I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 148

“Ed, Ed!”

“Um… what?”

“What are you spacing out for? I’ve called you a million times and you don’t even respond.”

Ariel, with a somewhat sulky expression, was munching on the scone in front of her while she asked.

Silvia had gone off with Hagel, saying she wanted to take a look around the Imperial Palace, and the two were resting in a separate reception room, which was why he hadn’t answered her calls.

“Ah… sorry. I guess I’m a bit tired.”

“Is that so? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Edgar trailed off with a half-hearted explanation, causing Ariel to get grumpy. She poked her lips out and suddenly stood up.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just annoyed.”

And then, plop.

She left her seat across from him and plopped down next to Edgar, glaring at him with sharp eyes.

It was more of a pout than actual anger.

“Do you not trust me that much? Why are you trying to hide things?”

Ariel was one to share her worries with Edgar when she had them. Of course, she didn’t always share trivial concerns, but she often found that confiding in him led to better outcomes, as she considered Edgar to be someone she could trust more than anyone.

On the other hand, there were times when Edgar would clearly have something weighing on his mind but wouldn’t say a word to her about it.

In the beginning, Ariel thought he must have had his reasons for keeping quiet, so she let it slide. But after it happened a few times, doubts began to creep in, and she started to question if he truly trusted her.

“Hide things? It’s just that I think it’s such a silly thought that I didn’t say anything.”

“Hmph, like I said before, just as you know me well, I know you just as well.”

Ariel blocked his escape route, feeling spiteful.

She wasn’t sure if it was a matter of great importance, but at least in her eyes, it wasn’t a trivial concern.

Besides, Edgar generally had a bold personality and was good at trivializing most worries, easily brushing them off.

Yet, even with Ariel right beside him, the fact that he wasn’t focused on their conversation and looked lost in thought, combined with his inability to convey his reason for it, made it clear that something was off.

“I’ll decide if it’s trivial or not. Just speak up already.”

“Wow, didn’t expect you to get angry right off the bat.”

“I am angry! But it won’t be too late to scold you after I hear it.”

If the reason he was hiding was absurd, she would indeed scold him. And if it turned out to be utterly ridiculous, she would scold him for that too.

But without hearing it, she had no way of knowing. So, Ariel took a deep breath to calm herself.

Edgar hesitated for a moment, lips twitching as he decided if he would speak. Ultimately, he broke the silence.

“About that… Bertus Marquis, was it?”

“Yeah? Why do you ask?”

As the face of the somewhat mysterious and sharp-looking man flashed in her mind, Ariel showed a puzzled reaction.

That was quite an unexpected name to bring up.

“It’s hard to put into words… but he gave off a really strange feeling.”

“That was just him greeting you earlier, right? I know it was all for show, but was it that weird?”

Ariel was aware that everything Albrecht said was just a facade.

Talking about congratulating her on her succession and expressing regret for not being able to attend the ceremony was part of it all too.

He even extended his hand for a handshake to commend Edgar for his achievements.

But in this world, that sort of behavior wasn’t particularly strange.

Nobles were pretty much the type to smile and laugh on the surface while secretly holding knives behind their backs, so maybe that was even seen as gentle by comparison.

However, Edgar’s hyper-sensitivity suggested there was something more to it.

Thus, Ariel quietly waited for him to continue speaking as she took a sip of the tea in front of her.

“No, it’s not that I think anything about it. But when I shook his hand, I felt like… I don’t know, like the person in front of me wasn’t really present.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ariel tilted her head, puzzled by such vague phrasing.

It was strange to see Edgar, who usually spoke more directly, using such unclear expressions.

Seeing her reaction, Edgar chuckled wryly and shook his head.

He was speaking without any comprehension of what he meant, and what would Ariel think about it was also on his mind.

“Honestly, I’m not really sure what I’m saying. But that’s the only way I can express it.”

“Hmmm… so you’re saying it feels a bit off?”

“I’m not a fortune teller, how could I judge someone from just one encounter?”

Though he said that, Ariel felt that since he was pondering so hard about it now, it was as good as he had made a judgment already.

Most people would often leap to conclusions based on their first impressions when meeting someone for the first time. But Edgar was the type not to take his judgments lightly.

So for him to describe someone he had just met as ‘strange’ was something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“Honestly, in my opinion, he doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

“I think so too. If I had to choose, I’d say he’s more of a good guy.”

Edgar nodded along with Ariel’s words.

