingdom at large, or about things like knights, nobles, and the rest.

It would be impossible to master all that knowledge and assimilate perfectly into his world. Much like how asking Harij to suddenly use magic would be impossible. Nevertheless—

“Please tell me if there is ever anything I should be aware of. I don’t know much about the world or the people in it, but I don’t want to stay ignorant when it comes to you.”

She would never stand in the same position as Harij or hold his exact outlook on life. What she could do, however, was share in his goals, support him, and come to understand why he believed the things he did.

“Even if we have to take different routes to get there, as long as we end up at the same destination, then we will succeed at being married… Or at least, that’s what I took away from it.”

This was the conclusion Rose, who had always gone with the flow and never set down roots, drew after seriously thinking about her future for the first time.

Forever seemed to pass without a response from Harij. The silence was suffocating.

The smell of brandy filled the room. Worried she had derived an entirely different conclusion from what Harij had imagined for their future, Rose looked up from her cup.

Tenderness met her gaze. Harij was looking at Rose as if she were the whole world, as if he didn’t even hear the rain pelting the thin roof.

His expression was full of affection and bottomless love, unlike anything she had ever seen before.

“What’s…the matter?” Her question came out hoarse.

“I was just thinking about how much I want to hug you.”

He always hugs me without asking first, so why is he holding back today? Rose found his comment so curious, she tilted her head.

He must have guessed her unspoken question. Harij’s lips formed a small smile as he shook his head.

“No one else…is here.”

“Indeed.”

“I’m not confident I can leave it at just a hug.”

His eyes gleamed in the lamplight. They blazed like torches. His ultramarine eyes burned with desire, holding her captive in their shimmering depths. It shouldn’t have been possible, but to Rose, it seemed a small fire was kindled there.

“I have never felt this much love before.”

Neither of them had taken the love potion, but she felt the dizzying flames of love coming from him. She struggled to breathe.

“Let’s get married soon,” he whispered in a low, heady voice.

“…Mm-hm.” A second later, she repeated, “Mm-hm.” She couldn’t risk looking at his face a moment longer.

∴ ∵ ∴

THE rain stopped late into the night.

No fiacres operated at this hour. As such, they would have to go on foot if they wanted to return to the Azm mansion. They were contemplating whether they should risk walking back through the pitch-black forest right after it rained, when the bell rang.

Safina was waving to them from the forest dock with a large lantern in his opposite hand. He must have been terribly worried about them to come all the way out there to pick them up. The bell probably rang from his knocking the lantern against the metal pole.

Rose and Harij boarded the boat together. Neither of them could sleep a wink after the conversation they had. Sleepy, Rose let out a yawn.

“Tired? You should sleep a bit when we get home.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I might get rest, but you—”

A sleepless night had passed because of her, and he would soon have to go back to work. Her mumbled apology came from a place of concern that he’d have to work again that afternoon.

“Don’t worry, I received something a million times better than sleep.”

Harij patted Rose’s head as she climbed into the carriage. She decided it best not to think about what he was referring to.

As the carriage began to move, Rose rummaged through her robe.

“I brought a Wake-Me-Up Potion and an Energizing Potion I happened to have recently made at the hermitage. These will be a thousand times more effective than any pharmacist’s medicines.”

“Thanks.”

“You can have them on the house.”

Harij happily accepted the potion bottles Rose held out to him. She took a direct hit from his aura of handsomeness and wrenched her neck away from his face.

“You’ve grown soft, Sir Harij.”

“Soft?” Harij touched his cheeks as though he couldn’t believe his ears.

Rose shook her head to let him know she didn’t mean it physically. “Your speech and conduct have softened.”

“I haven’t changed.”

“You have. In the past, you…acted according to your feelings only.”

You were arrogant and never listened to what other people had to say. Obviously she couldn’t be that straightforward with him and went for the indirect approach, but the result was the same. Harij’s lips turned down at the edges.

“You’re one to talk. You were awful when we first met. Did you forget?”

“Awful how?”

“You deliberately sent me out on fetch quests for one bizarre ingredient at a time—”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Rose cowered in the corner from the dark history she wanted to forget ever happened.

“…What’s with the extreme reaction?”

Harij had no way of knowing she sent him on wild goose chases just to increase their time together. Rose shook her head hard, her hair smacking her in the face with the speed of it.

“Softer, huh? I guess you could say that.”

Harij averted his gaze from his fiancée’s odd behavior and stared out the window. Rose straightened up and joined him in looking outside. Nothing was visible in the lightless nighttime forest, but Harij seemed to see something.

