I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 92

After returning from Etle, Ariel’s expression had brightened up so much that anyone could see it at a glance.

It’s a perfect example of the significant change that comes to someone who has finally set their heart at ease.

On the other hand, Shuri had to endure her own hardships without even a moment to rejoice at her master’s change.

This was because Ariel kept poking at her with subtle remarks about the time Shuri had secretly followed her to Etle, making her uncomfortable.

“Master…! Please save me…!”

And so, after enduring days like these, Shuri surprisingly ran into Edgar early again today.

As soon as she saw his face, the hardships of yesterday flooded back to her mind, and with a pained expression, she clung to him.

Grabbing his arm and shaking it, she looked as pitiful as a cicada stuck to a withered tree.

“You must have been really suffering.”

“Y-yeah, yesterday the young lady… hic!”

“Geez, this one’s dragging on longer than usual.”

With Edgar offering no solutions, all he could do was scratch his head in a perplexed manner while trying to comfort her.

It seemed this time Ariel was determined; even after Edgar sided with Shuri, listening to her woes, it had no effect at all.

Moreover, Ariel was quietly learning how to deal with Edgar; while nodding affirmatively in front of him, she would poke fun at Shuri behind his back.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising if a capable user like Shuri considered making a drastic choice to escape her master’s torment.

Edgar wanted to do something about it, but finding a solution this time wasn’t going smoothly.

“Is the young lady very angry… ? It would be better if she could just let it out…”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

At least from what Edgar saw, Ariel wasn’t one to hold grudges for long.

She had a personality that couldn’t keep emotions in check; if she was angry, she would just let it out on the spot and be done with it.

Most likely, this behavior stemmed purely from mischief.

After all, Shuri had acted first and had no real ground to protest against Ariel, who held the upper hand in their master-servant relationship.

The problem was that while it could seem like just playful teasing from a bystander, for Shuri, it felt more like her boss’s bullying, nothing more or less.

Additionally, unlike Edgar, who could predict Ariel’s true intentions, Shuri couldn’t fully accept it as mere fun.

‘Ugh, this is rather troublesome.’

Concerned that Shuri might end up drowning her worries in alcohol at night, Edgar felt he needed to come up with a solution.

The real question was how to break through her stubbornness.

“For now, just hold on a bit longer. I’ll figure something out.”

“Ugh, I’m so sorry… I know I shouldn’t be asking you this, but I have nowhere else to go…”

“That’s understandable.”

Edgar gave Shuri a gentle pat on the shoulder, as it was entirely plausible that she would feel overwhelmed.

It wasn’t that Shuri wasn’t used to Ariel teasing her; whenever that happened, Edgar had always lent a helping hand, so it wasn’t really a tough situation for him.

The only issue was that this time, the solution seemed rather complex.

In the past, whenever Ariel teased Shuri, Edgar would tease Ariel in return, essentially negotiating, “If you don’t want to be teased, then you should stop.”

But this time, that approach probably wouldn’t work at all.

Ariel had been subjected to enough teasing from Edgar to be somewhat immune to it, and more importantly, the fact that they were now in a romantic relationship played a huge role in that.

No matter how long they’d been childhood friends and joked comfortably, there was no way Edgar could side with another girl in front of his girlfriend.

“Well, anyway, you’ve done enough for today. I’ll stick by Ariel’s side for a while, so just focus on your work.”

“Thank you, young master.”

With a bow of her head, Shuri hastily walked off somewhere.

Edgar guessed she was probably going to prepare some tea to wake Ariel from her morning slumber, then quietly turned to knock on the door to his lover’s room.

Once again, there was no response.

He hadn’t really expected one, raising his eyebrows before opening the door.

On the other side lay the future ruler of the North, sleeping soundly while hugging a pillow.

* * * * * * *

Awakening from a deep sleep, Ariel slowly rose after having some tea prepared by Shuri to shake off her drowsiness.

Still, this was considered quite early for her compared to her previous habits.

Back then, she would sometimes even skip breakfast, meaning her wake-up times were quite irregular.

However, considering that she couldn’t recall skipping breakfast in recent memory, it was a significant improvement.

“Thanks, Shuri. I’ll take care of the rest, so you can go.”

“Eh? But…”

After Shuri tidied up Ariel’s clothes and placed the scattered pieces into a basket, Edgar, who momentarily turned away, instructed her to leave the rest to him, which made Shuri’s eyes widen in surprise.

While she appreciated his kindness, it was just something she needed to do as a user.

