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“IT’S over there.”
They climbed out of the fiacre and walked a short distance to their destination. A simple marketplace had been set up underneath a canopy.
Locals crowded the area seeking sherbet.
It had been a long time since Rose last visited the city with someone. In the past, she had trailed close behind her stooped-over grandma.
Today, however, she was not with her grandma.
Rose glanced up at Harij standing next to her and immediately turned her gaze forward. Letting down her guard risked her cheek muscles moving against her will. Without a robe to hide under, that was the number one embarrassment she had to avoid.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Rose chewed out, her lips failing to listen to her as well.
“Well, hello there, Harij! Thank you for always looking out for us!” someone said loudly behind them.
“Are you on patrol today, too?”
Several young men had called out to them. Residents who owned stores in the capital seemed to be handing out sherbet. Each of them wore an apron with their store name embroidered on it.
“No. As you can see, I’m with someone today.”
Harij tugged on Rose’s arm. She fell against his side and he put his arm around her.
Scandalous whispers spread from the people who saw. The ladies who were waiting for their chance to talk to him gawked in disbelief. The men working the stalls in front of them let out hearty laughs.
“Well, what do you know? Harij does indeed have a lady in his life.”
“Now that’s funny! My wife kept talking my ear off saying ‘There’s no way he has a lady friend when he patrols the city on his days off under the pretense of having nothing better to do.’”
“I see.”
It sounded as though the cityfolk didn’t know Harij’s occupation or social class. Evidently, they only thought of him as a great guy who kept watch on his days off out of the kindness of his heart.
“She’s quite plain to be your lady, Harij.”
In every world there’s always going to be that one old man or woman who says one word too many. Rose hardened her heart and stared at the old man. He winced instead of forcing an insincere smile at her completely flat, unchanging expression.
“She’s not plain,” Harij argued, then went on. “She’s cute from every angle.”
She wrenched her hand free and backed away faster than a feral cat. Her legs quickly carried her away. Harij chased after her, leaving behind the stunned shopkeepers and their wives.
“What’s wrong? It’s dangerous for you to suddenly take off like that.”
You’re the dangerous one here! Oh, how she wanted to shout at him. Her heart had all but stopped. Harij held out his hand to the Witch, who trembled in silent anger.
“Rose, I want to hold hands. Can we?”
One look at his offered hand and Rose flattened her lips in a straight line. Harij had a habit of asking for permission first. Since they were already in a relationship, she wished he’d just take her hand.
“You can say no if you don’t want to.”
Rose was a witch. Witches couldn’t lie.
Of course she wanted to, so she couldn’t say otherwise.
Grinding her teeth, Rose placed her hand on top of his. And then she uttered the special incantation she could only use on him.
“I don’t want to…say it!”
“Okay.”
Harij slipped his fingers through hers and squeezed. Together they walked through the throngs of people. Trying her best not to look at their connected hands, Rose awkwardly moved her legs and arms out at the same time. An unnatural amount of sweat seemed to be dripping down her fingers. She desperately wrestled with herself to suppress the urge to immediately wrench her sweaty hand away.
The sherbet was being given out for free. They patiently waited in the long line, and when their turn finally came, the sherbet containers were nearly empty.
“Oh, if it isn’t Harij,” the man scooping sherbet casually said. “Welcome, welcome. You’re in luck. We still have a little left— Oh, are you on a date? Then take two.”
When the man saw Harij and Rose holding hands, he grinned and held out two cups. Sherbet was packed into mismatched containers collected from the different restaurants in the area. They each accepted one from him. The tin cup was cold to the touch. They moved, hand in hand, somewhere away from the crowds to eat.
Rose didn’t mind holding hands with Harij now. Her full attention had been captivated by the tin cup she was holding, after all. The first sherbet she ever saw was a dreamy food that looked like a melting snowball.
The smallest snow crystals glittered under the sunlight. The melted spots sparkled like flower nectar, making her mouth water.
Noticing her eyes glued to the sherbet, Harij stopped walking. Rose didn’t remove her eyes from the sweet treat when she asked, “Can I eat it now?”
“Yeah.”
Permission granted, Rose picked up the little tree branch sticking out of the sherbet. The tip had been flattened into a simple spoon.
She scooped the frozen dessert onto the spoon. She ran the spoon over the top gentler than if she were petting a frightened baby rabbit and gingerly brought it to her mouth. The sherbet was snow white, so she assumed it’d taste like snow, but it actually tasted like apples. It quickly melted on her tongue like the fleeting end of spring.
Seeking another bite of the icy goodness that melted the instant it touched her tongue, Rose brought the spoon back to her mouth. Then she took another bite, followed by yet another. She didn’t know what was so entertaining about her eating, but Harij watched her without taking a single spoonful of his.
As Rose became entranced with eating, she heard a fierce shout. “Don’t cry!” Shoulders jumping, she finally wrenched her eyes from the sherbet to look at the noise.
“B-But…I w-want…wanted…to e-eat it!” a young girl cried through her sobs. Beside her stood a slightly older boy.
“What do expect from me? They ran out!”
The boy also sounded as if he was trying to hide his disappointment. From the look of it, they had run out of sherbet to hand out. Spoon hanging from her mouth, Rose watched the siblings.
Like the older brother said, he can’t do anything about it for her. But I also understand why the little sister is sad. You don’t get to taste something this delicious every day.
Someone cut in front of Rose. Harij approached the siblings and patted the girl on the head. Then he did the same to the brother and handed them the sherbet he was holding. The boy was flustered to suddenly receive the dessert, but Harij left before he could reject it.
Rose eyed Harij with the spoon still dangling from her mouth.
“This is mine.”
“I never planned on taking yours.”
Satisfied by his answer, Rose busily moved the spoon from the cup to her mouth. Every bite was just as delicious as the first.
Rose continued eating, full of satisfaction over the taste and Harij’s response, but her spoon soon hit the bottom of the cup with only a small bit left. Depressed, she stared at the remaining sherbet, glanced over at Harij, and then back at the sherbet.
“…Just one bite.”
“I’ll take it,” he instantly responded, bending down and opening his mouth.
Rose reluctantly stuck the spoon in his mouth.