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ROSE was excited. She had a little hop to her step and a restlessness to her when she boarded the carriage, and it piqued the curiosity of the footman who always came to pick her up at the edge of the forest.
The carriage returned to the Azm estate while she was caressing a jar like a precious baby in her arms.
Illuminated by the sunset, Rose headed straight for the chicken coop rather than the foyer. She approached the enclosure with feather-light steps. The chickens clucked and gathered at the wire mesh as if celebrating an emotional reunion.
“Have you all been good?” she asked them.
“About as good as can be.”
Rose was startled by the impossible reply that came just as she had uncorked the jar and was about to pour out the contents. She quickly turned around, hiding the jar behind her as she did.
Before her stood the lord of the estate—Harij.
The hem of his work clothes was caked with soil, which told her he had only just returned home. Looking around, Rose spotted the stable boy leading his horse to the stables.
“Welcome home.”
For some reason, whenever she said this to him, an unnatural silence fell between them. After opening and closing his mouth like a deer eating something foreign, he stiffly returned her greeting. “I just came back.” Then he moved on to another topic. “By the way, what had you rush over here in such a hurry?”
Apparently, he had been watching her since she disembarked from the carriage. Her hand tightened around the jar behind her back.
“Nothing that concerns you, Sir Harij.”
“Then, what are you currently hiding?”
If someone else were to witness the same scene, they might come to the conclusion that the Witch was about to cast a suspicious spell on the chickens. However, Harij’s tone made it clear that he found the entire thing amusing.
“Can we…keep it a secret?”
“Too bad. Everything that happens on these grounds will reach my ears… Besides, who are you trying to keep it a secret from, if not me?”
Grandma…also known as Ms. Tala.
Giving in to the inevitable, Rose presented him with the hidden jar. Within the transparent glass, the things she had painstakingly gathered wiggled.
She opened the lid per his orders. The moment he saw what was writhing around inside it, his handsome face twisted, and his cheeks twitched. Even that expression was sexy to Rose.
“…Those are…”
“Earthworms,” Rose responded morosely.
Several of the livelier earthworms were trying to crawl up the side of the jar, so she flicked them back inside. Returned to the bottom, they rejoined the others squirming around. The mass of worms she had collected tangled together, creating a writhing vortex where it was impossible to tell what head and tail belonged to which worm.
“They all came from the forest. I didn’t take any from the field, and all of them are too injured to use for potions—”
“…Okay. I get it. Don’t explain anymore. I don’t even know where to begin with you.” Harij covered his mouth with his hand and slowly withdrew from her.
“…Do you hate worms?”
“I wouldn’t willingly stare at them,” he flatly declared in a rush of words. Armed with something he disliked, Rose stepped toward him.
Harij took a step back. Rose took another step forward in pursuit. He retreated yet again.
“Th-This is surprisingly fun…”
Rose was enjoying herself so much she couldn’t help expressing it. It was sheer bliss being the one to corner him for once when it was usually the reverse. But her joy didn’t necessarily translate into his.
“In other words,” Harij said forcefully to stop Rose from inching closer, “you were trying to feed them to the chickens?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you want to keep that a secret from Tala?”
Miffed that he’d suddenly turned the tables on her, Rose pursed her lips as she caught the worms attempting to make a break from the jar again.
“I know Ms. Tala feeds them in the morning, so…I thought she might be angry if I give them treats…”
Everyone has different policies regarding livestock and pets, but when Rose had chickens, her grandmother never approved of her feeding them treats. Rumor had it that grandparents were sweet to their grandchildren and loved to secretly give them snacks behind their parents’ backs. She had no recollection of ever receiving such a thing from her grandmother, but behold, Rose found herself in a similar predicament right now. Or at least that’s how she viewed it.
Then again, back then, she did gather the earthworms from their garden. Her grandmother must have been frustrated to lose such a valuable natural ally.
“Really? That’s all this was about?”
She had asked him to hide it from Tala, whom she associated with her grandmother, in the heat of the moment, but seeing Harij’s response made her wonder if she was overreacting.
“…She won’t get angry?”
“Why would she?”
“If she sees me, she won’t think the witch is cackling to herself, saying, ‘I’ll fatten you up to eat later, my pretties!’?”
“What fairy tale did you get that from? If you are that worried about it, I’ll tell her for you. Do what you want.”
“R-Really?!”
Rose beamed at him from underneath her robe. Seeing her joy brought a smile to Harij’s face, but he scowled when his gaze landed on the squirming creepy-crawlies.
“…You probably shouldn’t feed so many to them at once.”
Rose decided to follow his advice. She plucked a few earthworms out with her fingers and fed them to the chickens. Then she scooped some soil from the flower bed into the jar, covered the mouth with a handkerchief Harij handed her, and tied it off with hemp twine.
Air could still pass through the cloth, so they should stay alive for a while.
“…Where are you taking that?”
“To the room you’ve provided me.”
The gardener would use them if she left them by the flower bed.
“…The maids will swoon when they enter your room.”
“I will hide them under the bed, then.”
Rose carefully slid the jar under her robe. Harij stared at her abdomen—to be precise, at the jar hidden there. He looked like he still wanted to argue the point with her, but he headed toward the mansion without another word.