Dyna finished the custom Valentine's chocolate order a full day in advance and stored it in the refrigerator. The faint frosting that formed under the cold temperature was the finishing touch that truly brought the piece to life.
Aside from that custom order, she had made eighteen boxes of chocolate in total over the past few days, just waiting for the fated customers who would buy them once the shop opened on Valentine's Day. Naturally, they were priced higher than the ordinary goods—but for people in love, that little extra money spent on sweets was hardly worth mentioning.
What had been a little concerning lately was the strange air of lockdown around the area surrounding Tracen. It made Dyna think of some rather alarming rumors.
According to one of them, Chairman Akikawa supposedly had a special airborne unit under her direct command that could be deployed to Tracen Academy at any time. Just imagining it was terrifying. Dyna sincerely hoped it was only a rumor.
After wiping the water from her hands, Dyna, on a sudden whim, once again took over cashier duty herself that day. It felt a bit like reliving the earliest days of running the shop.
Ding—
The bell above the door rang.
A chestnut-haired horse girl in a yellow uniform greeted her with her usual cheerfulness.
"Morning, boss lady! I'm a bit early today. I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"Of course not. Those boxes over there are the packed goods! You really work hard coming by to pick them up every day," Dyna said.
She had grown familiar with this horse girl after the online sales side of the business took off. She was the one-to-one pickup courier specially assigned by the logistics company, and after enough repeated visits, the two had naturally become quite close.
"It's part of the job. Not troublesome at all! Then I'll be off!"
The chestnut horse girl deftly moved several boxes of bread outside, slung some onto her back, cradled two more in her arms, tossed everything into the truck, hopped into the driver's seat, fastened her seat belt, hit the gas—and vanished in an instant.
"Hm-hm-hmm~"
Dyna softly hummed along to the song playing from her phone, checking the ovens one by one as she listened.
"Beyond the edge of the universe, hope is carried onward… a light that guides the way through the darkness…"
When the bell rang again, Dyna put her phone down and looked up, about to greet the next customer—
Then that unmistakable flash of orange nearly stopped her throat cold.
"Welco—"
Orfevre stood in the doorway, dressed in private clothes with a faint shimmer to them, as though she herself still wasn't certain whether she wanted to come inside.
What was she doing here?
A wave of unease surged up in Dyna's chest.
No matter how she looked at it, Orfevre had to be here to pick a fight.
Her mind was still full of the savage image Orfevre had left behind in the past, and Dyna instinctively stepped backward to avoid her—only to bump straight into Oguri Cap and Gold Ship behind her.
She looked up and realized neither of them was watching her. Both were staring fixedly at Orfevre instead.
That gave Dyna a little peace of mind.
In the end, Orfevre did step into the little shop.
Without sparing the displays so much as a glance, she went straight to the counter and stood there, staring at Dyna.
"May I… help you with something, Miss Orfevre?" Dyna asked.
Cornered into facing her directly, Dyna's instinct for appeasement took over. Everything Trophée had taught her flew right out of her head, and she forced a customer-service smile onto her face.
Orfevre seemed surprised that Dyna could still maintain even that surface-level calm.
Her expression changed several times. In the end, she failed to squeeze out a single word, turned away, and sat down heavily at the small table in the corner that had been set aside for customers who wanted to sit and unwind.
Deep in her heart, Dyna fervently wished Orfevre would go to the ends of the earth and stay there. This situation—unable to drive her away, yet unable to ignore her—was unbearable.
But when the lunchtime rush began and customers started pouring in, Dyna no longer had the luxury of worrying about such things. There was no way she could neglect her actual customers over one little Orfevre.
Dyna, in her classic apron, flitted back and forth between the front and the kitchen like a butterfly. At the register, she greeted customers with a gentle smile and sent each one away satisfied. From the kitchen came the occasional sound of her calling out adjustments to the staff about timing and heat. Then, each time she brought out a tray of freshly baked bread, customers would swarm the counter in a rush.
It was busy, heated, and yet perfectly ordered.
Anyone could see how much work Dyna had put into building this place.
