I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 29

Ariel, who had been incessantly hit by Edgar, cried all day while hiding her reddened forehead under her bangs.

“Say, you’re not really concerned about Shuri, are you?”

“I can hear you from here, stop saying weird things, you idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot! I’m just saying you shouldn’t even think of touching her since she has a master!”

Oh, so she has a master?

Regardless of Ariel’s fuming, Edgar’s eyebrows perked up at the mention of that intriguing phrase.

There’s nothing quite as delightful as gossip about someone else’s love life.

Since we were nearing Hespania, it was the perfect topic to entertain us until then.

As he turned his glazed gaze toward Shuri, Ariel shook her head as if to say she couldn’t handle it.

It made sense that Shuri let out a little shriek, given the shady expression on his face.

“I’m curious! Do you really already have a lover?”

“Not really ‘already’—he’s just a year older than us!”

“Hey, outsider, shut it. I’m talking to Shuri here.”

Edgar ignored the unnecessary noise from the side and began digging into Shuri’s romantic history.

“I-I don’t think it’s that interesting… we’ve just been close since we were kids, so it feels like we’ve ended up in this kind of relationship…”

“Really? Is that so?”

Ariel had heard about the existence of a lover and knew who it was, but she had never delved into the details of their love life.

Sneakily.

She glanced at Edgar, who was sitting across from her, and suddenly stood up, demanding to switch places with him.

“Why the sudden change? We’re almost there.”

“Shut up. If I want to switch, I switch!”

“Such a child…”

Edgar sighed and switched seats, and the look in Ariel’s eyes changed entirely from her earlier indifference about other people’s love lives.

“Hmm, so Shuri has been friends with that person since childhood?”

It was a bit surprising for the master to lean in so closely to ask questions, but Shuri nodded and softly continued.

“Well, we work in the same family, so we have that in common. And our parents are acquainted as well.”

“His name was Ronan, right? He’s the gardener’s son.”

“Yes, that’s right. He’s quiet and calm, but he took care of me well since childhood. We played in the mountains and fields together.”

Ariel nodded in agreement, getting absorbed in the conversation as she recalled her own childhood adventures with the grumpy guy over there.

“I liked staying home. But Ronan, though calm, loved playing outside. He always dragged me out to see all sorts of things.”

“Wow, he sounds amazing. Not like someone who would just stay holed up in the mansion being dragged around by girls.”

Ariel was clearly making that remark for someone to hear, as she subtly turned her head.

Edgar, who had been quietly listening, furrowed his brow slightly.

“Are you saying that to me?”

“Well, I didn’t mean it like that. Were you hurt by it?”

Sticking her bright red tongue out in provocation, Ariel dared Edgar to react, but he sighed like he was letting it slide this time and sat back down.

After all, who knew what trouble would come from stirring up drama in a moving carriage?

Seeing Edgar suppressing his anger, Ariel smirked slightly and suddenly grabbed Shuri’s hand.

“Shuri, tell me more when we get back to the castle. I’ll be nice from now on, okay?”

“Okay…”

Thank goodness it seemed like she had no desire for revenge over the recent incident.

I was worried about what would happen if she decided to get back at him, but seeing her smile like that eased my mind.

Perhaps it just meant that the influence Edgar had over Ariel was that significant.

Clunk.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the carriage stopped, signaling our arrival.

We had finally reached Hespania, the heart of the north.

The door of the carriage opened, and a cold breeze rushed in, flooding the space.

“Hespania is definitely cold.”

Even though Edgar, who was quite resistant to the cold, was bundled up snugly, he still felt a chill that was sufficiently biting.

Ariel shivered and wrapped herself in the blanket Shuri offered her.

“Mom, why did we stop here?”

Realizing that we had landed not at the castle but at the outskirts of the town, Ariel expressed her confusion.

“Well, I thought it would be nice to show Edgar around Hespania.”

“But wouldn’t it have been fine to look around from inside the carriage…?”

“That would be too dull. If you’re too tired, should we head back to the castle right away?”

Hespania was indeed massive, living up to its nickname as the heart of the north.

It would take ages to walk from the entrance to the castle without taking a carriage.

Edgar, feeling sorry for his shivering childhood friend, suggested they head straight to the castle, but Ariel firmly rejected the idea.

“No, it’s fine. I can lighten the chill with magic a bit.”

Besides, Hespania had one unique feature that was known only to its hidden city.

Thinking of that, Ariel pointed the way, indicating she wanted to move on.

With that decision made, Helene asked Shepi to lead the carriage back to the castle.

Shuri was asked about it, but she decided to stay by Ariel’s side.

After all, she lived her entire life on the outskirts of Hespania, so a bit of cold wouldn’t bother her.

“Ugh…!?”

Just as they were about to take their steps, Edgar stumbled on the snow piled up on the ground.

Fortunately, Ariel caught him, or he would have immediately sat down on his rear.

“Idiot, watch your step.”

“Sorry, I didn’t think.”

Ardenum was indeed colder than other regions, but it wasn’t like it was always snowy. He just hadn’t been thinking ahead.

