I Became the Villain’s Childhood Friend Chapter 23

 

Before I knew it, my hands were sweaty.

 

I wanted to escape from the Madam’s secret dressing room as quickly as possible, but my hands were slippery and I couldn’t open the mirrored door.

 

My spine grew colder and colder, and my hand holding the door handle continued to sweat profusely. My hand kept slipping off the handle, so I wiped it on the hem of my dress.

 

At that time, a strong smell of perfume wafted from behind me, and an arm came from over my shoulder and opened the mirror door.

 

Even without looking away, I could tell that Madam Collin was opening the door right next to my face, staring at me.

 

I walked carefully, trying not to show that I was nervous.

 

Madam Collin didn’t follow me out because she had more work to do there.

 

The door closed with a bang.

 

Without realizing it, I turned around and saw my reflection in the mirror.

 

Danae’s face, which looked fierce to begin with, was still expressionless.

 

I thought that was very fortunate.

 

***

 

“What’s wrong with your clothes?”

 

Reynold’s voice came to my senses.

 

Reynold’s hair was wet, as if he had just washed up after training.

 

Reynold’s face, which had become serious as he looked at the clothes the Madam had put on me, began to darken when he saw my expression.

 

“…What happened?”

 

“…”

 

“Who bullied you?”

 

He hurriedly approached me and examined my face intently.

 

Looking at his face, it felt as if my stiff body was loosening up.

 

But I couldn’t say to Reynold, ‘I’m afraid of your mother.’

 

Reynold looked at me everywhere, then his face hardened when he saw the shoes I was wearing.

 

“I told you not to wear shoes like these.”

 

After scolding me a little, Reynold sat me down on the sofa, took off my shoes, and changed me into comfortable shoes.

 

Then, as if my dress was bothering him, his eyes frowned as he looked at it.

 

“Aren’t the clothes uncomfortable? If you don’t want to do this, tell me. I’ll tell Mother.”

 

“If you do that, thanks…”

 

I smiled, trying hard not to forget the numbers I had seen on my shoes earlier.

 

“And, the carriage came. I’ll take you to the carriage.”

 

Danae, come to your senses. Don’t forget the numbers.

 

I walked with Reynold, repeating the numbers.

 

“Edin seems to be out of his mind these days, is he okay?”

 

“Uuuh…”

 

He continued talking, yet nothing reached my ears.

 

Then Reynold suddenly stopped walking.

 

Only then did I come to my senses and stop walking.

 

He’s not the type of kid who will stop walking even when arrows rain down on him. As I followed Reynold’s gaze with curiosity, I could see why he was doing that.

 

When a carriage comes from Lerdonia Mansion, it’s usually accompanied by a driver and a knight, yet for some unknown reason, Rian was standing next to the carriage.

 

Rian, who made eye contact with me, turned his head and got on the carriage first.

 

…Did I see something wrong?

 

I asked, moving my mouth towards Reynold without Rian knowing.

 

“…Have I finally gone crazy?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

(tbh the word 전혀 can be used for either ‘not at all’ or ‘absolutely; completely’ and both fit the conversation so i don’t know which one <(＿　＿)>)

 

Reynold answered calmly.

 

***

 

The inside of the carriage was completely silent.

 

If this was going to be the case, I couldn’t figure out why he came to pick me up.

 

It was so quiet that I felt like I would even forget the numbers I had managed to memorize in the dressing room.

 

No, I can’t forget it.

 

There must be something to those numbers. Otherwise, there’s no way the Madam would act like that. I cautiously asked Rian, who was sitting in front of me.

 

“Do you have paper and pen?”

 

Of course, I didn’t expect an answer.

 

“…”

 

Rian, who had been staring at me, roughly reached into his arms and handed me a pen and notebook.

 

“Thanks.”

 

I quickly wrote down the numbers and thought about it for a moment.

 

Rian, who lived outside the mansion, would have seen and heard more than me, so he might know what this number means.

 

…The key is whether Rian will answer me even if he knows.

 

The worry was short-lived.

 

“Brother, do you know what this is?”

 

When I held out a note to him in a very kind voice, Rian paused for a moment. However, he soon removed the back that was attached like a magnet to the backrest and narrowed his eyes to check the note.

 

Then he answered in a calm voice, as if he was stating an obvious fact.

 

“Isn’t that a livestock number?”

 

“…”

 

When I didn’t respond to what he said, Rian added his own words.

 

“Number used on ear tags.”

 

Rian tapped his ear with his finger and leaned back comfortably against the backrest.

 

“The first three digits indicate the type of livestock, and the last numbers indicate the date the livestock was caught.”

 

“…Ear tag for livestock?”

 

“Yes, noble lady, where on earth have you seen something like that?”

 

I narrowed my brows without realizing it when I heard Rian’s extremely sarcastic voice.

 

However, looking at Rian’s expression, it didn’t seem like he was saying it with the intention of being sarcastic.

 

“I was just curious because it was written on the shoes.”

 

“Then that must be the date it died to be made into those shoes.”

