The witch and the poisonous apple

Finally, Roze gives up on wearing her hood, and shows a thin, wry smile.

"It has been a long time since I had a face-to-face conversations… because it has been a long time, I might say something rude—"

Harij's kindness is genuine. She too, want to repay his kindness—

—that's when Harij gets loud;

"As I thought, you look cute."

"—as I thought, I can't do it."

Roze puts her hood back on—this time pulling it until even her chin disappears inside.

…for a moment there, I thought I was going to die.

In her later days, Roze learns of a spell called, 'RiajuuBakuhatsuShiro' and the symptom of excruciating death it causes is similar to her current state.

"—I'm so sorry! Now that I remember, my niece once told me that was akin to a sexual harassment—I will never say it anymore!!"

"And I will never remove my hood again."

"—Ms. Witch—!!"

Damn! Roze spews dirty words in her heart, in hopes of calming it down.

_______

The gentle noise of sand falling inside the hourglass—

Inside the pot, spices are swimming in the bubbling tea.

"Add a spoonful of orange and lemon peels, then a cup of lime~ Masala, about half as tall as the second rock in the southern part of the garden~ Cinnamon, is half of it~ is this enough~? How about this~? After all, whales sleep a lot~ A lot of sweet, sweet sugar~"

Black pepper, cardamom, masala, cinnamon, clove, orange peel, lemon peel, ginger—

—for the secret blend recipe, grandmother taught her this song.

She smells the black tea—both the scent and the song are very nostalgic.

These days, all she does is pharmacy. Roze remembers that back in the day, the things her grandmother used to make wasn't limited to just potions.

She filters the spices and pours the tea into the cup.

"It's ready."

Currently sitting behind the table, he is waiting for her. Roze turns around, her fluffy light red hair sways behind her, as she brings the tea to the table.

Since she's alone with Harij, she doesn't forget to remove her hood.

Roze is anxious due to the fact that her facial expressions can clearly be seen.

At the same time, there is this shy atmosphere between them. As if two good friends have met and smiled at each other—shaking hands to affirm their friendship. Like the people in the capital would do—only literally.

Honestly, she's still embarrassed as hell. She wants to just pull up her hood again—here and now.

But, every time she takes said hood off, Harij looks greatly pleased. His gaze turns puppy-like—like a dog eagerly bringing back the ball his master has just tossed.

Hence, there's no way for Roze to stop.

Harij closes the book he was reading.