∴ ∵ ∴
JUST studying a little didn’t bring Rose any closer to being an expert on human nature.
Harij still told Rose everything about the wedding decisions he made, despite her saying she trusted him to handle it. Apparently, five days after the coldest winter day, when the bells tolled noon, their wedding ceremony would be held in a cathedral with beautiful stained glass.
Of course, the attendees were mostly Harij’s acquaintances and were pared down to the bare minimum of seventy-four. A total of seventy-five people would be attending, including Tien.
Preparations for the dress and shoes to be worn at the ceremony were also progressing smoothly. Every time she attended a fitting, she couldn’t help but wonder: Can I wear such a thing and move? But her worries were unfounded, as she discovered each time that she could indeed still move, which she could only chalk up to the seamstress’s divine skills.
Rose leisurely waited for that day to come now that her fears regarding marriage had been assuaged—or she had been, until a lettuce-colored letter knocked her into a state of confusion.
✦ ✦ ✦
∴ ∵ ∴
THE sun took longer to rise with every passing day. Orange clouds trailed across the purple sky, gradually turning yellow as they went.
Rose pulled her hood down low and tied her bootlaces more carefully than usual before plunging into the forest.
She heard a swallow-tailed kite give a loud, squeaky whistle overhead, signaling it found a potential meal. Using a branch she found along the way as a walking stick, she climbed the slopes while occasionally placing her hand on the ground to keep her balance. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot echoed through the woods.
Rose crouched once she arrived at her destination. Moving aside the leaves piled on top of the tree roots would reveal the mushrooms she sought. She picked the exact amount she needed for her potions, placed them with their gills facing down in the basket she held under her arm, and trekked back to the hermitage.
The bell rang, announcing a visitor while she was hanging the mushrooms from the eaves. She made her way around the hermitage and saw that someone had just left a letter for her in the mailbox on the forest’s dock.
Rose hadn’t noticed how dark it had gotten until then. It was almost time for her to go back to the mansion. She finished hanging the rest of the mushrooms, locked up shop, and crossed the lake. She pulled the small boat ashore with her slender arms and hid it in the brush.
Then she opened the mailbox and removed its contents. There were two letters inside.
“…Again?”
Her cheeks twitched after seeing the all-too-familiar L scrawled on fancy stationery. The girl’s letters frequently came, despite her never receiving a response from Rose.
At first, Rose thought the letters were harassment for refusing to take her on as an apprentice, but every page was filled with how much the girl adored witches. There wasn’t a single threatening sentence contained within. She didn’t sense any curses or magic from them, either, so Rose opted to ignore them, as they were essentially harmless. Not that she could send a letter asking the person to stop even if she wanted to when she didn’t know the sender’s name or address.
The second letter was contained within a lettuce-colored envelope. The beautiful handwriting was not the work of a ghostwriter but the sender herself—Billaura.
Billaura was the princess of Marjan who had married into another royal family. She was also a client who had once ordered a secret potion from the Good Witch of the Lake.
If not for her request, Rose most likely wouldn’t be getting married to Harij, her former one-sided crush. Heck, she probably would have never even spoken to him. Hearing Billaura praise her potions as her greatest hope had also given Rose immense pride and joy.
Thankfully, their friendship continued through letter exchange. Until Billaura, Rose had no reason to communicate by letter with any women her age, so her heart was always aflutter with excitement whenever she sliced open the seal. Needless to say, there was a world of difference between her reaction to this letter and those horrifying love letters from L.
Rose picked a flower growing nearby as she read Billaura’s letter. The several bell-shaped blossoms swayed as she twirled the stem in her fingers.
But her hand stopped as she read further. The flower she had been playing with fell to the ground.
✦ ✦ ✦
∴ ∵ ∴
“M-M-MS. T-T-T-Ta-Tala!”
“Oh dear. Since when did my name become so long and chipper?”
Rose headed straight for the kitchen after storming into the mansion. Tala welcomed her with a smile as she cooked.
“Ms. Tala!”
“Yes? What is it, milady?”
Rose squeezed the letter inside her robe as she relayed the shocking details contained within. She had brought it to Tala hoping the older woman would tell her it was all a lie or some kind of joke, but her hopes were dashed by her quick affirmation.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Shocked, Rose swayed on her feet. Tala tried to help her, spatula in hand, but Rose refused and staggered off into the hallway.
✦ ✦ ✦
∴ ∵ ∴
“M-MONA!”
Mona’s slender shoulders lurched as she was in the middle of changing out the candles. She nervously turned around as if she feared she had incited the Witch’s wrath.
“Y-Yes? I-Is something the matter?” Mona asked, her face grim with worry that she was about to be scolded for some sort of misconduct. Rose hated to ruin the progress they had recently made in their relationship by asking this, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?” Mona held her shoulders back and her head high as if preparing for the dressing-down to come.
Rose swallowed hard, then asked Mona the same question she inquired of Tala.
Mona blinked several times as if she didn’t comprehend the question at first before she nodded. “Y-Yes, it’s true.”
“It’s true…isn’t it? That’s how it normally works…”
Though she half expected that answer, it inflicted immeasurable damage on Rose’s psyche.
“…Um, milady?”
“…No, it’s fine… Thank you…for…telling me…”
“Don’t thank me… Um, milady… O-Oh, do be careful!” Mona pleaded from behind as Rose stumbled off.