I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

Translator-  Idris

It has been quite a long time since the promise under the moonlit night, which has been made between the two childhood friends who like to quarrel a lot with each other.

Edgar is now quite used to living in the castle, and he is also close to Lionel and Enya, whom he lived with under the same roof.

The only regret was that he hadn't been able to fulfill the promise he made to his childhood friend yet, but he didn't dare neglect his goal and trained harder, believing that one day, the opportunity will come.

Just like that.

In the early morning as usual.

A loud noise reverberated in the backyard of the castle belonging to the Grand Duke.

The source is on the patch of trimmed grass where Creed and Edgar were competing.

It is also a scene that became a daily routine every morning after Edgar came.

Edgar's opponent is almost twice the size as him, but he didn't back down and stood straight across from his opponent.

The audience of their match, Lionel and Enya, his two roommates stood at the side lines.

Even some of the personal guards from the House of Grand Ducal, came and sat down to watch the match, and they were all watching with utter seriousness, without a trace of looking at the match as if it were a child play.

"Oh, my".

"Still slow! Move more concisely!"

At Creed's outcry, Edgar increased his speed further, strutting out his chest and barely striking the incoming wooden sword.

Then, Creed, who was retrieving the wooden sword, changed his movement along the way and this time, he tried to hit Edgar's right shoulder from top to bottom.

“……!”

Edgar, who had already reached up to strike the opponent's wooden sword, recognized that he would be a beat late to parry with the incoming sword which had just changed its direction.

And it would also be ambiguous to stop Creed's attack at this angle.

Edgar has already swung his sword towards a direction and with faster speed at that.

"No, it's not."

As soon as his mind thought that this plan was crazy, without even thinking for a beat, Edagr's hand moved even faster than before and swung his sword from top to bottom.

This will work.

His intuition based on his experience of wielding a sword was telling him.

Efficient move.

In the meantime, he tried to move his body to the left as much as possible and escape the range of attack that was about to touch his right shoulder.

Creed's hand stopped as soon as their swords crossed, along with the breaking sound of the wooden sword tearing through the air.

Hit it!

“……?”

Edgar's wooden sword, which had been swung as it was, accurately hit Creed's chest, and on the contrary, Creed's wooden sword, which was aiming for Edgar's shoulder, was not touched and for a moment, their attack suspended in mid-air.

Edgar, who was surprised that Creed suddenly stopped attacking, blinked his eyes and looked up at him, who was one head larger than himself.

Creed, made eye contact with him, smiled and held Edgar's wooden sword that was poking at his chest.

"That's it for today's training. The last attack was a very good judgment."

"Oh, thank you for your hard work!"

Creed is actually a man who is stingier with praise than he thought.

But today, seeing Creed complimenting the last attack with a very satisfied expression, it means that his last attack really was a sharp one.

Edgar, surprised at this, looked at the other blankly, and belatedly bowed deeply to express his gratitude for his hard work.

"Wow! Edgar, your last attack was amazing! Right, En?"

"Uh, yeah… I don't know much about swordsmanship, but… I think it was really sharp.”

Lionel, who was watching the high-quality competition of the two, ran first and praised Edgar to the point where Edgar felt embarrassed.

Enya is a stranger to this field, but even to her, the last attack was great, so she affirmed Lionel's words.

"Thank you. I guess it was okay for you to say that."

To be honest, Edgar didn't make the last attack out of consciousness.

In other words, his body moved before his mind.

Creed would have reacted late and followed with another attack if he were to avoid the attack in that situation.

And it was normal to not engage in such moments, even if it is to counterattack.

Nevertheless, it was the difference between the two people, and was the first Edgar noticed at the last minute that he was sure his attack would work.

That's because Creed's physique and height are bigger than Edgar's.

In other words, assuming that it is equally swung from top to bottom, Edgar's sword is relatively faster to reach Creed's body.

However, in this case, they ignore the concept of muscle strength.

Of course, he didn't think that far in that short moment.

He just swung his sword because he was convinced that this blow would work before he even compared himself to the opponent's physique which was in front of him.

"It's amazing to me, too."

Edgar repeatedly held and opened his hands, as if his senses were still strange.

Does it mean that his skills have improved that much? It seems that the training so far does not go wasted.

"Hwee! That's great, Edgar!"

"You did a great job. Why don't you come here and have a snack?”

Soldiers from the Robeheim family, who were watching it from afar, also praised his swordsmanship by whistling and cheering.

Edgar has stayed here for nearly half a year and has been competing with Creed every morning.

And these soldiers were also those who watched his growth by appreciating the couple's training like a daily morning routine, unless something special happened.

They wouldn't have ever known that the boy who used to be beaten up in the hands of Sir Creed at first, will be able to strike a powerful blow like this one day.

It was really an improvement that is beyond their imagination.

Among the soldiers who have often watched the two men's battle recently, there were even half-jokes and half-truths that Edgar might threaten their positions in the near future.

"I am not taking away the breakfast you guys should be eating, right?"

Edgar approached the hoard of guards, with a smile at the corner of his lips, and accepted the food they handed over, which seemed like dried meat.

It was quite spicy and tasted good, probably sprinkled with spices on the outside.

