I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

At the breakfast table the next day, Yulken, who had been absent from dinner the previous day, was back.

Is there something going on? Unlike last time, where the atmosphere was amicable, the only sound in the dining table was the clattering of forks and knives.

In the middle of the meal, Ariel, who still had a portion of food left, wiped her mouth with a napkin.

At that, Yulken’s gaze turned to her for no reason.

‘Does she only take that much food for breakfast!?'

No matter what era or region, a father’s heart was the same.

It’s just that there is a slight difference in whether one says it out loud or not.

“Father.”

“Well? What is that, Ariel?”

Ariel, who noticed his gaze, spoke with a small smile on her lips.

Yulken showed off his own acting by deliberately reacting one beat late, as if he hadn’t been paying any attention to her.

“Tomorrow I want to go hunting with my father. Could you give me permission?”

“Hunting… … .”

At the sudden request of his daughter, Yulken clearly expressed his embarrassment.

Recently, hunting is regarded as an ungodly act and is looked down upon among the nobility, but until recently it was one of his own pastimes.

That meant that Ariel expressed her desire to spend free time with Yulken.

‘Why?’

Yesterday, as an exemplary bad father, he even humiliated the girl in front of his friend. Now, for what reason did she ask to spend time with him?

It was something he had never seen before in his daughter.

Yulken thought she would put on a gloomy expression when she met him this morning, but even that was wrong.

Was it just on a whim?

“Isn’t it nice, honey? You don’t have any official duties tomorrow, do you?”

“But, madam… … .”

Yulken wanted to say something to his wife, who was helping by the side, but even he had no reasonable objection.

In fact, there were no official duties to take care of tomorrow, and there was nothing to go anywhere.

He was just about to think about what to do with his leisure time tomorrow after he finishes work around this afternoon.

In the end, Yulken, who was fighting with Ariel, had no choice but to nod.

He didn't know what kind of sudden whim it was, but as a father, it wasn’t too difficult to match his daughter’s leisure time.

Until now, he didn't dare to take the initiative, so he just avoided her.

“Yes, let Elfred prepare it. Is it okay to prepare for three, including your friend?”

Thinking that Ariel would prefer having a friend to talk to rather than being alone, Yulken asked insinuatingly.

After all, Helena’s stamina is not good, so it would be difficult for her to go hunting.

However, the answer that came back was more than he could have imagined, hitting the back of his head once more.

“Thank you, father. But it’s okay if you don’t prepare Ed’s.”

“Hmm?”

“I want to go alone with my father. And Ed has a schedule tomorrow, so it will be difficult for him to participate.”

At the unexpected reply, Yulken twitched his eyebrows and turned his head towards Edgar.

Edgar smiled softly at him and expressed his affirmation.

Yulken’s expression changed even more subtly.

Why the hell are you so aggressively asking for a situation where the two of us are alone?

It was something Yulken couldn’t understand unless his daughter had something to say privately.

Looking back at the way he had treated his daughter, there was no way she could have asked such a favor with a smile on her face.

However, asking this question out loud was a taboo for Yulken.

He might end up digging his own grave.

In the end, Yulken nodded and cracked at the sense of déjà vu.

At that, a bright flower bloomed on Ariel’s face.

“It’s good. Take this opportunity to go and talk about what we couldn’t tell her yet, honey.”

“A story we couldn’t tell?”

At his wife’s unknown words, Yulken’s eyes were filled with doubts.

What is there to talk about in the first place?

From his daughter’s point of view, even thinking of Yulken Robeheim as her father would be repulsive.

Helena, noticing his questioning gaze, touched the back of his hand and gave a soft smile at the man sitting next to her.

“There will be many things to talk about. You haven’t been spending time with Ariel.”

“If you say so… I see.”

‘A story I couldn’t share.'

Yulken continued to eat, chewing on the three-word in his mind.

There are alot of things to talk about today.

* * * * * * *

Around the time when the sky gradually lost its blue color and fragments of light began to scatter in the meantime.

An unexpected guest came to Edgar, who was lying alone in his room.

With the hair that was neatly tied up in a round bun and a pair of glasses.

It was a woman named Alisa who is Yulken’s exclusive lady-in-waiting and even had a businesslike and stiff atmosphere.

“Young Master Edgar, the head of the household is urgently calling.”

“Yes.”

Despite the sudden call, Edgar calmly got up and left the room.

No wonder he wasn’t surprised. After lunch, there was a word from Helena.

However, what was a little unexpected was that the place he was guided to was in a different direction than his office.

Edgar, who was curious about this, cautiously asked where he was going, and Alisa replied, ‘The study.’

He muttered briefly.

‘The study’

Edgar assumed that the office he visited yesterday also had a lot of bookshelves, so it could also be used as a study.

Or is the study only used as a purely personal space?

All kinds of speculation raced through his head, but he soon concluded that it was a trivial idea and brushed his hair lightly.

