I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

When Edgar arrived at the place, he saw the back of Ariel who had arrived earlier than the time they agreed to meet, and he shouted her name gladly and approached her.

He was worried that people around them might notice his calling of Ariel's name, but fortunately, such a mishap did not happen.

“…….”

Ariel, on the other hand, turned her head around with a sulky expression when their eyes met.

Edgar approached her with a bitter smile and tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, I was not even late, but at least please accept my greeting."

When he checked the long pendulum clock in front of the store across the street, he found that he had arrived five minutes earlier than the appointment time.

He knew well that she doesn't like waiting, but he wasn't late at all and even arrived earlier.

"I know, you are not late. As my mother said in the first place, there is no reason to be angry over this."

"Get rid of those big puffy cheeks first and talk, only then will I believe you.”

Edgar didn't know why she was angry, but it's crystal clear that she's indeed angry.

After all, they have been together for 13 years.

Ariel, who glanced at Edgar while scratching her head as if in trouble, pouted her lips again.

Honestly, she wasn't angry.

No, to be exact, she was angry, but it wasn't just because Edgar was late, but also because of her own stupidity.

The beginning of this complex emotion arises three days ago when Edgar failed to visit her.

Ofcourse, Ariel understood that the boy must be busy, and she can't actually ask him to always come, not to mention when it's dangerous to pass over the barrier and the patrol guards.

However, since the boy hadn't come to see her for three days, she had expected him to come out earlier today.

Although he was definitely earlier than the appointment time, it hurt her pride that she was the first to come.

It was as if the boy wasn't expecting to see her, but she was the only one who was overly nervous.

‘You idiot, you idiot, Ed.'

‘You could've come out a little earlier. If you had done that, I wouldn't have any reason to feel this way.'

But the stupidest person was herself.

‘How can you think of such a childish idea when you're not a four-year-old kid anymore?'

Wake up, Ariel Robeheim.

You're the future heir to the Robeheim family.

If she's swayed by emotions like this, she will be beaten by her father again…….

"Hyaai!!"

"Oh, you still have reactions ugh…."

As Ariel was immersed in her own thoughts, a cat-like scream escaped her lips as she felt the strange touch on her neck.

When she heard the voice of her playful childhood friend, she was about to erupt in anger at any moment.

“……?”

However, when she turned her head, what she saw was not the face of her nasty childhood friend, but a flower that filled her vision.

It wasn't the amaryllis that she liked the most, and from the appearance it seemed to be a type of rose.

“You don't like it? Why is that expression on your face?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that… What flower is it?"

There was once a time when she had received a flower from this stinky boy when they were young, but such an incident has only happened once and she has never received any flower after they have grown up.

He was a man without a mood in the first place, so she didn't even expect such a gift, so the surprise increased even more.

Why is the wind blowing this way?

“What, you don't remember? There was a time when you made a fuss about visiting a Grand Duke's daughter but not bringing a single flower."

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, she remembered something like that.

To be honest, it was absurd to state something like that to your friend, but that day, she was in a good mood so she said it without even realizing it.

Later, when she went to bed asking to herself why she had said that, she regretted it and banged her head against the headboard.

But why does this man keep such small things in his heart?

“Bah, just like an idiot… I just said it casually, but you keep it in your heart?”

“Is that what you say to a person who gift you a flower? Catch it.”

Chit, if you give it a little cool, what would happen?

She knew that the difficulty level of expecting something such as getting flowers from this dense man was too high, but still, there is such a thing as a mood.

Besides, why is he dressed like this?

It is okay to pay attention to one's clothing when coming out to meet the heiress of the Grand Ducal, but his outfit is very modest.

If it wasn't for the flower, she would have pointed it out right away, but let's move on for today.

This must be an aspect that a lady of the Grand Duke's family should have.

More than that, what was she trying to say before?

Nice to meet you? Thank you? What did you do? Have you eaten?

No, they aren't suitable, she has to think of something else to say.

"Let's go, you must be busy later, so we have to grab this time to play well."

Without even thinking about it, she hurriedly reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt as he turned around and started to walk away.

The guy who turns his head to look around, looks at her as if asking what's going on?

She mumbled for a while without a reason but belatedly brought out her words.

Just as if she was pouring out all the emotions accumulated over the past three days in just one word.

“… I was bored, you fool."

It wasn't something she wanted to say, really.

She was just bored because she had no one to talk to.

Even if Shuri is there, she can't treat Ariel as comfortably as this guy does.

Yeah, that's all.

Just that.

"Then I ought to take you to play a lot today."

