novelDon't come to Wendy's flower shop(1)
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As there was no more singing, he was perhaps rebuked by his father who seemed to be around him at the moment.
She tried to calm down and cursed Benfork's poor singing skills.
If she heard his terrible singing again, she vowed to tell his father that he hugged Sarah so tight at the window of his room. She would tell his father everything she saw, including how he kissed and touched her.
'Even Jennifer, who he was allegedly dating these days, would know, ' Wendy murmured cruelly.
That evening, Wendy, dressed casually and visited the local martial arts center. After not seeing her for a long time, everyone there was excited, but she just walked in nonchalantly.
"Wendy! What business has you brought here?"
Deep wrinkles on the forehead, a middle-aged man pretended to know her. He, who smiled at her brightly, looked like a kind-hearted man.
"Is there any other reason for me to come here?"
"Oh, how come you suddenly appeared like this? You stopped coming here because you didn't want to see that guy over there. Of course, I am glad to teach martial arts to a beautiful student like you, " the middle-aged man said, glancing at a young man standing at a distance, who was looking at Wendy lustfully. He had a strong build with red brown hair. His broad shoulders and rugged muscles were attractive enough to catch young women's eyes.
"If you are okay, I would like to sign up immediately."
She bowed to the master without casting a glance at the young man with red brown hair.
And during the whole evening she practiced martial arts, punching and kicking to blow off steam.
At first, Wendy began to attend this martial arts center to learn self-defense. She had an extreme distaste for muscular men since her breakup with Dylan Lennox. As she decided to learn self-defense, however, she knew how to be patient when she saw them at the center.
Even though she was surrounded by muscular men, she was extensively trained in subduing such men.
Surprisingly, it was quite exhilarating for her to toss a big guy over her shoulder.
Of course, she practiced such a technique in case of a situation where her opponent had no weapons. Nonetheless, she very patiently learned the basic technique.
At the recommendation of the master, who was impressed with her persistence, she once picked up a wooden sword to learn swordsmanship but gave up because the images of Dylan wielding a sword kept coming to her mind.
It was because of the young man with reddish brown hair. In fact, she was familiar with him, he was the son of a commoner running a forge, before she signed up at the center.
She ran into him several times when she stopped by the forge to have her pruning scissors sharpened there. Since then, he had been around her while she was attending the martial arts center. While training, she probably threw him down several times.
Nonetheless, he volunteered to be her training partner with lustful eyes, as if he enjoyed being thrown down by her.
For Wendy, he was nothing more than a fool she saw everywhere, so she didn't care whether he hung around and stalked her.
Then one day the guy stepped forward as her training partner as usual.
She pulled him down to the floor after using force several times.
She inadvertently said, wiping her forehead wet with sweat, "Yoda, I think you seemed to have gained weight. You've got more muscle now?"
Although she said that without any personal feelings, he didn't think that way.
He stared at Wendy in pleasant surprise. His lustful eyes shone more intensely, and he seemed to have been touched. Then, he touched his dry lips with his tongue several times then made a bombshell announcement.
"Wendy! Marry me. If you are... Yes, I think I can make a happy family with you!"
And that day she stopped going to the martial center. She totally ignored Yoda since that day.
The reason she went back to the center again was partly because she wanted to blow off steam, but mainly because she felt her encounter with the imperial knights posed a threat to her.
She decided to exercise her body.
Thanks to her hard training at the center, she woke up early the next morning.
Lying on her side in bed for a long time, she stood up slowly, contented with a peaceful morning as usual.
As always, she picked up the box full of caterpillars and said good morning to the small carnivorous plant hanging on the door frame of the room.
At first glance, it looked like a very ordinary plant with pink buds, but it had sharp teeth in the buds.
"Eat a lot."
When Wendy took a caterpillar with the tweezers and put it on the plant, it opened its sharp petals and ate it.
She grew the insect-eating plant, nicknamed "the Poison Teeth, " to warn against outsiders in and out of her room. The plant on the pot in the door frame taller than her bit and tore off any living object when its movement was spotted.
Accordingly, if anyone taller than her entered the room, they would be attacked by the Poison Teeth. When it defeated the invader with its poison, she could buy some time.
The reason she grew such a violent and creepy plant so preciously was because she wanted to defend herself desperately.
After doing her makeup quickly, she had a simple breakfast. During the meal, she suddenly thought of tomatoes and touched her index finger to a small pot on one side of the kitchen.
After putting a dozen cherry tomatoes into her mouth, she headed for her flower shop in time.
While she was on her way to the shop, she found the road wet as if it rained at dawn.
Splash, splash.
Carefully stepping through the pool of rainwater, she inadvertently looked up to the sky. Gray clouds were gathered here and there in the sky filled with a hazy light. Although it was cloudy, the scent of wet grass after rain was indeed pleasant. Breathing in the scent, she smiled as if she was satisfied with starting the day peacefully.
After selling a bunch of flowers to regular customers in the morning, she spent a leisurely afternoon. Wendy cut the strawberry shortcake she had already bought and suddenly thought of lemon tea in her cupboard.
She decided to try the lemon tea today, which had been marinated in sugar several days ago, so she took a heavy glass bottle from the cupboard.
Cling!
"Welcome..."
A cheerful bell was heard when somebody opened the door.
While she was taking out the glass bottle, she just stiffened, with her face turning white.
A man with cool gray eyes looked at her blankly.
'Why am I seeing a silver popular by the river here?'
Wendy murmured to herself as if she could not admit it.
"I'm glad you look healthy."
'How come that guy knew where I was and appeared like this!'
As she was not unfamiliar with this man with an expressionless face.
Lard Schroder, the captain of the Imperial Knights division, stepped into Wendy's flower shop.
She led him to take a seat on the sofa.
"Please have tea."
The sound of her dropping a mug on the table was heard coldly. Even though the mild lemon scent tickled her nose, she did not touch the mug. It was purely because of the man who she was forced to serve tea.
Lard Schroder was staring at her frosty look without being nervous at all.
"It smells good... Did you make it yourself?" Schroder said after tilting the mug into his mouth. He seemed to have looked carefully at the glass jar of lemon that was placed on the tea table.
"...That's right. I'm glad you liked it."
"It's not sweet and tastes neat. I've received a lot of tea, but it's the first time I've ever drunk tea. It is not uncommon for noblewomen to pick fruits to make tea directly. If you want a taste of fruit tea that suits your palate, visit the Shent Tea House in Deseido Plaza. It is a famous place. The fruit-to-sugar ratio is good, so it's not sweet at all."
His remarks suggested that she didn't have to make the tea by herself.
He once again sipped tea casually, not caring about what she was pondering about.
She furtively looked at him with an angry look.
Normally, she would not have offered her own mug to him if she hadn't been embarrassed by his actions. He took a seat at the tea table without asking her!
Usually she did not offer a seat to anybody who visited her shop, but it would be discourteous not to recommend a seat to a nobleman. But it was also discourteous for him to sit down at the table without her permission. She began to doubt his nobility. How could he act so thoughtlessly?
Lard Schroder, who already emptied the mug halfway, looked around the shop as if to take a look at the inside of the shop.
The pale mint and cream painted walls and the light brown wood shelves created a warm atmosphere. The shelves were full of luscious flowers, while small trees were in beautiful porcelain pots. Such a warm atmosphere was far from the coldness of the woman named Wendy Waltz.
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