I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

A mournful cry echoed on the peaceful mountain.

The source of that cry was none other than the immature princess, Ariel.

The pain that comes from the abrasion on her knee caused her to keep crying non-stop without a care for the world.

“What a struggle because of that one raspberry.”

“cee, i wish Ed could have helped!”

Thanks to his childhood friend who was good at talking nonsense, Edgar felt like he was going to have a headache.

A little while ago, the two found raspberries after searching for a long time, but the location of the raspberry was a little risky.

It's a place where even adults would have difficulties reaching out to.

After seeing Edgar had a hard time reaching out and he had decided to give up because the situation was dangerous, she decided to help a little to take the raspberries back home.

This immature princess had quite a challenging spirit in her, she decided to enter the field on her own, then she fell down and got hurt thanks to the fall. (Enter the fields means she is going to get down to work)

He was glad that it was just an abrasion, if the situation has a slightest bit of change and she got even more severe injuries , she could have really put her life in danger since it was such a dangerous place.

“ I retract what I said earlier. Ed won’t be a wizard.”

“… … .”

He can't even get that title, then what?

Edgar shook his head with an expression of hopelessness.

In the meantime, she doesn't seems to angry at him too much as she didn't say the word ‘friend' wizard.

She's just a kid who knows her own fault but doesn't want to admit it. Because she didn't even know what was wrong or right in the first place.

He wondered if maybe it was only because of the last bit of conscience that she managed to exclude the word ‘friend', from the complete word ‘friend wizard'.

"Okay. Stay still, you need treatment first." He said.

“What are you going to do?”

“ I brought something, just in case.”

Edgar, who was rummaging through his bag again, took out a thin cloth and two things that looked like a bottle from inside the bag.

First of all, he had to clean up the dirt on the wound as she had been rolling on the dirty ground

“ Even if it hurts, bear with it.”

“ I don’t like being hurt… … .”

“it’s your karma, you fool.”

“ Uh, I told you not to call me an stupid!”

“ When did you say that?”

She never said ‘ don't call me stupid', she only said she didn't like being called as stupid.

When her friend Edgar, whose age was similar to hers, poked his tongue out and teased her, Ariel directly swung her arms and started to attack him ferociously.

POOK. POOK. ( The sound of beating)

" It hurts! Hey, you idiot! You are in the middle of getting treatment!”

"Dare you say one more time that I am an idiot! Serves you right!"

The madness can't be cured.

She truly felt that she had to punish this nasty childhood friend of hers no matter what, even at the cost of not getting treatment for her wounds.

The beating stopped, only after Ariel exhausted herself from the loss of self-control.

Edgar sighed as he rubbed his head.

His hair was not particularly in a good condition in the first place, but if it gets worse because of her, he wonders if she would take responsibility. { Ohh…She so wants to take responsibility for you for the rest of your life(✿^‿^). }

“I’ll clean the dirt first, so stay still.”

"OK."

He had to accelerate his treatment and bandage the wound fast since a considerable amount of time had already passed by dilly-dallying.

‘It’s my fault for messing with her and delaying her treatment.'

Edgar bent over, blaming himself for the fault, and began to wash the surface of the wound with fresh water from his canteen.

Ariel narrowed her eyes in pain when the cold water touched her wound, but she tried her best to endure it as much as possible, perhaps feeling sorry for Edgar's suffering.

“Where did Ed learn this?”

"Just… here and there.”

“Huh… … .”

Ariel saw Edgar as a very strange boy.

He doesn't seem to read a lot of books, but he has a subtle erudite side, and whenever a situation arises, he is very good at handling it.

Even though they are the same age, how could there be such a difference between them?

It was a feeling closer to admiration or awe than envy or jealousy.

“Is Ed a grown-up?”

“… Are you asking me?”

Edgar looked at her, a bit dumbfounded at the sudden unrelated statement that came out of nowhere, whether it was a sentimental statement or more of a question.

"Yes."

" I wonder if anyone has said such a statement to you"

“But my mother often says it. Ed is a grown-up.”

Ariel is often praised by Helena, but even though she's been called smart or good, she's never been called a grown-up.

Perhaps that's why she found the nobility in being called a grown-up, since it was only Edgar who gets alot of such compliments from her mother.

“Do you think so too?”

"Yes… Actually I'm not sure. I don't even understand what mother means by being a grown-up… … .”

"It hurts! Hey, you idiot! I'm in pain!"

At best, only after adolescence is over, and it's not until you're close to adulthood that you know what it means to be mature.

Ariel was still too pure and young to understand all the implications of the word.

"Ed, do you want to be an adult soon?"

"What's good about becoming an adult?"

