I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 54

Helene calmed down, and we began to talk a bit more as the night was already upon us.

Edgar, who had decided to postpone meeting Yulken until tomorrow, was lying alone in his room. Feeling restless, he picked up the wooden sword that was standing next to his desk and left the castle.

It was a particularly bright night, and as he stepped into the backyard, the guard, who had been on alert, quickly spotted Edgar and asked about his intentions.

Lifting the wooden sword with a chuckle, the guard, who was familiar with Edgar, nodded and let him pass.

Edgar found a spot where he often practiced with Creed and began to swing the wooden sword in silence to clear his mind.

Swish. Swish.

With each swing, the wooden sword sliced through the air and struck its target, then he would retrieve it and repeat the process.

After dozens and then hundreds of swings, droplets of sweat began to form on Edgar’s neck and forehead.

“Hah.”

Without even bringing a towel, he had nothing to wipe his sweat with. So, with a short sigh, Edgar lay back on the grass.

The chilly touch of the dew-soaked grass against his skin felt refreshing enough to cool his sweat a little.

Thud.

“Gah!?”

At that moment, something soft landed on Edgar’s face, blocking his sight and breath.

Flailing his arms helplessly in the air, he noticed a figure approaching him, unable to suppress a laugh.

“Pfft, what are you doing? Acting like a fool.”

“It’s you! What are you doing here at such a late hour? It’s dangerous.”

“I saw you from the balcony and felt sorry for you coming out without a towel or water.”

Sure enough, Ariel was holding a small water flask in her hand.

Without a word, she tossed it over, and after confirming he caught it, Ariel carefully sat down on the grass.

“Because of you, the guards are only watching this way.”

With the heir of the Grand Duchy out at this late hour, their anxiety must have been through the roof.

However, despite Edgar’s chastisement, Ariel merely pouted and shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t matter to her.

“Should I not come out just because I might get looked at?”

“Well, that’s not what I meant… but still, I’m glad to see you back to your usual self.”

“……”

With Edgar feeling a bit relieved, he managed a smirk, and Ariel stared at him silently.

Then, suddenly.

She shifted her position, moving closer to him while seated.

Maybe it was because she was only swinging the wooden sword earlier, but a smell akin to sweat wafted from him.

“Hey, don’t come too close. I smell like sweat right now.”

“So? When have I ever cared about that?”

“Right, but I do care!”

Edgar took a step sideways, trying to escape, but Ariel quickly followed him.

Her actions were less like her usual self, but her expression remained totally unaffected, leaving Edgar wondering why she was behaving like that today.

“Do you have a kink for smelling other people’s sweat or something? What’s with you?”

“Am I crazy? I told you it doesn’t bother me, so why would I want to smell your sweat?”

“Exactly, which is why I’m saying it does matter!”

“Ugh, this is so frustrating!”

Defeated, Edgar gave up on brushing Ariel off, lowering his head in surrender.

This brought a victorious smile to her lips.

He was often bested in arguments with her, but lately, it felt like he’d been winning a bit more, which put her in a good mood.

“So why did you come out? It’s cold at night.”

“I brought my coat… it’s okay. Just needed some fresh air and wanted to ask you something.”

“Ask me something?”

Edgar had something he wanted to say too, but since it was late, he was thinking of pushing it to tomorrow.

For now, he could answer Ariel’s urgent question and save his for later.

“What is it? Just tell me.”

“Before that, you tell me first.”

“Me?”

He wondered why she was trying to switch the order on him when she had said earlier that she had a question.

He had never actually indicated he wanted to say something, but why was she insisting on that?

Ariel chuckled softly at Edgar’s confused gaze.

“Did you really think only you know me well? It’s the same for me, you fool.”

“You look like you have a gazillion things you want to ask.”

With a soft, sweet smile and a little head tilt, she continued.

“My question can wait. Just tell me yours already.”

“Are you sure? Isn’t that why you came here?”

