Don't Come to Wendy's Flower House

“…”

Wendy looked up at him blankly, who was standing before her. She screwed her eyes shut as if they were sore.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I was just coming out of my house when I saw you, so I just stopped by to say hi.”

He held her innocent fingers, keeping her from rubbing her eyes, and said his visit was not intentional. When she once again moved her hand to rub her eyes, he frowned.

“My eyes are a little sore,” she said with a hoarse voice.

He looked at her with a suspicion, “Let me take a look. It looks like you’ve got something in your eye.”

He put his hand near her eyes and looked closely into her eyes, but she quickly turned her head.

“Are you okay?” He asked in a way that he could not embarrass her.

He was still holding her hands. Wendy turned back and looked at his face. He saw tears welling in her eyes. He felt uneasy when he noticed them.

“…I’m okay.”

Contrary to what she said, she burst into tears suddenly. She now began to cry sadly.

Tears fell from her yellow lashes. He paled and hugged her tightly, at a loss about what to do.

She forced back her sobbing on and off, but continued to cry. Her small body, swaying like a wave, was wrapped in his arms. As this was the first time he saw her crying, he lost his usual composure and his face morphed into an expression he couldn’t control. Her crying rang in his ears and broke his heart. He felt like a usually calm river had overflowed and devoured his whole body. He could hardly breathe.

“Don’t cry.”

As if he forgot how to control himself, he soothed her, his voice thick with emotion. She cried louder now. He felt like he made her cry more instead of comforting her. He had to beg her not to cry, while calming his troubled mind.

The warm air of the early summer gently blew over Wendy’s forehead. The early summer sunlight shined onto her white skin exposed by her rolled-up sleeves.

She was busy tilling the front yard with a small seedling shovel. A little later she straightened her back and stood up. She beat the dust off her body and looked around the fence around the front yard.

One, two, three, four… After pointing at and counting the earthen floors carefully, dug along the low fence, she went into the house.

When she opened the sliding door, she saw the garden in the middle of her house.

On one side of the garden were the pots she prepared beforehand. As usual, she put up a shade to cover the open sky and locked the door carefully. Then she touched her index finger to a pile of soft soil. She repeated the action several times.

A little later, thin and strong brown bark began to grow fast and sprout buds. Sky-blue hydrangea blossoms came out through the large, wide serrated leaves flourishing from the trunks of trees. She smiled in satisfaction at the hydrangea that blossomed so quickly.

In a cheerful mood, she began to carry the hydrangea flower pots to the front yard.

It would be much easier work if she touched her index finger directly on the front yard, but she couldn’t because she feared others might catch her.

“Hey, sis! How are you, sister Wendy!”

Someone called and stopped her while she was in the thick of carrying hydrangea.

It was her neighbor, Benfork. He ran onto her front yard, wrinkling his nose.

“Sister Wendy, long time no see!” He greeted her playfully.

“Why are you calling my name formally?”

“Oh, don’t you think I have to call you politely?”

“I don’t feel good when you call me that.”

“Huh? You don’t like it?”

“Nope. Just call me casually as you used to.”

Benfork scratched the back of his head with regret. She overheard him murmuring that it was a popular term among his peers.

“Are you good at practicing swordsmanship?”

“Sure! Look at me!”

He proudly showed the wooden sword on his side, with a strange shout, “Uratsha!”

The way he was carrying that wooden sword, not a real sword, he looked childish, but he still seemed in a very good mood.

“Sister, you scorned me deep down, right? Look at that! I’ve seen your eyes flinching! Phew, women usually judge people only by their appearance. Sarah, that girl keeps telling me that Jake, the tall guy, looks handsome and cool. How can I tell her how he pees in the restroom? Damn it! I really can’t tell her that just being tall isn’t the measure of a man.”

He gently shook his head, sweeping his long hair gently. She agonized briefly about whether to put a fart mushroom in his mouth.

“Well, that’s not important anyway. What matters is that I’m carrying a wooden sword as part of my training. My master told me that I should alway carry a sword. I have to practice how to carry a sword like this. This is very important,” he said with a very mature look.

“Are you giving lip service to your master now? No kidding.”

“Lip service? How can I give lip service to my master who I respect with all my heart? I’m an apprentice knight who doesn’t know a lie! That famous imperial knight captain, Lard Schroder, is my master. You know that, right?”

Excited, he began to praise Lard greatly, who was an idol in his heart. She moved diligently while letting his words in one ear and out the other.

“Huh? Sister, I’m not home on weekends, so have a good time. I think I should go down to Jopiern this week to help my father with his work. ”

‘What the heck is he talking about?’

She stared at him, sneering at him. To her, it would have been nicer to hear the noise of the ten flies flying around on the rotted manure.

“Benfork, what are you talking about?”

He winked at her mischievously, “Oh my… you are so dumb, sis.”

Even if he tried to clarify, he would certainly argue with her. So, she handed a hydrangea to him, pulling a face.

“Hey, put it in front of the fence over there, and move everything at the front door to the same place.”

“Oops! Why do I have to do chores like this?”

“Did not your master tell you that you should help your neighbor in need? This sister desperately needs your help.”

While grumbling, Benfork carried the hydrangeas.

“…Oh, really. Just go to Jopiren this weekend and help your father, okay?”

She seemed satisfied with him using his hands nimbly. She sat down nearby, keeping an eye on him doing as told.

A hydrangea was erected at a suitable height in a pit and covered with soil to allow roots to settle down well. After working for a while, she handed him a watering can and told him to bring some water.

After stopping for a moment, she took off her dirty gloves and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Seeing the hydrangeas planted near the fence, the whole yard looked more bright and cozy. She smiled before she knew because the bright blue petals were so beautiful.

“Wow! Master! ”

Benfork shouted with joy as he returned with the filled water can after seeing Lard Schroder walking from a distance. Giving him a nod, Lard came to her.

She greeted him by bowing lightly.

“Hi, Sir Schroder. Are you coming back from the Imperial Palace? ”

“Yes.”

Wearing a summer uniform made of light cloth, he smiled lighty at her. As she was not yet accustomed to his smiling, she turned her head.

“Are you planting flowers?”

“Yes, they look gorgeous, right?” She said, glancing at the bunch of light blue flowers.

Looking at the light blue hydrangea surrounding the front yard, he reluctantly smiled.

“There are many customers looking for blue hydrangeas in flower shops these days.

I wonder if it’s because the color of the flower is unusual,” she said.

Watering the flowers profusely, she talked about the blue hydrangeas, the best seller of her shop. As if she really liked the attractive flowers, she kept talking about the flowers, even though he didn’t ask her, without knowing he was staring at a bunch of flowers with an unsatisfied expression.

“It’s a little cumbersome because I have to water them a lot, but I have to take it if I want to see these bright flowers.”

‘Why do you think they’re beautiful? I have no idea.’ Looking at the dark blue petals, he stroked his chin.

“…Have you ever heard of an anecdote about the defeat of Emperor Nicholas Benyahan, the first emperor of the empire, who went to the battle in Dahambark?

She curiously shook her head when he brought up the anecdote about the emperor’s defeat.

“The only battle he lost after achieving a series of victories was the Battle of Dahambark. At the time he was wearing the light blue armor that Duke Gettymann gave him. It was made by specially processing the minerals produced in the Gettymann mines, but the light and hard armor did not stop the enemy sword from piercing into his body. He was injured for the first time and lost in battle. Since then, sky blue has been considered an ominous color in the battlefield. ”

“…Really?”