novelDon't come to Wendy's flower shop (3)
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Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Don't come to Wendy's flower shop (3)
"I know well that it was you, Ms. Wendy, who saved me...You knocked down that rude man and grabbed my waist so that I didn't fall on the sticky floor. How wonderful!"
She again tightened her grip on Wendy's hands as if she would never let her go.
With her hands grabbed by the woman, who was so excited at the moment, Wendy felt as if the energy of her hands was escaping from her body.
"I'm curious about the sticky floor, did you make it sticky, too?"
The woman, who was close to Wendy, lowered her voice as if she was a spy agent.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Pulling away her hands from her roughly, Wendy expressed her displeasure sharply.
Only then did the woman feel embarrassed, realizing her mistake.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have mentioned this thoughtlessly...I should have pretended not to know. I was foolish...But I actually saw you doing it on the floor..."
Wendy urgently opened the door and led the woman in. Her heart was pounding hard. She felt like she was being suffocated.
"I just don't know what you are talking about. What the heck did you see?"
After making sure that the door was closed tightly, Wendy asked her, with glaring eyes.
What she would say next could disrupt her calm life until now.
"Well, when you sat down on the floor, I saw that sticky thing gushing out of the floor. I saw it. I don't know what that was, but it's definitely what you did..."
She looked at Wendy's eyes and spoke with a feeble voice. There was no vigor in her voice now.
"Well, was it something like magic? How could such a mysterious thing take place? I have no idea at all."
Then, she muttered in a dim voice as if she had a dream, like a girl immersed in a fairy tale about a wizard.
Wendy had no choice but to shout at her in astonishment.
"Don't ever talk like that! I don't know anything about it. If you talk to people about this, they will treat you as a crazy woman. And I will also be in big trouble."
"Oh, don't worry! I won't tell anyone that! I shut my mouth when the knights asked me."
The woman grabbed Wendy's arms urgently, as if to say she was innocent. Although Wendy denied it vehemently, the woman seemed to be convinced that Wendy was responsible for the sticky grass on the floor.
"Wendy, don't worry. My name is Melissa Lowney, and I'm not the type of woman who has a big mouth. I can swear it on the honor of the Marquis Lowney family, " said the woman, who suddenly turned pale.
If anybody had seen her, they would have thought a pitiful woman was desperately trying to stop her lover from leaving. Wendy sighed once again with a heavy heart. Just like she did to the muscular men at the martial arts center yesterday, she felt a strong temptation to squeeze the woman's arm and throw her down, but barely put up with it.
"Well, as I told you, I don't know anything about it. By the way, you'd better watch out for the time being. You look very pale. As you moved along as the daughter of a marquise like this, you were into trouble like this, I think. I understand as you must have been shocked enough to have such a ridiculous misunderstanding. I won't blame you for your delusion today, but don't ever mention it again."
Although she was probably speaking rudely to a noblewoman like her, Melissa did not seem to mind at all. She nodded as if she would follow Wendy's words unconditionally.
"Let me trust you then, " said Wendy.
"Oh, call me Melissa. I want you to treat me candidly."
Melissa looked at her eagerly. Anyone would welcome to befriend a noblewoman like her who was kind to anybody, but the problem was that Wendy wasn't included in that "anyone."
"How can I dare call your name thoughtlessly when you are the daughter of a marquis?"
"I want to be called like that by you Wendy... Please grant my request."
She just nodded at Melissa's persistent request, thinking she felt it necessary to get her reassurances that she should not cause any trouble.
"Did they give you my address readily?"
Wendy was now getting upset about the Imperial Knights as they didn't seem to take care of the personal information properly.
"Oh, Sir Jean Jacques Simuan was happy to give me your address. You remember him, right? That handsome blond knight who helped me up when I fell. I came to know he was the deputy of the 1st Knights Division. It's hard for a young man to get that position. He is awesome, isn't he?"
"I see. Sir Jean Jacques Simuan gave you my address..."
Wendy bit her lip, but said it softly with a gentle expression.
Melissa seemed perplexed for a moment, but grinned when she saw Wendy smiling at her.
"I heard from Sir Simuan about the suspect who took me hostage at the museum. I came to know that he was a poor man. And he had a reason why he cried so much yesterday. I hear his daughter was very sick, but he didn't have the money to have her treated. And she wouldn't get better even if she received treatment...Her daughter has been hospitalized at Linus National Medical Center, but I hear that she won't be there long."
Melissa sighed sadly. Obviously, she was sincere when she sympathized with that poor man and her daughter. Of course, Wendy was not sure if she could really feel sorry for the man who terrorized her or if she was simply thoughtless.
"...Oh, I see. I think you have heard lots of stuff from Sir Simuan."
When the man who cried a lot at the museum flashed across her mind, Wendy suddenly felt let down. She wished she hadn't heard it at all.
"Oops!... Would you leave? I was going to shut the door when you came here. I have to go now."
"Ah yes...I'm sorry I've stopped a busy person like you for too long. I want to talk a little bit more with you, but I'm satisfied today as I have met you anyway. Then, I'll come back later."
Seeing Melissa reluctant to leave, Wendy spoke urgently. She was bothered by Melissa's wish for another visit.
"As you know, a commoner's life is a series of busy days. It's hard for me to enjoy leisure while running the store."
Wendy indirectly expressed her opposition to her another visit, but she didn't seem to understand it. Nodding at Wendy's words, she carefully looked at the inside of the shop, which was a bit dim as the lights were turned off.
"Are you running this shop alone? I think I can understand your situation. Oh, I have a good idea. Let me stop by here often to buy some flowers. So, why don't we chat during my visit? I can be your good chatting friend!"
Wendy spoke coldly, trying hard to hide her frustrated expression, "You don't have to. I've got so many customers here. If a young lady like you stops by, I will be busier than now."
Obviously, Melissa was hurt by her words, but she reluctantly went out of the shop.
She apparently wanted to correct Wendy's calling her "lady" instead of "Melissa, " but when Wendy first opened the door, she couldn't even do it. Wendy let out a deep sigh, watching the woman looking back often with regrets as if she didn't want to leave now.
On the way home, she kicked a few stones on the roadside. She probably let out a sigh of annoyance at least fifteen times. Walking back home, she was feeling guilty about what she had done to that poor man crying at the museum. She couldn't erase from her mind the images of the crying man at botanical garden of the museum.
The moment she heard about him from Melissa, she could not be bothered any more by something like Lard Schroder and Melissa Rowney's likely visits to her shop.
Although she thought that the only thing she had to be concerned about right now was those who would threaten her peaceful daily life, it was not easy. It was because she had the Bahazman fruit in her hand.
It was not simply because of her desire for possession of the precious plant that she tried to see the real Bahazman tree at the museum. Of course, it was true that she was obsessed with collecting all kinds of plants like crazy collectors after she gained the power of her index finger.
However, the Bahazman tree had a different meaning for Wendy than any other plant.
She felt the need for the Bahazman tree, called the Fruit of Life, more desperately than anybody else.
An ordinary florist woman would not have any reason to be threatened or seriously injured in her daily life, but it was different in the case of Wendy. She was always worried deep inside that such terrible things might happen to her anytime.
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