Don't Come to Wendy's Flower House

Although he agreed, Lard couldn’t easily leave. In fact, he was cowardly enough to expect her to shake her head.

Lard sighed slightly. Although he had been wary of an impulsive life, he felt as if his life was a series of impulsive feelings these days. He left the place, struggling to calm down.

The sound of him closing the door with a thump rang through the empty shop.

Stepping into the flower garden like Pascal, he narrowed his eyes because of the muggy air inside the garden.

“Captain?” Pascal, who was cutting the stems of flowers there, glanced at Lard. “Do you have instructions for me?”

“… No. ” Looking at his puzzled face, Lard responded nicely.

Pascal’s ultra-blue shirt was smudged black. Sweat quickly formed on Lard’s forehead.

“You’re working hard, man.”

“Oh, not at all, sir. It’s quite fun. ” Pascal lifted his eyebrows and laughed.

Just as he discovered another special skill other than swordsmanship, he skillfully cut the stems of flowers and trimmed them.

“I’m glad you think so. Let me take a look inside, so don’t care about me and keep up the good work.”

When he finished talking, Lard walked near a green lemon tree. There were still fruit on the tree. When he thought she might have picked up the fruit to make the lemon tea that he drank a little while ago, he felt somewhat strange.

For some reason, he felt like the sour and sweet taste of the lemon tea was an illusion, and only the bitter taste remained in his mouth.

He stood in front of the tree for a while and looked down at the fruit that might have touched her hands. Hot air seemed to surround his body, but it was not as hot as the temperature of his mind.

‘How foolish I am!’ He mocked himself.

However, he was not sure if he was foolish because of his expression of anger before the woman he loved or because he left the two alone. He clenched both hands, unable to control his foolish feelings. He struggled to regain calmness for a while.

In the meantime, there was a chilly silence for a while in the flower shop where Lard left.

Wendy and Dylan, who were left alone in the flower shop, looked at each other’s faces but couldn’t easily open their mouths. Only when Wendy swallowed past the dryness in her throat and drank the chilled lemon tea once more, did the stiff mood ease a bit.

“Francis… She came to see me.”

Dylan, who kept silent, spoke with a heavy heart. Her face was contorted at once.

She hysterically put the mug down. The sound of the cup hitting the table was loud.

“So what? Do I have to hear more about your meeting with Francis?”

She rejected him from the beginning. She recalled him kissing Francis in the past. Her lost trust in him was revealed clearly again like the low tide of the sea. She thought she understood his feelings when he explained and denied his relationship with Francis, but it was so hard for her to forget about their passionate kissing on that day.

Dylan said desperately, pretending not to have noticed her feelings, “…Francis said she saw you in the palace. I don’t think she will give it a pass, given her hot temper. I think you had better not appear in public meetings for the time being. ”

“Did she say she saw me?”

In fact, Wendy was upset that Francis chased her in the palace. She got up from her seat suddenly, gabbing the table.

“Yes, I felt she was almost confident about it,” Dylan lowered his head.

“… A few days ago when she came back to see me, I blamed her with harsh language. I’m worried it might have upset her. ”

“I see… I know what you mean…” She murmured with a worried expression.

“Well, I…” Dylan murmured hesitantly, “I wanted to say thank you. You saved my life because of what you did at the palace. ”

She raised her head quickly at that and stared at his face. Soon, she let out a sigh.

She could not show a stiff attitude when he honestly expressed his feelings.

“Oh, I have saved my life because of you, Dylan. Thanks for saving my life that day,” she said.

Dylan smiled bitterly, shaking his head.

“As for the things I saw that day… I have a lot to ask you, but I have to keep my oath because I swore I would keep it secret.

In fact, Dylan was troubled with countless questions about the abnormal growth of ironwood in the palace. The scene that day was shocking to him. Her miraculous work was a phenomenon that he had never experienced before, and at the same time, it was a lifeline that saved him from death.

He traced his memories of her doings in the past to check when she had such a power, but he could not find any special clues. Above all, he agonized about what her power would mean to her and what danger it would cause her. However, he was not sure how beneficial his angst would be to her.

“If you have any hardship, I would like to help you in one way or another. Anytime is fine,” Dylan said softly. Now that he was not allowed to be beside her, he felt sad about the fact that he couldn’t do much to help her.

“Thank you for saying that, but you won’t have to.” She refused his help firmly.

But Dylan strained his lips, as if he sensed her wariness again, and said, “I told you confidently I wanted to know about a woman named Wendy Waltz… I don’t know why it’s so hard to come here. I know it’s hard for you to see me, but I feel the same, too.”

“… ”

“No matter how heartbroken I am, I have to deal with it on my own.”

He muttered as if he was talking to himself, with his head down, “I know my grumbling like this won’t be of any help to you. Let me leave. Take care of yourself.”

After looking at her one more time, Dylan turned and left the flower shop.

The bell rang loudly as the rattling door vibrated. She stared at the door for a long time.

Even after the door stopped vibrating, she stood there, looking at it.

Feeling a bit anxious about what Dylan said about Francis, Wedny stepped inside the flower garden. As she walked into the flower garden, she saw the two with tired expressions.

“Miss Wendy!”

Pascal first called her name gladly. She was surprised that he was sweating profusely.

She made an apologetic expression and said, “Are you okay? You both sweated a lot. ”

She cast a glance at Lard, who stood before the lemon tree. He was standing there with his shirt unbuttoned because of the heat inside the garden. .

“Let’s get out. I’ll make some cold drinks.”

Pascal walked ahead, encouraged by her remarks.

“How did your meeting with Dylan go?” Lard, approaching Wendy, asked, buttoning his shirt.

She belatedly turned her eyes from him and said in a hesitant tone, “Yes, thanks for your consideration. ”

“Oh, don’t say that. I rather feel sorry I have made you uncomfortable. ”

“…I want to say something to you. It may be a little long story. ”

When she said that, Lard stopped buttoning and looked at her. He could her pure heart in her eyes. He felt heartbroken when he saw her eyes. Calming down, he quickly buttoned up the shirt.

“Miss Wendy, do I have to stay in the garden again?”

Pascal, who was walking ahead, stopped and came back to them carefully.

His expression was wary.

“No. If you stay here any longer, you’re going to be dehydrated. Today I’m closing the flower shop early, so, go back and rest,” she said with regret, staring at his wet shirt.

Pascal nodded, as if he felt relieved at her early closure of the shop.

A little later, she closed the shop and went to her house with Lard after seeing Pascal off.

She needed a safe place to talk with Lard without being disturbed.

“Come on in.”

Unlike Wendy who stepped into the house quickly, Lard couldn’t easily step in.

He was nervous. His lips were dry as anxiety and nervousness gripped his mind since the investigation began. As the captain of the imperial knights, he was hardly swayed by tricks or conflicts, but he was agitated and tense this time.

Letting out a sigh secretly, he soon followed her into the house. A vague anxiety was bothering him just like the path of the sword that could not predict its path.

After showing him into the parlor, she asked him to sit down. When she unlocked the brown sliding door on one side of the drawing room and pushed it open, a fresh wind came into the house.

“Sir Schroder, could you look here?”