It was all speculation, of course. No neighbor had the nerve to ask him outright. If he really did have connections to the criminal underworld as a black-market arms dealer, the consequences of falling out of his favor were obvious. The neighbors were all unfailingly kind to Malcolm, treated him with careful deference, and had to grovel even at his most unreasonable demands.

“Where are you taking that son of a b*tch? Finally dragging it to the slaughterhouse?”

“Hello, Mr. Dylan.”

Daisy ignored his crude remark, offered a single greeting, and turned away coldly.

“Come on, Ruik.”

“Hey, I asked where you’re going. Why are you ignoring me?”

Malcolm moved quickly to cut in front of Daisy and reached for her arm, but Ruik blocked him. Ruik bared its white fangs and let out a low growl.

“Grrrrrr.”

Malcolm flinched at the large animal showing its hostility, then immediately shouted as though to excuse his own fear.

“This d*mn dog, seriously. The h*ll!”

He raised his arm as though to strike Ruik, but that arm never came anywhere near Ruik’s head.

Daisy felt a mix of contempt and disgust toward Malcolm, along with worry that Ruik might attack him and draw unwanted attention, and she focused on calming Ruik first.

“Ruik, it’s okay. Let’s go.”

“What do you mean okay? Who does this animal think it is, growling at a person like that? I’ll just go ahead and…”

“Mr. Dylan.”

Daisy stopped and turned back to look at Malcolm, meeting his eyes directly.

“Our Ruik tends to growl when strangers get too close because it gets frightened. I’m sorry about that. Going forward, I’ll make sure to keep a proper distance from Mr. Dylan so this doesn’t happen again.”

“What? Hey, Daisy. Are you telling this Malcolm to stay away because of some dog?”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn’t say I was asking Mr. Dylan to keep his distance. I meant that Ruik and I would keep our distance on our end. And it’s not ‘some dog.’ It’s Ruik. My family.”

She wanted nothing more than to smack that mouth of his for throwing around that word with every other sentence, but Daisy held herself back, soothed Ruik, and headed home.

Malcolm watched her go with a sour look on his face, and the group loitering behind him jeered at him.

“Hey, Malcolm. She shot you down.”

“Shut your mouth.”

Malcolm snapped back roughly, but his eyes stayed fixed on the flower shop door Daisy had walked through.

‘Looks all sweet and gentle, but she’s got a temper too, huh?’

To him, Daisy next door was like an apple he could pluck off the branch whenever he reached out. He had never thought to ask Daisy how she felt about that.

Compared to the flashy women with voluptuous figures he had always spent his time with, Daisy was plain. Her fair, simple face still looked almost girlish, and her small frame and slender figure clearly had little to offer in that regard.

But her white, flawlessly smooth skin, her long and full chestnut hair, and the way her eyes curved into pretty crescents when she smiled, though to be precise she had never smiled at Malcolm specifically, along with her lovely cheeks and chin, her calm way of speaking and her voice, none of it was flashy enough to grow tired of, and it stirred a quiet, persistent desire to possess her.

The absurd notion that he could go out and enjoy himself with all manner of women in the streets, yet the one he brought home should be a quiet and well-mannered woman like Daisy, only pushed Malcolm further along.

‘I need to get married first. If I marry her and see other women on the side, there’s nothing to lose.’

It never occurred to Malcolm that this was a repulsive way of thinking that centered no one but himself. He simply felt that the time had come to reach out and pluck the apple. The thought that Daisy was a person and not a piece of fruit had never crossed his mind.

*   *   *

The next day, Daisy finished arranging the flowers from her orders as she always did and glanced around the room. It was a habit she had developed because Ruik would always appear around this time and carry the orders away in its mouth.

But Ruik did not seem to be in the house.

“Ruik?”

Normally, calling its name would bring the light sound of paws trotting over right away, but the silence told her it had gone out somewhere.

‘Must have gone for a swim.’

Every time Ruik was away, she worried about whether someone might cross its path and get frightened, but the people in this neighborhood all knew by now that Ruik was a harmless dog. Daisy loaded the flowers and potted plants with urgent deliveries into her delivery cart and headed out.