Still, Edgar quickly adapted to the snowy path that was by no means up to his ankles.

‘But why isn’t there any snow on that tower?’

As Edgar walked, he tilted his head at a tall tower he spotted.

It was merely a fuzzy outline in the distance, but he could clearly see that there was no snow around that building unlike the other structures.

And for some reason, the place they were walking was unusually devoid of people.

In a big city like Hespania, he expected throngs of people everywhere, yet it was surprisingly quiet.

“What are you looking at?”

“There aren’t many people around. Is it because it’s the outskirts?”

In such a large city, the most developed areas were usually those dominated by powerful factions in the center, with denser settlements of commoners leading outwards.

But for some reason, there didn’t seem to be any notable buildings in this outer region.

As if it was all just abandoned land.

Noticing Edgar’s puzzling muttering, Ariel exchanged glances with Helene and they both broke into quiet laughter.

Indeed, if an outsider was visiting Hespania for the first time, they might find his reaction quite appropriate.

Although these days, people were well aware of Hespania, and first-time visitors rarely showed such fresh reactions.

Ariel was entertained by the sight of him lost in thought about it, but unable to resist Helene’s gaze, she soon began explaining about Hespania.

“Hey, haven’t you heard about the features of Hespania?”

“Nope.”

“Sigh, listen up. Hespania has a magical sphere known as the Symbol of Dominion.”

The Symbol of Dominion.

Could that relate to the dominion magic passed down in the Robeheim family?

With the emergence of such an intriguing term, Edgar perked up his ears, focusing on Ariel’s explanation.

“By the way, this story is also about the founding head of the Robeheim family, Elgrun.”

“That sounds like a long time ago.”

Indeed, it was a story over 600 years old.

At that point, it was more like a legend than history, but history often mixes in exaggerated tales over time.

Regardless, it was none of Edgar’s concern as long as the explanation was given properly.

“Nowadays, various tribes run rampant without knowing the subject, but in the time when Lord Elgrun was alive, he ruled as the dominator of the north, driving the tribes away.”

“I know that part.”

“And at that time, Lord Elgrun had a mysterious sphere that contained the power he obtained by defeating the leaders of the tribes, but initially, no one knew its ability.”

The leader of the tribes just handed over what was more precious to him than his own life as a price for their defeat, yet at that time, Elgrun died without ever knowing the sphere’s true power.

“Then, in the second generation, Schwarz inherited the position, and one day, while carelessly pouring in his magical power, he found out…”

“That the power activated, right?”

“Exactly. It turned out that the sphere only activated for those who possessed a special magical power, and that special magical power belonged to the bloodline of the Robeheim family.”

Only then did the contents about the Symbol of Dominion start fitting together for Edgar like pieces of a puzzle.

Only those with dominion magic could activate it, and it was the object that Lord Elgrun brought back as a symbol of victory after conquering the northern territories and becoming a true ‘lord’.

That’s why it had been called the ‘Symbol of Dominion.’

“But what does that have to do with Hespania?”

“You’ll find out soon. Don’t be shocked.”

Ariel abruptly cut off her explanation with a huff.

Before a question could even pop into Edgar’s head, they turned left and an unexpected sight unfolded before his eyes.

The tall tower he had seen a moment ago was now much closer, along with other rising buildings, and even the road itself.

It was as if the picturesque wintry scene he had just seen was a mere illusion, for before him lay a city that looked as ordinary as Ardenum.

While the air was still somewhat chilly, it was nothing like the biting cold from earlier.

The number of people walking about had visibly increased, and their clothing was quite thin for residents of Hespania.

“What the heck is this?”

“Cool, right? This is the influence of the ‘Symbol of Dominion.'”

Seeing him blink in surprise, Ariel smiled slyly and continued her explanation.

The Robeheim family’s cherished ‘Symbol of Dominion’ could alter a specific area’s climate to resemble that of other regions.

This meant that despite the biting cold of the north, Hespania had been able to transform into a thriving city known as the heart of the north.

“So what about that outer region we passed earlier…?”

“Unfortunately, that’s an area the ‘Symbol of Dominion’ couldn’t reach. So that’s where the poor citizens live.”

It was once said that the ‘Symbol of Dominion’ had the absolute power to protect a wider region, but as time passed, its power gradually weakened, leading to the current state of Hespania.

Suddenly covering the city had left the outer dwellers without a place to go, and if the scope continued to shrink over time, these slapdash solutions wouldn’t suffice.

As Ariel saw the expression on Edgar’s face change with a mix of complex emotions, she stepped forward, grabbed his cheeks, and stretched them wildly.

“Who told you to make such a face? Don’t worry about it.”

Though Ariel vowed to find a solution when she became the head of the family, she had no intention of passing that responsibility on to others.

Even if that person was her most trusted man.

As Edgar winced in pain, she finally released her hold and walked on with her hands behind her back.

Beneath the tall buildings and along the bustling streets, she flashed a bright smile back at her friend.

“Anyway, welcome to Hespania!”