While worrying about Ludwin’s condition, the protagonist couple alternately glanced at Ludwin and me with puzzled expressions.
“Umm, young lady? I wanted to ask you earlier, but what’s with that big dog? No, is it even a dog?”
“Is it a new guard dog or something? It’s huge!”
At their fuss, Ludwin quietly turned his head towards them.
Pedro crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, while Lilian cautiously clung to Pedro. Despite both of them being animal lovers like me, they seemed frightened of Ludwin.
‘Do they not recognize him?’
Although his species was a bit different at the moment, at least the black fur and eye color were still similar.
I thought Lilian, as the female lead, would recognize the secondary male lead.
However, the two stared at Ludwin for a moment, then frowned.
‘They really don’t recognize him.’
Since it’s extremely unlikely for people from the empire to meet beastmen, they probably never even considered the possibility.
His appearance did make him look like just a gigantic dog.
Which is why the mysterious sender probably sent Ludwin to me disguised as a dog.
And that meant the sender at least wasn’t these two people in front of me.
‘I’d be lucky if they don’t catch on.’
I pretended nothing was wrong and took a sip of tea.
“It’s a dog.”
At my words, Lilian’s eyes sparkled.
Despite being scared, she still liked dogs.
“It’s so impressive! Where did you get it?”
“It was a gift.”
“A gift? From whom?”
“Um, from an acquaintance?”
My casual reply made their expressions turn even stranger. Why did everyone react oddly whenever I said this?
“An acquaintance? Don’t tell me it’s from the Marquis of Ferumwell…”
Whimper, whimper.
At that moment, Ludwin suddenly whimpered and pushed his face close.
“Lu?”
His eyes sparkled as if asking me to stop talking and pet him instead.
Thanks to this, whatever Lilian was about to say got interrupted.
‘You were so angry earlier, why are you acting like this all of a sudden?’
As I was puzzled by his sudden affectionate behavior, Lilian called me.
“Tyria.”
“Hm?”
“Can I pet him too?”
Her eyes shone even brighter than before as she asked. I gave an awkward smile.
“Only if Lu allows it.”
Lilian’s eyes sparkled, full of curiosity, typical of a heroine.
She got up from the chair and bent slightly towards Ludwin.
“Hello, Lu. My name is Lilian. Can I pet you just once?”
Although she was scared, her curiosity seemed to outweigh her fear.
I suddenly realized that unlike in the original story, Ludwin had never shown his animal form to Lilian.
‘Did he hide it on purpose?’
Despite the twists in the original plot, he’d followed her around so much that I thought he would’ve shown his beast form by now.
Even if he hadn’t, as the second male lead, I expected he’d allow at least Lilian to touch him.
But…
Swoosh.
“Uh, huh? No?”
Ludwin quickly pulled away.
Lilian, who’d reached out her hand, looked at me with teary eyes, startled.
“Tyria…”
She seemed to be pleading with me to do something, but I was equally taken aback. To think he’d dislike being touched by Lilian, whom he adored so much.
I suddenly understood why.
‘Oh, right. This was after the ending.’
Since Lilian, whom he loved so much, got married and abandoned him, it’s possible he didn’t want to be touched by her anymore.
Before Lilian could say anything, I quickly erected a defensive barrier.
“Sorry. If Lu doesn’t want it, there’s nothing we can do.”
So, please don’t touch him if he doesn’t want it.
“Hmm.”
Lilian, with her shoulders drooping like a bluebird caught in the rain, withdrew her hand.
Even then, she was still cute.
It would normally give me goosebumps to see a grown adult act like that, but as expected, the power of the main character was extraordinary.
Pedro, seeing this, gently embraced Lilian and patted her back.
“Lili, I’ll bring one home for you when we return.”
“No, it’s okay.”
Pedro naturally wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of Lilian’s eyes, and she forced a smile at him.
“Don’t cry. It breaks my heart when you cry.”
“Pedro…”
“My beloved bluebird.”
The flirting lines and pink atmosphere created so naturally almost made me spit out the tea I was drinking.
Excuse me, you two?
Why are you doing this here?
I jumped up from my seat feeling as if I’d start breaking out in hives from witnessing this scene. Ludwin followed suit.
“It would be best for you both to leave now.”
The sudden eviction made both of them turn their heads towards me.
“Huh, what? Why?”
“Didn’t you both sneak out?”
At my words, his eyes flinched and dispersed in different directions.
My eyes narrowed when I saw that.
‘I knew it. His childhood habits haven’t changed at all.’
Since long ago, whenever he wanted to do something mischievous, he always snuck out. Laplace Garden had caught him more than once.
When I let out a long sigh, Pedro, who was embarrassed, tried to persuade me.