“It’s fine. You can go outside. You’ll be heading for a meal soon anyway.”

“Then I’ll just wait outside.”

With her status as a maid not allowing her to stray elsewhere, Shuri ultimately decided to wait outside the door.

Nodding very slightly, Edgar quietly approached Ariel from behind as she sat and gently untangled her hair.

“Are you doing it yourself today? What’s gotten into you?”

In the past, he had sometimes taken on the role of a servant, helping her with things, but recently he hadn’t done such things.

Yet today, he seemed to be in the mood to do it himself, which made Ariel genuinely happy.

It didn’t mean Shuri lacked skill; it just felt nicer when it was done by him.

“Just thought it’d be nice to do it every now and then.”

“Hmmm, did something good happen today?”

“Good? It’s because of you that I’m having a headache, you know?”

Chuckling softly, Edgar first smoothed out the knots in Ariel’s hair before running a comb through it.

Usually, Ariel would have been chirping happily at his gentle touch, but she couldn’t enjoy it fully now due to the earlier comment of his weighing on her mind.

“What do you mean ‘because of me’?”

“Because you keep teasing Shuri, and now I’m the one suffering because of it. Stop picking on her.”

“I only tease her because she deserves it. Hmph.”

“If someone were to see this, they’d think you committed a mortal sin.”

Of course, following her around secretly could be considered a serious offense in the eyes of the nobility, but to Edgar, it was nothing more than a minor prank he could overlook.

Portraying it as such had been absolutely necessary, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.

“By the way, what were you talking about earlier?”

“Talking? With whom?”

“With Shuri, of course.”

As they continued their usual playful banter, Ariel suddenly recalled a brief conversation she had heard between Edgar and Shuri while still a bit drowsy, so she asked.

She hadn’t caught it all due to her foggy mind, but she did remember they had been chatting quite cheerfully.

If it had been another woman talking to Edgar in her absence, her expression would have turned fierce immediately.

However, as Shuri was one of the three women who wouldn’t feel jealous of Ariel talking with Edgar, she could ask about it so calmly.

“Not much. I just got up a bit early for breakfast and she asked what I was having.”

“Wait, you already ate?”

Hearing that Edgar had eaten earlier sparked disappointment in Ariel, who had been looking forward to having breakfast together.

Pouting, she replied with a slight sulk.

Edgar then reached out a hand towards her face, finding her lips through a mirror, before playfully pressing them down with his fingers.

As if to say, “Put that lip back in.”

“Yeah. I got up a bit early. I swung my sword for a bit, then went to the kitchen and asked for just one sandwich to take with me.”

“Is that enough? Why not have a full meal?”

“I figured I’d take something just in case. But I said I’d go right after finishing this, so it’s all good.”

That was enough for Ariel, who smiled contentedly and began to dance lightly, as if to the sound of music playing somewhere.

In moments like this, Edgar couldn’t help but see her as a little child.

“Was that really the whole conversation?”

Ariel felt like they must have talked for quite a while, yet the topics had been too brief.

She tilted her head slightly, asking if there was anything more, but Edgar paused, lost in thought for a moment before letting out a soft exclamation.

“Oh, actually, I was about to tell Shuri something about…”

Knock, knock.

Just as he was about to continue his sentence, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

It was none other than Shuri herself knocking, as she had not come for any reason but rather because Helene had arrived.

“Oh my, I’m sorry. Should I have come a bit later?”

“It’s alright, Mother. What brings you here?”

“What brings me here? I just wanted to see my daughter’s face this morning.”

Though Ariel was soon to be an adult, to Helene, she would always be her precious daughter, a cute child who would not hurt.

“Were you in the middle of getting ready? If so, can I help you this time?”

“Of course! Edgar, could you hand the comb to my mother?”

It was a bit unfortunate that her time alone with Edgar was cut short, but seeing as she had been spending less time with Helene lately, Ariel saw it as a perfect opportunity.

Edgar quietly handed the comb he had been holding over to Helene and gently slipped out of the room.

He had no desire to interrupt this rare moment between mother and daughter.

‘Just what was he going to say alone?’

Meanwhile, slightly glancing towards where Edgar had disappeared, Ariel was pondering the words he nearly let slip moments ago when her mother’s voice hurried her thoughts back.

For some reason, there was still a lingering knot in her heart.

Today, Edgar had mentioned that after breakfast, he would go out for a bit before sticking by her side. So, she thought she would ask Shuri before that.