The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the birds chirped sweetly.
It was a perfect day for a new beginning.
“…Miss, did you have trouble sleeping?”
Lena, who’d come to help me get ready for my first day of work, asked with a puzzled expression.
“A little?”
I awkwardly smiled as I looked in the mirror and saw the dark circles reaching down to my cheeks.
These were the words of someone who felt like they were going to die of shame.
I buried my face in my palms as I felt my face getting hot again.
‘Why on earth did I have such a dream!’
It must have been a dream, right? It had to be a dream. It can’t be anything else!
I wasn’t panicking over nothing.
Last night, I had a dream where Ludwin, with a face so beautiful it made my heart drop, was smiling next to me.
‘Did he possibly turn back into a human?’
The thought that came to me as I was waking up made me leap out of bed.
‘Huh?’
But there was no one in the room.
The windows were properly closed, and the door wasn’t open.
In my half-asleep state, I opened the door next to mine, only to find Ludwin, the dog, sleeping peacefully by the window.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he slept deeply.
‘Ah, it must’ve been a dream.’
Feeling relieved, I realized something that made my face flush instantly.
‘Why did I have that kind of dream?!’
Other than the time I saw him in the tower, I’d never seen Ludwin smiling like that.
His trademark look was a cold, expressionless face, befitting a second male lead.
Even after we met again, he would avoid making eye contact and look stern whenever he saw me.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
‘Could it be… I’m sexually frustrated?’
It’s already been more than five days since I held myself back from touching the cute Ludwin. For five days, I couldn’t even pat him despite his adorable attempts to get me to.
My cuteness charge, which couldn’t be filled with flowers, was definitely running low.
‘Did I have that dream because I thought that if he didn’t hate me, I could hug him as much as I want?’
For a moment, my mind went blank.
Wait, doing what to whom?
The image of me hugging and snuggling human Ludwin flashed through my mind.
Unable to bear the embarrassment, I hurriedly closed the door and crawled back into bed, covering myself with the blanket.
‘No! I’m not that kind of pervert!’
I shouted, kicking the blanket in embarrassment all night.
“Haaa.”
I let out a long sigh.
‘It’s too embarrassing to even think about it again.’
The result was this face.
The face in the mirror looked quite serious even to me. Pale lips, dark circles, half-closed eyes, and rough skin.
“No matter how excited you are, you should sleep well. Look at those dark circles under your eyes.”
Although Lena grumbled, she meticulously combed my hair and applied makeup.
Flower shops are also considered a part of the service industry, and the owner of a flower shop cannot greet customers with a tired face on the opening day.
Thanks to Lena’s skilled hands, my dull face looked somewhat presentable.
“Thanks, Lena.”
“Don’t mention it. Today is an important day!”
“Yes, I need to get it together.”
That’s right. I couldn’t let myself be so distracted.
As was my habit, I almost to slap my cheeks to come to my senses, but then I realized that my face had just been made up so I clenched my fists instead.
“It’s finally opening day!”
The long-awaited grand opening of the flower shop after ten years!
A peaceful, leisurely flower shop life awaits me!
“Okay, let’s go!”
Shouting with determination, I walked out and met Ludwin waiting at the door.
“Oh.”
I flinched, remembering the dream from last night, but I did my best to smile and wave.
“Good morning, Lu?”
At my greeting, Ludwin came straight over and licked the back of my hand lightly. Then he rubbed his head against my hand.
The feel of his soft fur made my heart race first thing in the morning.
‘Lu is so cute…’
Just then, the beautiful smile from my dream flashed through my mind.
My face heated up instantly.
Hmm?
Meeting his innocent amber eyes, I pulled my hand back as if burned.
My voice came out stammering like I was reading from a textbook.
“Now isn’t the time for this. Let’s go!”
I rushed down the stairs to the front door, not even noticing that my limbs on each side were moving in sync.
Ludwin, shocked that I’d pulled my hand away that he’d licked, stood still for a moment but soon followed.
I glanced back at Ludwin, who was wagging his black tail as he followed me.
I really wanted to ask if he’d come to my room at dawn, but decided against it.
What if he realized that I knew his secret?
My life was too precious.
‘Right. There’s no way the second male lead would smile at me, right?’
The only time that I, the reincarnated villainess, and Ludwin, the supporting male, were able to get along was when we were young, before the start of the original novel.
‘Ugh, get a grip!’
