My Childhood Friend is Like a Stone - Chapter 16

Adrienne lowered her eyes to Cyril, who was resting against the door. Her lips were sweet, as if she was about to utter something, but she quickly closed them again. He can’t believe she hasn’t said anything. It was difficult to watch Adrienne in that situation.

“…is it that weird?”

“Uh”

Cyril nodded to the head and said yes. Adrienne carefully opened her mouth after struggling with rolling her eyes around.

“Aren’t you going to make fun of me?”

“What?”

“Promise me you won’t make fun of me no matter what I say.”

He had no idea how good being cautious was. And what does that attitude mean, as if Cyril is always teasing her? Cyril was amazed, but it seemed he wouldn’t hear anything unless he made a promise.

“—I won’t tease you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Adrienne, who had already been confirmed twice, said, “Uhm.” and carefully selected her words. There was a long period of silence before a response was given.

‘What the hell is it?’

Adrienne’s cheeks flushed as he grew increasingly annoyed. Her blue eyes gleamed brightly as usual, yet she was in a different mood. If it’s second in terms of emotion, it was like ‘dream-drenched eyes,’ to borrow the sorrowful Reid’s expression.

It reminds him of a girl in love—.

‘Love?’

He became anxious as soon as he thought of the word. It was an unknown anxiety, which made it much more upsetting.

“Actually, I went to the Imperial Palace.”

“—What?”

The words that arrived out of nowhere stopped Cyril’s thought. the Imperial Palace. As soon as he heard the word, his anxiety became more concrete.

“I saw His Majesty the Prince by chance then.”

After the Imperial Palace, now even the Prince—. Adrienne’s dreaming eye remained. For the first time in his life, he sees unfamiliar eyes. Slowly, that eye shifted to a different place. Without recognizing it, Cyril liked the end of Adrienne’s gaze.

‘Bookmarks.’

The main character that caught Adrienne’s attention was the dried rose.

“He gave me this.”

Adrienne smiled softly, despite her odd looks. The fact was reflected in the smile. Adrienne fell in love. And the love she was looking for wasn’t Cyril. The fact left Cyril stunned.

*******

Doong.

The ball landed on Cyril’s palm after flying through the air. Cyril tossed the ball back up into the air.

Doong.

The ball soon landed on the palm of his hand. It was when he repeated dozens of meaningless acts.

‘He gave me this.’

Duk.

The wool ball fell flat on the blanket. Adrienne’s shy face floated on the ceiling.

Shy Adrienne—.

Even when he saw it with his own eyes, it was an unbelievable sight, and Cyril began to question his optic nerve. Adrienne, who had been jumping, running around, and living her life as if she were a child, fell in love. And Cyril had barely been out of his seat for a month after visiting Thesar.

‘Someone tried to stay here with a ridiculous excuse, but someone—’

He was frustrated, even though he knew he shouldn’t be upset with Adrienne. Cyril was the one who understood the anger was unreasonable. Cyril was the one who made the decision to stay at Cassinel in the first place. However, when the situation became like this, something appeared as if it had been waiting.

It was the real reason.

The actual reason he wanted to stay in Cassinel a little longer, and the real reason he tried to hide it with various excuses, like a thorn trying to break through the solid membrane.

‘How does she feel about the Imperial family? She wouldn’t be able to do anything about hunting or anything if she truly became a princess. It’s Adrienne, and she’s stupid—’

Instead of concentrating on the reason, Cyril turned his attention elsewhere. The target was an unknown Prince of the Empire. In Cyril’s mind, the Imperial Prince, who has yet to be crowned Crown Prince, has transformed into a terrible villain. Cyril jumped to his feet after pondering the various challenges Adrienne would experience if she were to be crowned with the throne.

‘I can’t.’

If Adrienne doesn’t know, he can tell her. He knew the way ahead was a mess, but he couldn’t let it go. But since they are friends, he thought we should do that. Cyril went out looking for Adrienne.

******

Smoke rose from the end of the gun, creating a new hole in the middle of the target. Cyril, who turned a blind eye to the target, approached Adrienne immediately.

“Adrien, think carefully. Looking back on history, if it were normal, the prince should have been crowned Crown Prince earlier. But look at the situation. Prince Leonel is still a prince.”

“His Majesty is still correcting it, so it must be.”

