I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 35

As Edga spotted Ariel’s back from a distance, he cheerfully called out her name and approached her.

For a moment, he worried that the people around them might catch on just from hearing Ariel’s name, but thankfully, nothing of the sort happened.

“…….”

On the other hand, when Ariel met his gaze, she quickly turned away with a glum expression.

Edgar, wearing a wry smile, approached and gently tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s not like you’re late. At least say hi.”

Checking the long clock in front of the shop, he realized they had arrived at least five minutes early for their meeting.

He knew well that Ariel disliked waiting, but surely this was a reasonable exception.

“I know, it’s not late. Besides, there’s no reason to be upset about it, just like mom said.”

“Just get rid of that puffed-up cheek or something. It’s hard to believe you are serious like that.”

Though it was unclear why she was angry, it was obvious that she indeed was.

After all, they had been together for nearly 13 years.

With a frustrated scratch of his head, Edgar caught a glimpse of Ariel as she pouted again.

Truth be told, she wasn’t angry.

No, to be precise, she was angry, but her frustration was mixed with self-anger over her own foolishness.

This complicated feeling started three days ago, when Edgar hadn’t visited her room.

Of course, he must have had his reasons, and Ariel understood that she couldn’t always demand such risky visits.

However, if he hadn’t come to see her for three days, she had hoped he would at least come out a bit earlier today just to see her.

Although arriving now was certainly earlier than the appointed time, the fact that she came first made her pride sting.

It felt like he wasn’t expecting to see her at all, while she was the only one holding her breath.

‘You fool, you idiot, Edgar.’

He could have come out just a little earlier. If he had, there wouldn’t have been any need for her to feel this gloomy.

But the real fool was her.

How could she have such childish thoughts when she wasn’t even a four-year-old?

Get a grip, Ariel Robeheim.

You are the heiress who will lead the Robeheim family.

You can’t let your emotions swing you around like that or you’ll just get scolded by father…

“Yikes!?”

“Oh, good reaction there!”

Lost in thought, Ariel suddenly spun around as an odd sensation brushed against her neck, making her yelp.

As she heard her playful childhood friend’s voice behind her, she felt her temper spike, wanting to snap at him immediately.

“……?”

However, when she turned her head, instead of seeing her mischievous friend, she was greeted by a flower that filled her vision.

It wasn’t her beloved amaryllis, but rather seemed to be a type of rose based on its appearance.

“Not to your liking? What’s with that face?”

“N-No, it’s not like that… Why a flower?”

Once, when they were kids, he had given her a flower, but since then, it had never happened again.

Given that he had no sense of mood whatsoever, she was doubly surprised by this unexpected gift.

Had he blown in from somewhere?

“What? Don’t you remember? Last time we met, you were moaning about how I didn’t bring a flower to meet a lady from the grand duke’s family.”

“Oh.”

Thinking back, she did indeed remember that.

Truth be told, demanding such things when just meeting a friend was ridiculous, but she had said it in a moment of displeasure that day.

Later, she had regretted it in bed, berating herself for the thoughtless comment.

Why did he take such petty things to heart?

“W-Wait, you idiot… It was just something to say, do you really care about it?”

“Is that something to say to the person who brought it? Just accept it.”

Tch, would it kill him to present it a bit more coolly?

She knew it was asking too much from such a silly guy, but still, a bit of mood would have been nice.

Also, what was up with his outfit?

He’s meeting a lady from the grand duke’s family but dressed so casually. It was just way too laid-back.

Had it not been for this flower, she would’ve lectured him right away, but today she decided to let it slide.

This was just part of the decorum one should have as a lady from the grand duke’s family, after all.

What was I trying to say again?

Nice to see you? Thanks? What did you do yesterday? Have you eaten?

No, that’s not it. There was certainly something else I wanted to say.

“Let’s just go. We need to get moving if we want to have some fun.”

Before she could think any further, she reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his clothing as he turned to walk away.

He turned his head to look at her, his eyes asking what was up.

Hesitating for no reason, she finally spoke.

Like she was pouring out all the emotions she had accumulated over the past three days.

“…I was bored, you idiot.”

Not that she had particularly wanted to see him.

She was just bored without anyone to talk to.

Even though Shuri was there, she didn’t treat her comfortably like he did.

Yeah, that was all there was to it.

Swish.

“Then let’s make sure to have a lot of fun today.”

He rubbed her head affectionately, treating her like a child again, but today, she decided to let it go.