On her way back from the deliveries, Daisy stopped by the smithy.

“Hello, Mrs. Smith.”

“Oh, welcome. I was just wondering when you’d come by.”

The smithy owner, Mina Smith, greeted Daisy and immediately headed deeper into the smithy, then came back out shortly with a bundle in her hands. It was the metalwork Daisy had brought in for repair.

“The scissors, the sickle, and the hoe are all sharpened up like new. Be careful with them.”

“Thank you. And also…”

“You mean the other thing you asked for? I put it in there. Check and see if it came out to your liking.”

Daisy set the bundle down on the table and untied the cord.

Beside the keenly sharpened tools sat a small leather pouch. Daisy untied the cord on the leather pouch as well and carefully tipped its contents into her palm.

What appeared in her palm was a cool, gleaming silver chain. It was long enough to serve as a belt around her waist, and a small, round metal tag hung from the center.

The name “Ruik” was neatly engraved on the tag. On the back, Daisy’s home address and name were engraved in tiny lettering.

It was a collar Daisy had specially commissioned from the smithy for Ruik.

“What do you think? I made it to your specifications, but do you like it?”

“Of course. It looks beautiful and sturdy. Though it seems a little heavy, maybe because of the good metal you used.”

“It might be heavy for you, but it won’t be for that big baby of yours.”

Mina let out a short laugh.

“You’re going to attach the leash to it for walks, right? You hook it onto the ring at the back. I made the clasp good and strong so it won’t come loose or snap.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it, this is my job. If it breaks, bring it back. I’ll fix it for free.”

“Really? Thank you.”

Daisy paid for the items and left the smithy. She loaded all the other tools from the smithy into the cart, held Ruik’s new collar in her right hand, and turned it over and over as she walked back, smiling to herself the whole way.

‘I hope Ruik likes it. It should be home by now…’

“Hey, Daisy!”

At that moment, a rough hand grabbed her right wrist and yanked it hard. The collar she had been holding loosely fell to the ground.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Daisy flared up and tried to pull her hand free, but the other person’s grip was too strong.

She had no choice but to quickly pick up the collar with her left hand, which had been holding the cart handle, before finally looking up at who had grabbed her. It was Malcolm. Wearing a greasier smile than usual.

“Let go of me! Let go of this!”

“Okay, okay, okay. How could I not listen to our Daisy?”

Malcolm spoke in an exaggerated tone, the kind one might use on a child throwing a tantrum, and released Daisy’s wrist.

But when Daisy, now in a foul mood, immediately tried to pull the cart away, he moved quickly to block her path.

“No, no. Today is a special day.”

“What are you talking about?”

Even as she said it, Daisy sensed something was off and let her eyes drift around to take in her surroundings.

It was a weekday street, so it was natural for passersby to glance over, but beyond that, she noticed a group of people who had stopped and stood with their arms crossed, nudging each other and smirking as they watched.

They were the kind of people who, like Malcolm, gave off the unmistakable air of living a less than wholesome life. One look told her they were Malcolm’s crew.

Daisy felt a knot of unease and stepped back.

“Please move. I left the shop unattended and I need to get back quickly.”

“Just a moment, okay? It’ll only take a moment, so hear me out.”

“Another time.”

When Daisy refused, Malcolm’s expression hardened for just a moment.

But he quickly put his slick, oily smile back on.

“Alright, fine. Then I’m going to ask you one thing, and you have to answer with a ‘yes.’ Understood?”

“What do you…”

At that moment, Malcolm dropped to one knee in front of Daisy with a dramatic flourish. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a small case, and flipped it open with both hands for Daisy to see.

Inside sat a small diamond ring set in the latest style.

“Marry me, Daisy.”

“……”

Daisy froze and said nothing.

Whenever she had heard about someone receiving a public proposal, she had only thought something like, ‘That poor woman, the man has no sense.’ But now that it was happening to her, the words simply wouldn’t come.

What Daisy felt in that moment was the weight of all the eyes on her. Passersby stared with the look of people watching something unusual, while Malcolm’s crew watched with the look of people enjoying a good show.