"Uhm… can you teach me how to wash the bowls properly?" she asked. "I will do it because you already cooked, but I am worried I might do a bad job. So, please teach me how to do it."
"Huh?" Julian looked at her in bafflement. "What is there to teach? You just wash it with water. It's outside. I keep a bucket of water for that purpose."
"Oh, you just rinse them with water and that's enough?" Rowena asked again.
She was relieved. It was much easier than she expected.
"Yeah… just like when you take a bath. You rinse your body with water and that's it." Julian explained. "Think of washing dishes as giving them a bath."
Julian furrowed his brows when he saw Rowena's confused gaze. He massaged his head. It looked like this girl was worse than he expected.
She didn't know how to wash dishes and she didn't understand that bath was uncomplicated?
Rowena batted her eyes when she heard Julian's explanation. For her, there was nothing simple about taking a bath. She had at least two maids to help her do it.
They would prepare her bathtub. They warmed the water, poured some essential oils and fragrant salt into it, then they washed her hair with mint, and finally helped her get dressed.
Surely she didn't have to find scented oils, salt, and mint to wash these bowls, right?
"No need. Let me do it." Julian shook his head and rolled his eyes. Then he went to the bucket of water he stored on a wooden bench outside the hut and quickly washed the bowls. He did it in less than one minute.
Rowena watched him do it and admitted that it was really easy. So, Julian shouldn't have compared it to taking a bath. Those were two very different things.
"It's done," Julian said. He entered the hut again and stored the bowls in the only cupboard in there. "What do you want to do now?"
"Uhm… can you tell me which way to go back to the town square?" Rowena asked. She was standing by the doorway and looked at Julian intensely. "Can I walk there?"
"No, it's too far," Julian said. "You'll get lost even if I told you the way."
Rowena didn't want to give up. "Maybe I can flag down a carriage and pay the driver to take me there. I will need you to give my money back."
She held out her hand, asking Julian to return her money pouch.
Julian pulled out the pouch he had kept and tossed it at Rowena. The surprised girl accepted the throw awkwardly. She glanced at Julian who was now busy with a pot to boil water.
Rowena opened her money pouch which felt much lighter than she remembered. Sure enough, now there were only five cheap coins left in the bag.
"What did you do with my money?" asked Rowena with raised brows. Would five alms be enough to pay for a carriage? If she couldn't find Lady Liz, maybe she would even need to pay for a ride to the capital.
"Where do you think I got the ingredients to make the soup for you?" Julian asked back. "They cost money."
Rowena sighed. She felt like hitting a dead end. She knew she must go back as soon as possible, but she didn't know the way and she didn't have enough money.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Home," said Rowena curtly.
"It's getting late and you'll only get lost if you forced yourself. I'll take you back tomorrow."
Rowena ignored Julian's words. She turned around and walked out of the door. Her steps halted after he opened the door of the hut. She looked around and there was only darkness.
From the rustle of the wind, Rowena knew that she was in the woods at the moment. She also had so much better vision than most people and could even see in the dark.
That's why she saw so many pairs of eyes were watching her every move from the bushes and trees. Were those… wild animals? Would they attack and eat her?
The girl was startled when Julian suddenly appeared behind her while touching her shoulder. "I'm not a bad person. I promise I'll take you back to the town square tomorrow."
Rowena stared at those eyes around the hut in panic. What if Julian lied and he was going to be mean to her? She turned and looked at him probingly.
Could she trust him?
Julian pointed a knife at Rowena making the girl gasp. She thought he would stab her, but instead, he turned it around and let her touch the handle.
"Just hold this knife if you don't trust me. You can kill me on the spot if I intend to hurt you."
Rowena looked at the knife and Julian in turn. She accepted the knife hesitantly. Maybe she could trust him. If he wanted her dead, he would have abandoned her when she drowned in the river, right?
Rowena also had a knife with her, which meant she had a weapon to protect herself. Finally, she nodded reluctantly. She would rather use this knife to protect herself against Julian if he wanted to do anything unsavory to her, than fight so many wild animals out there.
Julian went back to his pot and prepared tea. Soon, Rowena could smell tea wafting in the air. It made the shabby hut feel warm and homey.
"Tea?" Julian asked, waving a cup toward Rowena. The girl nodded. Julian took another cup and poured tea into both cups. He gave one to her.
"I promise the tea is not poisoned," he said lightly.
"…" Rowena still looked at the young man with skepticism.
Julian chuckled softly and put the cup on the table, then started drinking from the other cup. "If you don't believe me, I'll drink first."
He blew his tea and sipped it. He closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy the warm beverage as if it was the best wine in the world.
All looked good.
Wait…
Suddenly, Julian blinked a few times. His eyes bulged open.
"Ack!" His face looked in pain and he clutched his neck making Rowena panic.
"Julian?" She called him but the young man could not answer. Julian's body was shaking and he growled in pain until he fell to the ground.
Rowena immediately crouched down to help Julian. She laid him down and patted Julian on the cheek a few times.
"Julian… Julian.. what's wrong??? Hey, wake up!"
Julian's pupils slowly rose upwards.
"I-I… I was wrong… it… is poisoned.." he spoke between his panting breath. "Dammit. I took…. th-the wrong… cup… Eck-"
"WHAT?"
After Julian uttered his last sentence, he closed his eyes with his tongue sticking out.
Rowena's mouth was agape. "Poison? In the tea?"
She stared at the pot in the fireplace with an expression filled with horror. Her throat suddenly felt parched and she had difficulty breathing. Rowena started to cry while shaking Julian's body. She beat Julian's stiff and helpless body, cursing her bad luck that day.
However, as the girl started sobbing, she heard a very familiar laugh.
Rowena looked up to find Julian laughing loudly clutching his stomach. He even punched the table while laughing so hard at the sight of Rowena's innocent, gullible face.
"I was just joking," he said between his roaring laughter.
Rowena didn't think it was funny.. She kept crying.