Certainly, from his perspective, Albrecht appeared to be a completely fine dude on the outside.

If anything, he had a clean appearance and polite gestures and manners, which made him the type that would naturally inspire goodwill.

Even if he was a prospective fiancé of the Duke’s household, the fact that he extended his hand for a handshake to someone of a lower rank like Edgar was refreshing.

His gestures and manners weren’t over-the-top, so Edgar wouldn’t have given him a bad evaluation if it weren’t for that feeling of strangeness.

“Despite that… I just don’t know.”

But the thing was, for some reason, Edgar couldn’t muster any good feelings toward Albrecht Bertus.

The feeling he got through their handshake, for Edgar, felt like it wasn’t even coldness.

If he had to describe it, it was emptiness (無). It felt like he was holding something that shared similarities with human skin but was devoid of warmth.

Among all the people he had ever met, every one had conveyed various impressions—intimidation, easiness, light-heartedness, cheerfulness—but never had he met someone that left him feeling nothing at all, until now.

“…Alright. I’ll take your feelings into account for now.”

“Take it for what it is. Just let it go in one ear and out the other.”

“Sure. If you really wanted me to ignore it, you wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”

With that comment, Ariel added a playful jab, and Edgar just gave an awkward smile that was neither laughing nor crying.

“Well then, we should forget about that man’s invitation altogether.”

Ariel murmured, recalling Albrecht’s words, who had invited her to join in a grand banquet to celebrate her rise to the head of her family.

She hadn’t even really wanted to go, to be honest, but since it was an invitation from the head of a marquis family, she felt compelled to stop by briefly out of courtesy—but that wasn’t necessary anymore.

However, Edgar showed a slightly anxious expression in response.

“Are you sure that’s okay? He is the head of a marquis family, after all.”

“Hmph, even so, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the Robeheim family. Plus, I didn’t have any intention of going anyway.”

She figured that spending quality time with Edgar in the castle would be a hundred times better for her.

All those lavish dishes, the treasures piled throughout the room, the extravagant decorations, and the flowers were all things she could see any time she wanted; utterly ordinary in her eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb your peace of mind with my nonsense.”

“You don’t need to apologize. If it seemed like something to let slide, I wouldn’t have taken it seriously either.”

Ariel didn’t always take Edgar’s words to heart.

She had her own ears and eyes, and her brain was capable of judging situations too.

Yet, despite that, she listened to his vague musings as guidance just because she trusted his judgment and knew he wouldn’t speak nonsense either.

“Idiot. You were stressing out over something so trivial?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s silly to get worked up about this… wow.”

“Ugh.”

Ariel sighed as if her insides were flipping, then suddenly gave her thigh a gentle pat.

As Edgar glanced back and forth between her face and her thigh, unable to suppress his frustration, he took some direct action.

Thud.

“That’s what you meant by lying down, right, you fool?!”

“……?”

As his sight flipped upside down, Edgar blinked his eyes and realized that he was now resting on Ariel’s thigh.

Though they were both clothed, so he didn’t feel her bare skin touching him, he could still sense her warmth.

“…What’s with the suddenness?”

“I thought maybe you were holding a grudge since it didn’t happen in the carriage… and you probably have a jumbled mind because of that weird guy.”

In short, it was a gesture of consolation.

To Edgar, it seemed absurd to think he’d sulk over not getting a knee pillow just once.

“Come on, I’m not a kid to care about that, you know?”

“Hmph, don’t deflect and just express your feelings.”

“Feelings?”

Edgar stole a glance at Ariel, and their eyes met.

It was definitely a unique sight. He hadn’t had the experience of looking up at Ariel much, and now he was positioned on her thigh.

What could he even say about his feelings?

As a man, it was only natural to feel like he was floating. Although, at first, he was a bit flustered.

However, he didn’t want to say that directly because he felt this rare moment would be over too soon, so Edgar smirked and responded.

“I’m not sure. I might know more if I stay like this a bit longer.”

“…Well, if that’s the case, then I guess there’s no helping it. If you’re really tired, you can take a nap or something.”

Thanks to Ariel’s words, Edgar felt oddly drowsy, but he forced himself to stay alert and continued their conversation.

Such a delightful experience, and he never knew how many more chances he would get like this; why would he waste it on sleep?

He should savor it as much as possible so he wouldn’t regret it later.

Feeling his previously heavy mind clearing up slowly because of her, Edgar took Ariel’s hand resting on his chest.

Unlike anyone else’s, it was definitely warm.