Don't Come to Wendy's Flower House

If she showed nervousness for a moment, he immediately said something to distract her. She didn’t complain about his unusual chattiness.

“I ate the Bahazman fruit… so I’ll be better soon,” she said with a small voice.

“Let me check your legs.”

“Pardon?”

When he said that, she freaked out and pulled down the hem of her skirt.

‘What the heck is he talking about?’ She quickly blinked. She felt she needed to change her initial judgement that his reckless actions were intended to stop her from being gloomy.

“I need to see the wounded parts to apply this ointment.”

“You’ve got a wicked sense of humor. How can you crack such a joke…?”

“I’m not kidding. It was not you who didn’t want to call a doctor. Even if you ate the Bahazman fruit, I can’t leave your wounds untreated without confirming it.”

Without changing his expression at all, Lard spoke resolutely as if he couldn’t budge a bit.

She was the only one feeling ashamed.

“What the heck are you talking about? If you leave the medicine, I’ll apply it. So, please put it there. ”

“I think I’ll be relieved only if I check it. As you never tell me you’re hurt, I think I need to check if it’s really a minor wound before I can feel relieved.”

“Well, do you really want me to cry wolf? I’m really fine.”

“Yes, please do so.”

He spoke as if he was dissatisfied with her reply. She was dumbfounded by his unexpected reaction.

“If I could have my way, I would check wounds on other parts of your body, but let me stop here. Promise me that you will go to the medical center as soon as the day breaks.”

“…Sure, no problem. So, give me the medicine. ”

When she gave in, Lard gave her the bottle of medicine readily. She fidgeted with the bottle in her hand.

“I smell lemon from the medicine…? I didn’t know there was medicine like this, ” she said, touching the white unicorn on the bottle, the symbol of the Linus National Medical Center.

He was embarrassed at her words and quickly replied, “I hear this is a new medicine. In fact, Dr. Edmonds gave it to me, the princess’s husband who you met at imperial court the other day. He likes this lemon flavor, strangely enough. ”

When the scent of the medicine he was using to treat Lard was too strong, Lard asked him to make it smell good like lemon. It was Edmonds who was surprised by Lard’s request, but Lard insisted on it, pretending not to know why he would be surprised.

“Well, I like the lemon scent… It reminds me of good memories of my wounds healing well,” she said slowly in a hazy voice, lost in thought.

Lard looked at her lips when she reacted well. He recalled the smell of lemon jar pouring from the cupboard and his touch on her lips some time ago.

Lard suddenly kissed her lips. He touched then took his lips from hers briefly. Her eyes were wide.

“Do you know about what they call a conditioned reflex?” He asked, lightly touching her cheeks. Without waiting for her reply, he continued, “Don’t talk about the scent… I really can’t talk about it without kissing you.”

He kissed her again. He felt the thin texture of her upper lip. Her grass-green eyes closed. Her heart continued to pound hard. His warm touch on her lips seemed to melt away her anxiety.

“… I think you should go now, ” she said, pushing at his chest. He swept her hair, distancing herself from him as she did. Sweeping her soft hair behind her earlobes, he firmly said, “I can’t leave you go. Don’t you see the front door was smashed? I vowed that I would never leave you alone here.”

“… But you can’t stay here with me. ”

“Use my room. As there is another room next to it, I will take the other.”

“No, I can’t,” she replied with a perplexed look, but he was adamant. As she grabbed his arm and shook her head, he reluctantly offered one more option. His voice was soft but he was stubborn.

“If you don’t like it, you can go to my mansion in Soleanga. If you don’t want to use my room, I’ll give you a guest room. As it is much safer than here, I really want you to go there.”

She could not accept his proposal to go to his official mansion. Seeing her frowning, he put his hand on her shoulder.

“Wendy, I really can’t leave you alone in this place. Not just for you but also for myself. I really can’t stand it if you go through this again. I’m afraid I might lose you…”

“I’m just…”

“So, won’t you just follow me this time? … Benfork, and other knights will be around, so you don’t have to be wary of me.”

She lightly smiled at his words. Though she felt she’d never smile again, she did so before she realized.

“Oh, I’m not wary of you. I’m just afraid I might continue to depend on you.”

“You can depend on me, no matter what.”

She raised her head and looked at him. She saw trust and warmth in his eyes like the silver poplar by the riverside she saw one day and the trees she saw with him in the Burgonu Forest.

“I’m afraid you might beg me if I keep refusing. Okay, let me accept your offer.”

“Yeah, I was going to beg you if you kept refusing. Thanks!”

He grinned and helped her to her feet carefully.

He led her to his room on the second floor. He said goodbye after escorting her and telling her to have a rest, but she stood nervous in the room as if she felt awkward. She called him when he was about to leave. Hesitating for a second while looking at him, she said, “Lord Schroder, do you remember what I told you in the Burgonu Forest? I told you I was no longer scared when I was alone because of the white poplar I saw by the river… I felt so because I was so impressed with the powerful figure of the tree.”

He replied, looking at her with his serene blue eyes that brought out her old memories, “I remember… You told me back that you felt so because of the beauty of the trees that stood between the moonlight and the river. ”

“Right… Are you going to laugh at me if I tell you I realized how stupid I was?”

She spoke, tilting her head forward slightly. She had already tears welled in her eyes.

“… Sir Schroder, the tree I saw was not alone. It wasn’t beautiful as it stood alone. How stupid I was to think that it stood alone beautifully… Without the moonlight and the waving of the river, it wouldn’t have shone beautifully.”

“… Wendy. ”

“I thought I was happy when I was alone. I never wanted to experience that loss again. I didn’t want to expect that I would possess something I could lose, but the beauty of the tree that I fell in love with was not actually created by the tree itself. ”

She came to his side, who was standing outside the door like a fixture, and took his hand.

“I don’t want to taste that loss again… I can’t hide my feelings. I don’t want to be alone. Whether you are the moonlight, the river, or the silver poplar… I want to be by your side.”

She leaned her forehead on his chest . He embraced her. She felt relieved and happy to know that she had someone to depend on now.

“If you want… I can be anything that would be helpful to you… I’ll do anything if I can be with you forever,” he whispered. She listened to it with, blushing. “I will try to stay with you for the rest of my life.”

“Sir Schroder…”

He conveyed his heartfelt sincerity to her from the bottom of his heart. Though she felt overwhelmed like a drifter who reached the land by swimming across the rough sea, she tried to be silent. She was emotionally choked when she felt his warmth in the silence.

With his warmth that showed no sign of cooling down, he hugged her once again. He reluctantly released her and left her, though he didn’t want to.

“Get some more sleep. There is quite a bit of time left before daybreak, ” he said, closing the door. Soon, there was the sound of him moving away from the door and another door closing not far away.

Standing in an unfamiliar room, she took several deep breaths, as if she pulled herself together.

Then, she walked across the room to the window. She saw her room’s window.

When she recalled what happened in her room, she flinched. She felt scared momentarily, but relieved when she thought he was in the next room.