The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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“Your Highness.”

“You can speak casually if you’d like… Actually, no.”

The smile on Amelia’s face faded slightly as she spoke.

“This isn’t really something I can decide. Normally, differences in status matter, but we all know that’s not what’s important here. I don’t think this is something I can just permit or decide on my own.”

Amelia’s eyes quietly gazed at me.

In this world, lighting usually came from fire. Indoors, it was the light of flames on candles or the glow from a fireplace. That was all there was to illuminate this room.

It wasn’t bright enough to light up every corner, but it was sufficient to illuminate Amelia’s face as she sat on the bed across from me.

It wasn’t a steady light like LEDs or fluorescent lamps, but the flickering glow of the fire reflected in Amelia’s eyes made them sparkle.

Had I ever seen Amelia’s face this closely before?

Had Amelia ever opened up to me like this before?

“…Yeah.”

When I gave a small nod in response, Amelia’s face broke into a radiant smile.

It was completely different from her usual composed smile. It was unrestrained, a smile that seemed genuinely happy.

I thought about how much Amelia must have worried since coming to this world.

The character named Elsie hadn’t even appeared in the novel I’d read. She wasn’t a villain, nor particularly significant. While she had a connection to the protagonists through my brother Harvey, I hadn’t considered myself involved in any way.

So, I had lived comfortably. There wasn’t much to worry about. Of course, the barbarians would have invaded regardless of Amelia’s presence, but I knew how strong my family was and trusted them.

But Amelia… Amelia was someone who played a crucial role in the story she knew.

As a villain, no less.

The fact that Amelia avoided ruin and ended up with the heroine? That was something only I knew. For Amelia, the future was a series of trials she’d have to overcome with her own strength.

Her opponents included swordsmen from families of the strongest people in the world, the crown prince of this kingdom, the imperial prince of the largest empire, an unparalleled genius mage, and her own younger sibling.

Although Amelia’s position as the “Grand Duke’s daughter” wasn’t low by any means, compared to her opponents, it wasn’t particularly advantageous, either.

She bore a crushing weight that she couldn’t share with anyone, a burden she had to shoulder alone.

And in such circumstances, she found me.

Someone who had crossed over from her world. Someone she might be able to talk to. Someone she could perhaps confide her innermost fears and burdens to.

It was only now that I fully understood why Amelia had chosen to bring me instead of my brother Harvey.

What Amelia needed was not the male protagonist.

She needed someone who could understand her.

“Elsie.”

“Yes.”

“Elsie.”

“Yes… Amelia.”

Calling my name several times, Amelia smiled.

Amelia, holding my hand tightly, didn’t let go for quite some time.

*

Though we both lay on the bed, it didn’t seem like sleep would come easily.

At first, I lay on my back looking at the ceiling, but I felt a tingling sensation on the side of my face. When I turned my head, I saw that Amelia had rolled over to face me.

Her face wasn’t as close as when we’d been sitting across from each other earlier, but her position somehow made my heart race even more.

No!

She’s twelve years old!

This isn’t someone I should be seeing that way!

Thinking there was no reason to feel embarrassed, I finally turned onto my side to face her.

And became even more embarrassed.

It was odd how my thoughts kept straying in that direction, but I had never been alone in a room with a girl before.

Not only had I never shared a room, but now I was lying on the same bed, face-to-face.

It wasn’t as if I was having any dangerous thoughts. Still, I couldn’t calm myself down. No matter how much I reminded myself that she was twelve, the fact that I was also currently twelve kept surfacing in my mind.

“Elsie.”

“Yes, Amelia.”

She’d called my name several times already.

I was nervous, thinking Amelia might suddenly bring up the main events of the novel, but she didn’t say anything further. She simply gazed at me, as if happy just to have a friend.

“What do you think of me?”

“What do you mean?”

My heart felt like it was about to sink through the mattress, but on second thought, it didn’t seem like her question was a confession or anything of that sort.

We had been talking about being friends, so it would be strange for the conversation to suddenly veer that way. Besides, outwardly, we were both girls—wait, hold on. In the original story, didn’t Amelia end up with the heroine?

My mind, conjuring such a thought at the worst timing, sent my heart plunging further as Amelia continued.

“I mean… you know, like what I am to you. An acquaintance, a friend, an employer… that sort of thing. I think of you as a friend, but I want to know how you see me.”