Looking around at the warm, home-like atmosphere and décor of the shop, Orfevre suddenly had the urge to slap herself.
Why had she charged in so recklessly back then?
Now the boss lady looked at total strangers more kindly than she looked at Orfevre. Someone this fundamentally kind was the sort of person you were lucky to even have one of in your life. And Dyna—someone capable of cultivating an environment like this with her own hands—was exactly the kind of person you'd regret offending the moment you lost them.
Looking closer, Dyna's hair really was more golden chestnut than anything else. Maybe there were a few strands with a reddish tint mixed in, but within the whole mass of hair they were practically invisible.
What a ridiculous misunderstanding that color mix-up had caused.
Maybe I really do need to see an eye doctor… Orfevre thought bitterly.
She watched Dyna move through the crush of business with effortless ease, and for a moment her mind drifted.
It was easy to imagine Dyna in an apron like that in the Gold household too, calmly handling the mountain of problems that gave the family head and Dream Journey headaches, bringing order within and without, steadying the whole house like the perfect capable partner.
"No! I can't think like that!"
Orfevre suddenly cried out, startling the entire shop.
The bustling atmosphere ground to a halt all at once.
Realizing she'd made a fool of herself, Orfevre's face heated up. She hurriedly bowed and muttered, "Sorry," and, "My apologies for the disturbance," somehow smoothing it over.
But after she caused yet another disaster inside the shop, Dyna finally snapped.
Trophée's teachings at last surged back to the forefront of her mind, and she rounded on Orfevre.
"You've been sitting here the entire day, and now you suddenly yell in the middle of the shop? What exactly are you trying to do?!"
Caught in the middle of her wandering thoughts, Orfevre couldn't possibly admit what she'd actually been imagining. The words caught in her throat, and her face flushed even redder.
All that came out was a series of strange, incoherent little sounds—nothing at all like the proud, overbearing Orfevre anyone knew.
A question mark practically popped above Dyna's head.
What was she even babbling about? Had she scrambled her brains with that elbow attack back in the debut race?
Orfevre bit down on her lower lip, then, in a burst of desperation, came up with an excuse.
"Right! I came to show the sincerity of my apology! I'm actually here today to tell you that, as a token of my remorse, the monthly 'extra rent' on this place is waived from now on. I'll cover it myself. What happened in your debut race must have caused you trouble in life too. My sincerity should at least make up for some of that."
Dyna's expression softened slightly.
At least Orfevre was being reasonable now. And there really was sincerity there.
"But Gold Journey and Dream Journey already waived that the last time they came by."
Orfevre had not expected her desperate inspiration to turn into a gesture paid for by someone else's generosity, and the embarrassment on her face deepened.
"At least… at least my apology is sincere!"
Seeing how utterly waterlogged Orfevre's brain seemed to be today, Dyna suddenly found the whole thing a little funny.
Off the racetrack, Orfevre wasn't nearly that terrifying at all.
In the end she was just a normal horse girl.
A socially awkward one, even—so easy to fool she might as well be somebody's plaything.
"Well, if you're this sincere, then I'll serve you the best bread in the shop. I guarantee you'll be satisfied. Let's call that our reconciliation."
The bread she served did not disappoint.
Orfevre, having already wasted the better part of the day there, had more than enough patience to sit quietly and enjoy it. She tore the bread into little strips, savoring each bite carefully as the hot, fragrant softness filled her mouth. Even the restlessness in her heart was gradually soothed.
"Oh, right," Dyna added casually. "The bread you ate, plus compensation for disturbing the peace, comes to fifty thousand yen total."
"…?"
For a moment, Orfevre genuinely felt that Dyna was no longer as cute as she'd just convinced herself she was.
So underneath that beautiful, capable exterior, she was really a sly merchant—!
That chestnut girl had become rather dangerous in an instant.
Even so, Orfevre paid the money in full.
For a daughter of the Gold family, that amount was basically nothing.
Still, handing it over to Dyna so easily left a sour taste in her mouth.
"Thank you for your patronage~ I hope you'll visit again?"
Tch.
There was unmistakably a trace of schadenfreude in that voice.
How infuriating.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
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