“Yeah, I thought sometimes it wouldn’t be bad to just listen.”

When they met, it was usually Ariel who overflowed with words and Edgar who simply listened.

But today, she wanted to switch it up a bit.

Upon hearing her words, Edgar’s dilated pupils returned to normal.

Honestly, he had mulled over whether this was a good time to bring it up.

He wanted to hear Ariel’s take on things without even asking about Yulken’s intentions, wondering if what he shared were mere speculations or truths.

But before meeting Yulken, he wanted to hear her affirmations again.

He just wanted to understand what she truly desired.

His job would merely be to support her a little along the way.

“Sounds like this will be a long story.”

“Yup.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll listen until dawn if I have to.”

Ariel smiled wide as she quoted a line Edgar had used before.

Somehow, seeing her like this put him at ease, so he nodded slightly and finally opened his mouth.

It wasn’t until the moon in the night sky tilted a little sideways that the conversation finally reached its conclusion.

—

The story Edgar shared was quite surprising.

He added that it wasn’t definite yet, but based on what he described of his mother’s reaction and the diary entries, it could mostly be considered settled.

However, strangely enough, he didn’t feel emotions like anger or emptiness.

Instead, he felt a sense of happiness, simply knowing that his father didn’t hate him.

Just that alone made this news more valuable than anything he had heard before.

After a brief silence of contemplation, he noticed that Ariel seemed to think he was saddened and gently patted his back.

Though his hands were calloused from swinging the wooden sword all day, they felt just warm and soft to him.

Perhaps it was because he felt the emotions he carried through that touch.

“Are you not angry?”

“No, surprisingly, I’m not angry. I actually feel relieved.”

“Wow, you’re quite the person.”

“Quite the person? Really?”

That word made him tilt his head in confusion.

He had jokingly praised himself for being magnanimous before, but deep down, he knew he was more petty.

This wasn’t about him being magnanimous; it was simply a reasonable reaction.

Considering his reasoning, the weight of the burden on him was lighter than the load carried by his father.

Of course, it was unfortunate he hadn’t shared any opinions with him about it, but perhaps it meant his father had been cornered too.

Even the father he thought could stand strong and coldly choose everything must have had his share of tricky problems.

As he managed to dissolve even some of the confusions he had piled up over time, curiosity suddenly struck him.

How had his mother planned to tell Edgar all of these things?

No matter how much she thought highly of him, there needed to be a solid reason to share such intimate family matters.

“But, hey, did your mom say anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I were her, I would’ve definitely asked why you’ve gone this far.”

“…The idea alone gives me the creeps.”

A smirk that didn’t come off too artificially put Edgar’s eyes on high alert, his arms crossed as he leaned back.

It seemed like his assumptions were right.

Yet, something about his response seemed incredibly awkward.

“Um… do I really have to say?”

“Then were you trying to talk only about what you wanted?”

“Hey, saying it like that makes me sound like garbage.”

Hmph! How dare he try to end it with just what he wanted to say?

Since it’d come to this point, he felt he needed to know all the conversations he and his mother had had as well.

But just what had they spoken about to evoke such reactions? Curiosity bubbled up.

“…Honestly, before showing her the diary, she asked me. Since I had no reason or justification, why did I go out of my way to do this?”

“What did you say?”

Probably offering some lame excuses about being unable to stay still as a friend, or something along those lines.

That was fairly predictable, so he didn’t feel much suspense or excitement.

It felt like turning to the last page of a book where the ending was already written.

But then, seeing Edgar nervously scratching his cheek as he finally opened his tightly closed mouth, he realized he needed to change his notion.

“I said I wanted to see you smile.”

“…Huh?”

Had he really heard that correctly?

For a moment, he lost himself in thoughts mixed with feelings like a confession.

Perhaps he was saying it as a joke, wanting to see his reaction, but he looked away all shy and fidgety, so it felt real.

