My Childhood Friend is Like a Stone - Chapter 24

“If you don’t mind, can you call me Adrienne? Adrianna is okay, too.”

“That’s great, Adrianna. Instead, Adrianna, please be comfortable with me too.”

When a nickname was presented to him in exchange for a reminder of the happy days, Samuel used it right away, thankfully.

“Samuel. I can’t help it this time, but next time, don’t do this. What would you do if it was someone else? That’s rude.”

“I didn’t mean to overhear. It’s just because brother came with someone—”

“Whatever happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

—But it’s not rude to me?

Adrienne, who was happily looking at Samuel, paused for a moment at that point. Adrienne was an exception for both Cyril, who scolded him, and Samuel, who was punished. This nuance that appears to be on the point of being neither other nor family.

“Adrianna, I’m sorry.”

“No, Samuel. I’m fine.”

Somehow, this time it was Adrienne’s turn to forgive. Adrienne crossed her arms in front of Samuel, who was drooping. She didn’t feel good as she glanced at his droopy eyes.

“Cyril, why are you scolding this kid so openly?”

“If someone makes a mistake, you have to tell them to fix it.”

The arrow quickly headed to Cyril. Adrienne decided to say something on behalf of Samuel.

“It’s not too late to tell me after I leave. What did the Viscountess Parte say?”

“She told me not to turn a blind eye to mistakes.”

“—No, well that’s true.”

“It’s not that mistakes are something to be ashamed of, but it’s something to be ashamed of not to accept.”

“That’s right, too—”

He was a very good student. Come to think of it, Cyril was hardly scolded during the etiquette training class. Sometimes, when she heard criticism for him, it was close to getting attention for teasing Adrienne—. The more she searched through her memory, the more she didn’t know who was teaching who.

Why didn’t he forget a single toe and remember that? That was a level of abuse of his head.

Adrienne, who was having a more leisurely day compared to him, squeezed hard on her brain.

“—She also said that we should not forget the spirit of tolerance and understanding.”

“Yes. I pointed it out, and you gave him the tolerance, so I shared my teachings.”

As she listened, it was concluded that the Viscountess Parte had two great disciples.

They were all right, so she wanted to be a little bit right for Cyril, but she couldn’t beat Cyril in front of his younger brother. Anyway, there was no way to win the fight. It seems that Cyril was often perplexed when he was very young, but how did it happen? It must be lamented that it is already the past.

“Big.”

Life is not easy—.

As she was thinking in agony, she suddenly heard a sound of laughter. The suppressed sound as if it had been put down was Samuel’s work.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s the first time brother does that—”

“Let’s greet each other and have a next time. Samuel, we have something to talk about, can you go out?”

Just as the explanation was just beginning, Cyril cut off the conversation. Two identical eyes stared at each other, only different in color saturation.

Samuel looked at Cyril as if he had more to say, shrugged his shoulders and stood up. “See you later, Adrianna.” he said and did not forget to say greetings.  He was a polite child until the moment he left.

“Is it Samuel who you said wanted to meet me?”

“Yeah. He insisted on seeing what the wind blew while he came. I didn’t know he would come out that way, but I’m sorry.”

“No, I liked it, too. I thought I’d never see him in my life, but I saw him like this.”

Tell Samuel about my news, why am I telling him, and just telling him, I can’t even remember when I told him—.

The memory of the fight was still clear.

In the story she thought he would be just a child, but Samuel has already grown that much. Time seemed to pass quickly again.

“Enough with Samuel, what’s that?”

“Ah, right.”

She forgot the purpose of coming because of Samuel’s face, which seemed to be looking at young Cyril. The brothers look amazing in pairs.

Adrienne took out the envelope she had hidden earlier and put it on the table. And she put it in front of Cyril.

“—Are you getting married?”

Cyril, who had been staring at the envelope for a long time as if it were an enemy, finally opened his mouth.

“I guess so.”

“Guess so?”

The sarcastic tone was telling him to stop talking nonsense.

In the meantime, Cyril was just looking without the envelope. Like a person who doesn’t even want to touch.

“Aren’t you going to see it?”

Adrienne suggested it, but Cyril’s gaze is still only on the envelope. Is he shocked? Well, Adrienne must have been shocked when Cyril announced that he was getting married one day. It’s like watching her siblings get married.

But she couldn’t wait too long.

Adrienne glanced back. A mirror hung on the wall behind Adrienne, opposite Cyril.

“Cyril.”

“….”

His eyes, which had been looking down the whole time, barely reached Adrienne. Adrienne said as she moved side by side.

