I Became a Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

Chapter 15: To You, Nine Years Later (1)

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“Ed, Ed!”

Edgar, who had been enjoying a sweet nap for the first time in a while, was jolted awake by a sudden loud voice.

He didn’t need to see the face of the person who had woken him up; given the situation, he could easily guess who it was, so he wasn’t particularly annoyed.

The only thing he wished for was that he could have been woken up a little more quietly.

He was jolted awake like someone was pounding on his stomach, there would be no need for such roughness even in CPR.

“Ed, wake up! Let’s go play!”

“Ugh, where are we going?”

His voice was rough and dry from just waking up, and he felt a bit thirsty.

As he looked around, Ariel, with a mischievous smile, handed him a cup of water she had hidden.

Without saying a word, he gave her a thumbs up and drank it in one go.

‘This bribe is enough to play along.’

It was an excellent touch. After all, it wasn’t ten years of time spent together for nothing.

Getting up from his bed, Edgar first tidied up the blankets.

Although the maids would have done it for him, it had been a habit for a long time, so it was hard to change. There was no real reason to change either.

‘After all, I can do it myself; why bother making someone else do it?’

This was his philosophy.

“Why do you always clean up your blankets, Ed? The servants will do it if you leave it.”

“You shouldn’t take such things for granted. Sometimes, you should know how to do things yourself.”

“I don’t get it. Ed, you always say such difficult things.”

Well, perhaps it was a bit hard to explain to a ten-year-old.

Besides, she had been pampered like a precious jewel, revered by everyone since she was born.

From Ariel’s perspective, it was only natural that she would find Edgar’s habits odd.

Since he didn’t feel like trying to persuade her, Edgar finished tidying up the surroundings.

He placed the book he had been reading before bed on the table and moved the scattered items around… huh?

“Leave it. I’ll do it.”

“Hmph, it’s only because if we’re late, the time to play with me will be shorter, right?”

“Hmm.”

Edgar, who wasn’t trying to make Ariel do things for him, felt an unexpected discomfort.

It wasn’t like he was trying to boss her around, but…

Still, thanks to her, the tidying was getting done much faster.

Just having one small hand added to the task sped everything up.

‘Her movements are pretty neat.’

After all, she was a capable young lady who could do anything.

It would actually be harder to picture her fumbling with simple things like cleaning up.

So, without intending to, Edgar finished tidying up with Ariel’s help and nodded in satisfaction as he looked around the room.

This was what a lived-in room should look like.

He didn’t have a cleanliness obsession, but this was much more pleasant than a messy, cluttered room.

“By the way, how old were you when you stopped sleeping with your mom?”

“Me? Hmm…”

It was a sudden question, but since it wasn’t something new, Edgar quickly retraced his memories.

He probably started sleeping alone after he properly learned to speak.

Though the memory was a bit vague, he thought it was around three or four years old when he began sleeping alone.

“How old were you when you started sleeping alone?”

“Five!”

‘Is that early?’

Seeing Ariel say it with such pride, it seemed she was ahead of her peers in that regard.

The young lady, looking quite pleased with herself, shrugged her shoulders as if waiting for a compliment.

She might have been waiting for him to ask the same question, perhaps even throwing the topic out on purpose.

Clever girl.

Seeing her grinning with a faint puff of air, Edgar almost felt like teasing her, but since she had brought him water and helped with the room, he decided to let it slide this time.

“That’s impressive. Five years old is pretty early, isn’t it?”

“Right? I’m not scared of ghosts at all!”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

The idea of Ariel being scared of ghosts was something Edgar couldn’t even imagine in his wildest dreams.

She would probably be more afraid of bugs.

But even with that, except for spiders, she was generally fine handling and playing with them.

“So, have you decided what we’re going to do?”

“Yeah. If not, I wouldn’t have come to find you.”

“…Tell the truth.”

Who was it that had been making a fuss, coming over all the time asking for something to do?

Edgar narrowed his eyes and silently stared at her, and seeing her uncomfortable, she started whistling and avoided his gaze.

It was a little cheeky, but maybe he would let it go today.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Well… actually, it’s not playing. There’s something I want to do with you, Ed.”

“Something you want to do?”

Isn’t that the same as playing?

Though, if she wanted to clean together, that wouldn’t exactly be considered playing. Of course, this young lady wouldn’t have such a thoughtful idea.

Anyway, it was the first time Ariel wasn’t giving a direct answer about what they were going to do, so Edgar’s curiosity was piqued.

He had been meaning to ask about learning magic, and maybe, just maybe, she would bring it up first. That thought crossed his mind.

“Just follow me! I’ve already prepared everything.”

“Okay.”

Ariel, who left the room, confidently headed toward the guest rooms.

It was probably the place where Helene was staying.

He hoped she wasn’t planning to include Helene in some kind of childhood game.

A sudden wave of anxiety hit Edgar, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

*Knock knock.*

Who is it?

“Mom, it’s me!”