Although it wasn’t her favorite amaryllis, the bright red flower that resembled her own eyes was quite beautiful.

Ariel was genuinely feeling a peculiar sense of wonder.

Even though, if one were to measure the time spent living in Hespania, Edgar might not even measure up to her little toe.

For some reason, though, his carefree demeanor as they traversed the city made it seem like he had lived here longer than she had.

“Hey, that food over there looks delicious. You haven’t been there, right?”

“There’s no way I have. I hardly eat outside…”

Ariel grumpily replied to Edgar’s question, stealing a glance at the restaurant he pointed to.

It was not like she often had the chance to go outside, but that was beside the point — it had been a long time since she could roam town so freely.

Whenever she went out, she was always accompanied by guards, or it was a requirement for her to travel by carriage.

To other people, it always looked like “Ah, the grand duke’s daughter is out inspecting things,” making it hard to wander about at random.

Today, she was merely able to roam unimpeded because the timing was fortuitous.

Her father had briefly stepped away, and Helene, knowing that Ariel and Edgar seldom got to meet, had kindly made it possible.

On second thought, not telling her mother about his secret visits at night turned out to be quite beneficial at times like this.

“Then shall we go there? You’re all disguised anyway.”

Ariel had dyed her hair a bright red, using a magical accessory Edgar had once worn.

If her identity were to be exposed, it could lead to chaos, and there was a chance of getting into trouble if anything went wrong, so it was sort of a precaution.

In contrast, Edgar had dyed his hair pitch black, resulting in a comically amusing situation where both of them had swapped hair colors for this meeting.

“Fine, as long as the food isn’t terrible, you’re responsible.”

“Wow, what a weighty responsibility.”

Despite Ariel’s warning, Edgar shrugged and headed toward the restaurant carelessly.

That was probably his way of assuring her that the food was a sure thing.

Ariel had found that the restaurants or stalls he had taken her to had never tasted bad, so even if she said that, she always trusted and accompanied him.

Perhaps this also suggested that his palate was quite picky.

“Should we sit outside? Inside might be better.”

“I don’t care much. They won’t recognize us anyway.”

Taking Edgar’s suggestion to enjoy the fresh air, Ariel also settled into her seat outside.

Not long after, a waiter approached them with a menu.

She guessed from the limited number of options that this was a place which specialized in a few signature items.

“Your black hair always looks odd.”

After successfully ordering, the first to speak while gazing at each other quietly was Ariel.

Even when he came by at night, he always had black hair, but even after nearly half a year, she still couldn’t get used to it.

“In what position are you to talk? From where I stand, you’re the one looking odder.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Nodding in understanding, she absentmindedly fiddled with the edge of the glass of water.

Thinking back, she had only shown this appearance to her childhood friend about two times.

Today was only the third time, so it was only natural she hadn’t gotten used to it yet.

‘Hmm? Now that I think about it, how did he recognize me?’

As her thoughts wandered, Ariel suddenly felt a sense of unease and cocked her head.

Just a moment ago, he had called her name after seeing her back.

But with her hair color changed and dressed in an outfit that wasn’t her usual, how did he figure it out?

“Edgar.”

“Uh? What?”

Edgar, who had taken a bite of the appetizer brought by the waiter, responded to her sudden call.

Couldn’t he at least swallow what he was chewing and answer?

Ariel frowned, but since this wasn’t the first time, she just sighed and continued her query.

“How did you know it was me earlier? You could only see my back…”

The question, intended to sound serious, came out far more ridiculous than she expected, and Edgar’s brows furrowed.

She should be worrying about what was on her plate to eat, not asking about something so trivial.

“Gulp. Hey, how could I not recognize you? We’ve been together for years.”

“B-Before, I might have recognized you… But if I were in the opposite situation, I probably wouldn’t have recognized you.”

While she might guess someone’s physique, it wouldn’t be easy to recognize a person whose hair color and clothing had completely changed.

Honestly, Ariel thought if she had found herself in the same situation with her mother, she wouldn’t have recognized her either.

“Not sure, but I found it easy to recognize you. That just means we’re close, doesn’t it?”

Edgar flashed a cheeky grin, raising his fork like a finger, causing Ariel’s face to flush.

Close, huh? He surely meant it as just their childhood friendship, but did he really have to say it like that?

It was quite silly how she felt embarrassed over something so trivial.

Regardless, by now, Edgar had completely emptied one salad plate.

Watching him chow down happily always warmed her heart, but today, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that his nonchalant eating looked a bit annoying.