5. The Good Witch of the Lake (3)
āāthis is the cloth made from flowers that only bloom at the bottom of an oasis, the bead embroidery is specially made by the Royal Palaceās glass craftsman, and this is the pelt of a deep sea monster that only surfaces during the Midnight Sun. Lastly, a colorful fabric infused with holy water from a snowy villageāthe color wonāt fade regardless of how often you wash it.ā
āWell, wellā¦ā Roze nods in understandingāwhen in truth, sheās overwhelmed.
Even for Roze alone, the room is already narrow enough. Yet, despite all the clutter, the man somehow manages to elegantly spread out all his materials. At this point, that proficiency of his can only be called a skill.
āNow, how about these? Are you ready to bargain, āWitch of the Lakeā Roze?ā
The man that treats the witch-her like royalty is a merchant and also an acquaintance of her late grandmother. Seemingly smiles all the time; he has sleek-eyes with sharp glints reminiscent of a wolfāsāhis name is Tien.
āthis is also the by-product of her yesterdayās frustration.
āBy any chance, do you also sell robes? Anything is fine.ā
Roze, who regularly sells potions to Tien, made a casual inquiry. She doesnāt want anyone to learn that such a triviality actually bothered her all day. Despite that, Tien seemed to have realized something and the very next day, ferried across many goods on the boat.
āI greatly recommend the lavender oneāthe pink hue carries a sensual undertone, donāt you think? Hey, hey, why donāt you just take this one?ā
āI absolutely refuse.ā Roze shudders at the parade of colors. The vividness is too bright for her eyes.
āThought so~ā Tien shrugs his shoulders like a know-it-all.
Thankfully, Roze is able to restrain herself from shoving that drug she left at the corner of the room into his mouthāotherwise, Tien would already be charred black right now.
āā¦Why do you only have the flashy ones with you?ā
āHey! These are what my mother wore when sheās still young! Youāre the one who said āAnything is fine.āāremember? And to be interested in dressing-up, this is not like you! Did something happen? ā¦Now Iām getting riled up. I have a great ideaāhow about ācustom-madeā? We can request the tailor for something that befits āthe Witch of the Lakeā, Iām sure theyāll come up with something cute! No need to worry about moneyāthis oneās on me!ā
āāCuteāā¦? But Iām already twenty-threeā¦ā
āExactly! Youāre still twenty-three!ā
That being said, Roze is a little curious about Tien.
She first met him when she was ten years old. Scared of the young man, young Roze hid behind her grandmotherās skirt. Between thirteen years ago and now, Tienās appearance hasnāt changed much despite being ten years older than her.
Is it because of his oriental blood?
From an early age, Tien has been learning the merchantās trades from his father. Roughly a decade ago, he succeeded his family business. Ever since then, he has been in charge of his house. He admits he isnāt as good as his fatherānevertheless, it doesnāt trouble him.
Tien and his family have helped me a lotāeven after grandma died.
Without him, she wonāt have been able to build a tomb for her grandmother.
For that, sheās thankful to himāof course, she is too embarrassed to say it out loud.
She looks at the flood of colors spread all over her room.
Surely theyāre all first-class products, selected with astounding aesthetic skill. If she dirties them either by walking through the mud, or grinding herbsāsheāll surely feel bad. None of the colors seem to suit her, anywayā
āthen, something catches her eyes.
She narrows her eyes at the deep indigo-colored one.
āHuhāoooh, that one? I see, wait a minute, let me get it for youāā
āāno, you donāt need to, Tien, stopā¦ā Roze grabs Tienās sleeve as a storm of negativity pervades her mindāwhat if it doesnāt fit? What if itās too small for me? āactually, thatās not the reason for her worry;
Itās the same exact color as the cloak Harij usually wears.
If she is to wear thatāwonāt it feel as if Iām wrapped in his cloak? No, no, this is not the time to be distracted by such a thoughtā¦ā
Looking at the downcast Roze, Tien takes out a large catalogue book from his luggage. āHere, see if you can find anything to your liking.ā
Many samples of clothes are pasted to the pages. Roze goes through Tienās open catalogue.
āDue to the roomās lighting, some fabrics might appear dull. Believe me, under the sun, you can see that the texture is weaved exactly like the petal of a flower.ā
āI donāt go outside that often, anyway. So itās fine. I want something comfortable, because Iāll be wearing it all the time.ā
āāthen this color will be a good match. Viridian Blueāthe color of your beloved forest.ā Tienās voice is gentle and quiet, such that Roze finds herself immersed in it. The atmosphere is a lot calmer now.
His finger points to one cloth; one colored with the greenery reflected upon the lakeās blue surface.
Thereās no change in her expression, but Roze is clearly enchanted. As such, Tien smiles, already knowing the witchās choice.
āSince itās woven using silk and gold thread, it gets more dazzling under the lightāā
āāI donāt have the slight interest of parading it before anyone, besides, no one willāā
āNah, itās just my obligation as a merchant to explain my wares.ā
Unable to argue back, Roze abruptly shuts her mouth and Tien smiles with satisfaction.
āThe color will complement you even better if you have rosy cheeks or wear blush~ā
āHuh. I can just slap my cheeks numerous times, thenāthat redness also counts as blush, right?ā
āAhaha~! Even though itās adorable that my cute witch is slapping her cheeks like this, but no. With your current complexion, your cheeks will only turn blue.ā
āAre you trying to say something here? I know I donāt go out muchāmaybe āpaleā is the word youāre looking for.ā
āIām just saying itās not healthy, especially for someone your age. Moving on, this adornment over here is a cameo of a countessās side profileācurrently trending in the Capital. The artisan who created this is famed and was even given a royal decree three years agoāā¦ā
Tien continues to hammer trivia at the bewildered Roze until it gets dark. It becomes apparent that nothing will shut him up.
Mid way, Roze regrets her decision of not shoving that drug down his throat.
At a later date, after finding out Rozeās preferences, Tien returns with not one, but two boat loads of goods, Roze is shocked to the core.
***T/N : I M NOT SATISFIIIIIEEEEED, IM TRANSLATING ONE MORE CHAPTER FOR THIS MONTH, HARIJ–!! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE–!! wHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, MAN?!?!?!?!?!?!
Lol, i like the translator’s side notes
Tien: Ki-ko-how you doing
??? Were all patiently waiting for harij huh?
Tein is great š I like him very much š TYVM for translation
Aww so cute! Tein is like that doting uncle that only wants the best for Rose ?
Thank you for the new release. I liked this chapter ā the interactions with Tein was cute and Iām glad that itās not all been a āwitches are badā experience with Roze.
Also, where is Harij indeed.