novelI want to live next door to her house (10)
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Chapter 72: Chapter 72 I want to live next door to her house (10)
"Then give me some before you leave...By the way, its scent is strong."
"Don't you like it? In fact, I've been thinking about how to change it. If you want to change it, why don't you work with my team on what kind of scent it might be better."
"... Well, I would love a fresh scent like lemon."
"What? Lemon?... Huh, you're talking nonsense! The sour scent of lemon doesn't go well as an ointment to apply to the wounds."
With a look of strong disapproval, Edmonds quickly wrapped the bandage.
Not caring about his reaction, Lard became absorbed in himself.
Recalling the order he was about to give his butler, he made a smile again.
In the meantime, Wendy, sitting alone at her flower shop, was quite busy handling the back orders.
Today of all days, there were so many customers stopping by her shop that she couldn't take a break. Fortunately, she could not afford to be distracted by other thoughts, which she liked very much. This was the perfect daily living pattern she wanted.
She took a small break only after she trimmed some colorful flowers and gave an errand boy a handful of flowers for delivery. She made a cup of light black tea. She was about to put milk-filled cookies into a bowl and put the teacup to her mouth when the door opened with a tingling bell.
"Come on in..."
She fumbled when she confirmed the faces of the visitors while trying to welcome her customers.
"Miss Wendy, how are you?"
"Oh, Wendy! How do you feel? I was worried a lot."
They were Jean and Melissa. She greeted the two without hiding her uncomfortable expression. And then she immediately looked out of the flower shop to see if there was anybody watching their visit suspiciously.
Melissa trotted toward her and spoke, "Please forgive us for coming like this, Wendy. I wanted to visit you as soon as possible because I was worried, but Sir Simuan stopped me, saying you would feel bothered and annoyed by visitors because you haven't recovered yet."
Although Wendy wanted to remind them that their visit today bothered her a lot, she couldn't do so after checking Melissa's excited expression.
"Have a seat."
She asked them to sit down and poured two more cups of black tea. The three talked about the accident in the Burgonu forest for a while, drinking tea.
Melissa was chattering about Altarin's humiliation in a high soprano tone, saying that the Scholters family was keeping a low profile, trying their best to prevent the scandal from spreading anymore.
When he drank half the tea, Jean Jacques hastily offered a big box he was holding, as if he read from Wendy's look that he should tell the truth about the purpose of his visit.
"Miss Wendy, this is the dress captain Lard has sent you. He has asked you to wear this dress when you come to the baron title awarding ceremony tomorrow."
She closed her mouth because she felt upset about Lard's actions, who tried to communicate with her through Jean Jacques, since she formally asked him not to visit her house or shop.
When she recalled Lard's face, her memories brought back a series of things that happened, while she was wrapped in his arms last night. She shook her head as if to dispel those memories and accepted the box hastily.
"Please convey my gratitude to him."
Jean nodded with a bright expression as she thanked, hiding her embarrassment. Melissa looked at her earnestly as if she wanted Wendy to open the box quickly, but she just dropped the box on the table.
"The ceremony won't take long. So, don't feel pressured."
He told Wendy with a bitter expression. The baron title he would receive tomorrow was something Wendy gave to him. Accordingly, he wouldn't feel happy, either. Wendy nodded with a gloomy expression.
Although she managed to avoid the yoke of the aristocratic title, she couldn't disobey the crown prince's order to attend the awarding ceremony. It was a ceremony she would attend with great reluctance. She would be drawing attention of the participants in the ceremony because of the Burgonu accident, so it would be hard for her to avoid their attention even if she were extremely careful about her behavior. She felt she was strong enough to cope with a difficult situation as she went through ups and downs, but this time she was very nervous.
"Well, it smells so good. Its color is good, too."
While Wendy was agonizing for a moment, Melissa, who couldn't stand the silence, pulled out a daisy from the vase and smelled its fragrance deeply. The bridge of her nose was filled with yellow pollen as she put it to the flower so closely.
"Oh, Melissa!" Jean said, looking at her mouth, as if he was put on the spot.
"There on the bridge of your nose..."
He pointed at it. Melissa looked startled and groped the bridge of her nose as he pointed, but the pollen was spread around not wiped clean. In the end, he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and leaned over to wipe it.
"Excuse me for a moment."
Melissa's face blushed as he carefully wiped the pollen from her nose.
He also noticed her embarrassment and cleared his throat, putting the handkerchief back in his pocket.
Looking at the two, Wendy forgot the anxiety surrounding her for a moment and pouted, "My flower shop is not a place for your unsound dating."
Their faces turned red at her thunderous announcement.
"Dating? No way!"
The two briefly protested, as if it was nonsense, but they quickly shut up, looking at her ferocious eyes.
Melissa, looking at Wendy's eyes, raised her head up and down, at a loss about what to do. Jean was as nervous as she was. He kept moving his lips as if he wanted to make excuses. He raised and lowered his right hand then folded his fingers as if he vehemently wanted to deny that he was dating Melissa. But his strange gesturing seemed crazy to Wendy.
"Wendy... What do you mean? Dating? I'm not dating him!"
Melissa once again strongly protested, denying her romantic relationship with him, but her voice was feeble. Wendy snorted at that.
"She is right. Please stop playing jokes like that. Did you mention 'unsound'? If others heard what you said, they would misunderstand us!"
"I mean your dating itself is unsound, especially in a place like my shop."
Wendy spoke coldly, filling her empty cup.
But Melissa pouted, retorting, "No way! How come you dare say dating is unsound? If that's the case, your dating can also be called unsound. I know you are desperately in love with Sir Schroder."
Wendy paused for a moment at her unexpected counterattack. As she was so embarrassed to hear that, she wanted to pass her tongue over her dry lips but put up with it as she didn't want to be caught off guard.
"Melissa, you are really mistaken about my relationship with Lard. Who is dating whom? Please refrain from speaking any words that disgrace me."
At Wendy's reply Melissa flinched, "Are you going to hide it from me? Everybody has already witnessed your passionate loos at each other. When your horse went wild because of the drug in the forest, we all saw Sir Schroder running without hesitation to save your life. Oh! That was definitely love!"
"Melissa, it looks like you are distorting the truth."
"Wendy, you can be honest with me. I understand your desire to hide your relationship with him. But do you think you can hide your feelings of love even if you want? It's just a pity that you can't reveal your love! Well, I've decided to shut up my mouth as long as any stories about you are concerned, so don't worry."
"Let me tell you again. I'm not dating him!" Wendy said clearly.
"Then, is Sir Schroder alone loving you?"
"That's not true, either."
"Really? Both of you don't have any romantic feelings toward each other? Are you sure you are not romantically related at all?" Melissa asked as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Nope, we aren't romantically involved at all."
Her voice was firm. Only then did Melissa close her eyes with a regretful expression.
Although Wendy beat her in an argument, she didn't regret it at all. On the contrary, as soon as she vehemently denied it, she felt as if a cold wind was passing over her heart. It was because she felt guilty and uncomfortable about the fact that her denial made her kissing Lard last night meaningless. She was afraid for some reason that she didn't know.
Jean and Melissa remained a little longer awkwardly then quickly left, expressing hope that they would see her at the titling ceremony tomorrow.
Wendy had to work diligently until the evening, trying hard not to get distracted by thoughts about Lard.
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