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

If I were sane, I would’ve thought at least once that this was strange because he looked so human-like.

I would’ve been more careful, thinking that I couldn’t make the future Duke of Rivolte run errands.

I just felt like I was dying, so when he offered to help me, I was only grateful and found it endearing.

“Congratulations on the opening, miss!”

“Your dream has come true. Congratulations, Lady Dilucia!”

I think acquaintances came and went here and there, but I couldn’t remember any of their faces.

All I remembered was smiling brightly until my cheeks ached.

‘Who was that earlier?’

I was extremely glad to see someone, but I had no idea who it was.

There was only one thought filling my head.

‘Why isn’t the line ending?’

After sending out a large bouquet that took a whole whopping 30 minutes to make, I cried out inwardly.

‘Protagonists! Just wait and see!’

I’ll never forgive you for putting me through this ordeal, in the name of justice, no, in the name of a villainous character after the ending!

“Miss… boss! Five more Laventi bouquets!”

Waaah!

At Lena’s order, I reflexively picked up the flower wrapping paper while crying.

As expected, a villainous character can only survive by staying far away from the protagonists! There’s no way I can be compatible with them!

I cried and made bouquets all day until my hands were swollen.

The sun went down and the hellish time finally came to an end.

“Thank you, please come again.”

The always energetic Lena saw off the last customer with a hoarse voice.

Jingle, jingle!

As soon as the customer left, I closed the door and flipped the sign hanging on the window from ‘Open’ to ‘Closed’.

And when I turned my head, what came into view was the miserable scene inside the flower shop.

People, looking like defeated soldiers who’d fled from the front lines, were sprawled all over the shop.

“It’s over.”

“We somehow sold everything.”

“Oh my, there’s nothing left to sell now.”

“There’s no more room in the basket for money either.”

Even Ludwin was lying on his side, panting heavily.

Though unspoken, there was only one word written on their faces.

Finished!

I felt sorry for everyone because it was all because of me that the crown prince and his wife came all the way here and put out such a ridiculous newspaper advertisement.

I gathered my last bit of strength and comforted everyone by serving a flower tea that was good for restoring energy.

“Is everyone okay? Thank you for your hard work.”

It was especially heartbreaking to see my mother, who’d never done anything difficult, turn into green onion kimchi. She smiled weakly as she took the teacup from me.

“Oh my, I’m glad I came. It was tough but fun.”

“Me too.”

Tibon raised his palm in agreement, and the two people smiled with haggard faces.

Next, I handed a teacup to Lena.

“Thanks, Lena. You even had to use your leave time.”

“It’s my job to help you, miss! I had fun too.”

Lena smiled brightly, but had dark circles under her eyes, just like mine in the morning.

This time, I placed cooled tea in a wide bowl in front of Ludwin.

“Lu, thank you for today. I’ll ask for a ton of meat to be grilled when we get home.”

Woo─!

Ludwin, exhausted, let out a short howl and licked the back of my hand. Then he collapsed again.

‘It seems like his eyes might’ve lost focus?’

Was it because he was doing something unfamiliar? He looked incredibly tired, not befitting the strongest person in the world.

We decided to come back early tomorrow to clean things up and just rest for now. Well, it might be more accurate to say that even if I tried to organize, there was nothing left to do.

Even the decorative items that were supposed to last for a month were sold out.

‘I guess I’ll have to restock everything from the beginning.’

Still, it felt pretty good to know that everything was sold out.

‘It seems like my leisurely life is out of reach for the time being. Haha.’

The event was limited to the opening day, so it wouldn’t be as crowded as today in the future, but it’ll still be much busier than I expected for the time being.

I smiled brightly at the thought that it was over for now and all that was left to do was rest today.

I clapped my hands to brighten the mood.

“Everyone worked hard. Well! Shall we call it a day?”

At my refreshing words, Jeffrey cried out from behind me.

“My Lady? What about me? Why don’t you give me tea or praise me?”

Perhaps because of the people around, Jeffrey called me ‘lady’ rather than ‘captain’. My family thought that Jeffrey was the recipient of a sponsorship project I’d done when I was young.

I joked as I waved my hand.

“Oh, but you’re my subordinate, aren’t you?”

“That’s too much!”

Everyone laughed at Jeffrey’s tearful look.

I also laughed out loud and held out the teacup I’d prepared for him.

“Of course it’s a joke. You also had a hard time today. I’ll give you a generous wage tomorrow.”

“I’m expensive. I’ll definitely collect a hefty fee.”

Everyone laughed again at his slightly sulky tone.

After laughing for a while, we started wrapping up the shop together with everyone.

“Do you think I can just turn off the lights?”

