Yašm gulped as if he had firsthand experience with Harij’s wrath. “Talk about what?”
“Why did you confine my fiancée in this place?”
“I had good reason to.”
“And I’m asking you what exactly that is.”
“I did it because I learned the Witch’s Love Potion was behind the case I had you looking into for me.”
“I see—Rose.”
“Er, uh, yes?”
Rose had been listening to Harij’s conversation with Yašm in a stupor as he held her close, so she jumped when he suddenly brought her into it.
“Five people—”
“There’s been one more since you left, so six.”
“Six people have collapsed. Is it true the Witch’s Love Potion is responsible?”
Rose opened her mouth and realized she was about to shroud her answer in vague wording again. This wasn’t the time or place for her to spin her words like a witch. She tried to be as clear and concise as possible.
“I don’t know. The one thing I can say for certain is that I’m not involved in this Witch’s Love Potion case.”
“Okay.”
His strong arms tightened around her.
Rose thought she might break down crying any moment now.
That was the most reassuring answer and the most reassuring embrace she had ever received. Harij believed her. He listened, when she had long since given up hope of anyone ever believing her or that her words would ever reach anyone.
Rose was a witch. Witches didn’t lie.
And that was precisely why Harij could believe her without a shadow of a doubt. He transformed her greatest weakness into her greatest advantage.
It never occurred to her that her weakness could lead to being trusted by the people she cared about most when it counted.
Rose’s voice had reached Harij.
“…I know this is a dumb question, but what happened to the guards?”
“They’re all my colleagues. They decided to take a little walk after hearing me out.”
“You’re really something, you know that?” Yašm raked his hand through his hair. He was clearly exasperated with Harij for bringing his personal feelings into this and with the knights who went along with him.
“You’re really something, you know that?” Harij tossed his own words right back at him. He said it in the exact same tone and manner. They sounded so alike, it attested to how much time they had spent together like brothers and best friends.
“Someone you picked as your knight would obviously stop at nothing to protect the woman he loves. Am I wrong?”
Yašm had no way to rebut that one.
Yašm’s knights held to the same noble principles he did. He surrounded himself with like-minded people. In other words, as hard as Rose found it to believe, Yašm would do the same for someone he loved.
“…Ugh! Stop trying to one-up me! What are you even doing here?!”
“One of my servants immediately notified me when Rose didn’t come home. I left clear instructions for what they should do if anything happened to her.”
Rose looked up at Harij’s face from the gap between the arms wrapped securely around her. He looked terribly haggard since the last time she saw him. Not only did he waste energy on the wild goose chase Yašm sent him on, but he was also doing everything in his power to protect Rose.
“Harij, do you understand the severity of the situation? Six people have fallen ill—from the witch’s potion!”
“Rose said it wasn’t her doing. Therefore, your accusations have no merit. She is innocent.”
“This is ridiculous! You seriously take her at her word?”
“I have no reason not to believe her.”
“Why not?”
“Because I love her.”
Harij’s voice brimmed with unwavering sincerity, leaving Rose no choice but to cover her face with both hands.
Yašm froze awkwardly, as if his head had just been dive-bombed by a bird flying out of the brush. Swaying, he yanked up his sleeves and showed his arms to Harij.
“…See what you’ve done to me, Harij? I’ve got goose bumps!”
“Oh, what, did I make you feel left out? Sorry I didn’t notice sooner. Of course I love you, too.”
It was Rose’s turn to get goose bumps—the kind that causes all the hair on your body to stand on end.
“Shut up! Stop clowning around! Just who do you think I went through all this trouble for to settle things quietly before the ceremony?!”
“Ahh, is that why you picked this spot? This forest is under the queen’s direct control and has been passed down from queen to queen over the generations.”
The current queen was Yašm’s mother. This was the perfect spot for the royal family to settle matters behind closed doors.
But now the situation was even direr if Harij had trespassed into the queen’s private domain against the prince’s wishes.
It was inevitable that his actions would be construed as unpatriotic, disloyal, and a dereliction of duty. Even Rose was able to predict this in this short amount of time. There was no way Harij hadn’t already considered the risks.
He gave “love” as his reason for crossing this precarious bridge.
Was love that powerful? So powerful it made the dutiful, steadfast Harij undertake a selfish and illogical course of action?
“Enough of this! Your believing in her doesn’t undo the harm caused by the potions this witch made,” Yašm ranted while he pulled the small bottle from his pocket, as if he just wanted to put an end to the conversation.
Harij stared hard at the item in his hands. “…Does that still have the potion in it?”
“What good does it do to carry around an empty bottle?” Yašm shot down Harij’s question as if it were foolish.
“Let’s have Rose look at it. She knows everything about potions.”
“You exaggerate; I don’t know everything—”
“You idiot! As if I’d ever give a witch a potion! That’s the same as handing a warrior a sword!”
“Exactly my point. We want the opinion of an expert. Or what? You want to stay here having a stare-off until morning?”
Yašm frowned with utter disgust and handed Harij the bottle. Harij held the bottle out to Rose.
Rose graciously accepted it and pulled out the stopper. For all his bellyaching, Yašm watched over her with bated breath. Geones moved in front of Yašm and, hand on sword, cautiously watched Rose.