“What’s the point of putting it off, Your Majesty? It’s not like we’re handing over the throne immediately just because he’s taking over the Crown Prince.”

Adrienne, who stood still despite the loud gunfire, covered his ears. Nagging, nagging. It was clear to listen to the murmur, but Cyril didn’t bat an eye.

“It’s not something to think about easily. The palace is not a beautiful place you’ve only seen in fairy tales.”

“It’s never been like that. Just shoot quickly. You have to shoot everything, so I can shoot.”

Shoot.

The second wave swept through the area. This time’s outcome was also a success. Adrienne gave a distant clap. She disliked losing quickly, but she respected those who did. Adrienne drew Cyril’s attention. Adrienne’s eyes shone with a royal energy as she glanced at the pierced target in the middle.

‘Look at that. How can you live in such a boring palace with such fondness…?’

The palace was clearly the least compatible place for Adrienne, given her free-spirited personality. Cyril stopped as he prepared to fire the final shot. Adrienne’s gaze shifted from the target to a group of flowers in the distance. The field was being painted by a beautiful flower led by a red rose.

Rose.

Cyril recalled the dried rose Adrienne was using as a bookmark.

“What, Cyril. Where are you shooting?”

“—It’s a mistake.”

The plosive sound heard twice in a row was not heard this time. Of course, there were no new holes in the target. The stray bullet would have been stuck in a poor tree. Adrienne squinted at his poor performance to the point where he was completely off the mark.It was a reasonable suspicion as he fired three shots, hitting two in the center, and blew up one.

“I thought about something else for a moment. That’s all.”

“You didn’t mean to do that?”

“I’ve seen a tomato-like face again, so what can I use it for?”

Adrienne grinned at the sincere voice. “So, who did something wrong?” And there was no more doubt in the way she answered.

Adrienne took a step forward to the lines that had been drawn at random. The expression on the target’s face was cautious. Adrienne liked a shorter, lighter gun than Cyril’s. Regardless of how happy Adrienne was to get the gun for the first time, Cyril remembered the moment clearly.

After three rounds of firing, Adrienne took the gun with a satisfied look on her face.

All three shots were hit close to the center of the target.

“How long does it take to win this.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Excited, Adrienne greeted her by pulling her right hand forward as if she had been a knight.

Cute.

The corners of Cyril’s mouth, thinking that way without realizing it, loosened up.

“Don’t think of anything weird, just shoot hard.”

“That’s what you’re talking about again? Stop it.”

“That’s because you keep expecting so much.”

“I didn’t think of anything. I was just surprised. Even if I’m really looking forward to it, what’s wrong with that? Why are you meddling?”

After days of suffering, Adrienne finally exploded and snapped back. He nagged her when she saw him, and she deserved to get sick of him.

What do you mean, meddling?

As expected, Cyril flinched at the more direct remark.

“You said we’re like brothers and sisters?So it’s natural to interfere.”

“—My real brother Reid won’t be so hard like this.”

“It’s because Reid is afraid of you.”

Adrienne was silent when he asked if it was obvious. Cyril’s rebuttal was surprisingly convincing.

“If I say I’m engaged to someone, will you stay still? It is right to discuss such a serious matter.”

Cyril continued. He couldn’t control his mouth even though he knew it was ridiculous. Adrienne, who looked at Cyril with confused eyes, belatedly opened her mouth.

“—I will stay still.”

There was a strange part of what was said after a long time. She said ‘I will stay still’.

“We just ran into each other once. Why do you keep saying things when we might meet again? It’s not like I can get married just because I want to anyway.”

Even before he asked again what that meant, the word “marriage” from Adrienne’s mouth left Cyril’s soul out.

“Ha. Did you even think about getting married?”

“That’s what you’re saying! You did that when you were a kid! Like marriage is a family bond?”

The counter-attack was fierce at the absurdly thrown words. What’s wrong with her brain is that she only has a good memory when she fights—. She couldn’t even remember going around the castle saying she became an adult with her front teeth missing, but she remembered that kind of thing well again.

“It’s not up to me anyway, so stop it.”

“…So how do you feel? Have you ever fallen for that Prince?”

Cyril finally spit out the word he had hidden in his heart, saying that he knew it and that it should be over at this point. He didn’t even know that was the only thing he was really curious about.

He have already decided that it is love, but he hope it is not love.