∴ ∵ ∴
“WANT to go out for some sherbet?”
The next day, Harij, who had been out on business, invited Rose the instant he returned to the hermitage. She blinked at him.
“What is SHER-but?”
“A frozen dessert made from fruit. Think of it as a frozen sweet. A peddler from the north brought a large amount of ice. His Majesty is treating the whole capital with it to commemorate Princess Billaura’s marriage.”
“Dessert.”
“A sweet dessert,” Harij repeated to drive home the point.
Because of him, Rose had become woefully weak to the mere mention of sweets. Excited, she pulled off her robe to go into the city.
Together they climbed into the fiacre she usually rode into the city alone. As they swayed in the hooded carriage, Harij seemed as though he was in a great mood. “You take off your robe when you go into the city, right? I was surprised the last time I saw you.”
“…You’ve seen me in the city before?”
“Twice.”
I can’t remember a single time, but he says it happened twice? Rose fished through her memories until she realized he was talking about the time the children pelted her with mud balls. She couldn’t figure out what the second time was.
“At the forest dock and during Princess Billaura’s bridal procession.”
Now that he mentioned it, she remembered when he was talking about. Harij actually noticed her there? So it wasn’t just Rose’s hopeful imagination that their eyes met.
“I was surprised because I never expected to see you there.”
Rose was paralyzed in her seat because Harij’s whole face beamed with the memory of their encounter. Too much for her to withstand, she thrust both hands in front of her.
“…What is it?”
“You’re too radiant…”
“That again?” Harij sighed after she shoved his face away. Head turned, he caught sight of what was outside the window and tapped Rose on the hand. “Rose, look out there. Going straight down this road will take you to my house.”
Harij pointed out a lushly green road. Rose was surprised because she thought he lived in a more central residential area in the city.
“It looks like a nice and quiet area.”
“There are only a few houses on this road, so you’ll be able to get here quick if you use the black rooftops as a marker. Come anytime something happens.”
There are open places like this in the royal capital? The place I always thought was just infested with people and rows of cramped houses? Rose leaned against the carriage wall and stared outside.
“Sorry,” Harij suddenly said. “I lied.”
Rose looked over at him, reacting to the word lied.
“Come anytime you feel like it, not just when something happens.”
Rose shut her mouth first, thought about it, then slowly repeated, “Anytime?”
“Yeah.”
“Whenever I feel like it…?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
Harij flashed a wry smile. Seeing him smile out of the blue sent Rose’s heart clamoring in her ears.
“I want you to like that house, too.”
Tender love softened his eyes.
Inside the swaying carriage, Rose could only muster “Mmkay” as a reply.