I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

Translator : Idris

After they finally arrived at the palace, they spent the day without much incident and welcomed the next morning.

As a separate building used for special occasions in the palace, the room for lodging was also brilliant.

Is this how it feels to sleep with a silk blanket?

Edgar, who was still not used to it, left the room scratching his head after grooming himself.

Before participating in the ball in earnest, there is an event to accompany Ariel.

"You're here? If you're ready, let's go."

Ariel, who was always late for the morning schedule, came out to the hall first and was waiting.

Because of her personality to get through the troublesome task quickly, she chose to do it faster and get some sleep later.

Edgar, who arrived even a little later than her, also proved that she had come out and been waiting ridiculously early.

"Sorry I'm late. You're going to attend the ball right away?"

"Yeah. There's no fixed time for the ball anyway. You can take a break before I come back, or you can participate right away."

The reason why the party gathered from early morning today was to meet the empress.

Before participating in the debutante ball, all young people first greet the empress in person and are given words of blessing and a small pendant to celebrate their entry into society.

The pendant, also called Viriditas, is also a symbol of the fact that a teenager has become an adult through the debutante ball.

Some of them say that it is a very honorable thing just to meet the empress and receive Viriditas, but at least for Ariel, it was just part of a bothersome event.

"I heard in advance that the schedule is pretty tight."

"Who said so? What's the meaning of these empty formalities?"

Ariel, who heard Edgar's words, harshly criticized today's schedule in a deeply discontented tone.

It is good to participate in the debutante ball, but the problem was all the useless ceremonies in the middle.

Maybe she's more of a pragmatist and hates this useless act of giving each other trouble.

"Oh, miss… But there are other people around you…….”

"Hmm, if they want to hear it, just let them hear it anyway."

Shuri, who was still listening to this, hurriedly stopped her master due to the attention from around them.

But where is her master a great person to care about every single one of those trivial things?

Ariel, who snorted and looked around with sharp eyes, strode out of the annex.

The warm air welcomed her, just like the spring weather, when the flower buds and vegetation are about to bloom, but she seemed to not like it at all.

"Ed, when I go into the audience room, you can go look around the palace with Shuri."

When the debutante ball is held, all parts of the palace are open except for certain places.

Surprisingly, there are many young children who visit the palace because they want to see the inside of the palace at least once in their lives rather than participating in the ball, which is considered.

"Does it take that long?"

"It's my first time too, so I don't know how long it will take. But wouldn't it be better than standing still?"

"Hmm."

Edgar was not particularly interested in the imperial palace.

In the first place, he wasn't emotional enough to be dazzled by such a splendid building.

Shuri was willing to accompany him if he wanted to look around, but he didn't want to bother walking around in the morning.

“Shuri, what are you doing?”

“I’m fine too. Besides, the roads may cross, so it would be better to keep our seat if possible.”

"Suit yourself then. I am going in now.”

Ariel said that, but she felt proud of herself.

She knew that Shuri would reject her offer, but as for Edgar, he might go around ignoring her.

Still, does he have some self-awareness as an attendant?

For no reason, her shoulders were strained.

Ariel, who arrived at the palace and settled the two people outside, entered the ball room alone.

As she knelt down on one knee and showed her courtesy, a middle-aged woman sitting opposite the top seat greeted her with a smile.

She is Beatria Hellvenier, the current empress of the Hellvenier Empire.

Unlike the dignity of the queen's name, she was a woman who only seemed to be an impressive noble woman.

"The daughter of the Robeheim family. I've seen you a few times when you were about just the height of my waist, do you remember?"

Ariel's face was quite familiar because she had a lot of encounters with the empress as the daughter of the Grand Duke.

The empress remembered that the child still had the eyes of a pure child at that time, but she didn't expect to have such a mature woman's eyes before she knew it.

It occurred to her that time really flies fast.

"I remember it vaguely. Your Majesty the Empress."

"Thank you for remembering me. I'd like to have more private conversations, but I have other children to wait for later, so let's make a separate appointment for next time."

A woman who is qualified as an empress makes a separate appointment to meet with a person who is not a head of an aristocratic family, but is just a young woman?

Others may think it is absurd, but it was possible because the opponent was the successor of the Robeheim family.

"You will officially enter society through today's ball. There are many hardships in many ways, but there will also be many meaningful encounters. May your future be filled with good encounters."

Socialism is not just a place to build friendship.

