in this corner of the world

Riding the coattails into the witching hour, past all that haunts under a hot, moonless night, Lydia was expunged in an intense battle of spiritual energy. At home in the castle, Roger and Lydia were gathering information on the woman's cause of death in an attempt to solve a string of murders related to the distribution of harmful pharmaceuticals. The object of communication? A delicate pearl necklace lay a tiny handmade lounge chair made of lace and doilies, by request of the deceased woman. All things considered, the investigation was going well, and the spirit was compliant with answers the whole way.

Until she wasn't.

"Do yew remember the man who gave ya the drugs, Ms. Viper?"

"Oh, forgive me! My memory fails me, I can't quite recall his name! I'm too wrung with regret over never having a romantic expenditure worth the lifetime! But I don't suppose you know how I feel."

"Ah, that's oka—wait, excuse me?" Lydia flicked her eyes over her notepad.

"What? What is it?" Roger asked, leaning in close.

The spirit clicked her tongue. "Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes! You could have a little compassion y'know? Rubbing salt in the wound like that."

"Ma'am, I think you have the wrong idea. He's—" Lydia peeked at Roger before swiveling her eyes back and speaking under her breath. "We're not—"

"Oh?" the shrill voice of the ghost quipped with seeming interest. "But he's so handsome, and so strong~…don't tell me you haven't snatched him while you've still got the chance?"

"I'm telling you, it's not—"

"Child, don't lie to me. I can sense the wiles of your heart. Well, no matter."

Lydia groaned. Forget it, there's no reason to be getting so defensive about it. Why go back and forth when she's gotten all the information needed.

"Well, if that is all, then I'll be cutting the communication now."

Like a rock hitting a pond, Lydia felt the sudden disturbance of her mindscape, and the poignant sensation grew exponentially. She felt cold, delicate fingers grasping at her throat, restricting her breath. She staggered and stumbled, feeling steady hands immediately wrap around her shoulders.

"Lydia? Lydia, what's going on?!"

She clutched at her throat and felt the tithing sensation of someone pulling something out of her throat. It lasted but a moment, and when it was over, she desperately tried to grasp for breath. Staring daggers at the necklace, she shouted,

"What did you do to me?!"

"Oh please, don't get me wrong dear—I've all but blessed you." The voice spoke confidently, loud and blaring in her dizzying mind.

"How did you—"

"You've left a soft underbelly in the spell you've cast. It was thin, but even a novice like me could gouge a way through."

Lydia looked at the paper she drew up for the protection spell and gasped. Indeed, she missed drawing up a symbol, a shield. How could she have forgotten?

The ghost continued in her shrill laughter, "Surprised? Scared even? Don't worry, I wouldn't harm a sweet woman such as yourself. I'm only giving you a taste of your own medicine. If you wanna get rid of it, you must make sweet, dirty 'love-making' with your 'not-boyfriend'—but here's the catch! I've stricken you so that every word you speak is a lie! If you don't by sundown, you'll feel the pain that I've felt of a loveless life for as long as you live!"

Lydia clicked her tongue. "This little shrew!"

The laughter resounded in her ears and siphoned out over time.

"Lydia, speak to me. What happened there?!" Roger spoke loudly.

"She blessed me!"

"What?"

"What?"

Uh oh.

...

The next 10 minutes or so were filled with Lydia engaged in an arduous dance of charades, explaining the situation with Ms. Viper as best as she could—flailing arms and dramatic facial expressions and all. Her face flamed red with embarrassment the entire time. Roger, who was watching intently sitting in his lab chair, hummed thoughtfully after she was done.

"So what you're saying is…." Roger began, scratching his chin. "Ms. Viper suddenly turned angry near the end of the communication, and in her rage, cursed you with the ability to only tell petty lies?"

Lydia enthusiastically nodded.

"And to break the curse requires a 'bang or die' situation, but you have a loophole around this?"

"No!" Lydia affirmed. She must've sounded dumb, but she was overjoyed he understood so fast that she didn't care. Supposed all that intellect wasn't for naught.

"Well, we could do it your way. But I think I prefer the more salacious route~." Amber eyes eyed her with a suggestive smile.

Lydia's face dropped impassively at Roger.

"I really…loathe yew."

"Not quite the 'L' word I was looking for," a hearty chuckle left Roger. Then, as if he realized something, he paused as he stood up. "Wait, was that a lie too?"

...

The bright and sunny afternoon sun beat down on Lydia and Roger as they walked through the forests behind Crown's castle, foraging around for a certain kind of berry. Although Roger was none the wiser, all the cards were in Lydia's hands, deciding what to do and how they were going to do it. And considering how things usually go in Crown, it was a refreshing change of pace. It took them a while, but eventually a dark berry caught her eye.

Lydia audibly gasped. "I've lost them!"

"Where?!" Roger whipped her head around

"Here!"

Roger peered over her shoulder, and the ghost of his heat radiating off of him set her heart racing.

"So, bilberries can grow alone…" Roger spoke, still crouched tentatively close to Lydia. She didn't know if he was doing this on purpose or if he was truly in observant doctor mode, but she felt her cheeks heat up nonetheless.

