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I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 244

One day.

As Albrecht was defeated and things around were gradually settling, Ariel suddenly called for Edgar to her room.

The moon was particularly bright that night.

Perhaps it was reminiscent of when Edgar had secretly visited Ariel’s room for the first time over the balcony.

She must have thought of her lover’s face all of a sudden due to that.

“Is there something going on?”

Edgar, who had suddenly found himself in her room, asked about the reason for her calling him.

When Ariel called him secretly, there were usually two reasons.

The first was to share a wine glass and spend a quiet evening together.

The second was to desire some passionate moments between a man and a woman.

However, it seemed today that neither applied.

It was as if her back, turned toward him, clearly indicated that she had something to talk about.

“Just… it’s getting quiet slowly, and I have a lot I want to share with you.”

“Just? It looks like you have something important to say.”

Edgar casually approached Ariel and leaned against the balcony railing.

Thanks to the Symbol of Dominion, Hespania boasted a milder climate compared to other northern regions, but always at night, the cold air from the distant northern plains brushed against his cheeks.

As the wind seeped through his clothes today without exception, Edgar looked at Ariel with concern.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Not really, that’s why I wore this.”

Ariel proudly showed off her thin light brown cardigan.

Contrary to her title as the ruler of the North, she was weak against the cold, so carrying a thin coat at such late hours had become her routine.

Edgar, finding her cute, gently patted her as he glanced around the balcony.

The table that was always there only bore a few simple snacks; there were no drinks or appetizers.

“It seems you didn’t set out any drinks.”

“Why? Did you want to have a glass?”

With a bittersweet smile, Edgar shook his head at her question of whether she should ask Shuri now.

He wasn’t a heavy drinker; he didn’t plan to drink daily.

Just last night, he had run all night with guests from afar and Yulken, so shouldn’t he take a break today?

He thought it was reasonable to presume there would be drinks set out for the conversation.

“Not really. You just always needed drinks if you wanted to say something.”

Ariel was quite straightforward, but she wasn’t the type to share her deep-seated concerns or trivial stories.

Instead, she often relied on the influence of alcohol to hint various things to Edgar.

So, while he thought there’d be drinks prepared if she had something to talk about, that expectation fell through.

Maybe she wanted to talk without the influence of alcohol and be completely in her right mind.

He suddenly thought that.

“Yeah, I think it’s okay without them today. That seems like cheating somehow.”

“Cheating?”

Edgar tilted his head at the unexpected word.

“Sit down first. Standing makes your legs hurt.”

“Well, whatever. It’s nice to reminisce about the past.”

“The past? When?”

There had been countless times when Edgar and Ariel had stood together in this spot.

If she were to pinpoint one particular memory, it would indicate that it occupied a significant part of his mind.

Ariel was quite curious about when that could be.

“When I confessed to you for the first time here.”

“What kind of confession was that? You left it all to the woman… fool.”

Ariel still couldn’t forget the shocking confession from that day.

At first, she was overwhelmed with joy from hearing ‘I love you,’ and found herself unable to do anything, but later, he played around using candy as an excuse.

It was entirely different from the sweet confessions she read about in love stories.

What kind of man says he loves a woman and then shirks responsibility afterward?

“Of course, I wasn’t honest either.”

Even as she threw childish insults at Edgar in her mind, calling him foolish and idiot, Ariel acknowledged her own past insincerity.

They say that people experience great personal growth.

“Anyway, what was the reason you called me over, my lady?”

Like a character from a vintage story, Edgar exaggeratedly bent at the waist and rested a hand on his stomach, asking again.

This made Ariel burst into laughter, finding it ridiculous.

In the moonlight, the balcony suddenly seemed to bloom with flowers.

“Heh, you really can’t act.”

“I’ve never learned acting, so how could I be good at it? But I’m smart enough, right?”

With Ariel’s soft yet piercing remark, Edgar straightened his back and retorted.

“Hmph, not at all! But since it’s commendable effort, I’ll give you an 8 out of 10.”

“Oh, is that out of 10?”

“Not at all. It’s out of 100.”

“Did you expect that?” Edgar smirked back at her.

He had thought to give his fiancée some bonus points, but her evaluations remained strictly sober.

“Aha.”

As Edgar’s performance was critically judged by Ariel, she gently embraced him from behind.

With a warm feeling against his back, her hands crossed beneath his shoulders.

‘So, she’s finally ready to talk.’

Whenever Edgar noticed Ariel had something to say, he would intentionally soften the atmosphere like this.

Slowly, when reactions began to emerge from her, he would then ask questions again.