He patted her head again as if she were a child, but she decided to let him go for today.

Even if it wasn't her favorite Amaryllis, the red flower resembling the color of her eyes was very pretty.

Ariel was experiencing a really strange feeling today.

Obviously, given her years of living in Hespania, Edgar is not even close to her feet.

But Edgar walked around the heart of the city very freely as if he had lived here longer than she did.

"Oh, the food over there is delicious. You've never been there, have you?"

"I can't have been there, of course. In the first place, I don't even eat outside…….”

Ariel, who answered Edgar's question bluntly, looked sideways at the restaurant he pointed at.

She doesn't often come out of the castle, but putting aside that, there is a tiny wish and that is to walk around the city so freely just like now.

Originally, it was a kind of obligation for her to always be followed by a guard when she came out, or to go around in a carriage.

And it is difficult to wander around recklessly because it would make the crowd feel like ‘The heiress of the Grand Ducal must have come out to inspect the city.'

Today, she can walk around alone without such a distraction because it was only the right time.

Her father was away for a while, and Helena, who knew Ariel and Edgar couldn't see each other often, was generous.

Just in case, she actually didn't tell her mother that the boy often visited her secretly at night, which worked really well in this case.

"Then shall we go there? You've disguised anyway.”

Ariel had an accessory similar to Edgar's magic pendant and had her hair dyed bright red.

If her identity is found out, confusion could occur, and there was a high possibility that she would be caught in the incident by mistake, so a kind of safety device was prepared.

On the contrary, Edgar had dyed his hair black, but somehow it became a funny situation where the two exchanged their hair color.

"By all means. Be prepared if the dishes don't suit my taste."

"Well, I shall shoulder the responsibility."

Edgar shrugged at Ariel's bluff but casually moved to the restaurant.

It probably means that the taste is guaranteed.

Ariel also never had any bad experience in the restaurant or stall the boy took her to, so she always believed the boy and followed.

Maybe it's an example of how picky she is.

"Shall we sit outside? I'm sure it's not good, right?"

"It doesn't really matter. No one would even recognize it anyway."

Then Ariel followed Edgar's recommendation to sit outside to get some fresh air for the first time in a long time.

Soon after, a waiter came to the place where the two sat with a menu.

Given that the number of dishes in the menu is not large, Ariel speculated that this would be the kind of store where they planned to win with a few signature dishes.

"Your black hair feels awkward."

Ariel was the first of the two who sat still and stared at each other after successfully completing the order.

The boy always had black hair when he came at night, but she still couldn't get used to it even after nearly half a year had passed.

"Are you in a position to talk about me? From my point of view, you look even more weird. "

"That's true, too."

Nodding her head as if she was convinced, she smoothed the edge of the cup containing water for no reason.

Come to think of it, she had shown this kind of distracted expression almost twice in just one day in front of her childhood friend.

It was only the third time today, so it would be rather normal not to adapt.

"Huh? Come to think of it, how did you notice me?"

Ariel, who had been thinking, suddenly felt strange and tilted her head.

Apparently, he just saw her back and then boldly called out her name.

But how could he tell that it was her when the color of her hair and her usual attire has been altered.

"Ed."

"Huh? What?"

Edgar, who was mumbling about the appetizer brought by the waiter, answered the sudden call.

He swallowed whatever was in his mouth and answered back.

Ariel's expression darkened but it's not like this is the first time, so she just sighed, decided to let him go and continued to talk.

"How did you know it was me before? You were only able to see the back…….”

The question she asked to set the mood was so ridiculous, and Edgar's brow naturally frowned.

He's just going to eat the food that is served. What does she want?

"Gulp. Hey, how can I not recognize you? We've been together for years."

“Mo, maybe you don’t recognize me… ? To be honest, I don't think I would have recognized it had it been the other way around.”

Although it is possible to infer from the physique or appearance to some extent, it is not so easy to recognize someone who has changed their clothes and even their hair color.

Ariel thought that if she had been with her mother in the same situation as before, she would not have noticed right away.

“Okay? It's really easy for me to recognize you. Then it must mean that we are so special.”

Ariel's face turned red at the sight of the boy holding out his fork like a finger and smiling smirkingly.

Special relationship, she's sure he wants to say that they're childhood friends, but does he have to say it that way?

She felt really stupid for being ashamed of something insignificant.

Either that or not, Edgar had emptied a plate of salad before he knew it.

She would always be happy to see him eating happily from the side, but today for some reason, Ariel felt disgusted by the way he munched his food naturally.

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