I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend - Chapter 39

I tried to tell him that I couldn’t ride a horse right away, but the horse just fell into place.

 

How do you break this moment immediately in front of such a happy child?

 

“Dahlia, did you wait long?”

 

“Oh, no. But why suddenly…?”

 

When I slipped my words out, Rudrick said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

 

“We’re going to ride it.”

 

Then he asked me as if he had just remembered.

 

“Dahlia, do you know how to ride a horse?”

 

Rudrick’s words were questionable, but they were words with conviction as if ‘of course, you would know how to ride’, so I had no choice but to look elsewhere.

 

Conflict ensued for a while. Should I just endure it and ride it according to Rudrick’s expectations or tell the truth?

 

Actually, the answer was decided, and I was the person whose safety was more important than anyone else.

 

Nevertheless, it was so hard to say that I stuttered as I spoke.

 

“Hey, I…”

 

“Hm?”

 

Eventually, I closed my eyes and spat it out.

 

“I can’t ride a horse.”

 

For a moment, Rudrick’s eyes widened, and soon after, the poignant story I had told him gradually turned to embarrassment.

 

Even after my story was over, I couldn’t seem to think of this situation at all.

 

I asked, scratching my cheek shyly.

 

“Can’t we go there by carriage?”

 

“Ugh… We have to climb a mountain path, but the road’s too narrow for a carriage to go…”

 

‘Where the hell are you going?’

 

I was skeptical, but I didn’t really care. If I deceived Rudrick, I would be cheating, because he wasn’t a child who would take me to a bad place on purpose.

 

Eventually, I fell into trouble again.

 

‘Would it be okay?

 

It’s already been years since I fell off the horse, and I’ve grown a lot in the meantime.

 

Wasn’t it too early to learn horse riding at the age of ten? Rudrick rides around so skillfully.

 

Maybe now’s what my father said about ‘when I’m big enough?‘

 

But it’s still scary to ride a horse alone. Since then, I have never learned horseback riding properly.

 

Wasn’t it more dangerous if it’s a mountain path? As I was groaning, the answer unexpectedly came from somewhere else.

 

“Then… Should we ride it together?”

 

My eyes widened at his words.

 

“What?”

 

“Well, I don’t mean it in a weird way…”

 

There was Rudrick with a slightly blushed cheek. Rudrick glanced at my puzzled face and waved his hand, then began to speak slowly.

 

“Well… I’m used to riding a horse though. Usually, a castle horse was enough for two children, and I’ve ridden it with my mother in the North.”

 

Seeing the gibberish, it seemed like he was just spitting it out in an unorganized state, but when I listened to Rudrick, I admired it.

 

‘It should be safe right?’

 

Guess I’m not the man either. At best, I thought you’d ask the knight who would escort us to pick me up, but instead he says he’ll do it himself.

 

I asked nervously, trying to get down the plan of trying to climb up.

 

“Really? What if I’m overweight and heavy?”

 

“It’s okay. Dahlia’s light.”

 

“Wow, you could say something like that casually. Are you dying to pick me up?”

 

“Da- Dahlia!”

 

I giggled playfully as I saw Rudrick shouting in embarrassment.

 

In fact, the answer had already been out since I received Rudrick’s surprise offer. I grabbed Rudrick’s hand and shouted brightly.

 

“Let’s go!”

 

And Rudrick’s idea wasn’t bad.

 

No, I could have said it was great.

 

Holding Rudrick’s hand and barely getting on the back of the horse, I still felt uncomfortable and worried, ‘Would I be able to hold well?’

 

Rudrick was a better teacher than I thought.

 

Perhaps it was not in vain to say ‘I’m familiar with horses‘, so he corrected my stiff posture in detail.

 

Because he drove the horse slowly and waited for me to get used to it.

 

Soon after I got used to the horse a little, Rudrick took my hand around his waist, holding tightly.

 

He said before I was even embarrassed.

 

“Hold on tight.”

 

And with that sound as a signal, the horse kicked off the ground and started running.

 

Without realizing it, I took a deep breath and held on to his waist. I grabbed it so tightly that I was worried about what would happen if Rudrick got sick.

 

But I couldn’t let go of either because I was afraid that Rudrick might drop me.

