I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 174

Hespania, the stronghold of the Robeheim Family and the heart of the North.

The very fact that the leader of an alien race had arrived weighed heavily on the air within the castle.

Though not many knew of his status, those who held positions within the castle naturally affected the atmosphere, even if their numbers were few.

Amidst this tension, Edgar found himself having to welcome unexpected guests.

None other than members of his own family, the Billhark Family.

“Uh, Mother. What on earth…?”

“I’m so sorry. You see, I invited them before you went to Brueholm. I didn’t expect things to get so tangled…”

As Edgar’s bewildered gaze shot towards Helene, she scratched her cheek sheepishly.

The invitation had seemed like a good idea when the atmosphere had recently lightened up a bit, but things had taken a strange turn when Ariel brought Kelrag from Brueholm.

It ended up being a situation where the enemy’s leader had come and his family was summoned to the castle.

If only she had earlier retracted the invitation, it might have been okay, but Helene hadn’t even realized they were coming until last night, so there was no chance of that.

“It’s been a while since we last met, but you don’t look so well. Did I interrupt your busy schedule?”

Meanwhile, Katria had no idea what was going on and appeared anxious, questioning if it was a mistake to come.

As a mother, she longed to see her son’s face but didn’t want to intrude on his work, knowing he had been busy recently.

“Ah, no. It’s just that I was surprised you came without any prior notice.”

Edgar quickly fixed his expression and scooped up Sonia, who was now reaching out with her tiny hands.

She felt a little heavier compared to the last time he held her, but she was still just a little kid.

“I came to surprise you because I was invited! I guess it worked, huh?”

“Well, yeah. Hahaha…”

Edgar awkwardly laughed it off while reaching for Sonia’s cheeks, which made her giggle uncontrollably.

“Welcome, Sonia! Didn’t you miss your brother?”

“Yeah! I missed you so much!”

“Oh, your pronunciation has gotten better!”

Last time they met, her pronunciation had been much more garbled than this.

It had only been about half a year since they last saw each other, yet Edgar was amazed by how much Sonia had grown in such a short time.

‘Ariel was like that too.’

As he thought of Ariel’s childhood when seeing Sonia like this, Edgar felt a mix of emotions.

It was truly ironic to remember the childhood of a friend who was the same age as him, but given his unique circumstances, it was more than possible.

While he was enjoying the joy of reuniting with his much younger sister, Sonia suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm.

Her eyes had that intense glimmer of longing.

“Brother, where’s my sister?”

Now she could pronounce “brother” pretty well, but the word “sister” still seemed a bit tricky for her.

Edgar was caught off guard when he heard a surprising mention from Sonia’s lips.

“Your sister…? You mean… Ariel?”

“Ariel is my sister’s name?”

“You’re talking about the big sister who showed you the fish before, right?”

“Yep!”

Sonia added that she remembered her as a pretty big sister, and one corner of Edgar’s mouth curled up.

He was already looking forward to seeing Ariel’s reaction when he told her this.

“Do you miss her?”

“Yup! I have a present for her too!”

“A present?”

How grateful must she have felt to bring a present along?

Considering that she didn’t even bring a gift for her beloved brother, it meant that Ariel had successfully etched her existence into Sonia’s mind.

And in an incredibly positive way.

“Where’s the present? Show it to your brother first.”

When Edgar finally looked, Sonia was holding a small cloth pouch in her little left hand.

He couldn’t see anything else that could be a present, so it must have been that.

However, when he reached out to discover what it was, Sonia unexpectedly resisted and shook her head vigorously.

“No way…! I’m only going to show this to my sister!”

“Really? It must be a super special gift then.”

Edgar decided to give up trying to figure it out, not wanting to ruin the child’s innocent joy.

He’d find out later anyway.

‘By now, the work should be finished.’

Edgar had taken a day off at Helene’s suggestion, so he wasn’t fully updated on Ariel’s current situation.

However, he believed things weren’t too overwhelming since he confirmed yesterday that she had only a bit of work and had briefly shown her face on the terrace in the morning.

“Then should we go visit? I can give her the present that Sonia brought as well.”

As he took Sonia’s hand, intending to just let them meet briefly and then return, she hesitated for a moment.

She also shyly tucked the present pouch behind her back.

“Is it okay?”

“Hmm? What is?”

Why was she suddenly asking if it was okay? Edgar tilted his head in confusion, and Sonia started mumbling, twisting her body as if she was about to reveal a secret.

“Umm… Actually, Mother said you shouldn’t bother her since she’s busy…”

“Is that so…? Ah, did she tell you not to disturb Ariel?”

