After the Ending, I Received the Second Male Lead as a Gift

“It’s over.”

I clutched the wedding invitation with both hands, trembling.

“It’s finally over!”

I’d been waiting for this wedding invitation for so long.

This was the end of a long, long decade of agony. I felt relieved.

“Are you that happy, miss?”

Lena, my close maid, set down a teacup in front of me.

“Well, of course! Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?”

The wedding invitation I set down read:

 

[To the Lady of Count Dilucia,

We invite you to the wedding ceremony of Pedro Von Lucretia, Crown Prince of the Lucretia imperial family, and Lilian Biod, daughter of the Marquis of Biod.]

 

It was a simple wedding invitation, as expected from the imperial family, with only a brief description of the occasion.

What a beautiful wedding invitation!

Lena, who saw me laughing, unable to control my joy, smiled as she held the silver tray in her arms.

“You must be so happy since you and Lady Lilian are like sisters.”

“That’s right.”

I was so happy tears slipped out.

This wedding invitation was my reward for the past ten years of my life.

Ten years ago, I possessed the eleven-year-old Tyria Dilucia.

Long silver hair, deep purple eyes, and the family name Dilucia.

That meant I was the villainess in a romantic fantasy novel called <Cuteness is the Best!>, which I used to read in my spare time during my busy daily life.

 

‘No way, why Tyria!’

 

In the original story, Tyria was jealous of the cute heroine who was loved by everyone and used all kinds of means to harass her.

Then, when the female lead almost died, the enraged male lead caused the downfall of the Dilucia family, and Tyria’s role in the story came to an end, losing her head to the supporting male lead’s sword.

She would die in 10 years, right before the female lead and male lead get married.

After remembering the fate of the villainess, I buried my face in my pillow and cried for a week.

 

‘No! I died at only 24 in my previous life, and now they want me to die as soon as I reach adulthood here?’

 

Even though it was just a part of the plot, using the villainess to dramatically bring about a happy ending for the two main characters, wasn’t this a bit too much?

 

‘Who would want to be taken advantage of like in the original?’

 

Condemned to a short life, I decided to follow every Rofan cliché I knew in order to survive.

First, I spread a rumor that the already infamous Tyria had been reformed, and from then on, I lived like a fool, trying to erase her notoriety.

In addition, I assisted the main characters when they were younger to make them less crooked, raised my family to be better, just in case, and made some money so I could run away if something went wrong.

‘In my previous life, I died unexpectedly from overworking myself, and I thought I was going to die from overworking here again. Haha.’

Tears welled up in my eyes as I recalled the past.

One of the things that took the most effort was becoming best friends with the female lead, Lilian.

Originally, the female lead had a tearful childhood before she was adopted by the Marquis of Biod.

It was a pity, so I brought Lilian to my house because I thought the leading male characters wouldn’t kill me if I got close to her.

‘I had to launch a talent sponsorship project in the name of the family to bring that child in.’

After that, we sponsored her diligently supplying her with gold and jade and then sent her on her way to the Marquis, just as she was supposed to.

As time passed, Lilian met the crown prince, fell in love, and married.

The female lead had now gotten married, which meant the ending, and the ending meant that since the original story was over, there was no longer any risk of me dying as a villainess.

“Ha, it’s the end. It’s finally the end!”

Holding the invitation in both hands, I once again trembled with emotion.

I had been anxiously waiting for this day for ten years.

I should name this day ‘Liberation Day’.

Lena giggled to herself, then smiled broadly as if she’d suddenly realized something.

“So, now it’s finally over?”

“That’s right, finally!”

I grinned and took out a really thick folder from my desk drawer.

Thud!

The file on my desk was about an inch thick.

This was a plan I’d been painstakingly drawing up for 10 years. There was absolutely no way it would fail, it couldn’t.

I grinned like a real villainess.

“I can finally open my flower shop!”

I’ve worked hard for 10 years, I can now leave!

I’ll become the owner of a flower shop!

 

*****

 

On the day the wedding invitation arrived, I ran to my father, Count Dilucia, and announced my retirement.

“Father, I’m retiring.”

At my words, the Count dropped the document he was holding, and my younger brother Tibon’s mouth dropped open.

When they regained their composure, they even asked, while stuttering.

“Well, what about the curriculum for the spring semester?”

“Sister, what about this year’s hospital operation revision bill?”

Both were family businesses that I’ve been running for the past 10 years.

“Hehe.”

I smiled brightly at my cute little brother.

“You’ve gained enough experience, so now you can take over both.”

“Whaaaaaaaaat? Me?”

I smiled brightly again at my younger brother, who was so startled he was starting to turn pale.

My father suddenly touched his forehead, maybe he had a headache.

“Suddenly retiring? Tyria, dear, what are you going to do now?”

“Ah! I’m going to open a flower shop.”

At my answer, their jaws dropped once again.

“…A flower shop?”

“Sister, you’re going to open a flower shop?”

“Yes, that’s right. I told you this before, didn’t I? My dream is to open a flower shop under my own name.”