“I do what I believe is right. I was raised to be that way in an environment that expected as much of me. That part of me can’t be changed this late in life. But…I have come to learn that what I deem as right might not be the right thing for you.”

Rose gave a slight nod, prompting him to go on.

“I have the power of a knight, the obligations and status of a man, and the confidence that I’m head over heels in love with you. By my society’s standards, I could force my will on you. As it stands, I had every intention of taking up residence in that hermitage until you agreed to come to my mansion.”

Rose had a hundred different corrections to make to his remarks, but she listened to him with her lips pressed flat together.

“But then I realized I should respect your thoughts and decisions,” Harij murmured, his face twisting with the bitter realization of how foolish he had once been.

“…What made you realize that?”

“You calling me Sir Harij.”

What significance does that have? Rose wondered, her head tilting with her unspoken query.

“If I had ordered you to use my name, you would have stuck to calling me Client or Lord Harij for life.”

Harij’s blissful smile turned Rose’s cheeks red.

“I only did it because the cityfolk called you Sir Harij... I was just imitating them…”

“Is that so? Well, even if you were to call me Lord, You, or Mister—I would still be happy. Because in the end, it’s something you decided to do for my sake.”

“…I see.”

What a killer line! Where does he learn these things?! Rose balled her fists and looked down. She’d be done for if she accidentally saw his face right now.

“And I also realized that you, too…have your own manner of thinking and living. I was an arrogant fool. I know. I got this stupid notion it was my duty to guide and protect you because I’m a man and more familiar with the ways of the world. And I thought it only natural to make you endure some things you might not like to make that happen… But today, after hearing you talk, I was relieved from the bottom of my heart that I didn’t follow through with any of those dumb notions. I also…want to walk toward the same destination with you, even if we have to take different routes to get there. That’s the kind of marriage I want with you.”

Rose understood how much he cared for her, however poorly he worded it.

Harij’s eyes sparkled as if they had gathered all the light given off by the carriage’s small lantern within them. The eyes she was staring into softened at the corners. Unable to control herself, Rose pinched and pulled both cheeks as far as she could.

“…What are you doing?”

“I figured if they’re going to burst open at the seams anyway, I might as well pull them apart with my own two hands…”

“Huh?”

“Your face, it’s your face…”

“Oh, come on. You really think now’s the time for—”

“You don’t get it, Sir Harij. You don’t understand the destructive power of your magnificent face during times such as this. I am of the right mind in this matter. Your face’s brilliance is just—”

“Yeah, all right. I get it. I do. I understand just how much you’re in love with my face.”

Rose couldn’t argue with that statement. She clenched her teeth, as she was incapable of refuting the undeniable truth he tossed at her.

“You dried slug turd…!”

“It’s indisputable, isn’t it?”

Rose was a witch. Witches didn’t lie. She trembled from head to toe.

“You giant pile of dried sea slug turd!”

Harij remained unfazed in the face of Rose’s angry outburst. He leaned against the carriage wall with a pensive look until he seemed to strike upon a genius thought and sat upright.

“…I get it now.”

“Get what?”

“Rose, after all is said and done, you’re just embarrassed because you haven’t gotten used to my face yet, right?”

“Excuse me?”

I’m not embarrassed. I’m absolutely, positively not acting out of embarrassment. But Rose couldn’t say that out loud.

Perhaps his standards were skewed because he was born with such a beautiful visage. No matter how much she saw his face and tried to resist, she would surely continue to melt into a puddle every time he smiled in front of her. This man didn’t have the slightest clue about her plight.

“In that case, you can stare at my face up close to your heart’s content. Why don’t we start right now? You can get your fill until we get back home.”

“Huh?”

“Come here,” Harij beckoned, patting his lap invitingly. Rose was lost for words.

For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out this man’s sensibilities. His suggestion was as wicked as if he had shoved a whole roast goose in the mouth of someone who had just said they were too full to eat.

“I absolutely cannot.”

“Why not? Children do it all the time. You know, that game where you stare at each other until someone cracks first and starts to laugh.”

“I don’t know anything about the divine games good-looking people play, and I definitely can’t do it with you, Sir Harij.”

“Ro—”

“Not happening in a million years.”

“…Don’t keep rejecting me like that.” Harij sank back against the carriage wall after being declined for the third time. “My niece often makes me play it with her.”

“Your niece does?”

“Yeah. She lives back in our domain with my brother and parents. Heizlan is known for its breathtaking scenery and boundless nature, so…she turned out to be more of a little explorer than a proper young lady.”