“…A friend.”

I answered, trying to swallow my embarrassment.

“How close of a friend?”

Amelia, unsatisfied with my answer, pressed further.

“…The closest friend in this world.”

To be honest, it wasn’t much of a choice. Regardless of how close I felt to Amelia, I had hardly anyone I could truly call a friend. It wasn’t that there were no children my age in Delkis, but even in Delkis, with its relatively horizontal social atmosphere, the divide between commoners and the daughter of a baron was not an easy wall to cross.

On top of that, my “peers” were practically toddlers. While Amelia, with the mind of someone in her mid- to late-twenties, wasn’t difficult to talk to, when I thought back to my age five years ago, the mental gap felt as if we were from entirely different worlds.

It wasn’t like I enjoyed playing pretend, either. An adult playing house with kids? That’s just ridiculous.

…If I were the only person Amelia couldn’t let go of, then right now, Amelia was the same for me.

She was also the only link I had to the main storyline.

“…”

Amelia silently looked at me for a moment and then asked, “Then, can you promise me one thing?”
“What kind of promise?”

“I will never betray you, no matter what happens.”

Amelia continued her words with a calm determination.

“So, I hope you won’t betray me either.”

“……”

I quietly stared at Amelia for a moment before nodding my head.

“Alright.”

At my response, Amelia smiled and extended her hand toward me.

Her fingers curled inward except for her pinky, which stood out prominently.

The moment I saw her hand, I knew exactly what she wanted.

Suppressing my embarrassment, I reached out my hand and did the same.

Our pinkies intertwined and curled together.

Firmly, our hands connected.

“Promise?” Amelia asked with a grin.

This time, I tried to smile back. My lips trembled slightly from the nervousness, but I believed I managed to pull it off.

“Yeah, I promise.”

I wasn’t sure which of us fell asleep first.

But the next morning, both of us woke up with refreshed and content expressions.

*

“It’s a little disappointing that my brother didn’t end up challenging you to a duel in the end.”

“…”

On the day the two princes were to leave.

Prince Evan, perched atop a wolf instead of a carriage or horse, said that with a slight smirk.

Prince Allen, completely subdued by my eccentricities over the past week, had long retreated to the safety of the carriage after exchanging formal farewells with Grand Duke Grattanmount.

“I don’t think it’s anything to regret,” Amelia replied, stepping forward. “If the two of them had really dueled, Elsie would have won. And if that had happened, that would cause unnecessary resentment between them.”

“Is that so?” Prince Evan asked, laughing at her words.

“Indeed,” Amelia replied, giving a small nod. Her tone carried a mix of composure and restraint.

““Well then,” Prince Evan said, his smile growing wider. “Thanks to the two of you, this past week has been incredibly entertaining. I hope we meet again soon.”

Amelia looked like she had plenty she wanted to say, but she simply lifted the hem of her skirt slightly with her fingertips and gave a noble curtsy.

“I eagerly anticipate the day we meet again, Your Highness.”

“Oh, we’ll meet again, for sure. We still have that unfinished duel.”

I wish he’d just forget about that already. To express my hope that they would leave quickly, I also bowed deeply. Prince Evan stared at me for a moment, then tilted his head slightly in acknowledgment.

And with that, the two princes were finally about to leave the territory of Grattanmount—

“Oh, right!”

Prince Evan suddenly exclaimed, as if something had only just occurred to him.

“I’m sure we’ll meet properly again in a few years! I’ll make sure to extend an invitation to both of you! I almost forgot to mention it!”

“…Hah.”

Amelia let out a small sigh.

Seriously, if you came to deliver news, deliver it properly. Don’t just toss it out casually as you’re leaving. Besides, you said from the start that you were just wandering around. But in the end, you clearly came here for a reason. Is there something wrong with his brain?

…Well, whatever. In the end, things will probably go the way Prince Evan said.

Those two will inevitably meet again.

After all, that’s how the story goes in the novel’s “main plot.”

But even so…

Perhaps it won’t be so bad. Amelia won’t have to endure the same struggles she faced in the original plot.

Amelia glanced at me. I glanced back at her.

And at the same time, Amelia and I smiled.

Amelia must already know this.

That, unlike in the “main plot,” there was now one more person on her side.

Someone who would never betray her. Amelia’s unwavering ally.