As usual, Harij goes to see Rose. He’s even extra excited this time, because he’s eager to see her enjoy the baked apples he just bought from the market. Unfortunately for Harij, Tien arrives right before him, and there’s only one boat to cross the lake. I guess this means the knight will just have to stand there awkwardly with two baskets of food on his arms. Not only did Rose clean the place because she thought she would be seeing Harij — and she will — she inwardly objects to Tien sitting across from her at the table. In her mind, that seat is reserved for Harij and Harij only. Girl, c’mon, you’re being extreme. Chairs are for sitting. Where else do you want Tien to sit?

I’m not saying she should give Tien a chance if that’s where your mind instantly went. It’s not about that. But clearly, she needs a middleman because she’s probably too shy to sell her own potions. Not only that, Tien is kinda checking up on her. He’s had a long working relationship with her grandmother, so maybe he’s come to see Rose like a grandchild or whatever. I’d argue that he’s closer to the family side of the family friend relation. As such, there’s no need to be rude. All I’m saying is that Rose is giving off “We just celebrated our three-week anniversary” type energy. But this is what people do when they are in love. They forget everyone else who used to matter to them. Who hasn’t briefly lost touch with a friend who suddenly has a new partner?

I guess it’s Harij’s turn to be unreasonable. When he sees both Rose and Tien emerge from the cabin, he is taken aback by the fact that she would see a client off. He is even more shocked when Tien tosses back Rose’s hood. “I-I-I thought I was the only one who knew her secret! I thought I was the only one she would show her face to!!!” Then the first thing he does when he finally gets to cross the lake is demand to know who Tien was. Bro, don’t be pathetic. But you know this is written for young, immature people, because any adult who gets this jealous would be rightfully called out. First, you got Rose thinking that a seat is only meant for Harij, then you have the knight jumping to wild conclusions from watching the witch interact with a merchant from afar. You have to have the emotional maturity of a child to think like this.

And just before this happened, Harij told himself that he was only bringing Rose food because he didn’t want something bad to happen to her before she finished the potion. Eh, it sounded like cope. I mean, she’s survived for this long before he came along. She obviously doesn’t need his food. Also, he only ever brings her sweet-tasting stuff. Yeah, apples are nutritious, but if we’re going to invoke the health angle, you still need more than that for a balanced diet.

I didn’t realize Rose never told Harij her name. He had to learn it from Tien, which seems to annoy him even more. And as soon as Harij utters it in front of the witch, she of course acts all awkward. She then makes it weird by telling him not to call her by her own name. She probably thinks it would hurt her more to hear him say it, because she’s crushing on him hard and she still thinks he’s in love with someone else. Then he has to be all weird about it by thinking to himself, “And yet, you allow that man to call you by that name.” He even jokingly asks for the baskets of food back.

As soon as Harij enters the cabin and sees the two cups of tea sitting out, it’s now his turn to gripe about the chair. It’s a chair! It’s a fucking chair! People sit in them! Even if you get married, when you invite people over to your home, they might sit in places you like to sit! It happens and it means nothing! You don’t get to call dibs on a fucking chair for perpetuity! But no, Harij has to be petulant on the inside, “It has nothing to do with me!” He then dramatically clutches his chest, and almost leaves for the day in a huff. He only relents because he suddenly throws back her hood on a whim. When Rose doesn’t get annoyed like she did with Tien, Harij finally feels speshul again and stays. God, I never expected our sir knight to be such a baby! And all because another man deigned to interact with his witch. I can’t… it’s like watching two teenagers be in love. This is killing me.

In other news, there’s a professor who’s in love with the princess, but she has to marry someone else for likely political reasons. Hm, okay. But again, who is the love potion for? Maybe the princess wants her future husband to fall in love with someone else, so he would cancel their engagement? So I suppose we now have ourselves an ethical dilemma. There’s no doubt that altering someone’s mind is wrong to do. But let’s say it’s the ruler of a powerful nation — a king who has sired many children already so he’s old enough to be her father — and he’s making an unreasonable demand. If you don’t agree to said demand, they might invade your nation. I guess that does throw a wrench in things… alright, fine. I guess it’s okay to alter someone’s mind if they’re a pedo! I know the princess is sixteen, and that makes her an adult in a lot of these stories, but I don’t care. I’m still calling him a pedo. And don’t even start with that whole “Um, ackshually, he would be an ephebophile” nonsense.

On a related note, if Harij only knew that Rose is dragging her feet on the potion because she thinks he wants it for himself. She does say, “…it’s not something I can make that easily,” but I wonder if she’s being honest with herself. Ultimately, I think Rose might come to the conclusion that she needs to accept Harij’s “love” for someone else, i.e., “if you love them, let them go.” Then he’ll give the potion to the princess in the nick of time, then hurry back to confess his love to Rose or whatever. But this is only the fourth episode, so we’ve got a long way to go.