“She sounds like my kind of girl.”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid. I guess it’s been five years since I last saw her…”

Five years struck a chord with Rose for various reasons. For one, her grandmother had died five years ago. Rose had been frazzled and overwhelmed just trying to figure out how to get by. And that was the state she was in when she fell in love.

Staring at the man who had been the object of her affections for all those years caused her to mutter without thinking.

“…Five years ago I never thought my love would come true someday.”

“…You were in love with someone back then?”

Shoot! I picked the wrong topic. Rose’s mouth hung open as she turned red up to her forehead.

“Please disregard what I just said. I need you to forget about it. Please.” She pressed her hands together in entreaty, but Harij was scowling.

“…I make it a rule not to get hung up on the past, but…”

“…But?”

“Make sure you never tell me who it is if you ever happen to run into the guy you loved again. Got it?” Harij insisted, his miserable expression revealing days of exhaustion slamming down on him at once.

“……”

Rose sealed her lips when she realized the misunderstanding. His scowl deepened when he saw her alarmed expression. Reading her face sent his instincts working in ways she didn’t need them to.

“Please don’t tell me it’s someone I know.”

“…Sadly, yes.”

“……”

“……”

Heavy silence enshrouded the carriage. Rose kept her lips sealed per his request that she never tell him who it was.

∴ ∵ ∴

JUST studying a little didn’t bring Rose any closer to being an expert on human nature.

Harij still told Rose everything about the wedding decisions he made, despite her saying she trusted him to handle it. Apparently, five days after the coldest winter day, when the bells tolled noon, their wedding ceremony would be held in a cathedral with beautiful stained glass.

Of course, the attendees were mostly Harij’s acquaintances and were pared down to the bare minimum of seventy-four. A total of seventy-five people would be attending, including Tien.

Preparations for the dress and shoes to be worn at the ceremony were also progressing smoothly. Every time she attended a fitting, she couldn’t help but wonder: Can I wear such a thing and move? But her worries were unfounded, as she discovered each time that she could indeed still move, which she could only chalk up to the seamstress’s divine skills.

Rose leisurely waited for that day to come now that her fears regarding marriage had been assuaged—or she had been, until a lettuce-colored letter knocked her into a state of confusion.

∴ ∵ ∴

THE sun took longer to rise with every passing day. Orange clouds trailed across the purple sky, gradually turning yellow as they went.

Rose pulled her hood down low and tied her bootlaces more carefully than usual before plunging into the forest.

She heard a swallow-tailed kite give a loud, squeaky whistle overhead, signaling it found a potential meal. Using a branch she found along the way as a walking stick, she climbed the slopes while occasionally placing her hand on the ground to keep her balance. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot echoed through the woods.

Rose crouched once she arrived at her destination. Moving aside the leaves piled on top of the tree roots would reveal the mushrooms she sought. She picked the exact amount she needed for her potions, placed them with their gills facing down in the basket she held under her arm, and trekked back to the hermitage.

The bell rang, announcing a visitor while she was hanging the mushrooms from the eaves. She made her way around the hermitage and saw that someone had just left a letter for her in the mailbox on the forest’s dock.

Rose hadn’t noticed how dark it had gotten until then. It was almost time for her to go back to the mansion. She finished hanging the rest of the mushrooms, locked up shop, and crossed the lake. She pulled the small boat ashore with her slender arms and hid it in the brush.

Then she opened the mailbox and removed its contents. There were two letters inside.

“…Again?”

Her cheeks twitched after seeing the all-too-familiar L scrawled on fancy stationery. The girl’s letters frequently came, despite her never receiving a response from Rose.

At first, Rose thought the letters were harassment for refusing to take her on as an apprentice, but every page was filled with how much the girl adored witches. There wasn’t a single threatening sentence contained within. She didn’t sense any curses or magic from them, either, so Rose opted to ignore them, as they were essentially harmless. Not that she could send a letter asking the person to stop even if she wanted to when she didn’t know the sender’s name or address.

The second letter was contained within a lettuce-colored envelope. The beautiful handwriting was not the work of a ghostwriter but the sender herself—Billaura.

Billaura was the princess of Marjan who had married into another royal family. She was also a client who had once ordered a secret potion from the Good Witch of the Lake.

If not for her request, Rose most likely wouldn’t be getting married to Harij, her former one-sided crush. Heck, she probably would have never even spoken to him. Hearing Billaura praise her potions as her greatest hope had also given Rose immense pride and joy.