“Let me introduce you, my husband.”

In a way, it was foreseen that Cyril, who confirmed himself in the mirror, glared.

*****

At first, he wondered what kind of nonsense this was. This was because it was similar to Adrienne’s pranks he experienced when he was young.

‘Now, Cyril. You be the princess. I’ll be the prince.’

‘—Why am I a princess?’

‘Then can I be a princess? Then Cyril can be the prince. I’ll be a princess! We’re a married couple now!’

There have been countless other things. If Adrienne was still a 7-8 years old child, he would have just let it go. However, the time for childish pranks has passed in the first place.

Adrienne was 19 years old, and she told others not to follow her right away because she didn’t want to be misunderstood. It was definitely like that—.

Cyril remained silent.

It was not difficult to read, as the thing in front of him was the paper, and the writing on the paper was the letters, the problem was that it wasn’t difficult.

What Adrienne brought out was a marriage proposal. An ordinary marriage proposal in many ways.

Normally, he wouldn’t have been interested, but if the parties involved in the marriage were Cyril and Adrienne, the story was very different.

“—this is my handwriting—”

“I know. Do you think I can’t recognize your handwriting?”

Aside from the unanswered content, she tried to correct the facts first, but even that was not possible.

Adrienne pointed out the difference in handwriting, saying that the shape of the curve by hand is different. More detailed explanations continued than Cyril, the party.

“I already know that you didn’t send it, Cyril.”

The gentle voice was quite ladylike. If Viscountess Parte had seen it, she would have applauded briefly, saying, ‘That’s it, Mademoiselle.’

Adrienne still had child-like eyes. Even after another decade, those sparkling eyes will remain. So Adrienne always looked young in Cyril’s eyes.

“I was wondering if you knew this. I knew you didn’t know with your expression.”

“My father—”

Cyril swallowed his words for a while with a burst of sighs. It wasn’t that there was no talk about marriage at all. As with any noble family, Thesar also had discussions about marriage.

As Cyril knew, the last time was just before joining the military. It died down even before he reached the surface in earnest, so he forgot about it for a long time.

After that—.

A brief scene flashed through Cyril’s mind after thinking for a moment.

After returning to the empire, he received a letter from his mother. There is a long story to talk about marriage, so it was about returning as soon as possible.

‘I didn’t have time, so I couldn’t go down.’ 

It was the military that obeyed the orders from above. The heir to lead the future Duke was no exception. In terms of it, it was right to say that this much is enough to withstand it as it is now. It was hard to find a person with the same age as him, but if there was, it would have been hard to act with Cyril.

Anyway, he couldn’t afford to visit Thesar because he was dragged every day.

When he conveyed that meaning, the words returning were concise.

‘They know—’

Cyril, remembering up to that point, closed his eyes. It was because a rough picture had been drawn in his mind.

The father, the head of the family, always considered the family the top priority, and it was like the law that Cyril, the successor, also had to follow.

The marriage was the same. It wasn’t who he married, but what family he bought and made money with was more important. In the process, there is a high probability that various things that he doesn’t know have gone awry.

As a result, Adrienne would have been the most suitable opponent this time.

“I don’t know anything right now.”

Even though he knows it well—. Nevertheless, he was ashamed to face the situation in this way. Cyril was finally able to understand Adrienne, who seemed exceptionally nervous.

Cyril, who rushed out with a sigh mixed with words, swept his face dry. A sense of frustration was etched into his hands.

“I didn’t want to tell you this irresponsibly— Give me time to communicate with my father— No, I’ll just go and find out for myself.”

“Do that. I didn’t think you would do that either.”

Adrienne seemed to have thought so sincerely. There is no possibility that Cyril Valentin proposed to her. It was a great guess because it was true, but somehow it felt strange to face that calm expression.

At one time, they had always been by each other’s side, but now it comes to mind that they have become so far apart that they can never even imagine a future together.

“You must have been really confused. I’m sorry.”

It was complicated, and she was unfamiliar with herself for making it complicated, so she lowered her voice without realizing it.

“What do you mean sorry? I’m really sorry for coming here all of a sudden. I’ll have to go now.”

Adrienne shook her head short as if it were okay. The smile on her face and the way she got up without any regrets were so refreshing.

Adrienne, who also refused the favor of returning in a better carriage, soon left the mansion.

‘Can’t I stay a little longer?’

It was then that old memories overlapped behind the sudden separation.

Why did the child suddenly come to mind when she was begging to play a little longer in his room?

Cyril had no idea why.