 

Surprisingly, Rudrick didn’t express anything. I don’t know if it really hurts or if he’s pretending.

 

He drove the horse quietly.

 

Thanks to this, I was able to calm down over time.

 

Unlike the first time when I couldn’t even raise my head while hanging like a cicada behind Rudrick’s back, I was finally able to open my eyes.

 

And when I raised my head with courage…

 

“Wow…!”

 

A dreamy landscape unfolded.

 

‘The best!’

 

It was a feeling of liberation as if my heart was being ripped open.

 

It was exactly what I imagined when I was a kid.

 

Running through the meadow on a fancy horse felt cool as if all my worries were blown away.

 

It was exactly like that now. Although I clung behind Rudrick’s back without looking down, let alone driving the horse myself.

 

The view from behind someone else’s back wasn’t bad either, so now I was facing the wind with my straightened back.

 

Seeing me like that, Rudrick became embarrassed.

 

“Dahlia, don’t push yourself too much.”

 

Even though he’s still young, he’s still a man. Perhaps he wasn’t just bluffing that it was easy to ride together, he really drove the horse skillfully.

 

As for how skillful he was, he not only drove the horse, but also controlled the speed of the horse by adjusting to my condition.

 

At first glance, it seemed that there was not much difference in skill with the knights running next to him.

 

Thanks to this, I was able to sit comfortably on the horse and watch the scenery pass by at a leisurely pace.

 

‘But where are we going?’

 

As I got comfortable, an idea that I had buried came to mind.

 

Like Rudrick said, we were entering the entrance to the mountain.

 

It was a mountain that surrounded the capital halfway, but I knew that the forest right behind the Imperial Palace was owned by the Imperial Family, so I was not allowed to enter.

 

However, the place where Rudrick was headed was not the forest behind the imperial palace.

 

Rather, it was a mountain that looked quite high, opposite to the imperial palace.

 

‘You said we couldn’t go by carriage!’

 

As we entered the mountains, I could finally understand Rudrick’s words.

 

The slope was steep and the land was uneven, so it would have been difficult for carriages to travel.

 

That’s why Rudrick prepared the horse.

 

I started to wonder what the hell was going on that he wanted to take me here so much.

 

The question was soon resolved.

 

The horse, which had been running for quite some time, stopped at some point.

 

Then I looked up and I burst into exasperation at the sight at a glance.

 

“Woah…!”

 

Because there was a wide view of the capital in front of me.

 

Rudrick jumped off the horse first, reached out to me.

 

After getting off the horse holding his hand, I climbed up the hill at once and looked down blankly at the panoramic view.

 

From a distance, the capital city looked splendid and cute.

 

The large imperial palace at the center, and several large mansions next to it, and small houses in between.

 

Even living in the capital, I had vaguely imagined what the view of the capital would be like, but that imagination was unfolding in front of my eyes.

 

‘This is how it looks…’

 

To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations when I came here.

 

It’s true that I’ve lived longer in the capital than Rudrick, and I’m proud that I’ve dug through almost everything in the capital.

 

I thought Rudrick would be the same wherever he went.

 

However, I had to admit that my thoughts were short in front of this scenery I saw for the first time.

 

In fact, seeing me admiring the scenery, Rudrick looked strangely proud.

 

“How did you find this place?”

 

Ruderick’s gaze turned to me for a while as I muttered to myself. He pursed his lips as if hesitatingly, then answered.

 

“The gardener…”

 

“The gardener? Oh, maybe from that diary?”

 

Looking around, I suddenly remembered what I saw in Rudrick’s exchange diary.

 

Come to think of it, did you say that you became close with the gardener in your house when you couldn’t come to our house for a while?

 

And if my memory was right, Rudrick nodded and continued to talk.

 

“Yeah, he told me. It’s best to see a good view when you’re depressed.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“He said it would make someone happy…”

 

Then, as if embarrassed, he touched his neck and turned his head slightly.

 

I didn’t really ask an obvious question like, ‘Who’s happy?‘ Now I just felt proud of Rudrick.

 

In the past, I would have struggled inside thinking about how to lift my mood, but now I have learned how to confide in others first.

 

Besides, he now has a close friend at the Duke Bouser’s residence, Rudrick who used to live alone and couldn’t get along with others has changed.