See! I knew he was listening! Rose glared at Tien, who only grinned back. Damn fox! She cursed him in her thoughts.
“…What is it you want?” Harij asked, his expression instantly shifting from hopeful to sullen.
“Now?”
He expects me to say it now? Rose was at a loss for words.
“Tien is… Tien is here, so…”
“What does it matter if I’m present? You probably just want him to get you some exotic bug’s leg or rare bird’s tail feather, right?”
“No way. I wouldn’t waste this opportunity to ask him to get me something money can buy. I simply wanted Sir Harij to don his full knight’s attire for—”
Rose clapped her hands over her mouth. She just blurted out her request in the heat of the moment. Telling Harij was embarrassing enough—saying it in front of Tien was a serious gaffe. He was sure to tease her senseless with it.
She chose to ignore him for the time being and look at Harij instead. Harij returned her look with a grim expression.
“…Is it too much to ask?”
Rose fell in love with him when she saw him for the first time in his knight attire. And she fell in love with him all over again in the same clothes during Billaura’s bridal procession. It was her fervent wish to someday see him dressed like that up close. But it was not as if she had a reason to visit him at the palace, and even if she did go, how far would she make it before the other knights apprehended her on charges of being a suspicious witch?
In return for her wearing a gown, she requested he wear his formal knight attire. She didn’t think it an inappropriate exchange, but the look on Harij’s face made her wonder if he wasn’t permitted to bring those clothes home.
Prepared to be disappointed, she waited for his verdict. Harij tottered over to her and—pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Oomph!”
“…You’re too cute.”
“Ueee!” Rose yelped again. She pounded on his back to signal she needed air and was finally released from his hold.
“So cu—”
“You will never hear me say it again, okay?!”
With both hands, Rose sealed his lips from spouting more nonsense. Harij looked more satisfied than ever.
“I will make it happen for you.”
“You absolutely must.”
“…Are you guys always like this?”
Rose had never heard Tien sound so uncomfortable before.
“You’re a lucky man, Harij. You have the Witch’s love. Last time I made a deal with her, I got stuck with plucking 666 fleas off a cat by hand.”
Rose’s gaze pierced Tien from under her hood.
“Go home, Tien. I picked a fabric. We’re done here, right?”
“No, he doesn’t need to leave. You can discuss the design with him some more. I have to head out soon,” Harij said, putting his arms through the sleeves of the jacket Safina—who had appeared out of thin air, it seemed—held out for him. “Do whatever Rose wants for the dress. Safina, take care of things while I’m gone.”
“As you wish.”
Harij left the parlor with long strides. He was probably heading to work. Rose hurried after him.
“…What’s wrong?” Harij turned toward Rose with a puzzled expression when he heard her quick footsteps behind him. “Did you have more you wanted to say?”
“Yes. I wanted to see you off to work if that’s okay.”
“…I see. Sure,” Harij said in a quiet voice with a slight nod.
Rose had never seen Harij to the door like this before. There was so much she was uncertain about, her feet just naturally brought her here.
“Also…about the dress… Is there anything specific you would like to have done?”
“No. You can tailor it to your exact preferences.”
“Then is there anything I should absolutely avoid doing?”
“You don’t have to worry about anything like that, either. I’m sure Tien will speak up if you make any culturally offensive choices. He won’t do anything to put you in a bad spot. He’s here to help you.”
Rose’s thoughts lingered on the time Harij became so jealous he told her not to accept gifts from other men. She assumed everything was all right now that the misunderstandings had been resolved, but…she decided to make sure, just in case.
“Is it really all right for me to decide with Tien?”
“Yes. He knows more about the most popular fashions and trends than I do.”
“Not in that sense, um…because Tien is a man?”
No matter how she phrased it, she thought she would come across sounding overly self-conscious and somehow found herself framing it in the most embarrassing way possible.
“…I would never strip you of your family after already making you leave the forest you call home.”
Strictly speaking, Tien wasn’t family. But if that’s how Harij chose to view him, Rose saw no need to correct him.
“Thank you. Having him is a huge help, because I’m not even sure where to begin deciding on these things.”
“I gave up most of the social obligations required of a nobleman when I became a knight, so our guests will only be relatives and close friends. Don’t think too hard about pleasing anyone but yourself.”
“I’ll do that, then. Have a good day at work.”
Harij came to a complete halt as Rose waved to him. He turned around right as he was about to leave through the front door and looped his arm around Rose’s waist, pulling her close.
“…Don’t you think your fiancé is entitled to a goodbye kiss when you see him off?”
Rose flattened her lips into a straight line. Heat rose to her face as she recalled that morning.
“A-After the wedding ceremony, sure. You said you would wait until after…,” she rasped. She had no idea why waving goodbye struck a chord with him, but Harij’s sexy beast mode had switched back on.
It took being pinned under him earlier for Rose to thoroughly learn just how tempted she was by Harij—and how weak she was to him in all manners. She couldn’t resist him at all.
But being swept away with the mood wouldn’t do either of them any good. Harij groaned before her stubbornness as if he had just swallowed a bag full of sour grapes.
“…You will pay for this later.”
“That is a line typically used by people who work in the underground when they are trying to threaten someone who reneged on payment—it is absolutely not something you should say to your beloved fiancée.”
At least now Harij was no longer trying to steal her lips. He gently lifted her hand and slowly intertwined each of his fingers with hers so their palms were pressed together. Rose’s lips trembled.
“Wh-What are—”
“Anything goes as long as I don’t kiss you on the lips, right?”