As I explained excitedly, the two men looked at each other and grinned.

“I thought that was just an excuse to tone down your notoriety.”

“Moreover, a flower… shop?”

I smiled brightly at my younger brother’s shocked reaction.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, well… Uhm… you’re a… plant killer…”

“What?”

“Hmm, nothing.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand their reactions.

None of the plants that passed through my hands survived unscathed.

But what am I supposed to do when something is just so good! They’re pretty, smell nice, and bring happiness to both the giver and the receiver!

It’s not often that something makes a person happy just by looking at it.

Since I couldn’t give up on being around flowers, I decided to take the next best option.

“Don’t worry. I’ll leave raising them to the experts, I’ll just make them look prettier and sell them!”

The thought of spending the rest of my life surrounded by flowers, entertaining the occasional guest, and enjoying my time leisurely, rather than frantically rushing around to survive, made my mood ascend to the heavens.

“Ha, just imagining it makes me happy!”

The two of them chuckled awkwardly at each other as they looked at me staring into space, ecstatic.

“Okay, I’ll cheer you on.”

“Me too… I’ll support you.”

 

*****

 

One month later.

 

「Tyria’s Flower Shop」

 

I looked at the dangling metal sign in the shape of a bouquet of flowers, overflowing with emotions.

“Ha, brilliant! It’s the flower shop I’ve always dreamed of.”

The word ‘impressive’ could be used at a moment like this.

My plans for the flower shop that had been in the works for 10 years proceeded smoothly.

I’d been tinkering and renovating, furnishing and organizing, and today we’d finally put up the sign.

Just then, a man ran up to me.

“Welcome, miss!”

The head of the architectural guild in charge of the flower shop’s construction greeted me with an exaggerated pose and gestured with a confident smile.

“Let me show you the inside!”

I pushed open the green wooden door and stepped inside, a cozy flower shop entering my view.

I was immediately drawn to the comfortable, white and wooden interior that reminded me of a country house garden.

Even though I’d been overseeing the building process for a month, it was refreshing to see the beautifully finished product.

“Everything is exactly as I ordered. You guys did a great job.”

“Haha, this is going to be Lady Dilucia’s shop, so I did my best!”

Lena followed me in and looked around, speaking in a regretful tone.

“Miss, isn’t it a bit small? Since you’ll be running it personally, I think it would’ve been better if it was bigger.”

My flower shop was a small, stand-alone building. There was only a hall with a counter to receive customers, an inside room with sofas and tables, and a warehouse outside.

When Lena saw the shop in person, after only seeing the blueprints before, she was disappointed with its small size.

“It’s just the right size for me to run by myself.”

“Oh! Are you not going to keep me by your side?”

“Lena, you’ll have to help at home. This is my job now.”

Since Lena had been my close friend ever since I’d possessed this body, she looked disappointed again when I tried to separate her from me.

The two of us walked around the store, discussing where to put things.

Suddenly, the back door opened and a worker came running in, panting.

“Miss, I think you need to come here for a moment!”

“What’s going on?”

Something must’ve happened, judging by his panic.

As I hurried out the back door, I saw a group of people gathered in front of the warehouse chatting.

“What’s wrong with everyone?”

“Oh, miss!”

As I approached, they looked nervous and shrank back.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a large crate peeking out from behind them.

It was almost up to my chest.

“What is this?”

The light pink box was tied with a cute pink ribbon.

It looked like a birthday cake box.

As I was about to open it out of curiosity to see what was inside, the box shook violently.

“Ugh!”

“Whatever’s inside is alive!”

I frowned, pulling my hand away in surprise.

“Hmm.”

It was frightening not knowing what was inside.

“Who left this here?”

When I pointed at the box and asked nervously, everyone looked around at each other until one of them finally stepped forward and blurted out.

“Everyone left for lunch and when we came back, it was already here.”

“So, no one saw who left it?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone had sullen expressions, and a groan escaped out of my mouth.

‘This… It wouldn’t be something dangerous, right?’

I made it to the ending, but is it really possible that someone is trying to kill me even now?

I’m proud to say that I’ve lived a good life.

Now, the Count’s family is at peace, and the main characters who threatened my life have reached the ending safely.

There was no reason anything terrible should happen in my life anymore.

‘Okay. Let’s just open it.’

With those thoughts, I curiously tugged on the end of the pink ribbon.

“Ah, lady!”

“Ugh!”

The screams of startled people behind me rang out in the background.

The ribbon unraveled, and I opened the lid of the box, in my mind contemplating what it could be.

“Huh?”

When I saw the contents, I froze, holding onto the end of the ribbon.

Several people, unable to overcome their curiosity, came closer.

“What?”

“A large dog?”

People crowded around, peering inside the crate, thankful that it wasn’t dangerous.

But I thought differently.

“What the hell! Why is he here!”

I screamed.

Woof woof!

The giant dog from the gift box that looked like a wolf, was none other than Ludwin, the original novel’s supporting male lead.