After finally gathering my thoughts, I shook my head to rid myself of the shame and suspicion.
Today was the flower shop’s opening day, so I focused on that!
Even though it was early in the morning, family members and close friends were all gathered at the entrance.
“The first day is always the most important. Do well.”
My father, who’d accepted his daughter’s decision to quit the family business and open a flower shop, patted me on the shoulder.
“Maybe mom should go and help too? Will she be okay on her own?”
My mother, busy preparing for the upcoming social season, was full of worry for her daughter.
“Sister, can I come by this afternoon?”
My brother, Tibon, who lacked tact but cared deeply for the family, said he would come by to cheer me on.
“Have a good day, miss! Wishing you great success!”
I felt a pang in my stomach as Lena and some other servants cheered loudly for a successful opening.
Although I’d been looking forward to opening the flower shop for the past ten years, my goal wasn’t to make it big.
‘I won’t be able to relax if it does well.’
I felt sorry to everyone who supported me, but the flower shop was my dream place where I could relax and eat while surrounded by my favorite flowers.
Naturally, the store was slightly away from the main street.
I got into the carriage, hiding my impure intentions with a bright smile.
“Thank you everyone. Then I’ll be back soon!”
“Bye!”
I waved to everyone who came out to see me off.
‘But since it’s the first day, it wouldn’t be bad to sell about ten.’
I left home with a light heart.
And that hope was shattered as soon as we arrived at the flower shop.
‘It’s ruined. My relaxing life is ruined.’
I let out a helpless laugh.
“Haha.”
Woof!
Next to me, Ludwin barked at the sound of my dream being shattered.
I didn’t expect this.
Before the ending, most of the story went as I expected, but after the ending, it was completely unexplored territory without a single cheat or hint.
I should’ve noticed something was off when I got off the carriage.
No matter how discreetly I tried to travel, the Dilucia family’s carriage always attracted attention, so I usually got off a bit away from the main street.
But today, for some reason, the town was bustling from early on, and the entire central road was crowded.
‘What’s going on so early in the morning?’
People were standing in line as if it were the National Foundation Festival, and I thought there was a big event going on somewhere.
Even though I opened the flower shop with selfish intentions, I felt a bit disappointed that a large event overlapped with my first day.
‘Still, if there’s an event nearby, there’ll be a lot of people passing by, right?’
I consoled myself with that thought and turned the corner to my flower shop.
But isn’t the line extending all the way to my shop?
‘Is it the store next door? The Rodial boutique next door? Are they having a big sale?’
Opening my shop next to such a major event with so many people. Somehow, I felt like my shoulders were sagging more than before.
I shook my head vigorously.
‘Don’t get discouraged! This is a store I opened for fun anyway! It’s good if I have free time!’
Thinking positively, I pushed through the crowd and reached the front of my shop.
“Huh?”
I stopped in my tracks.
‘…What’s this?’
The line of people was endless, so I thought there must be an event happening at another store.
I felt confused for a moment.
I never would‘ve guessed that the starting point of that line was my flower shop.
‘It hasn’t even opened yet?’
For a moment, I thought I had opened a wartime ration center instead of a flower shop. People peered anxiously inside the shop.
‘Why?’
As I looked at the endless line, a lot of question marks appeared in my mind.
Although the shop was promoted, it was only in the local daily newspaper, which was common even for commoner shops.
I didn’t tell Lilian because I didn’t want to attract attention, and I also told my family not to spread the word or force anyone to come.
Only Lena, our servants, the workers who built the shop, and Laplace Gardens knew about it.
“Ah, you’ve arrived?”
“Jeffrey?”
As I stood there in shock for a moment, Jeffrey approached me.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“Did you do this, Jeffrey?!”
I suspected he deliberately spread rumors using Laplace Garden.
When I asked, I grabbing him by the collar. Jeffrey was startled and shook his head vigorously.
“No, I swear! I stopped by early in the morning just in case, but when I got here, there were already 100 people in line. I’m serious!”
When I looked closely, I saw that Jeffrey’s complexion was not very good either.
“Does this line make sense for a flower shop?”
“That’s what I’m saying! I organized the line as best I could, but what’s going on?”
“How should I know!”
I nearly cried in despair.
Even Jeffrey from Laplace Gardens didn’t know what was going on, so what went wrong?
The people at the front of the line seemed to have heard my conversation with Jeffrey and started bombarding us with questions.
