Meriel ran a weapons shop on Erntz Street with her friend Luna. She and Luna, her longtime best friend and business partner, had something in common—they were both daughters of Viscounts.

Their parents had been close, so the two naturally became friends from a young age. Even now, after their families fell and they became commoners, they ran their business together, sharing both hardships and joys.

Two years ago, the business Luna’s father ran went bankrupt, and Meriel’s family was destroyed by debts from struggling to manage their estate.

Despite their hardships, both their parents maintained their friendship and took jobs as laborers in foreign countries to earn money. After Meriel and Luna came of age, they became independent and ran the weapons shop.

An acquaintance of Luna’s had been running a weapons shop and wanted to dispose of it, so they acquired it cheaply. The two paid half the acquisition cost each and made their living.

Since weapons were mainly sought by nobles and knights, most of their customers fell into those categories. That day, Meriel served customers with her usual half-drowsy appearance. 

She didn’t get proper sleep every day because she read *rotic novels as a hobby at all hours, not just before bed. So that day too, she was doing business with sleepy eyes.

As the person in front finished paying and was about to leave, Meriel’s eyes caught sight of a particularly tall man. The moment he opened the door and entered, Meriel’s eyes widened involuntarily. Her drowsy mind snapped awake, like someone had dumped cold water over her.

‘He’s really impressive.’

Even though armor covered his body and she couldn’t see his exact silhouette, the atmosphere he exuded was extraordinary. First of all, his massive physique stood out. The large, sturdy man looked around the shop to choose a weapon. Meriel’s gaze followed his movements.

Meriel silently exclaimed in admiration. Of course there had been handsome customers before, but this felt different from when she saw those people. Something about seeing him made her feel they were destined to meet—an illusion.

The male protagonist described in *rotic novels seemed to have jumped out of the pages. 

Meriel lost herself and fixed her gaze on him. Whenever their eyes were about to meet, she quickly looked away, only to glance at him again.

As she kept her eyes on him, she discovered something unusual. The man was holding a bouquet of flowers. Meriel became interested in the bouquet he held. That bouquet must be for his lover, obviously.

As that thought occurred to her, wrinkles gradually formed between her brows. Who was she to care about the private life of a knight who seemed taken, even wearing a sulky expression?

Meriel forced herself to compose her expression. That impressive, tall knight wasn’t someone a mere commoner like her should approach.

‘Get it together! Face reality!’

Meriel scolded herself, even clearing her throat to forcibly straighten out her mind. The bouquet in his hands was surely for the woman he loved. She felt somewhat disappointed, but Meriel suppressed her emotions several times after that. He wasn’t someone she could dare covet.

Running the weapons shop, she’d seen many knights and nobles with impressive physiques, but among them, this customer was unparalleled. Her ideal man had appeared right before her eyes in reality.

Perhaps because there were no men with sturdy builds in her family, Meriel had always admired men with massive physiques. If such a man protected her, if she nestled into his arms, happiness would naturally bloom.

Just then, a man with her ideal appearance had visited, so Meriel could only freeze in place and steal glances at him. 

Moreover, his uncommonly handsome appearance captured her gaze even more. Extremely imposing by default, with a great face too—she could hardly look away. Even holding the bouquet suited him wonderfully.

Eventually, the man approached Meriel, who stood at the transparent glass display case. Without looking at the weapons inside the glass case, he quietly held out swords.

“I’ll purchase these two swords.”

“……”

His voice is nice too.

A low bass, but not so deep that it sounded like being inside a cave—a moderate tone that was pleasant to hear. His somehow kind manner of speaking also attracted her.

Meriel took a discreet deep breath, forcibly calmed her heart, and rang up the purchase. As soon as the transaction finished, he immediately turned around and hurriedly left the shop. 

At that moment, one sword blade bumped against the other sword, lightly grazing the bouquet as it slid and fell, colliding with the floor. But he had already disappeared outside the door.

“Ah!”

Meriel nodded and scurried over to pick up the sword. Through the window, she could see a luxurious carriage parked outside. It seemed noisy outside, but she figured it was because the carriage was preparing to depart.

“There’s a private training session at the palace this evening, so if we stop by the estate, we’ll be late for training.”

“I suppose so.”

A sigh escaped his lips.