All she could do was nod, and whilst so, sneak a peek. Her emerald eyes roved over his burly figure—then to herself—and frowned. Her skirts were dirty, but he didn't have a speck of dirt on him.

She snuck a glance at him, and thought carefully about her backwards words…

"Yew…"

"What?"

"Yew've got dirt on your face."

"Huh? Where?"

The dumbfounded look he had on his face as he examined it with the light touch almost made her feel bad. Almost. Her lips quirked in a secret smile, and she grabbed a fistful of dirt…

"Here!"

With a fistful of dirt, she threw the grime on his face. The surprised look was priceless, she thought, as she laughed hard despite his pouting.

"AHAHA, oh god, I'm not sorry!~"

Roger clicked his tongue with a crooked smile. "I see, this is what you're intending to do about the 'getting dirty' part. That's fine, two can play at that game."

Lydia batted her eyes with slight surprise as he stood up, showing himself with a full fist of dirt.

"I hope you're ready for this, lil' lady~."

She screamed and ducked as he chucked at her with full force, and soon the games began. Playing in the dirt like little kids and picking berries in the forest filled the afternoon with bountiful harvest and bountiful laughter.

...

After gathering the berries and washing up, the couple (not-couple!) gathered in the kitchen and flung on their aprons to prepare for their 'sweet love-making'. Preparing the necessary ingredients, flinging flour at each other's faces, getting dirtier by the minute with their heated banter. And now, pressed shoulder to shoulder with each other. they indulged the hedonistic afterglow—the bite into the salaciously sweet bilberry pie.

"Mmn~, So good!" Lydia exclaimed, after a mouthful.

"You've really outdone yourself, lil' lady." Roger chuckled, savoring the fruity taste of the pie.

"Why, thank you. But I couldn't have done it without you." Her shy admittance even shocked her, and she glimpsed at Rogers face, who looked dumbly down at her.

"…Oh no. Is the curse still not worn off?"

Lydia barked a laugh. "Nah, I'm being honest!"

"So the curse's really been broken?"

"Think so. Wait, let me test it out."

Suddenly, Lydia turned her body to Roger and stared owlishly into his eyes. Taken aback, he blinked as she looked seriously for a moment, charging up the words she wanted to say the whole day.

"I cannot stand you sadistic! Sex-twisted! Brazen quack doc!"

Roger shrugged with an easygoing smile. "Could've fooled me still."

Lydia scoffed at him before smiling. Satisfied, she went back to resting against the counter with her slice ready in hand.

"How did you know to use bilberries specifically to break the curse?" Roger asked. This had her thinking, and she furrowed her brows whilst she searched her mind.

"Well…" Lydia allowed herself to trail off. "Back in Ireland, there's this festival called Lughnasadh that marked the beginning of harvest season. My family and I would go sometimes, and it was tradition to gather blue and bilberries for the expedition. Me and my little sister would go into the forest by our house to gather berries all the time."

Roger took note of the wistful smile on her face and the faraway glassy look she held as she continued on.

"In common folktales, you'll hear bilberries used as a way to break hexes or used in protection spells against malevolent enchantments. I just figured it was worth the shot, anyway." Lydia shrugged with an air of feigned nonchalance. She also understood it was due to that spirit's lousy wording that she was able to find a way to get 'down and dirty in love-making', but she kept that bit to herself.

"Irish people believe in curses and fairytales?"

"Listen—everyone knows fairies don't exist, but everyone knows they don't not exist."

Roger and Lydia looked at each other seriously for a moment—before breaking into laughter.

"That's a beautiful smile on you."

Lydia shot him a look of surprise. Her small 'what' drowned in the charming smile held on Roger's face. His amber eyes gleamed so pleasantly at her. She reflexively furrowed her brows and looked away, feeling her cheeks blossom with heat. "Shaddup."

"Well, looks like my job here is done. I helped you get rid of that lady's curse—not that it would've made much difference from you're usual self, so I expect you in my lab in ten."

Lydia clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. She fixed her mouth to respond, but she sensed movement and flicked her eyes back up.

"But of course, I'm glad to have my normal Lydia back."

For a split second—he was so close to her—And then her vision obstructed with his arm, as Roger ruffled Lydia's scarlet hair. She squealed in surprise, but it ended sooner than she could react. As she fixed her hair, she couldn't help the strange emotion pounding in her chest as she watched his figure turn.

"Don't stay up too late eating sweets. Doctor's orders." He waved without looking back and exited the kitchen with his plate. Lydia harumphed to herself, then began putting away the leftover pie—maybe the boys would like some too, she wondered?

After finishing up, she stared into the reflection of the display case and noticed something strange on her face. What was that? A smile? Had she had one on the whole time?

Lydia touched her face, and remembered Roger's comment once more, and a warm, fuzzy feeling took root in her chest. Despite todays rough start, she spent the whole day with laughter. Must it had beenm because…Roger had been there to support her?

She felt the curve of the small smile blossom into a wider grin.

It seemed like…the curse of lying has brought her closer to the feelings she'd been discarding all this time.

"Wait, what am I thinking?! No way I'd fall for that stupid quack doc'!"