I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

Translator : Idris

There is a girl who is leisurely drinking tea in the drawing room while waiting for her friend to come.

With platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.

Even though she was alone, the playfulness that could be seen in the faint smile on her lips revealed her personality well.

Her name is Sylvia Lorenz.

The second daughter of Count Lorenz, and one of Ariel’s few friends, this is her first visit to the Robeheim family in a while.

“Hurp.”

‘Why is my friend who would normally have arrived exactly on time for our appointment so late today?'

Sylvia took a sip of the fragrant black tea and wondered, but she didn’t particularly give it much thought.

That should be the case, because there was only one thing she could guess.

rattle!

“hahahaha… sorry. Am I late?”

“Come on, Ariel. It’s not a big deal.”

How does Ariel arrive at such an exact moment when she is thinking about her?

Seeing her friend hurriedly tidying up her hair while gasping for breath, Sylvia greeted her with a light smile.

‘Hmm?’

Then, with a sudden sense of incongruity, she tilted her head slightly and looked in the direction of the door Ariel entered.

Originally, there should have been one more person, but for some reason, only one person came.

“Didn’t Edgar come with you?”

Just as the thread follows the needle, Edgar was always with Ariel.

Besides, since their first meeting, he's become quite close with Sylvia, so there’s nothing particularly uncomfortable about their relationship.

Even so, it was a surprise that he hadn’t followed Ariel today.

“uh? Yes… he has something to do.”

“Oh?”

Sylvia blinked her eyes and tilted her head.

It’s a strange thing. Edgar’s personality doesn’t seem like he’ll be away from Ariel just because he has some business to do.

Even though Sylvia hadn’t met him much, at least she knew that he was exceptionally caring for Ariel.

That’s why she didn’t think he would be separated from Ariel for just one errand, so she wonders if it’s that urgent.

“Then it’s just the two of us today.”

“Yeah. Lately, he has always been with me.”

“Well, it’s us then, I’m fine.”

It was nice to see a lot of Ariel’s cute side when she was with him, but as for Sylvia, it was also fun to have a friendly conversation with her girl friend anyway.

Besides, there was a gift she wanted to give her, but it would not be appropriate for her to give it in front of Edgar.

“Anyway, how have you been? How is your relationship with him?”

“He-don’t say that! Those who don't know will think we are already in a relationship.”

“Hey, why are you still like that?”

When Ariel shrieked out, realizing that ‘him’ meant Edgar, Sylvia leisurely stirred the teacup with a spoon and gave a calm look.

It’s been quite a while since she has stopped by the Robeheim family recently, so she thought there would be some progress in the meantime.

But tt seems that her expectations of her wooden friend were high.

“What kind of ego is stopping you? If it were me, I would have even stolen his lips long ago.”

Sylvia shook her head and give a pitiful smile at Ariel, who was having trouble.

Basically, Sylvia was a very active woman in dating and love.

It was a caution that if the opponent did not approach, she would go approach them. The lover she's dating now has also been obtained from using this technique.

Maybe this is the reason why Sylvia is so frustrated to see her friend who is still nervous and acting carefully

Even if the other party is a person made of stone, maybe he might come around with his feelings if she took the initiative to kiss him.

“This, lips… … !?”

“Sigh!”

As Sylvia sighed in regret, Ariel’s hoarse voice came out briefly.

Sylvia’s head lifted lightly, feeling a sense of incongruity.

‘what?’

If it were the usual Ariel, she would have immediately yelled out ‘How could I do such a thing!’

Sylvia felt a sense of incongruity at the appearance of her friend not being able to do this or that, left with only her face blushing hard.

‘Perhaps?’

Sylvia’s pupils narrowed as she caught the gap.

She didn't dare to expect it at first, but there is no such thing as an exact thing in the world.

So Sylvia opened her mouth with a mischievous smile, with the feeling that there was nothing to lose anyway.

“Ariel, are you… Did you kiss Edgar?”

“… … !?”

“… Really?”

Sylvia stared at Ariel in disbelief and asked again.

Her normally large pupils dilated about twice as much.

The silence lasted for a while.

Sylvia, who was staring at Ariel with her head down, stood up, thinking that this would not be the case.

Then she moved to the seat next to Ariel and jabbed her in the shoulder.

“Okay, let’s get into interrogation mode. Miss Ariel Robeim, can you explain in detail about what happened?”

“That, it was an accident… ! Why would I go kiss such an idiot… … !”

“Oh, it was an accident?”

A light whistle flowed from Sylvia’s mouth at the excuse which is quite Ariel-like.

She doesn't know if it was actually an accident or if it was deliberately done and disguised as an accident, but her reaction itself was a passing point.

“So what happened after the accident?”

“Bahh, it isn't a big deal anyway? It just happened a little while ago… … .”

“If it was just a little while ago… Right before you came?”

Nod! Nod!

Ariel took the place of answer by silently nodding her head.

At that, Sylvia’s hands trembled with joy, not knowing what to do.

‘Such fresh and heart warming news ah!’

Sylvia shuddered with joy and spat out delight in her heart.

It seems like it really was a good thing for her to stop by the castle today.

To hear a news as hot as freshly baked bread.

Besides, the time seemed very appropriate to hand over the gift she had brought with her.

Of course, handing it over will have to be postponed for a while.

“So uh, how was it?”

Sylvia was so excited that she stuttered uncharacteristically.