Thankfully, their friendship continued through letter exchange. Until Billaura, Rose had no reason to communicate by letter with any women her age, so her heart was always aflutter with excitement whenever she sliced open the seal. Needless to say, there was a world of difference between her reaction to this letter and those horrifying love letters from L.

Rose picked a flower growing nearby as she read Billaura’s letter. The several bell-shaped blossoms swayed as she twirled the stem in her fingers.

But her hand stopped as she read further. The flower she had been playing with fell to the ground.

∴ ∵ ∴

“M-M-MS. T-T-T-Ta-Tala!”

“Oh dear. Since when did my name become so long and chipper?”

Rose headed straight for the kitchen after storming into the mansion. Tala welcomed her with a smile as she cooked.

“Ms. Tala!”

“Yes? What is it, milady?”

Rose squeezed the letter inside her robe as she relayed the shocking details contained within. She had brought it to Tala hoping the older woman would tell her it was all a lie or some kind of joke, but her hopes were dashed by her quick affirmation.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Shocked, Rose swayed on her feet. Tala tried to help her, spatula in hand, but Rose refused and staggered off into the hallway.

∴ ∵ ∴

“M-MONA!”

Mona’s slender shoulders lurched as she was in the middle of changing out the candles. She nervously turned around as if she feared she had incited the Witch’s wrath.

“Y-Yes? I-Is something the matter?” Mona asked, her face grim with worry that she was about to be scolded for some sort of misconduct. Rose hated to ruin the progress they had recently made in their relationship by asking this, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Mona held her shoulders back and her head high as if preparing for the dressing-down to come.

Rose swallowed hard, then asked Mona the same question she inquired of Tala.

Mona blinked several times as if she didn’t comprehend the question at first before she nodded. “Y-Yes, it’s true.”

“It’s true…isn’t it? That’s how it normally works…”

Though she half expected that answer, it inflicted immeasurable damage on Rose’s psyche.

“…Um, milady?”

“…No, it’s fine… Thank you…for…telling me…”

“Don’t thank me… Um, milady… O-Oh, do be careful!” Mona pleaded from behind as Rose stumbled off.

 

∴ ∵ ∴

“MR. Safina…”

Rose appeared like a ghost. Safina jumped with a start from where he was working in Harij’s bedroom.

“…Is that you, milady? Is something troubling you?”

“Do you have a minute? I wanted to ask you something.”

“I always have time for you. What is it you wish to ask?” Safina escorted Rose to sit on the sofa in Harij’s room and then ordered the footman in attendance to bring a warm cup of tea.

Rose wet her parched throat with the drink. Then she buried her face in her hands.

“Ms. Tala and Mona both tell me it’s true… But I’m having a hard time believing it… It just sounds so crazy to me…,” she rasped, on the verge of tears. Safina gently rubbed her back.

“I see. What happened?”

“You see...there’s a client…an acquaintance I exchange letters with.”

“A friend of yours, then.”

“I’m not sure if it’s all right to call her that. But anyway, she…” Rose finally burst into tears. She recalled the shocking passage from Billaura’s letter.

“I regrettably can’t attend the ceremony because it lands during the final month of my pregnancy, but I hope it will be the happiest of days for you. Just let Harij show you the way if you don’t know how to do the kiss that seals the marriage.”

“Sh-She said y-you have to kiss at the end of the ceremony…”

“You do.”

“Hyaaaaah!”

Rose hopped a whole apple’s height off the sofa—she was that surprised. Face redder than a cherry, she turned with teary eyes toward the speaker and found Harij standing behind her.

“Wh-Wh-Why a-are y-y-youuu h-here?!”

“Why wouldn’t I be? This is my room.”

Rose pressed her lips into a flat line—she couldn’t argue with that.

“You haven’t been around lately, so I thought you would be out today, too.”

“Sorry to disappoint you. I was looking for some files in the other room.”

After hearing the source of Rose’s concern, Safina seemed to determine the problem would be better solved by Harij, and he left the room with a gentle smile.

All that was left was a hot pot of tea, Rose, and Harij.

“Didn’t you say you looked into a bunch of books on marriage? None of them said anything about this?”

“It only talked about exchanging vows. I n-n-never imagined human vows required ph-physical t-touch of that sort.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. Your lips only have to briefly touch.”

“B-Briefly touch?!”

Did briefly touching lips not count as a kiss? Wasn’t that the pure definition of kissing? Rose’s mouth flapped open and closed, but she failed to voice the question.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

“You’ll be gentle?!” Rose cried, half-hysterical. “Does that mean there are other ways to do it aside from gentle?!”