"You can do anything. You don't have to ask your mom for permission when you go somewhere to play, and you don't have to get in trouble."

Edgar had a small smile tug at the corner of his lips at the childish idea.

Well, he also had similar thoughts when he was young.

When he became an adult, he thought he would be free, he thought he could achieve anything, and he believed that the power he didn't have before would suddenly rise.

‘What should I say?’

What should he say to her, from the perspective of a childhood friend who has matured first?

‘ Say adults should face reality, "It's not as good as you think". ‘

Should he respond by saying that you're right to protect your innocence?

While thinking about it over and over, the first aid was over and a thin cloth was wrapped around her knee.

Edgar approached her without saying a word and sat down on one knee, showing his back.

Realizing what the action meant, Ariel approached him and put herself on his back.

"Isn't it heavy?"”

"It's all right."

Still, it was not as heavy as usual, perhaps it was because of his daily training.

He hasn't tried out how much strength this body of his in this new world has, but he was quite confident that his physical abilities and strength were more superior than his peers of same age as him.

As he trudged down the mountain path they had walked up, the sun had started to set on the opposite side.

It seems like a lot of time has passed.

‘When I go back to the mansion, I'll probably get a good scolding.’

There is nothing he can do since he was also an accomplice.

"Ariel."

"What?"

While carefully taking one step down the fairly steep slope, Edgar suddenly called her name.

He thought about it for a while and decided it would be a good thing for him to give some meaningful advice to her.

However, as a friend, he thinks he can only give this kind of advice.

"Being an adult is… It means losing something precious in return for something precious."

"Precious things? What is that?"

“I don’t know. What is important to you?”

Important things?

Ariel thought for a moment at Edgar's question.

Her parents, her friend Edgar and the Bilhark family, and her nanny who took care of her.

Even favorite toys and picture books. There were many important things.

“Do I have to lose them?”

“No, that's not it. It would be more correct to say that the value of the important things changes rather than lose them.”

Edgar kept reciting things that Ariel considered precious.

Picture books, toys, jewelry, etc. that she said were her most prized possessions. There were a lot of things.

“But when you become an adult, they might no longer be seen precious before you know it.”

"Why? They are my favorite things."

“Perhaps it’s because something more valuable has come up. Something more precious and valuable than a picture book or toy.”

Ariel had a hard time understanding what Edgar was saying.

But on the other hand, she thought it might be.

If you were to ask her now to give up either the picture book or Edgar, she would give up the picture book.

If you ask them to give up either their mother or their toys, they will give up their toys.

Perhaps Edgar's becoming an adult means that as many precious things increase, the things she cherished are also gradually fading away.

“Does Ed have anything precious?”

“Of course I have. My parents are important, the people in the mansion are also important… … .”

He recited quite a few things, but among them, he didn't even mention the name of Ariel.

After waiting for quite a while with anticipation, she opened her mouth, leaned on his shoulder and bit hard.

“Ah! Why are you biting and making a fuss!?”

“Why am I not there! Ed is an idiot!”

"that's… … .”

He probably couldn't say that he was too shy to mention it, right?

In the end, she waited for an answer and then, again, asked Edgar one more time.

Once again, strong screams echoed throughout the mountain, and the incident was settled with a belated comment.

As they descended halfway up the mountain, a reddish sunset enveloped the two of them.

Its glow seems more redder than before.

Ariel poked her head out to see Edgar's profile.

His face was also ripe and red like the maple leaves when autumn arrives, and his gaze at the sunset made her feel both lonely and cool.

BADAM. BADAM.

‘Yes? Why is he like this?'

The moment she was conscious of this problem, her heart suddenly started to beat a little bit faster.

Ariel tilted her head at the sensation she felt for the first time in her life and carefully placed her hand on her chest.

Why are you doing this? Did your body hurt anywhere?

She was about to ask Edgar, but for some reason she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.

It was as if someone in her heart was telling her, ‘Don't do that!'

“You know, Ed.”

"What?"

“Even when I grow up, I will cherish Ed. Certainly."

“… Really? That is good news then.”

She's still not sure what it means to be an adult.

But when she looked at his profile, the heartbeat she felt for the first time in her life was telling her.

Even if important things change after becoming an adult, nothing is as good as this boy.

‘Yeah,' said Ariel in her mind so that no one could hear her, as she replied quietly.

She sure she will cherish him. She and Ed are friends.

POUNDING. POUNDING.

Then her heart pounded in a weird way again, as if to shout that her statement isn't right.

‘Why the hell is this happening?'

It's my body, but it's a strange feeling when it does not listen to me.

But somehow she didn't feel repulsed by the strange feeling.