After all, there’s nothing more fun than someone else’s love story.

It’s not even a passer-by, but a love story between her friend (Edgar) and her best friend. She couldn’t help but look forward to it.

“How was it… It hurt.”

“It hurt… Say?”

“Yes.”

However, the answer that came back was completely unexpected.

Sylvia, dumbfounded, asked with her eyes wide open, but Ariel calmly nodded.

‘It couldn't be that, is it?’

Sylvia inadvertently let her imagination run wild and almost continued her delusions to the point of severeness, but she managed to control herself in time.

They said they kissed each other in an accident, so they probably wouldn’t have gone to that point.

She felt she needed to calm down her excitement and hear more details.

“How did that happen?”

“Nothing. After training, he was asleep, so I tried to wipe his sweaty head, but he suddenly woke up and bumped into me.”

“Ahh.”

Sylvia nodded as if she finally understood.

‘That’s why she said the kiss hurt.’

Well, if you bump into someone who woke up so suddenly, the touch of a kiss or whatever, it just hurts.

In the midst of that, their lips met, but she couldn’t tell whether to say it was good luck or bad luck.

“Anyway, it wasn’t like a kiss! Because I don’t even want to admit it!”

“What do you mean by not wanting to admit it?”

“That, that… … .”

Ariel showed a visibly taken aback expression at the sudden strike.

It must have been because she guessed what Sylvia was asking.

Is it the act of kissing by mistake that she doesn’t want to admit?

Or is it her feelings for Edgar?

In fact, Ariel had already acknowledged her feelings for Edgar.

It was just that she had never revealed her true feelings to Sylvia or Shuri until now because of her insistence on not revealing it to others.

‘It feels like I’m losing somehow.’

She just didn’t confess, but that somehow hurt her pride.

For Ariel, who had lived with her pride as her first priority, this was a very serious problem.

“Cuckoo, okay. I won’t ask such nasty questions anymore. okay?”

“Yes… … .”

Fortunately, thanks to Sylvia taking a step back, Ariel was able to breathe.

Sylvia is also a friend who knows about Ariel well enough to be put on the same line as Edgar.

Although their disposition is quite different.

“I’m sorry for teasing you, so I’ll give you a special gift. Let’s go over this one more time.”

“A special gift?”

Since the gifts Sylvia brings are always full of wonders, Ariel inflated her anticipation in her heart.

Even if her gifts usually lacks practicality a little, the first time she received Sylvia's gift, she thought ‘Wow!’ It is only Sylvia’s gift that can make her feel like that.

“Now, would you like to unpack it yourself?”

“yes.”

Ariel received the small box from her friend and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper.

The size of the box felt small enough for a music box to fit in, so her expectations were somewhat lower than before.

‘Is it an accessory?’

She thought to herself that it wouldn’t be bad anyway, and when she completely removed the wrapping paper, what was revealed was a glass bottle containing colorful candies in it.

“How? Isn’t it pretty?”

“Yes, it is pretty.”

To be honest, it wasn’t what she expected, but as Sylvia said, it looked like a lot of work for just a candy jar.

“Can I try it?”

“Sure. It’s a gift I brought over for you to eat.”

Anyway, it was a gift that Ariel, who likes sweet things, was grateful for, so she lightly expressed her gratitude and opened the lid to pick up a pink candy and eat it.

It wasn’t that big, as she chewed on it, it melted in her mouth right away.

“Delicious?”

“Yeah, it’s delicious. Where did you get it from?”

“It’s something I got as a gift too. I thought you might need it.”

Need?

Ariel expressed her curiosity at a strange word caught in the middle.

‘Did she just say that I need candies?’

Not ‘because I think Ariel will like it’, not ‘I want to give it to Ariel’, but ‘because I think you'll need it’.

It seemed a bit silly, but thinking it was a mistake, Ariel brushed it off lightly.

“Ate it all?”

“Yes.”

Ariel doesn't know if it tastes like strawberries because it’s pink, but it tasted good to Ariel anyway.

She didn’t feel anything special about the things Sylvia brought, except for its unique appearance.

“But why is this strange?”

Ariel, who was rolling another candy into her mouth, couldn’t help but ask, and the smile on Sylvia’s lips grew even deeper.

“Hey, are you curious?”

“Ofcourse, I am.”

Ariel looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Ariel thought to herself, Sylvia won't go back on her words and answer her question with ‘It's a wonderful gift' ?

As if urging Sylvia to say something quickly, Ariel lightly tapped her chin, and Sylvia finally revealed the identity of the candy in a hushed voice.

“That’s magic candy.”

“… what?”

What is magic candy?

Ariel dropped a piece of candy in her hand at the answer that she couldn’t even understand and inadvertently asked back.

In response, Sylvia picked up a candy from a glass bottle and brought it in front of Ariel’s eyes, then added a devilish smile.

“If you eat that candy, you will speak your mind even if you don’t want to.”

Rather than being honest, it could be seen as an effect that brings out the hidden secrets that are inside one's mind.

Even if you don’t want to say it, it’s a drug that brings out the stories you’ve been putting deep in your mind.

That is the identity of this candy.

Ariel’s pupils widened after hearing the truth, and soon a voice close to screaming poured out of her mouth.

That day, Sylvia had to sweat hard to stop her friend from using magic on her for the first time.

It is as if she had dug up her own grave.