Chapter 6: Chapter 6 Don’t come to the museum on a spring day(1)
For the last few days, he tried to win her heart, saying that her blonde hair was so lovely and that he had never seen a more beautiful lady than her. On such occasions, she opened the door of her shop in person with a cold smile disguised as kindness. It was her way of kicking him out.
Cling!
After seeing off the young man, she put the flower he received back into a vase full of freesia. How could he give a flower to a flower shop girl as a gift? She felt he was stupid.
“What shall I have for dinner?”
She picked up the mug again while humming.
Anyway, it was a peaceful day for her.
***
Wendy, neatly dressed in a green dress with dark green embroidery, stood in front of the mirror and finally checked her dress. The inflated hem of her dress showed that she was going out in a few moments.
Knock, knock!
“Are you Miss Wendy? This is Horseman Jake. ”
Not surprisingly, she heard a horseman’s voice knocking on the door of her house.
The wagon she had specially requested for her outing today arrived.
Wendy left home with light footsteps, wearing a thick shawl in the same color as the dress.
Due to the narrow alley, the carriage could not reach the inside of the alley, so it was parked quite far from her house. It was a small carriage led by two small horses.
“Can I take you to Rajabude Museum as you said?”
“Yes, please.”
The horseman opened the carriage door for her and reaffirmed her destination. Rajabude Museum was an imperial museum where only noblemen could visit. However, as Princess Marion, the dear daughter of the imperial court, gave birth to the first baby three years after her marriage, the museum was opened to commoners for one week.
Princess Marion, who worked hard to stabilize the lives of the common people before her marriage, recently began to manage the museum in earnest. She tried in many ways to open the museum, considered as the exclusive possession of the aristocracy, to the common people,
but she found it was not easy because of the old-fashioned mindset of the noblemen.
Learning of her dedicated efforts for commoners, the emperor opened the museum for a short time to celebrate the birth of the baby princess.
Aside from the complex situation, it was not Wendy’s main concern to tour the museum, but one item on display at the moment caught her eye.
‘Bahazman’
It was the fruit of a small tree, also called the fruit of heaven or the fruit of life. Bahazman had been the object of greed for a long time because it had a therapeutic effect that resurrected those faced with impending death. But it was almost impossible to get a Bahazman tree.
It was partly because of the tree’s unique habits that left little seeds, and partly because it was extremely difficult to obtain a seed even after it was planted and well taken care of for many years. Even if someone succeeded in getting the seed, it quickly decayed even before taking root.
As a result, it was natural that it was difficult to see Bahazman trees not only here in the Benyahan Empire, but also on any other continent.
“Lady Wendy, you have reached your destination.”
She stepped out of the wagon and walked straight into Rajabude Museum. The museum was quieter than she expected because it was opened to commoners only a few days ago.
Of course, one of the exhibition halls called “Golden Hall” was an exception.
Filled with the historical treasures of the imperial family, which were decorated with gold and jewels, it was swarming with visitors coming and going from its entrance. Looking inside of the gallery, she frowned a lot because there were so many imperial knights who seemed to have been specially dispatched due to the rapid increase in visitors.
‘Why the heck are they making such a fuss? Has anybody stolen?’
She clicked her tongue. She quickly walked toward the staircase leading to the botanical garden where Bahazman trees were on display. Seeing the imperial knights, she felt badly because she recalled what Dylan had told her.
“Olivia, I will definitely join the Imperial Knights. It’s my dream to be the Lotteo of the 1st Knights.”
She picked her ear roughly with an unpleasant look because Dylan’s voice passed through her ears.
Two years had passed since she left the earl’s house. But she was still repulsed by anything associated with Dylan.
She was not sure if that bastard could join the Imperial Knights, but it would never be easy to be admitted to the 1st Knights, the highest of them. Besides, he was dreaming of being Lotteo! Lotteo’s place, referring to the best swordsman of the Knights, was not given to anyone.
Even if Dylan boasted of a genius swordsmanship, it would be difficult for him to attain the title before he turned 40.
Suddenly, she had an ominous concern about whether she might bump into Dylan among the imperial knights guarding this place. Was she a bit complacent? Despite her denial, the possibility of her seeing him was still there.
When she thought as far as that, she quickened her steps on the stairways. She wanted to take a quick look at the tree and go back home.
When she left the count and looked for a house, she had many concerns. At first she thought of a small provincial town. If she lived in a place farthest from the earl’s estate, Velta, she could live comfortably without ever encountering them. But people living in small local towns were very cold to outsiders. Security was vulnerable in other places, which was not good for her because she had to make a living alone.
After agonizing about it for a while, she decided to settle down in the capital of the empire.
She was bothered not only by Dylan, who wanted to be an imperial knight, but also his mother who rushed to the imperial ball. But she guessed that as the capital was vast, she wouldn’t bump into either of them.
So, she thought she would rather find a house in a place remote from the imperial palace in the densely populated capital of the Benyahan Empire. In particular, she could settle successfully by purchasing a house and opening a flower shop in the commoners’ residential area where the aristocrats rarely visited.
“Well, Altarin asked me to convey it to the chief knight. So, if you want to return it to her, please do it yourself. I’m in a difficult position, sandwiched between you and her.”
“Sir Jean Jacques Simuan, it is you who conveyed it to me, which I didn’t ask you, so you are more responsible than me.”
“Oh, please don’t take it personally! As soon as you saw her, you left immediately, right? How can I pretend not to know her when she was heartbroken and asked me to convey this handkerchief to you in her stead? Would you take it, please?”
“No way! Don’t make a fuss here.”
At the sudden noise of the knights quarreling, Wendy raised her head and checked out the source of the sound. Two men dressed neatly in the royal imperial knights suit were seen descending the stairs.
The man with black hair, who silenced his opponent with a merciless tone, turned his attention from the man with golden hair who seemed to be his subordinate. The blonde man with a slim figure was restless, holding a handkerchief that seemed to have been handed to him by a woman.
Wendy again frowned and scrutinized the knights. Her gaze immediately turned to a man with an expressionless face.
The man with a nice golden strap on his shoulders was a handsome man with deep-shadowed eyes. As he was dressed in that impressive knight’s suit, it was natural that he could captivate young girls. Wendy evaluated the knight coldly.
At that moment, the black-haired knight turned his eyes and looked at Wendy. At one point their eyes met, but Wendy looked down casually.
Looking at her passing by him and walking up the stairs, he fixed his eyes on Wendy with a mysterious look. He watched her attractive blonde hair fluttering gently around her shoulders as she walked up the stairs.
“Captain, are you turning your eyes at another woman now instead of caring about this handkerchief from Altarin, Earl Scholters’s daughter?”
Even before he took his eyes off her blue dress, Jean Jacques complained with a sullen voice.
He stood still, turning his head away from him as if he never paid attention to his complaint.
“Well, she is pretty. Was that kind of girl your type? That’s why you don’t want to meet Altarin?”
“…Isn’t her glance too sharp for a girl? ” He said, recalling her hostile glance.
He felt a sense of hostility when his eyes met hers.
“Or do you like that dark golden hair of hers? I think I have to know your preferences before I try to dissuade the women trying to win your heart.”
Asking that, Jean glanced up the stairs as if to chase her.