‘From now on, you’ll have to cool your head and calm your emotions.'

It will be hard to even say a word when one is caught up in this kind of situation.

“This way. Please wait a moment.”

Arriving in front of the study, Alisa gave a small bow to Edgar, then approached the door and carefully relayed a message.

Not long after, Yulken’s heavy bass sound and she again turned her body towards Edgar.

“You can go in.”

“Yes, thank you. Oh, and… … .”

Since he hadn’t spoken much, Edgar answered politely and entered the study through the door she opened.

Without forgetting to make one request before going.

Yulken was staring out the window with a wine glass in his hand, not even looking at the visitor.

Edgar guessed that this was a ploy of Yulken's, not wanting to show his expression.

Click.

It was only after the door closed and there was silence for a while that Yulken’s heavy lips separated.

“I heard about it from my wife.”

At the words that came out without any explanation of the context, Edgar just nodded indifferently.

Because it was what he had expected.

“Yes, I heard that too. Madam Helena said you would like to meet with me alone.”

Although Edgar didn’t expect their ‘meeting' to turn out this way.

Just that Edgar has his own reason to come here, so he didn't mind the rest.

Listening to this man’s side story, and finally keeping the promise he made to his friend.

He walked all the way here on his own two feet with that goal alone.

“Have a seat. Oh, do you drink?”

“Yes, my father likes to drink, so I can drink a little… … .”

“I am glad to hear this from you.”

Yulken himself poured red wine into one of the empty wine glasses, stepped away from the window, approached Edgar, and held it out.

“This is a very strong wine. I don’t know if it will fit your taste.”

“It’s okay because I’m not sensitive enough to overshadow the taste.”

“Is it so?”

Yulken silently held out his wine glass and asked for a toast.

Edgar brought his wine glass to him and lightly bumped it.

A clink sound echoed in the quiet study, and Yulken belatedly sat across from Edgar and tilted his wine glass.

“So, did you hear the story from my wife?”

“That’s right.”

“From what I’ve heard, it seems that you’ve deduced a pretty deep part. Even my wife was very surprised.”

“… I apologize if you were offended.”

Edgar lowered his head, and Yulken waved his hand lightly and tilted his wine glass again.

He had no intention of blaming this boy.

He received a message from his wife, that the boy doesn’t seem to be an insolent man who would intrude on someone else’s family affairs casually.

“Even though I called you, the truth is that I wanted to see you face to face. What do you want?”

“Your Highness, what do you think I want?”

“It is not a good habit to answer a question with another question. However, I will let you go this time.”

Yulken frowned for a moment, but then put his wine glass on the table and leaned back on the sofa.

‘It’s what he wants.’

He probably wants to apologize to his daughter, or ask what his thoughts were when he made the decision.

What he put forward was only inference, and it didn’t come directly into Yulken’s head.

“Would you like me to apologize to my daughter?”

“Apologies, do you mean that you are repenting for your mistakes?”

“I am not so stupid as to not even know that I had done something bad to that child.”

“Is that so? It just felt strange to hear it directly from His Highness’ mouth.”

Edgar never expected him to admit his wrongdoing so readily.

Of course, Edgar thought Yulken was aware of his mistake, but he would somehow try to rationalize it, saying that there was a cause or that it was unavoidable.

A bitter smile formed on Yulken’s lips at Edgar’s honest answer, and he nodded as if to say more.

Seriously, what does this boy want? He wanted to hear that answer.

Edgar smiled softly after him and opened his mouth in a fairly determined tone.

And the answer, like Ariel’s request in the morning, was completely unexpected for Yulken.

“I don’t want an apology. Just, please don’t reject Ariel’s will.”

“Please don’t refuse… What do you mean?”

“It is literally. Like what happened at breakfast today.”

Yulken finally put down the wine glass he was about to pick up and twitched the muscles around his mouth.

“Was that your idea?”

“No. In the first place, I didn't even know that Ariel would ask you to go on an outing.”

“Then is it Helena's ?”

“ Didn't I say it just now? I hope you don’t reject Ariel’s will.”

Then does that mean Ariel really did it on her own?

Yulken stared at Edgar with his mouth open in total disbelief.

He can’t use magic or the ability to read other people’s lies, but there is such a thing as sharp eyes that he has accumulated over the course of his life.

And from Yulken’s point of view, it didn’t seem like the boy was spouting lies.

Rather, it seemed so serious that even the air around it felt heavy.

‘The story will be long.’

Looking at the already empty wine glass, Yulken laughed in regret.

If he knew it would be like this, he would have filled the glass a little more before sitting.

However, at the same time, he felt fortunate.

At least he wouldn’t be talking about his one and only daughter while entrusting himself to the alcohol.

However, it would be impossible to change the story by making excuses such as drunkenness.

Like it or not, it seemed that he had to make a decision as of today.

With this boy, with his wife, with his daughter.

No, to be precise, to this insignificant play.