A few days have passed since the rescue of the "villainess", who was not an evil villainess at all. [Name] has been adjusting to her new life as the protagonist of the video game. But to be honest, this world is nothing like the game. The only mentioned character she had met is Rubelle, whom she never heard ever since she saved her. And she heard about the prince, but her path hasn't crossed with his yet. Sometimes a thought crossed her mind - what about the real world? Her world. Is Lucy alright? How does time flow in there? What about her competition?
Nonetheless nevertheless it was a nice break from all the stress that came along with her responsibilities. It's true that she had missed Lucy, but at least she has a new friend now. Maybe it would be good to lay low and be a nice flower shop owner for now. During the days in the new world it occurred to her that it is pretty relaxing to water your plants and only go selling them in the village plaza. She saw the results of her hard work very quickly. Not like when she is studying a hard school that she does not even know what to do after she graduates.
Currently now, she was smiling at her customer, a male about in his forties, who wanted to buy a bouquet for his wife, because they have an anniversary of twenty years today.
"Mister may I give you a recommendation?" Elise was clearly a natural in her job. In a just a few days, she went from half of her flowers unsold to all of them being gone at the end of the day. The middle aged man nodded as he was still thinking about which bouquet would be great for his wife.
"If you are looking for something that will show your loyalty and your love for your beautiful wife, I think purple and red tulip bouquet would be adequate. Purple tulips symbolize loyalty and red tulips symbolizes love. Not many people know it, so it will surely be an original and lovely gift." The customers expression had changed from thinking to a joyful one. He was more than satisfied with the service. As he was counting the coins to give Elise the right amount, he smiled.
"Thank you so much miss, my wife will be delighted!"
And that's how dozens of customers came to see her, sometimes they were young boys who wanted to give their mother a beautiful flower, sometimes grown men who wanted to give their lover a proper bouquet, but sometimes they were also girls who wished they were the ones who get the blossom, so they bought it for themselves.
Her flower stall was so popular that she had to close at two o'clock in the afternoon because all the flowers were sold out.
When she had finished cleaning the booth and taking her earned money to the safety of her home, she decided to surprise her hard-working friend at the inn. Although she went down the steep stairs for the fourth time today, she couldn't wait to see Juliet. Her leather boots fit her well as she walked down the cobbled path to the inn. On the way there she met some people she didn't know, but they knew her. For some reason it did not feel weird at all. So she always waved and smiled at them.
The door to the inn was heavy and large, but it could be opened. They were made of ebony wood, donated to the inn by a very rich nobleman from far away who was a very popular customer. Elise has learned this from Juliet who loved to share the stories from the inn. The open windows of the building carried the noise of people laughing and the sound of clinking glasses from inside. It sure was lively.
People, mostly men, who have nothing to do because they had already done their work in the fields early this morning, were still having lunch and talking loudly. Around noon to three in the afternoon was one of the busiest times in the inn. But, of course, it was the busiest in the evening and at night, when wandering adventurers go to sleep in inns and regular drunkards come for their usual drink.
The brunette opened the door and couldn't help but notice how the inn was full. It did not really scare her, but she was worried that her friend might not have time for a small talk.
Elise went to the bar and sat down on a chair. She looked at the bartender, whose big belly looked like he was making a lot of money and liked to eat. His wife had just carried a roast goose from the kitchen to a dinner table full of farmers. The girl was too nervous to ask the bartender where Juliet actually was. But surprisingly, the bartender, who is also the owner of this inn by the way, recognized her immediately.
"Hello lovely miss flowerist. Are you looking for Juley?" He said it in a way that made it sound like they knew each other. Elise was a little taken aback about the way he said Juliet's name. However, the gentleman looked nice and his pink cheeks, which he had from drinking beer every night with his customers, were smiling happily. His wife walked by and gave a friendly grin to Elise, but didn't speak to her because it looked like she was too busy. And who is surprised by her? After all, she works in a single inn far and wide.
"Yes, I am looking for my friend Juliet." Elise explained and all of the stress fell off her. The innkeeper replied:
"Juley's at the well takin' some water. She'll come back later, maybe in half an hour." The brunette frowned and was about to go away, thinking it's not the right time to visit her friend.
"It's alright miss, you can just sit there and wait, there's no hurry. Juley will come in a while. I can offer you a free drink if you want."
Elise stopped. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to sit and watch laughing people, at least she would know, what kind of characters there are. But she did not feel like drinking.
"I appreciate your offer sir, but I don't want to drink. I'll just sit here if you don't mind." The bartender just nodded and continued to clean the glass.
"If you need anythin', just tell me." He looked at her one more time, but she was already too focused on the farmers.
