My Childhood Friend is Like a Stone - Chapter 19

“Cyril will come to the debutante, right?”

“Yeah. I heard he’s being promoted to captain.”

“He’s amazing. I can’t believe someone who was so weak made such a contribution—. Especially, I heard that the Special War Command is a unit that nobles are reluctant to go to. He’s brave, too.”

Emma, who had been complimenting Cyril, added carefully whether Adrienne heard those words in one ear and shed them in the other.

“Lady, do you think there’s a chance between Cyril? The two haven’t gotten engaged yet.”

“The Princess and the engagement seemed to be going back and forth. I’m not sure, but that’s what everyone said.”

“That must have been the decision of the Duke Thesar alone. In the past, it must have been the Marquis of Dalbré—”

Emma, who had been babbling, belatedly stopped talking and covered her mouth with her hands. It was because it was a bad memory for Adrienne.

“It’s okay, Emma. Maybe Emma’s right.”

“I’m sorry, Lady. I’m just wondering if—”

“I know. Don’t I understand Emma’s feelings? But even if it’s not true, there won’t be anything going on with me.”

Will Cyril come and confess to Adrienne? It was better to expect the sun to rise in the west. How many times has she been rejected? At the end, it was Cyrill who left Cassinel without saying a word.

At one time, she obviously liked Cyril. She’s been like that since she didn’t realize it was her favorite emotion. But it’s already been in the past. Adrienne was now determined not to like Cyril again.

Cyril Valentin de Thesar.

The name of a first love and friend who came unannounced one day and left one day. Adrienne pondered the name for a moment. She got a strange feeling about the name she had on her lips before. The white pillow case was soaked with a dry sigh.

*****

“It’s been a long time since you returned. How can you come back now?”

It was the first time in three years that Cyril walked to the palace of the Crown Prince. Cyril responded with dryness to the sound of bruises that were terrifying to step inside.

“I’ll see you at the ceremony.”

“You’re still good at being cold-hearted.”

Its light tone did not inspire much criticism. Lionel greeted Cyril with a gentle hug and a bright smile, as if he wasn’t serious in the first place.

“Should I call you Sir Thesar now?”

“Do as you please, Your Grace.”

“Oh, my God, I can’t even joke around.”

Lionel raised his hands as if he had lost and returned to his position. Cyril sat down and stared quietly at Lionel, who was two years older, but remained in Prince seat until he turned 21.

Lionel really had the appearance to match the word prince. Glamorous blondes and near-glossy rust were particularly so.

‘—Someone Adrienne dreamed of.’

At the thought of it, Cyril slowly closed his eyes and opened them. Of course, Lionel was still in front of him. Many fairy tales that he read to Adrienne when he was young showed a Prince who looked just like that. Adrienne liked the Prince so much that, when bored, she would urge him to do a role play.

Once, he wondered why the Prince was so nice. Where in the world is the black-haired Prince? So he can’t be a Prince. He’s not going to do it anymore.

Adrienne then opened her eyes wide in shock and asked, ‘There’s no red-haired princess— Then I can’t be a princess?’

The eyes of the child who was smiling even if he fell and broke his knee were surprisingly teary. So what can he say about it?

‘…it must be somewhere. Just do it.’

He has no choice but to say that. Then Adrienne smiled again. It was always the same. The game of the day came to an end only when, ‘The prince and princess who became a married couple lived happily ever after.’

Why did the fool like childish play so much? Who the hell is a prince?

“Cyril, if you stare at me like that, I will be a little embarrassed.”

“The more I look at it, the more you look like a Prince.”

Cyril, who had escaped from his thoughts, responded with a bit of grumpiness. It was not very loyal to the future emperor, but Lionel only smiled. The Prince has always been mature.

He feels ashamed because of how he wonders about Adrienne’s first impression about how good-looking he is.

‘Useless thought.’

Cyril, who was momentarily frustrated, shook his head lightly. This was all because of the subordinates who made old memories rumble. After talking about Adrienne for something, it doesn’t matter who she likes or not—.

“I can see flowers this year.”