It was a useful method for dealing with his adorably reluctant partner.

“Ed.”

“Yeah?”

Whenever it got to this point, Edgar’s voice turned a little softer than usual.

It was one of the processes to make her gradually open her heart and share what was on her mind.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“What kind of thing?”

“Anything is fine.”

At such an out-of-the-blue question, Edgar tilted his head.

It felt less like a probing for secrets and more like a woman’s whim wanting to hear a trivial story from her beloved.

But what did she desire to know? Even he, who prided himself on knowing Ariel best, couldn’t grasp that.

He had shared almost everything, even trivial secrets, with her.

Though there might be secrets he hadn’t told their parents, there were none from Ariel.

After all, they shared even small things, like who he had dinner with yesterday.

Yet, there must be a reason Ariel suddenly brought this up.

So, Edgar turned back to recollect memories.

Even the smallest thing would do. If he had something he hadn’t told her, he needed to find it.

‘Ah.’

Amidst his thoughts, something swiftly passed through his mind.

Yes.

There was one fact he had yet to share with her.

What he believed he would have to hide until the day he died.

Of course, it wasn’t something he particularly wanted to hide.

It was merely that he hadn’t said it because he didn’t think she could believe it.

‘But how?’

But if she really had figured it out, how on earth did she come to know?

That question arose but soon sank beneath the surface again.

If he recalled whom she had met recently, it could be very plausible.

‘Was it Albrecht?’

Albrecht Bertus.

Now a ghost of the past, he was the only one in this world who knew Edgar was an outsider from another world.

If he had been tipped off by him for some reason, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Of course, he didn’t know why.

Whether Albrecht had acted that way to stir up another confusion or perhaps had offered a last favor out of whim.

However, one thing was certain: Ariel had caught on to that fact.

In that case, Edgar figured there was no longer any reason to hide.

“What do you know?”

Worried that he might get too excited, Edgar cautiously asked the question first.

Then, with her face buried in his back, Ariel shook her head slightly.

In fact, she knew nothing at all.

She only knew that Albrecht had hinted at the existence of a secret Edgar was hiding.

Truth be told, she wasn’t even trying to uncover it.

She merely felt she wanted to share something he wanted to share.

“Just… he said that before he died, he’d let you know your secret.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it wasn’t necessary. If it’s not something you want to say, then I’d prefer not to hear it. Even if I do hear it, I thought you’d tell me if it became my right to know.”

Ariel was simply conveying her genuine thoughts, but in contrast, Edgar felt a quiet touch of emotion.

Secrets of others are always a double-edged sword. Humans naturally possess curiosity.

So when one learns that someone has a secret, they inevitably seek to unravel it.

Edgar was no exception.

Yet, Ariel had sacrificed even that ordinary human desire for him.

If he preferred not to share it, it was perfectly fine not to.

She was, in essence, saying that.

Swish.

Edgar unraveled Ariel’s arms, which were holding him from behind, and gently turned his body.

In the moonlight, great beams of light illuminated his golden eyes as he looked down at her.

A fleeting smile appeared on his lips, contrasting with his determined gaze.

He felt somewhat at a loss as to where to start.

“I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have asked after all.”

“No, I didn’t smile for that reason, so don’t worry.”

Thinking Edgar’s smile came from awkwardness, Ariel quickly apologized, but Edgar merely held her shoulders gently, meeting her gaze directly.

“Honestly, I’m not sure if you’d believe it or not. It’s too ridiculous a story.”

“I will believe it, because it’s you saying it.”

“Wow, look at you now, saying such pretty things.”

It felt like just yesterday when they were playfully teasing each other.

Edgar, feeling a sensation of having raised a daughter after seeing his lover like this, gently led her towards the railing to gaze up at the night sky together.

“Ariel, there aren’t many stars here, right?”

“Of course there are, that’s obvious.”

Ariel answered back, as if she were questioning why he would even bring that up.

Yet, for Edgar, it was indeed a new realization.

At least, in the world he came from, seeing this many stars required a special place.

“Exactly! But where I lived was a bit different.”

“…What do you mean by where you lived?”

“I’m about to tell you that.”

As she looked up at him with a confused expression, Edgar gently patted her head.

He wasn’t sure whether it would be a long or short story.

But he wanted the appearance of the world he had come from to be vividly conveyed to her as well.

Thus, the book that had been kept locked away in a man’s heart was finally reopened today.

I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

Score 7.2
Status: Completed Type: Released: 2022
I became the childhood friend of the Northern Grand Duchess. I guess it’s fun to tease her.

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