Don't Come to Wendy's Flower House

“Is it right for us to keep hiding here? I am afraid they will belatedly suspect the hound’s abnormal barking here. ” Bishop, who was watching her actions closely, spoke.

“What do you think?” She asked back.

He paused for a moment and then said, “Even if we get out of the cave now, it will be difficult to outrun the hounds. They are hellbent on searching for us right now. As Pascal hasn’t recovered yet, I think it would be better for us to wait here and see the situation. Whether we go out or stay here, it’s a big risk anyway.”

Although it was Bishop who asked her first, it seemed that Sir Bishop didn’t want to leave the cave from the beginning. It looked as if he was seeking her consent.

“I think so. Let’s stay a little longer. ”

“… It looks like I’ve caused you some trouble. ”

Pascal, who quietly leaned against the back of the cave wall, heard the conversation of the two and opened his mouth. As there was no light inside the cave, it was difficult to look at his expression, but his voice was subdued.

She shook her head at Pascal’s response and said, “No, not at all. It would have been difficult for us to get out of the woods even if we had kept riding.”

“I think Pascal has come to his senses now as he can express his opinion. How fortunate!”

Bishop said jokingly.

Pascal leaned against the wall, changing his posture, and said, “I will pay back your help by all means.”

“Be prepared. I think we have lots of back orders at the flower shop,” she replied slyly.

“Absolutely,” Pascal replied, smiling a little, adding, “By the way. I’ve something I wanted to ask…” He slurred without finishing his words.

Watching out closely at the entrance of the cave, she turned her head towards him, as if she was puzzled.

“…What is this smell? Maybe you also smell it , too, right?”

Pascal exchaled, “Whew!” as if he found it difficult to breathe.

She grinned while looking at the traces of the crushed farting mushrooms seen through the thorns.

“It’s the smell that saved the three of us from the crisis.”

Like Pascal said, the stench of farting mushrooms was difficult to endure, but thanks to it, they were safe from the enemies’ chase for a while.

They felt time passed quickly because they were tense. The sun set quickly in the forest. They decided to leave as soon as the day broke. As Pascal’s physical condition was getting better, they had more hope.

She once again used the power of her index finger for the two knights. Small cherry tomato fruit grew inside the cave. When they ate the fruit, it became easier for them to endure the time in the cave.

However, none of them could sleep. There was no way to overcome the cold without fire as night fell in the forest, where the heat of the day was gone. She felt cold on the floor of the cave and crouched. Midnight starlight poured through the thorns at the entrance of the cave. While looking at the blue light, she thought of one man.

‘He will certainly worry about me. Yes, he will.’

Her distant memories of his serene gray eyes appeared and disappeared repeatedly.

He wouldn’t be able to easily sleep, looking at the starlight. However, she prayed that he would not feel guilty for her unexpected suffering.

Suddenly, she missed him. She felt she wanted to lean on him.She couldn’t figure out how she stuck it out today. Just like there was a crack in a strong dam, she began to feel weak-minded. She tried to shake off her longing for Lard to get tough-minded.

“I think dawn is breaking,” Bishop said, who was staring at the sky.

She got up and prepared to leave. As she was sitting on a cold hard floor for a long time, her whole body ached and felt stiff. Pascal, who was raising his body in one corner of the cave, made a low moan.

“Stay still, please don’t move.” At that moment, Bishop suddenly turned to the entrance.

While watching outside carefully, he moved back, startled. Soon there was heard the sound of several horses’ hooves in the forest, and a group of knights appeared in the forest near the cave.

There was also heard the sound of horses neighing. Some of them got off the horses and started searching around. Faced with a sudden crisis, she pricked her ears sharply and looked outside intently.

Were the chasers back? Did they notice their location?

At that moment, Bishop stuck out his upper body, trampling on the thorny grass that blocked the entrance to the cave with his thick boots. When she, surprised by his sudden actions, reached out to grab his shoulder, all the knights outside already noticed someone’s movement inside the cave.

The knights were wearing spears and swords. She saw them over Bishop’s shoulder who was stepping out the cave. And she found the man among them that she missed so much.

“…Sir Schroder.”

Lard quickly approached as if he noticed her voice even at a distance. She heard Bishop shouting something at the knights, but she couldn’t understand. She was so thrilled to get a glimpse of his face through the faint dawn.

“Wendy!”

Lard finally came to the cave and got off the horse. He quickly approached her.

“Look out! Thorns! ”

He braved through the thorns and opened the entrance of the cave, standing in front of her.

His face looked very haggard. After confirming she was safe, he saw Pascal inside the cave and looked back at her.

“Your hands…”

She was surprised to see him standing, still holding strong thorny stems in his hands.

He had some small scratches and bleeding on the back of his hands, but he didn’t care. He looked at her quietly, not moving even one step.

“…Please punish me,” he said with a heavy voice. He lowered his head like a sinner.

A breaking dawn left a trail of mottled light on his cheek. It looked like he was shedding tears.

“Sir… Please don’t do this…” She walked to him who was not moving.

She felt like crying, but held it back. She carefully removed the thorns on his hands holding the thorns and pulled him inside the cave. He followed gently.

His eyes were hollow. She could see how much he worried about her. She put her hands on his cheeks, wrapped his face, and shared a little of her warmth. His cheeks exposed to the morning dew were colder than her hands.

She hugged him tightly as she could not properly express her overwhelming emotions.

He hugged her as if he was bursting out suppressed feelings. Although her face was pushed hard against the patterns embroidered on his uniform, she enjoyed touching it without any complaint.

When the two who felt the thrill of the dramatic reunion pulled away their arms a little later, Pascal, standing awkwardly behind them, cleared his throat to let them know he was still there.

Wendy, who had forgotten him briefly, was startled and stepped back from Lard.

On the other hand, Lard focused on cutting off the thorns at the entrance with his sword without caring about him, just like a man who didn’t know shame.

With a courteous touch, he held her hand and stepped on the bottom of the thorny grass left on the floor, so she could walk comfortably in his steps.

Lard came out and glanced at the remnants of farting mushrooms with an unpleasant smell. She left the cave with him, chuckling at them.

The two got on Balos together. She stroked his mane once and looked around. The armor of the armed knights were inscribed with the crest of the Schroder family. They gave Bishop and Pascal horses and canisters. Pascal still seemed inconvenienced, but he got better enough to sit on the horse alone.

“Did you search the forest all night?” she asked, seeing lots of mud stuck to the horse’s hoofs

“Yes.”

After they were ordered to rescue Wendy and others, Schroder’s knights ambushed Duke Engre’s mansion and looked for them, but they had already left the place. After they found the duke’s soldiers roaming through the woods with the hounds, the knights were convinced that Wendy’s party had escaped from his grasp. Unfortunately, however, they could not easily find Wendy’s party.