“Young lady, it’s still the first day, so I should at least buy one flower. Are you planning to turn me into a shameless person?”
Lilian also tried to add something, so I raised both hands to push them out.
“It’s an extreme honor to have His Highness the Crown Prince visit, so please go back to work now.”
Having known them since childhood, evicting them wasn’t difficult.
In fact, if it were the crown prince from the original story, he would’ve at least threatened me with a cold face, but I don’t know where things went wrong. The current crown prince looked flustered at my eviction order.
“No, we finished our work before coming.”
“Then go back and do more.”
“Is it because you feel burdened? But this is nothing compared to what the Lady did for us…”
“Thank you so much for the newspaper ad. That alone is more than enough. Really more than enough.”
Hearing my sincere words, they reluctantly backed off and were smoothly pushed out through the back door.
“But Tyria, we were going to bring back a bouquet as a gift for the Empress. Should we leave empty-handed?”
“Yes, just go. I’ll pack the best flowers and send them to you.”
Just as I was about to close the door, Lilian shouted urgently.
“Tyria! Be sure to come visit the palace sometime, okay?”
Pedro added behind her.
“Lady Dilucia, you’re always welcome. So, don’t feel burdened and visit whenever you like.”
The two hastily asked me several times to visit before the door could close.
I smiled and waved at them through the gap in the door.
“Yes, I will. Thanks for coming today. Have a safe trip back. Goodbye.”
And I firmly closed the door.
“Phew.”
Alright, peace restored!
I felt a bit sorry for being rude, but I couldn’t help but feel goosebumps at the pink-hued atmosphere.
Those two will probably never even realize that I came down to the territory because of that.
That couple was oddly oblivious to such things.
As I leaned my back against the door and sighed, Ludwin sauntered over and locked the door with his front paw.
Click!
Ah. It seems Ludwin feels the same way.
I smiled and gave Ludwin a thumbs up.
“Good job, Lu.”
Woo─!
Happy to be praised, Ludwin let out a short howl and rubbed his head against my raised thumb.
Before I knew it, it was opening time.
With a renewed sense of purpose, I put on my work apron.
“Alright! Shall we get started?”
Woof!
Ludwin barked energetically, cheering me on.
I opened the shop door wide and shouted.
“Tyria’s Flower Shop is now open for business!”
Excitement lit up the faces of those who’d been waiting.
‘Let’s give it our best shot!’
The long-awaited opening of the flower shop had begun.
But my energetic spirit disappeared without a trace in less than 10 minutes.
‘Is this what a human flood is?’
Only empty, soulless laughter was coming out of my mouth.
‘Where did my dream go? My beautiful leisurely life!’
The inside of the store was like a battlefield.
10 o’clock in the morning. As soon as the store opened, customers flocked in without any time to catch my breath.
I caught Jeffrey, who was trying to flee, by the scruff of his neck and made him help, but there were too many customers for the two of us to handle.
To make matters worse, though Jeffrey had good manual skills, he had no sense, so I had to make all the bouquets myself.
“Thank you for waiting. Here’s your rose bouquet.”
“Since it’s spring, this potted plant will bloom soon.”
“The invitation is awarded through a lottery, so please keep this number.”
The small flower shop that I wanted to run leisurely by myself was so crowded that there was no room to even take a step.
‘That damned crown prince and his wife!’
Just as I was contemplating abandoning everything and running away, reinforcements arrived.
“Miss, I’m here! I’ll help!”
“Lena!”
I ran out barefoot and grabbed Lena’s hand. With a proud look, Lena placed her other hand on her hip.
“Ahem! I knew this would happen, so I requested leave from the head maid in advance.”
She looked like a hero with a shining halo behind her.
“Thank you, Lena. I’ll make sure to pay you well.”
Shortly after, Tibon and my mother also arrived. They’d come to see the shop but volunteered as reinforcements when they saw the situation.
“My goodness, why are there so many people? What magic did you use this time, Tyria?”
“Sister, did you put something in the flowers?”
“No, I didn’t. I swear it’s not my doing.”
Even as tears of frustration welled up, my hands didn’t stop working.
How many bouquets had I made?
Eventually, even Ludwin joined in carrying the flowers. At that point, I didn’t care about him being a secondary male character or whether I needed to be careful.
I handed him the lavender bouquet I’d just finished wrapping.
“Lu! This bouquet is ready!”
Whine!
Ludwin bit the end of the bouquet I gave him and carried it to the counter where the customers were.
“Lu! Could you bring the plant food and ribbon from over there?”
Woof!
Ludwin promptly went into the room and brought back two plant food containers and the pre-made blue ribbon.
I don’t know how much he understood, but he performed the tasks perfectly without any mistakes. Initially scared, people later found Ludwin amazing and cheered him on.