“Yes…”

Seeing Sonia’s downcast expression, Edgar couldn’t help but chuckle.

After all, given their differing positions, it was somewhat natural.

Katria, aware of the relationship between their families, likely believed that even if he was her son’s love interest, she should avoid bothering someone who was meant to be treated as a lord.

On the other hand, to Sonia, Ariel was just a beautiful and kind big sister, nothing more and nothing less.

She was still too young to fully grasp the social hierarchy or distinguish between high and low status.

Hearing his little sister’s concern, Edgar smiled warmly and ruffled her soft hair.

Having heard such things from Katria at her age must have been confusing for her.

Usually, younger children would just recklessly want to see attention from Ariel, but here Sonia was, taking the consideration based on her mother’s words first, which felt quite mature for her age.

“It’s fine. I’m sure that big sister wants to see you too.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Speaking of that, shall we go ask if she’s been wanting to see our Sonia?”

“Yeah!”

Sonia quickly beamed with joy, grabbing Edgar’s hand and marching determinedly toward the office.

To see her pretty big sister, whom she missed just as much as her brother.

And to quickly give her the precious gift she had brought for her.

* * * * * * *

Knock.

“Who is it?”

The voice that answered the knock from outside belonged to Shuri, who was keeping watch by Ariel’s side.

It was her duty to fill in whenever Edgar was away, and today happened to be one of those days.

Typically, the servants waited outside to avoid interrupting the busy lords, but since Ariel hated being alone, she always had at least one person by her side.

In that respect, Ariel was quite unique.

– Shuri, can I come in?

“Ah, yes! I’ll open the door for you!”

As Shuri rushed to the entrance at the sound of a man’s voice, she promptly opened the door.

There stood Edgar, and for some reason, he was holding the hand of a very cute princess.

“Is this Miss Sonia?”

“Yes! I’m Sonia Billhark!”

Since they had only crossed paths once before, Shuri was struggling to recall the memory.

Before Edgar could say anything, Sonia cheerfully stated her full name with clarity.

With her sparkling eyes, she was even cuter, and Shuri was utterly captivated.

“You’re incredibly cute! I always wished I had a younger sister…”

In truth, whether it was a younger brother or sister didn’t matter greatly, but she secretly hoped for a younger sister so she could take care of her.

Upon hearing that, Edgar, curious, pointed his chin towards Ariel, who was still intensely focused on the paperwork.

“How about Ariel?”

“Hehe… No way! She said I’m more like a younger sister than a big sister!”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have been such a crybaby.”

“W-what do you mean by that? What does that make me…?”

But while, in the past, she may have cried a bit more over hard work, since Edgar came to the castle, she hadn’t done so much.

Shuri protested, feeling wronged, but a single playful smile from Edgar swept away her complaints.

“Anyway, where’s Ariel?”

“She seems really focused right now. She doesn’t even notice you’re here…”

Ariel had always had above-average concentration.

Once she locked onto something, she could only wake up from her daze if someone waved their hand in front of her face. And this happened to be that moment.

Edgar knew that better than anyone else, which was why he didn’t tell Shuri to act, and instead wanted to take Sonia to surprise Ariel himself.

Just needing to relay one simple request to Shuri.

“I’ll go. But I’m sorry, could you bring something for Sonia to snack on?”

“Of course! Is there anything specific you want?”

“Well, Sonia, do you have a favorite snack?”

With that, he added that it was ‘a pretty sister who will bring it’, and after a brief ‘Huh?’ moment, Sonia eagerly requested Montreale.

It was a type of cake made of thin layers, commonly enjoyed in the cold northern nobles’ region.

“Then I’ll bring that for you. Please take it easy.”

“Thanks, I’ll appreciate it.”

After Shuri left, Edgar took a quick glance toward Ariel’s desk, where she was busy working.

Then, with his hand on his mouth as if signaling for silence, he took Sonia’s hand and slowly approached the desk.

Ariel was sitting up straight at her desk, making her look like excellent prey in Edgar’s eyes.

What kind of prey, you might ask? Of course, the kind perfect for playing pranks on.

“Sonia, when I lift you up, you surprise your sister, alright?”

“Okay, I got it!”

Hehe.

Sonia was already excited at the thought of scaring Ariel and was giggling behind her hand.

Like brother, like sister, indeed; they both had a playful nature.

So, Edgar lifted Sonia with the utmost care, grabbed her by the waist, and cautiously approached Ariel.

And as soon as Sonia’s face was in front of Ariel, who was fully focused on her papers…

“Sister!”

“Eeep!?”

Bang!

A full-blown catastrophe unfolded.