One of the farmers was saying something loudly while wearing a big smile on his face. Maybe he was talking about his successful harvest? Who knows about what else could a farmer be talking about. His colleagues listened to him with interest. Elise wanted to hear it too. What could be so interesting? But she was a curious cat, so her curiosity won. She turned her ears carefully and tried to listen to the farmer's story.
"And so my son was accepted as a royal palace employee! Can you believe it? My boy had finally given up on being an adventurer and got a stable job!" The farmer with a straw hat proclaimed proudly.
"What job does he do? I don't think I caught that." One of his companions asked suspiciously. But the storyteller didn't mind, he continued proudly talking about his son.
"John, do you remember when he was a kiddo and loved animals? He always brought something random insect or a rabbit to our house. Well, it has finally payed off! He works at the stables, where he takes care of horses!"
Surprised "Oooh" rang out in the circle of the farmers. Some of them were happy for their colleague and some of them seemed jealous.
'Wait a stable boy? Wasn't there a character like that?' A thought crossed Elise's mind. Wasn't there a male lead like that? She was not sure, because it has been a few days in the new world and some of her real world memories are starting to get bit blurry, which is scary.
The father proud of his child truly loved talking about him. "Yeah, he is always working, so he isn't home much. But luckily he could take some days off and right now is in the village!" Another voice chimed in: "Is he? I would love to see him! I haven't seen him in ages. I wonder if he's still a goofy kid." It was the innkeeper's wife, who was serving the farmers some beer. Elise was wondering how could she hold so many glasses of beer at once - is she a superwoman?
"I don't think I am a goofy kid anymore." The heavy ebony door have opened and when the brunette saw the person who said that line, her heart started to race. That must be- "Archie! My son! I'm so glad to see you!" The farmer got up to greet his son. The young man's ginger hair perfectly suited his blue eyes and the gorgeous smile his freckled face had on. And his tall stature was not making it easier for Elise's heart to calm down. She felt herself bitting her lip, because he was really attractive.
'God damn'
He's one of the love interests!
"Dad! So you were here the whole time bragging about me getting a job? Proud as always I see." Archie's charming chuckle made the girl almost want to faint. The boys she saw in her world always looked like a rotten piece of cheese and they have probably never showered. It was a huge challenge for her to see such an alluring man.
Archie sat beside his father and was bombarded with questions from other farmers, but it was not a problem for him, he was a good speaker. Elise did not even notice that she was drolling from her mouth and staring at him, before they made an eye contact. The brunette thought her heart has stopped beating. He even smiled!
"Elise? Earth to Elise!" a familiar voice called Elise out of her trance. She shook her head when she realized that she was simping for a man. A MAN. A man her age. Elise was wondering if he has good manners. Something males her age never had. Or that she has never met one. Then she got smacked with a strand of blonde platinum hair.
"Godness Elise! Are you hypnotized or something?" Her friend was back from her task. Elise mentally slaped herself. "Juliet! You're finally here!" The brunette was relieved to see the person she actually came here for. But Juliet was trying to hold her laugh. A tear fell of her eye and she snickered. "What?!" Elise hissed. What is so funny for Juliet?!
The blonde moved closer to her friend and whispered: "Archie? Seriously?" The listening girl did not understand. "What about him?" Elise whispered back. Juliet laughed as if she heard a very funny joke. "Girl that boy is a total player, everytime he comes back to the village in every five months he's with a different woman. You had actually never met him, because you were always too busy with your garden to socialize at the village gatherings when he came back." A sad feeling suddenly fell into Elise's stomach. She hoped he was different. But maybe she should not judge him only from the words her friend said? No. Friends are always right. Aren't they?
Elise's vision had blurred as she started to see somehow familiar picture in her head even though it did not belong to her.
"No way, I am not going there, I'm scared!" A little brown-haired girl yelped. She clutched her small hands and started to shiver. "Come on! It's not that deep!" A young boy's voice comforted the little girl who looked at him scared. His ginger hair was blowing in the wind and his kind sky blue eyes looked so sincere. "You can trust me, Elie."
"I don't think he's a scumbag..." [Name] muttered so quietly, that it was not caught by Juliet, who was now having a very interesting conversation with the bartender. It seemed like they were gossiping about someone and were really into it.
'Is it the original Elise's memories? And is that young Archie?' [Name]'s thoughts were racing. Does the original Elise have some past with him? It's not impossible, it's just that [Name] did not see it in the game.
Suddenly, the girl felt a hand on her shoulder.
„Hello cutie, who could you be? I don't think I've saw you before.” Elise could smell the scent of fresh hay beside her and her heartbeat had rapidly increased when she met his cerulean orbs.
Why did Archie just sit next to her?