‘Did they make it themselves?’

If so, it would be useful to learn how to make it another time.

He ate another one, thinking of another possibility, that if it was sold outside then he should find out where they are sold.

“Yonsuk-ah, we don’t have much age difference, but you call me ‘hyung'. It makes me feel like an old man.”

[T: Yonsuk stands for idealism, intuition, generosity. It probably is a title or pet name given to Edgar by the guards as they didn't know Edgar's real identity. This is purely my guess!!]

“Ah, to be honest, you’re in your mid-thirties, but isn’t hyung a little like that?”

"Ha ha, I can't outwit you, young man."

When the man who declared his surrender exaggeratedly with his hands raised, Edgar giggled and sat down on the grass and joined in on the story.

He hasn't been here for very long, but he's been fortunate enough to become quite friendly with the people around him.

It also played a role that most of them were friendly to him, except for the high officials who stayed inside the castle.

More than anything, he felt relieved because they all seem to be good people.

“Hey, his skills are enough to join the guard. Is not it? Raphael.”

“Honestly, with this guy's talents, the guard's position is too shallow for him. Looking at the growth rate, I think he will reach somewhere higher. ”

"I'm glad you think so highly of me."

Well, Edgar also had no intention of ending up in the position of guard.

Because what he was aiming for was high up there.

‘It’s still so high.’

Edgar smiled bitterly as he looked toward the balcony where Ariel lived.

He has climbed up there several times since their promise, but still, he can't help but think that there is still a long way for him to pass through that door officially as a friend and confidently entering her room.

There was no need to be impatient, but neither was it leisurely.

Because he knew better than anyone that the patience of that immature princess would not last very long.

“Come to think of it, the head of the family is taking a long time this time.”

“Don’t talk. The resistance of those guys is quite strong this time.”

Edgar, staring out onto the balcony, listened to the conversation behind him.

The story of Ariel's father, the head of the Robeheim family, whom he has not yet seen even though he has been living here for nearly half a year.

He couldn't help but be interested.

“What kind of person is the head of this place?”

“My lord? Edgar, have you never seen the head of the family since you came here?”

“Unfortunately.”

Edgar shrugged his shoulders and replied indifferently.

He would normally have a chance to see the man even from a distance, but for some reason, he really didn't see the man even once.

At this point, he wondered if someone was forcibly blocking their meeting.

“If I had to put it that way, he’s like the crystallization of toughness.”

“Even though he might break, he wouldn’t bend … Anyway, just looking at the head will make your hamstrings tingle.”

At the words of the two private guards, Edgar fell into thought.

Somehow, it seemed like a rough impression of the family head was being drawn in his mind.

To put it mildly, the family head in his imagination must be someone with a similar physique and body the size of Creed, but with the exact opposite personality.

The lines on his face are thick, his tone of voice is stiff, and his expression changes are not clear.

Putting aside personality, it is certain that he is the kind of person who is difficult to deal with just by looking at his appearance.

However, judging from Helena's remarks that Ariel resembled her father in her personality, the head's actual personality may be contrary to his expectations.

He was in the middle of a conversation with the guards, thinking that they would meet someday.

Creed, who played as Leonel and Enya's opponent from afar, made eye contact with Edgar, and suddenly bobbed his head back.

‘What happened? I was just thinking about meeting her .'

It was a kind of signal between the two people who had been together often for the past half year.

Creed actions meant ‘Ariel wants to meet you.’

It seems that his childhood friend, who was extremely busy, has some free time today.

Then they should go out to play together.

Edgar stood up lightly from his seat and brushed off a piece of grass from his buttocks.

The man called Raphel, who was watching this, messed around with the dried meat and then spoke with a questioning voice.

“You look busy today?”

Edgar, who used to talk more normally, got up quite quickly today.

What's wrong with the guy who always spent his time privately like an old man?

“Yes, there is someone I need to meet.”

" And who is that person?”

“Oh, by any chance, is that a girl?”

After his question, Raphel, the man smirked and raised his little finger.

At that, Edgar smiled and shrugged his shoulders, saying neither yes nor no.

“Are you going to meet your girlfriend?”

"what… Yes?"

“Oh, shit. Is she pretty?”

How surprised these people would be if they knew that the person Edgar was going to meet today was the only daughter of their family.

[T: ‘their family' it's becoz, the guards are personal guards of the Robeheim family.]

He wanted to surprise them, but because he knew it wasn't the right time yet, Edgar swallowed his words and smiled mysteriously.

Then he picked up his wooden sword from the ground, put it in his belt, and threw out a sentence lightly.

"I don't know if she is pretty, but I think she is a little cute."

Then, from behind, there was an exclamation of ‘Oh-oh!’ and some voices saying that he already had a sweetheart, but he ignored their remarks and moved on to the road to his temporary home.

Perhaps he will be beaten to death if he retells this story to Ariel.

Still, regardless of the danger, he is quite curious about the girl's reaction, so it wouldn't be bad to try it out today.

‘It must be fun.'

Already excited at the thought of making fun of his childhood friend, Edgar's legs moved more cheerly.

[T : Come join me on discord – https://discord.gg/arPpjtnZ ]