“Oh, you should lock the windows too.”

As I went to the window to close the open shutter, I noticed someone outside.

‘Who is that?’

In front of the building opposite, a suspicious man wearing a brown beret was staring intently at the store.

The man, dressed in a dark brown coat, was quite tall.

‘Could it be a robber?’

Unconsciously, I tightened my grip on the window handle.

At that time, the man in the hat must’ve spotted me and was startled, hurriedly disappearing behind a building.

‘What was that?’

I wondered if another flower shop owner had come to scout, but if that were the case, they would’ve come into the store to take a look instead.

Or come in and cause a scene.

I turned around, puzzled, and saw Ludwin right behind me, looking out the window.

“Oh, you startled me! Lu?”

However, Ludwin didn’t respond to my call and just stared out the window.

‘Huh? What is he looking at?’

The city, already covered in darkness, was almost deserted.

“Lu?”

When I called him again, wondering if he was okay, Ludwin finally seemed to come to his senses and looked up at me.

Ludwin looked at my puzzled face for a while and then lowered his head.

Whiiiine.

Then, lowering his ears and tail, he approached me and started whining pitifully. He looked dispirited.

“What’s wrong, Lu? Are you tired?”

Whine.

Hearing his sad whine, I bent down to meet his gaze.

“Are you hungry by any chance?”

Whine, whine.

That didn’t seem to be the case.

Ludwin continued to blink his big amber eyes and whine.

‘Why is he acting like this?’

Seeing a listless Ludwin with his tail and ears drooping, I felt uneasy.

After hesitating for a moment, I bent down to his eye level.

“It’s okay, nothing’s wrong.”

Ludwin hesitated, then raised his head and met my eyes.

Looking into his amber eyes, I gave a small smile.

This was something I often said to comfort him when he was a child, sullen because he couldn’t control his transformation.

‘Well, it’s a common saying, so he won’t catch on.’

Do you still remember what happened back then, or did you unconsciously feel my worry?

After staring at me for a while, Ludwin finally calmed down and regained his composure. He raised his tail and ears again and started circling around my waist, rubbing his head against me.

“Haha. Lu, that tickles.”

He was so intense that in other people’s eyes, it probably looked like Ludwin was going to eat me.

“Miss? Are you okay?”

Ludwin finally stopped when Lena, who’d finished cleaning up inside, approached, asking what was going on.

“I think Lu is tired. He keeps whining. Let’s go back quickly.”

As soon as I said that, I closed my mouth.

He’s whining.

‘Because he looks like a dog, I keep treating him like a dog. Haha…’

I felt cold sweat running down my back.

 

And the next day, as expected, the flower shop was featured in the newspaper.

 

[Tyria’s Flower Shop, a flower shop full of twists and turns.

For the opening day, they boldly offered an ‘Imperial Banquet Invitation’ as a prize, marking a unique first step for a flower shop.

Unlike the exterior, which resembles a peaceful country house, the interior is guarded by a reliable watchdog that even runs errands well, making it a strong yet gentle flower shop.

Friendly service, excellent taste, and beautiful bouquets have received rave reviews from customers.

In addition, many customers who visited only once expressed their intention to re-order and to use Tyria’s Flower Shop for large-scale events.

Tyria’s Flower Shop, which has made a solid first impression, is gaining attention for its future prospects.]

 

‘Large-scale events…’

Only after re-reading it about ten times did I admit that this was reality.

“Haha, I want to go back.”

Tears streamed down as I wondered if I could have a regression after reincarnating.

 

*****

 

Unfortunately, the flower shop had to close for two days afterward.

Even though I’d placed the order right away, it would take a day for the flowers and supplies to arrive.

Thanks to that, I was able to unintentionally take a break.

Suddenly, the curtains were drawn open, and the midday sunlight poured into the room.

“…So bright.”

“Good morning, miss! Did you sleep well, Lu?”

Woof!

I woke up feeling mentally refreshed for the first time in a while, listening to Lena cheerfully tying the curtains in my room and Ludwin’s cute response.

“Ugh.”

Contrary to that, my body felt like it was dying.

I squirmed on the bed and called out to Lena.

“Lena….”

“Yes?”

“My body doesn’t move.”

“Because you were running around all day yesterday.”

“But you’re fine.”

“Well, we have different stamina levels!”

I got out of bed feeling an inexplicable sense of defeat against the lively Lena.

Lena combed my bed head and chattered about yesterday.

“It was really amazing. I’ve never seen so many customers on an opening day. Do you know how much I bragged to the people at the mansion today? As expected of ‘Dilucia’s Golden Hand’!”

I was immediately awakened from sleep thanks to Lena’s comment.