“I’m just embarrassed too, so quit reacting like that and just listen. Seriously, what’s with your curiosity?”

As he spoke, Edgar’s face lit up under the moonlight, and it seemed oddly red.

This guy was blushing! It made her feel shy too.

Why did he go and say something like that?

She’d expected him to respond differently, after all.

But then again, this fool had consistently gone beyond her expectations.

And she’d ended up digging her own grave.

Meanwhile, Edgar was doing his best to sound nonchalant, trying to hide his embarrassment as he continued.

“Honestly, I don’t know the reason. I just felt sad when you cried. When you smile, I can’t help but smile too… So, I just wanted you to smile. Even if it’s so I don’t cry.”

“What kind of reasoning is that? In the end, it’s for your sake.”

She had reacted in a much more curt tone than she meant to, but she realized that he was merely trying to cover his own embarrassment.

He was trying to highlight that it wasn’t all for her but also for himself.

This idiot was too honest for his own good. Yet, she couldn’t say anything about it either.

“Listening to you feels like some sort of confession.”

“Confession, my foot. Just go back to sleep.”

“That’s merely my thoughts on what you said! That’s hilarious.”

With a huff, she turned her head, feeling a warmth rising within her.

What a dense person he was! Some might think that saying even as a joke was too much.

On a beautiful night like this, she might even agree to that without thinking twice.

‘Happy, but somehow annoyed.’

She wasn’t the fool here.

Whenever she saw this idiot, her heart would race, and she wasn’t so foolish as not to realize why her cheeks turned red.

But this was just her stubbornness.

She was often defeated by him and never got to express her feelings last time.

Now, she wanted the last moment to be a victory for her.

That thought made her push through, trying her best not to notice him.

Deceiving herself and not letting anyone else in on the truth.

That’s why she had wanted to ask him something today, though it felt like a question she needed to keep hidden.

‘What do you think I am?’

She had hoped he might notice her as a girl, instead of seeing her as just a little sister or a friend.

But asking Edgar that question now would be unfair.

Perhaps he was even more clueless than she was, unable to recognize his own feelings.

So, she could afford to give him some time.

Until this fool willingly placed his victory in her hands and couldn’t live without her in his life.

She was confident she could easily make this simpleton hers.

As the heir of the Robeheim family, overcoming such challenges was a piece of cake.

“Edgar.”

“What?”

“Look forward to it.”

“……?”

As she declared war upon him, he looked on with blank eyes, tilting his head.

What a foolish man. But how long could he stay so oblivious to everything?

This was entirely a war he had started, Edgar.

Had he even known what he felt for her, she might have kept pretending the lie would continue indefinitely.

But his earlier words had left a gap. And now she was motivated.

So, he would have to repay her for that.

Of course, she wouldn’t directly go about being flirtatious with him.

He would still remain her foolish childhood friend, and there wouldn’t be any sudden bewitching moments wherein she threw herself at him.

But at the very least, she wanted to change the way he saw her—from a cherished friend to someone who should be cherished as a girl.

That was neither frivolous nor embarrassing, just a lady’s natural way of acting.

After all, she would simply make him notice her like a flower drawing in a bee.

“Edgar.”

“What now?”

His tone got a little louder since she called him that way again.

Her following words quickly dulled the volume down.

“Thank you. I wanted to make sure to tell you this, no matter how this ends.”

“…Yeah.”

As the two of them sat on the grass, she gently placed her hand over his, where it had rested.

It felt like something a friend could easily do, a gesture that was supposed to be a simple carry-over.

Moreover, it had its own meaning, now that he saw her from so close.

With all her hopes resting on the fact that she might stand as the winner in the end.

She entrusted herself to the wind that was blowing through.

Even after hearing such incredible stories, her heart still beat with a strange calmness.

Thud. Thud.

“Why are you trembling so much? Are you cold?”

“Sh-Shut up! You idiot!”

…All in all, she felt quite at peace.