He boarded the carriage without knowing Meriel was watching from inside the shop. The carriage departed urgently, leaving the area.

“Flower Knight, wait!”

As soon as she heard the carriage departing, Meriel burst through the door and waved the sword high in her hand, but the carriage already looked like a tiny dot in the distance. 

She’d originally meant to call him “knight with the bouquet,” but in her rush, Meriel unknowingly called him “Flower Knight.” But no answer came back.

“What will you do if you leave this behind?”

If she at least knew his identity properly, she could send it through the post office, but Meriel didn’t even know his name. She rubbed her drooping shoulders with one hand and entered the shop listlessly.

He’ll definitely come looking for it later. This is a pretty expensive sword. Wait, does that mean she will see him again? 

Meriel suddenly became excited.

If he visits next time, she would definitely give him this sword—an obvious but firm resolution.

Some time later, the shop became quiet again. Meriel still thought about that man. Next time when she gave him the sword, should she take the opportunity to carefully ask if he had a lover?

‘No, what am I thinking!’

Even as she considered asking carefully, she wavered, telling herself it was something she shouldn’t do. 

For a mere commoner to ask him that would seem quite rude—she shouldn’t suddenly ruin the atmosphere by bringing it up.

* * *

The next day, Meriel habitually propped her chin crookedly and twitched her lips full of dissatisfaction. Occasional sighs were a bonus.

Unable to stand the continuous sighing, Luna approached her.

“Why do you keep sighing? It’s exhausting even to watch.”

Luna looked at Meriel with pitying eyes and crossed her arms. Meriel sighed once more regardless, then belatedly shared her feelings.

“That knight who was holding the bouquet yesterday. I can’t stop thinking about him. As you know, that knight forgot and left this sword behind.”

Meriel deliberately held out the sword for Luna to see.

“Ah, the Royal Knight Commander?”

“What?”

Meriel’s eyes widened in shock. The Royal Knight Commander? It was so unexpected that someone with that high of a status would visit the shop. 

She’d just thought he was a handsome, large knight belonging to some noble family, but at his higher-than-expected position, Meriel’s eyes rounded to their limit.

“Is he that famous?”

“Be a little more aware of the world. You’re always reading dirty books, so of course you don’t know what’s going on.”

Meriel stared blankly at the bantering Luna for a moment, then chuckled.

“I want to stop too, but it’s too addictive. It’s good to read when I’m bored, and above all, it’s good for relieving urges during ovulation, so I can’t easily put it down.”

At Meriel’s explanation, Luna replied that she didn’t know when Meriel would quit those books, so do as you please.

“You seem interested in that Knight Commander? Seeing you sigh—normally you don’t react much even when you see sturdy men.”

Perceptive Luna caught onto Meriel’s true feelings. Luna was faster with information about worldly affairs than Meriel, who only read books. In other words, she was an informant.

While Meriel focused on reading racy books and selling weapons, Luna built connections with knights from various families and learned various news through blacksmiths and nearby weapons dealers—she even knew secret scandals involving nobles and royalty. 

So she often heard rumors circulating among nobles or news about famous nobles much earlier than Meriel.

Luna glanced at Meriel for one second, gauging her reaction, then gradually revealed information she knew about the Royal Knight Commander.

“The Royal Knight Commander’s name is Hersion. But as far as I know, he doesn’t have a lover.”

“How do you know that?”

Meriel asked back, intrigued.

“He’s the Royal Knight Commander and quite renowned, so rumors about him spread among people regardless of status. Anyway, from what I’ve heard, the Knight Commander doesn’t have a lover right now. But he might in the future.”

Meriel believed her. Luna hated lying most of all. Except for the sweet talk she gave customers as sales tactics to sell weapons.

“Then who was he going to give that bouquet to? Was it for family?”

Questions spread through Meriel’s mind. It would be fortunate if the recipient of the bouquet was family, but without confirming directly with the knight, she could only guess.

Meriel propped her chin crookedly again and tapped the display case with her index finger.

“You’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?”

“You could say that.”

Luna giggled. She was truly so honest.

Until she fell asleep that night, Meriel imagined who Hersion was trying to give the bouquet to. 

As her mind grew restless, she picked up an *rotic novel again and read until 4 AM before finally falling asleep.