Cyril turned to the window, instead of adding his own training schedule for a wide-ranging subordinate. The sunlight smashing through the wide window was equally shining on the garden beyond. The flowers that draw out the colors like purple showed their presence on the green leaves with their own colors.

“A flower that blooms every year.”

“Every year doesn’t mean it’s the same thing.”

Cyril was indifferent to sentimental words. Not long ago, it was impossible to talk about flowers about a man who was rolling on the battlefield.

‘Guns can be distinguished even with eyes closed, but they are flowers—’

Cyril paused, thinking of a common kind of rose. The yellow flowers that had decorated the window of his room for a long time had glistened. Of course, the face of a girl who was smiling brightly as she held out a bouquet of flowers in her arms came to mind.

‘At any rate, Maxel, that brat is—’. 

Another arrow returned to the subordinate. The experience of digging into the past that had been buried beyond memory was not very pleasant.

“Yeah, that’s a flower. Let’s just say you’re not interested. What do you think of other flowers? It’ll be in full bloom soon.”

“All flowers are flowers, this flower and that flower, why do you have to nitpicking it—”

Cyril stopped talking without much thought. He noticed a different meaning from Lionel’s smiling face. Cyril, with a frown on his forehead as if he was trying to make a bland sound, put one arm on the armrest of the chair.

“I don’t care if you’re talking about the debutant. I’ll have to go because His Majesty asks me to attend.”

“Cassinel’s Young Lady must have gone a long way, but you’re not interested.”

“Why are you talking about Adrienne?”

Whenever he acted indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with him, his smooth forehead was wrinkled. Lionel looked at the figure and lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you know you’re particularly sensitive about Cassinel’s topics? You used to live there when you were a kid, so I could ask you something.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“It’s very different from what I remember.”

Lionel giggled as he looked at his friend’s face, which had been distorted annoyingly. As the wrinkles on Cyril’s forehead deepened, Lionel said with a smile.

“Well, why don’t you do me a favor if it’s just a banquet in the name of my father?”

“What favor?”

“Please ask Dezire to dance with you. She looks so bored because she stays in bed all the time.”

Lionel’s face referring to his sister was a little darker than before. Cyril remembered Princess Dezire, who had a cough when she was staying with Lionel.

“She said she wants to attend the debutante, but where has she been? It’s next year that she officially comes of age, but she seems to want to experience it in advance. As an older brother, I can’t turn down my younger sister’s request.”

“Dance is no big deal.”

“Thank you for listening.”

“I was just going to show my face anyway, so one dance won’t make any difference.”

Cyril, who thought nothing of it, shook his head. It wasn’t an unreasonable request as it would take less than 5 minutes to say one song.

‘How long has it been since I last danced?’

After a brief thought, a vivid afterimage of the past unfolded in front of Cyril’s eyes. It was the scene of the two who had been monitoring with strict facial expressions and working side by side under the teacher of etiquette.

A girl who brazenly continued to dance despite making mistakes one after another, and a boy who pretended to be fine even after being stepped on—.

‘It’s scary to remember something.’ 

No matter what he thinks of these days, from number one to ten, it was all memories with Adrienne. After returning from the battlefield, he only met her once.

Cyril, embarrassed to blame Maxel any longer, swallowed a sigh. Lionel’s gaze stayed briefly on the head that fell on its own.

*****

Cassinel’s mansion, located on the outskirts of the capital, Ruter, was very simple compared to that of a large aristocrat. In the first place, the architectural style in which a narrow and shallow moat encircled the mansion itself was a trends that had long since passed.

It wasn’t just a matter of form. The mansion was located in an unusually low area, and it also had geographical weaknesses that would easily be submerged if it rained even a little.

However, considering the land price of the capital, which has jumped without knowing that the sky was high over the past decade, it was high class. Even this flawed mansion would not have belonged to Cassinel if it had not been for Reid’s stubbornness that he rarely saw every few years.

If it was a little late, the price would have doubled. Adrienne admired the twins’ insight once again. In Adrienne’s view, Reid had no talent for martial arts, but the ability to read the world was superior to anyone in the family.

“Adrianna!”

“What are you running for, Reid?”

She wondered where she could hear a loud bang, and Reid, with a hot face, entered the room.