“……”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?! Why did you go quiet?! Is there a need to stay silent?!” Groaning, Rose pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. “I can’t… My first kiss…during the ceremony, in front of others… I just can’t…”

Seeing Rose trembling and grumbling elicited Harij’s sympathy, and he began tenderly rubbing her back.

“Would you rather practice first?”

“I strongly recommend you don’t tease me right now.”

“…Well, I won’t force you. We can arrange the ceremony to proceed without—”

“Really?!” Rose unfurled herself and instantly perked up like a dog hearing his master pull out the food bowl. Harij glared at her through narrowed eyes.

“…Rose.”

“B-But you just said it can be done… You said it, not me! You did!”

Rose jumped to her feet and fled the room before he could take it back. But then a critical point dawned on her and she poked her head around the door.

“…By the way…”

“What?”

“Do you remember our promise?”

“What promise?”

Rose’s face soured with annoyance at the man who acted as if he had forgotten the vow he made to her.

“What you promised me in return for wearing a wedding dress.”

“Yeah, I remember, but why would you mention that now? Don’t you think it’s a bit abrupt and rude?”

“I can’t say that I don’t, but it’s more important that you wear it.”

Rose brought it up because she worried he might take back his promise to wear his knight attire in return for making concessions over the wedding kiss.

“I have been waiting for the longest time. When will you wear it for me?”

Rose had recently started welcoming Harij home from work at the door every night. She did it partly because he had been coming home less often these days, but the biggest reason was that she hoped he might return in his work clothes. Unfortunately, he showed no inclination of doing so in the near future.

“Can’t you at least tell me when you will wear it for me?”

“…No.”

“Why not?!”

“I’ll wear it when the time is right.”

“When the time is right? You mean while you’re on duty at the palace? Then I will never get to see it for the rest of my life! Do you plan to leave me hanging forever?!”

When she considered he might not keep his promise to her, Rose rapidly grew sad and let anger slip into her voice.

“Does it mean that much to you?”

“It does…”

She nearly forgot how to behave like a witch. Rose took a deep, steadying breath and directed a pointed look at him.

“Are you going to break our promise?”

“I won’t. I’ll keep it.” Harij answered with a serious face and tone.

Mind a little more at ease, her gaze softened.

“I trust you.”

He made a sound like a half-suppressed laugh, and his expression became so sweet, she thought she might melt right there.

“…That’s good.”

“!!”

Rose was so thunderstruck by him, she ran down the hallway before the sweetness made her cease to be.

∴ ∵ ∴

A man sat alone in the dark office into the wee hours of the morning. The open curtains welcomed a moonlit night into the room.

The strong winds drowned out the droning of bugs that always seemed to be competing to see who could chirp the loudest. Wispy clouds hugged the moon and reflected its white light. Asleep under the starry dome, the palace was silent for all but the occasional gust of wind blowing by. A pen could be heard scratching across paper in the office used for state affairs.

The sound of footsteps coming down the hall faintly reached the office. With his back bathed in moonlight, the man glaring down at the documents illuminated by nothing more than a small lamp suddenly lifted his head.

“Did you figure anything out?”

Yašm glanced from his moonlit spot toward the door, which opened without a knock. Harij poked his exhausted face into the room.

“I apologize for coming this late at night.”

“I don’t mind. Sit down.” Yašm set down his pen and massaged his brow as he gestured toward the sofa. Harij bowed to his prince and quietly dropped into his seat. “Let’s get this over with quick.”

“I’ll get right to the point, then. Five of the seven nobles who collapsed for unknown reasons testified it happened right after they had just had a drink. Four out of five drank wine.”

“Who made the wine?”

“I have investigated the details with the providers. The winemakers, vineyards, and distribution channels all turned out to be different.”

“I see.”

Harij and Yašm had been independently investigating the recent mystery involving Marjan nobles collapsing one after another for unknown reasons. This was outside of Yašm’s usual duties, but he took it upon himself after an acquaintance succumbed to the same fate.

Fortunately, everyone affected recovered in less than half a day. Furthermore, the mild symptoms and lack of visible aftereffects made it more of a matter for doctors than the military, but Yašm felt the need to get involved in case things took a turn for the worse.

“You haven’t found anything definitive yet?”

Harij quietly answered, “I’m afraid not.”

“Keep looking into it. That’s it for today.”

Harij bowed and took his leave. Yašm heaved a long-suffering sigh as he listened to Harij’s footsteps echo down the empty hallway.