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“IS this a popular date course for cityfolk these days?”
Rose tilted her head under the sunlight filtering through the thick tree canopy, the shawl covering her shoulders fluttering with the slight movement. Cool air ran past her, bringing the familiar smells of the forest right to them.
Dirt clung to their shoes, and every time they took a step, they risked stumbling on the roots and tough grass, making this a hard date spot to recommend to anyone unused to gallivanting through forests. By the same token, their destination was as gloomy as they came.
“It’s in this general area.”
Rose had guided Harij to an evergreen oak tree deep within the forest. The giant oak’s leaves and branches had extended so far, they intermingled with the other trees, obscuring its full scale. Its eerily curled branches looked like a witch’s gnarly nails as depicted in stories.
Carrying a bouquet of colorful flowers that clashed horribly with the creepy surroundings, Harij let out a wry laugh.
“There isn’t a grave marker?”
“It’s a deceased body. Mourning for the soul is all that matters. Besides, it is better for everyone if no one knows where a witch has died.”
“I see.”
Harij laid the stunning bouquet at the base of the evergreen oak. Growing uncomfortable, Rose picked a lily of the valley off the ground and placed it beside the bouquet.
Harij proceeded to bow his head and stood there for a while with his eyes closed. With nothing to do, Rose wandered around the tree.
This was where she buried her grandmother five years ago. She visited when she felt like it, but not often. The moment her grandmother had departed the land of the living, she departed the realm of being a witch’s concern.
However, Rose did occasionally visit as a granddaughter. She didn’t want her grandmother’s soul to remain in this plane of existence, but Rose sometimes found herself wandering back to her resting place.
“Sorry for the wait.”
“Are you finished?”
“Yeah. I’m glad I got to greet her.”
“Speaking of greetings, is it all right that I haven’t gone to greet your family yet?”
Rose didn’t know much about marriage, but she knew it wasn’t something they could do without permission, given Harij’s noble blood.
“Oh, did I not tell you? My oldest brother has already inherited the title and lives with my parents in Heizlan. Our territory is far from the capital, and I’ve only just taken on a new post, so I can’t take the time to travel. You will meet at the wedding.”
It seemed wedding ceremonies also served as a way to meet everyone for the first time.
“I have another older brother… He lives abroad, but he will come back for our wedding.”
“Then I will greet them all at that time.”
“Yeah, please do… How about we have lunch now?”
“We might inadvertently sit on top of my grandmother if we do it here, so how does eating somewhere else sound?” Rose suggested with cool indifference, earning a mortified nod from Harij.
They opened their lunch basket in an area where there were several freshly cut tree stumps. Tala’s deluxe lunch consisted of sandwiches. There were two types: one with thick bacon and fried eggs sandwiched between thinly sliced baguettes and the other with sweet apple jam.
Just looking at them aroused hunger. Determined to try both, Rose reached for the bacon sandwich first.
“Wait.”
Rose shot Harij an evil look for stopping her. Anyone would think it ridiculous to glare at the person you love most in the world just for preventing you from eating. Rose thought so, too—until three seconds ago.
But after seeing Tala’s delicious lunch, she realized that concept was nothing more than a pretty ideal that held no merit in real life. After all, the sandwiches Tala whipped up looked so tantalizing.
“Don’t glare at me. If you want it that bad, why not ask her to make lunch for you every day?”
Rose only requested half a roll from Tala for lunch every day. A part of that had to do with her regular eating habits before moving in with Harij, but it was also because she had discovered she didn’t have a huge appetite in the first place.
“I can’t eat that much when I’m alone.”
“I see.”
Harij’s smile was so affectionate as he let out a light chuckle, it made Rose feel as if she had admitted to something embarrassing. She cocked a puzzled eyebrow at him.
“Sit here.”
Harij laid a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket on top of a stump. Rose’s lips turned down at the corners—she just realized he wasn’t trying to get in the way of her and her sandwich. She was ashamed of how petty she had been to glare at him.
“I’m sorry. I thought you were trying to steal the sandwich from me,” Rose muttered as she sat on his handkerchief.
“I would never do that.”
“Why not?”
“There isn’t an idiot in the world who would snatch away something that delights the woman he loves.”
Taking in his words filled Rose with boundless joy. It suddenly clicked into place for her how real this was—each word he uttered and his gentleness toward her.
Heat sprung to her face. Rose’s hand shot up to her forehead, but the hood she reached for wasn’t there. She couldn’t help but wonder why she had removed her greatest armor—the robe.
She quietly reached for the basket, stole a sandwich, and took a big bite. It should be harder to tell the change in her expression if she was munching on something.
Harij followed suit and bit into a sandwich. The sandwiches eaten on the handkerchief Harij had laid out for her tasted extra special.
In the middle of the forest, surrounded by the cries of animals and bugs and a babbling creek, the couple ate with relish.