The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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In hindsight, the phrase “on the verge of collapse” carried a lot of implications.

You could simply think it meant the family was out of money, but there were countless stories that could branch out from that “lack of money.”

In the novel, it was mentioned that they had a fair amount of debt. Of course, being an upright knightly family, they wouldn’t have borrowed money from shady places, and such lenders usually only lend as much as they think can be repaid. So, for now, it wasn’t at the point where debt collectors would be knocking on their door—

—However, the one pressing issue was that Adele couldn’t fully trust her father.

She was the protagonist of a romance fantasy web novel, equipped with the upright character and resilience befitting her role. But Adele was still human. And as human as she was, the reality of being part of a noble family on the brink of ruin inevitably weighed on her mind.

It wasn’t strange for her to doubt how such a penniless household was even functioning.

And in the midst of such doubts, some strangers suddenly began following her. It wasn’t unreasonable for her to have suspicious thoughts.

“…….”

“…….”

The problem now was how we explained why we had come looking for Adele.

Originally, the plan was just to find where Adele lived. As a protagonist who would play a significant role in the story’s future, it wasn’t odd to note her whereabouts.

Moreover, Adele’s family was a knightly family barely holding on to their noble status. It was unlikely they’d been invited to tomorrow’s ball. Searching for her there wouldn’t yield a chance to meet her.

Building rapport with her would require effort on our part.

In the “original story,” Amelia had detested Adele with a passion as she got entangled with the crown prince and other royals. But here, we had no intention of going down that road.

“…I am Amelia Grattanmount, the eldest daughter of the Grand Ducal House of Grattanmount. I apologize for following you without notice.”

For now, Amelia calmly broke the silence first—

“The Grand Ducal House of Grattanmount…?”

—But before she could continue, Adele’s reaction to her words was far too dramatic.

Adele, who had been looking at us with suspicious emerald-green eyes, suddenly widened her gaze. The sharpness of her expression softened in an instant, which was fascinating in many ways.

For a moment, Adele’s face was filled with astonishment. Then, she promptly knelt before Amelia with a sudden thud.

“Excuse me?!”

Amelia, shocked at the sight of the heroine acting that way, let out a startled cry, but Adele immediately started begging her.

“I’m sorry! I don’t have enough money to repay you yet! Please, with the magnanimity of a great duchy, could you extend the due date just a little longer!?”

“No, no, that’s not it!? Could you please stand up!? Everyone passing by is staring!”

Clearly shaken by the fact that a character she adored from her favorite novel was kneeling before her, Amelia shouted in shock.

“Pardon?”

And then, as if realizing something, Adele stopped moving mid-plea.

Still in the kneeling position, Adele slowly moved her lips.

“Does that mean the two of you are not debt collectors here to collect the money my father owes?”

“No, we’re not.”

Amelia replied, her tone flat.

“Then… you’re not going to tell me something like, ‘You have a pretty face, so go work at a tavern to pay it back,’ right…?”

“How did that idea even cross your mind?”

Amelia was once again utterly dumbfounded.

In the novel, Adele was a character who, as a “romance fantasy” heroine, had a touch of eccentricity. She would sometimes act unpredictably, but her ideas would often help her overcome situations.

Her somewhat stiff and sharp demeanor was a mask she wore as the eldest daughter of a knightly family, but she would reveal her quirky side fully in front of her friend Amelia.

“For the record, the Grattanmount family doesn’t do moneylending.”

With a gold mine under their control, there was no need for them to make money that way. The Grand Duke and Duchess didn’t see any point in accumulating unnecessary wealth either.

“Then….”

Adele stared blankly at the two of us, then suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

She quickly stood up, brushing off the dust on her knees. Her face flushed red as she spoke.

“I apologize. I’ve shown such an unseemly display before my esteemed guests.”

Unseemly display, indeed.

The image of the “stern and stoic daughter of an upright knightly family” had just been thoroughly shattered by her earlier display.

“It’s fine. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared, that’s all that matters.”

“Thank you.”

Adele expressed her gratitude for Amelia’s understanding but soon tilted her head in curiosity and asked,

“But then, why were you two following me? And the person behind you is…?”

“Ah.”

Amelia exaggerated her surprise, as if she had completely forgotten. I wondered why she was acting that way until—

“This is Elsie Delkis, the eldest daughter of Baron Delkis. She’s serving as my escort.”

…It seemed she needed time to come up with an explanation since she introduced me slowly.

“I am Elsie Delkis. As the eldest daughter of a family entrusted with the honorable duty of protecting the North of the Alwen Kingdom, I am currently in the capital for the reason the Grand Duke’s daughter just mentioned.”

Following Amelia’s lead, I also spoke slowly and deliberately, stretching my words to buy time, but kept my tone within the bounds of what wouldn’t seem odd to the other party.

“The North… Delkis….”

For some reason, Adele mumbled those words before suddenly exclaiming,

“Aah!?”

Before we could even ask why, she quickly spoke.

“Delkis, as in that Delkis?”

That Delkis? What on earth could she mean by that?

Was there another Delkis besides the one I belonged to?

As I stood there with a slightly puzzled look, Adele, unable to contain her excitement, quickly closed the distance between us.

Even if she was a blonde beauty, it was disconcerting to have her face suddenly approach mine. Especially since Adele, who was around the mid-160 cm range, had to tilt her face up toward me, who was just over 170 cm, making her feel much closer and a bit overwhelming.

She didn’t seem to notice me subtly stepping back half a step, and she exclaimed, “The Protector of the North! The prestigious family that produced the strongest knights! The Delkis family, whose name is said to belong to the greatest heroes in the history of the Alwen Kingdom! Is that correct?”

Was it…?

Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be strange if people called us the strongest knights, considering the feats of our family members. And yes, we do protect the North.

But being called the greatest heroes in the history of the Alwen Kingdom was news to me.

And Adele… liked the Delkis family this much? In the original novel…

Oh, that was mentioned.

There were descriptions of how Adele’s eyes would sparkle whenever she encountered my brother Harvey. And there was also a line about our family producing some of the strongest swordsmen.

I had assumed she admired him for his looks, seeing as she stared silently without saying much. But maybe Adele had always liked the Delkis family to begin with?

In the novel, these details were only subtly implied, possibly to emphasize the yuri undertones.. Besides, the story was mostly from Amelia’s perspective, so there weren’t many detailed accounts of Adele’s admiration.

…For someone from a “stern knightly family,” Adele’s mindset was truly that of a knight to the core.

I glanced over at Amelia, who was watching me with a vacant expression from behind Adele.

Ah, right.

We still needed to explain why we were here. While we had used the “escort” excuse, we didn’t come all this way just for that.

I quickly racked my brain and crafted a response that Adele might find appreciate.

“…Your form as you walked ahead was an inspiration to knights everywhere. Before I realized it, I found myself following you. Your Highness, out of consideration for me, chose not to intervene.”

“….”

Adele froze for a moment at my words.

Uh-oh.

Did I say something wrong? Was it too far-fetched?

For a brief moment, such thoughts crossed my mind. Fortunately, Adele didn’t seem offended by what I’d said.

“Really!?”

Uh…

I hadn’t expected such an intense reaction.

“Y-Yes?”

The answer came out as a question, almost reflexively, but Adele didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

Though she stepped back a few steps, her sparkling eyes remained unchanged.

“If it’s not too much trouble, would you both care to have some tea at my home?”

Her image had completely flipped from when we first met.

Not that it had been that long since we first met.

“….”

I exchanged a glance with Amelia. She stared blankly at us for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and responding in a slightly weary tone,

“…Then, we’ll accept your hospitality.”