While Edgar was still trying to fully wake up, Ariel knocked on the door and started impatiently tapping her feet, waiting for Helene to come out.

In that short moment, she couldn’t stay still and bounced up and down, looking like she was in a very good mood.

Was it because of the ‘thing she wanted to do’? What could it be?

“Ariel, what’s going on? And Ed, too.”

“Mom! I’m going to make the thing you told me about yesterday, and I want to make it with Ed! So tell us how to make it!”

“The thing I told you about… Oh, that one.”

Helene nodded, lightly clapping her palms together as she recalled.

She went back into the room for a moment, then came out wearing a light shawl over her clothes, carrying a small bag.

Perhaps she had something to bring with her.

“Where are you planning to go? Have you decided on a place?”

“Yeah, we’re going to do it in the garden.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

While they were having this conversation, Edgar, who had been watching from the side, was getting more and more frustrated.

Could it be that they were deliberately not mentioning the details of what they were going to do, just to tease him?

Helene, much like Ariel, had a tendency to make him feel this way, which led to his reasonable suspicion.

“Lady Helene, what exactly are we going to do?”

“Heh heh, I see Ariel didn’t tell you.”

Helene gave him a playful smile, looking at her daughter as if saying, ‘Should I tell him? Or should I not?’

Seeing this, Ariel quickly shook her head in surprise and hastily spoke up.

“Mom, do we have to keep it a secret until we get there?”

“Alright, but you know, if you keep it a secret too much, Ed might get upset.”

Ariel flinched slightly.

Turning her head toward Edgar, she saw him with his usual indifferent expression.

She had wanted to surprise him, but before she could, it seemed like he had already lost interest, which made her dilemma worse.

What should she do?

As she pondered, Edgar patted her shoulder.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and tell me when we get there. Just hurry up.”

Much like when reading a book and being anxious about the plot, sometimes the best solution is to just read ahead and deal with it.

There was no ill intent behind it, and Ariel seemed so happy, so it wasn’t hard to go along with it.

“…Heh, so you were looking forward to it too, Ed?”

“What are you talking about? Just go already.”

Ariel suddenly clung to him, causing Edgar to stumble slightly.

Even when she was in a good mood, she rarely clung to him like this, which meant she probably really liked his reaction earlier.

“I’m thankful you take care of our daughter, Ed.”

“No problem. I’ve received a lot from Ariel too.”

“Did you hear that, Mom!? I’ve done so much for Ed, too!”

“Be quiet, you.”

Although it would have been tempting to hit Ariel’s head for interrupting the good mood, Edgar couldn’t bring himself to do it in front of her mother.

Suppressing his frustration, he quickly hid his clenched fist.

Whether she noticed or not, Ariel kept smiling happily.

With a cheerful step, Ariel walked out of the mansion, a step ahead of the others.

When they encountered Shepi on the way, he asked Helene if she was going to follow, but she gently declined and, holding Edgar’s hand, followed her daughter.

“Ed, aren’t you cold?”

“No, I’m fine. I don’t get cold easily.”

Honestly, he was feeling a bit warm.

The clothes Edgar was wearing were thicker than expected.

Meanwhile, a smile spread across Helene’s face as she met her ally.

Proving her own resilience to the cold, she wore a shawl over her thin clothes, making her outfit look quite light.

“It looks like we’re similar. My husband and I are strong against the cold, but our daughter, well, she’s the complete opposite, she gets cold easily. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

Although Ariel lived in a region colder than Edgar’s, she never really got used to the cold and often shivered from it.

In fact, the reason Edgar would bring his coat, which he didn’t usually wear, was to be prepared for situations like this.

Ariel, who had led the way, quickly ran toward a tall quince tree.

There were almost no large trees in the Bilhark family’s garden, but this quince tree was the only one that had stood there for many years.

Edgar had once caught a cold and found comfort under this tree, so he had a fondness for it.

“Mom, would this be good?”

“Yeah, this is perfect. Just like my daughter.”

“Heh.”

Helene carefully kneeled and sat down in the spot Ariel had pointed to.

Thanks to the weeds beneath her, the ground was soft, and she was relieved that her clothes didn’t get too dirty.

She then took out the items she had brought from her bag, including a notebook and two pens, as well as some mysterious small spherical object.

“Lady Helene, what is this…?”

“You might have heard of it, Edgar. What we’re doing now is writing messages to our future selves on this paper and burying it in the ground.”

“Ah.”

Time capsule.

It was then that Edgar’s eyes widened in realization. He hadn’t expected this kind of tradition in this world. Though he had seen similar practices before, the novelty still caught his attention.

“Ed! What are you going to write?”

“It’s a secret. It won’t be fun if I tell you.”

“Heh, is that so?”

With a playful laugh, Edgar added, ‘Wait until nine years from now,’ as he accepted the piece of paper and the pen.

Wondering what to write, he glanced at Ariel and noticed her cheeks seemed unusually flushed.

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