Sometimes it is a place to discuss politics, and sometimes it is a place to strengthen power.

Among them, this girl's hard work as the sole heir to the Grand Duke is indescribable.

Therefore, Beatria blessed Ariel's future and also offered words of comfort for her future hardships.

Ariel bowed deeply and listened to Beatria's words because she was not such an idiot to ignore the advice given by others.

Maybe she listened more because the empress had a similar atmosphere to her mother, Helena.

"Will you come this way?"

"Yes, Her Majesty the Empress."

As she rose from her seat at the empress's call, a woman standing next to her approached and led Ariel to Beatria.

Then the empress showed Ariel a pendant piled up on a soft cloth in her hand, and as Ariel approached the empress she held it out to the girl carefully.

Beatria picked it up, slowly came down from the top seat and hung it around Ariel's neck.

"I hope you have a great time today. I hope you can meet, experience, and learn from many people."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Ariel kissed the back of Beatria's hand, greeted her, and headed to the entrance where she stepped back.

Finally, she stood up from her seat, straightened her back, tapped her left shoulder once with her right hand, and then lowered her head after bringing her fist to her heart.

This is a salute handed down only to the Robeheim family, not to anyone.

It is also an extreme example that only two people, called the greatest in the empires, could receive.

After confirming that, a calm smile formed on Beatria's lips while watching this, Ariel left the room without saying a word.

In the hallway, as expected, a considerable number of young lovers were chatting among familiar people waiting for their turn.

Ariel could not make too much noise in front of the audience room, so it was disgusting to see each of them whispering with their mouths covered.

"I feel like you're talking behind my back because you're looking at me and talking behind my back.

She thought she should meet Edgar soon and relieve this unpleasant feeling.

Of course, looking at the man's face does not make her feel better, but it means that it's better than being alone.

"Where is he?"

However, even if Ariel looked around, it was hard to find Edgar's traces.

He was so easy to stand out because of his starking red hair, but it was hard to find now.

Maybe he took Shuri and went on a tour of the palace?

It didn't matter because she said they could go with her own mouth, but if it was true, she thinks she would feel strangely sad.

"Like a fool."

Ariel shook her head and shook off her negative thoughts.

He came from the perspective of an attendant, and she brought him to a place where it is hard to see.

And she can't believe she's looking for that friend who's walking around to enjoy it.

Even if it's narrow-minded, isn't this an act like a living thing?

"Should I look around the palace for the first time in a while?"

Ariel's last visit to the palace was about three years ago.

The structure of this place remained quite clear in her head, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to look around because she just happened to be bored.

There's a lot to see one way or the other.

Just as she was about to turn around for a while, the familiar man's voice reached her ears.

"ARIEL!"

"Yes, of course."

As expected, he was waiting.

Maybe she didn't find him herself.

Indeed, how can a man who can't do anything without confidence go around this vast palace alone?

A smile was made out of joy, but she didn't try to show it, and Ariel turned around to the place where the voice came from.

And there's this thing.

"huh?"

For some reason, she saw her childhood friend waving at her while standing among young girls from other families whom she did not know.

BADUUM!!!

Ariel's heart suddenly started beating.

A question mark crept across her face at the sensation she had never felt before.

‘what?'

Suddenly, her fingertips trembled, and an unpleasant lump crept up in her chest.

Anger? No, it was something a little darker and more bizarre than that.

It felt as if a jet-black hand, rising from the darkness, was dragging her into the abyss.

It was a bit similar , but different from the emotions she felt when he talked to Shuri in the past.

If the sensations she felt at that time were close to alienation and loneliness, how should she express this?

It was as if she wanted to ask why he was there. She wanted to split them up right away and move him to where he should be.

Tap. Tap.

But before she even noticed what that feeling was, Ariel's free-moving feet were making her way towards Edgar even before she knew it.

“Um, isn’t that the Young Miss of the Robeheim family?”

“How come you seem very angry… Did we do anything wrong?”

The two girls were terrified as they saw Ariel approaching with red eyes.

In contrast, it was Edgar, who smiled in relief at the thought that he could finally get out of this.

With his, so glad face, let her slowly approach her,

thump

Ariel, who suddenly grabbed his hand, raised her eyes and opened her mouth in a cold tone.

"What are you doing here? You are mine, so stay by my side.”

She said so, without finding a way to express this feeling she had for the first time in her life.