 

“…Ah, really?”

 

My shoes were truly made of leather.

 

Is what Rian said right? Listening to what he said, I felt like I was taking it too seriously.

 

“How do you know this?”

 

“I worked at a slaughterhouse before I met Mother.”

 

It was my first time hearing this. After hearing that, it suddenly occurred to me that Rian might have had a harder time than I thought.

 

“…It must have been difficult.”

 

Then, upon hearing what I said, Rian suddenly became angry and fiercely asked me.

 

“Who are you kidding?”

 

“I didn’t mean it that way, I’m sorry if it came across that way.”

 

I didn’t even have the strength left to fight with Rian.

 

Fortunately, after hearing my apology, Rian seemed to have calmed down and quickly became quiet.

 

The atmosphere became even stranger than before.

 

But it seems that was just my opinion.

 

Rian opened his mouth casually.

 

“But I’ve been curious earlier… What’s wrong with your clothes?”

 

In a very serious voice.

 

Then he clicked his tongue.

 

“You have so much money, why are you walking around dressed like a ladybug?”

 

Then this time, he frowned when he saw the slippers I was wearing.

 

“The shoes are crazy too.”

 

Of course, I freely admit that the clothes are strange, but… I’m angry when Rian says things like that.

 

“Who cares?”

 

I think it’s been less than five minutes since I thought I didn’t have the strength to fight Rian.

 

I didn’t want to lose my strength, so I spoke quickly.

 

“I’m kidding.”

 

“…Enough. I didn’t do anything well either.”

 

There was no word after that. I looked out the window blankly.

 

After some time had passed, Rian lowered his head and started muttering something. Hearing the mumbling sound, I turned my head towards Rian. It seemed like he was muttering something to me. Did that guy do something wrong? Why does a guy who usually has a loud voice speaklike that? I put my ear toward Rian and asked.

 

“What are you saying now? I can’t hear you clearly.”

 

As soon as I finished speaking, Rian lifted his lowered head and shouted.

 

“I’m thankful to you!!!”

 

…What on earth are you thankful for?

 

Moreover, I couldn’t tell if those words were sarcastic or if they were really expressing sincere gratitude.

 

Rian started to fuss.

 

Suddenly, I heard a loud sound and my heart skipped a beat.

 

Rian, who was very embarrassed to say thank you, was blushing from his neck to the top of his head.

 

Just then, the carriage arrived at Lerdonia Mansion, and as soon as Paul opened the door, Rian got out of the carriage with a thud as the carriage stopped.

 

“Did you two fight?”

 

Paul asked cautiously, glancing inside the carriage where Rian had left.

 

“…No?”

 

The voice was so loud that my heart still fluttered.

 

As my heart pounded, my legs trembled.

 

I forced my shaking legs to get out of the carriage.

 

“Sister!”

 

Sylvester, who had been loitering in front of the mansion as if he had been waiting for me, ran towards me as soon as he saw me.

 

However, he stopped running and made a face.

 

“…What’s wrong with your clothes?”

 

Sylvester’s face was one of confusion as he looked at me.

 

Looking at that expression, I felt confused as well.

 

I need to burn these damn clothes right away.

 

“Is it that weird?”

 

“It’s not strange… but you look like you’re going to die when you wear it.”

 

Sylvester had a great talent for swearing in novel ways.

 

“Would you rather say it’s weird?”

 

But Sylvester soon casually took my hand and led me into the mansion.

 

“I have something to show you when you return. Come quickly.”

 

It was a trick to ask me to play.

 

I stared at the back of Rian walking in front of me, being helplessly dragged by Sylvester. His ears were still burning.

 

Rian is acting strange today.

 

…Could it be that the reason he thanked me was because of what happened at Chester Mansion?

 

No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like a reasonable doubt.

 

Because, unexpectedly, he even came to get me.

 

I stared at his back and then opened his mouth.

 

“Brother~!!!”

 

When my stomach called out to him louder than Rian’s voice from the carriage earlier, Sylvester quickly let go of my hand and covered his ears.

 

At my call, Rian paused for a moment and turned back.

 

I said to him, shrugging my shoulders lightly.

 

“Come with us.”

 

When I took advantage of the fact that Sylvester’s ears were blocked to suggest something, Rian made a dumbfounded expression.

 

There was no particular reason. It didn’t seem like Rian was as bad of a guy as I thought, and it seemed like it would be better to maintain a good relationship like Reynold said.

 

I wrapped my arms around Sylvester and walked towards Rian.

 

***

 

Sylvester, who was uncomfortable with Rian at first, seemed to gradually relax and began to talk to Rian little by little.

 

Well, I can’t say that Rian’s personality is good, even if it’s just empty words, but I could see that he was slowly trying to change his attitude.

 

The problem was Edin.

 

“Danae, talk to me.”

 

Sylvester and I had no interest in becoming successors from the beginning, and since we weren’t the firstborn, we didn’t even have the conditions to become successors, but Edin’s situation was different from ours.

 

Moreover, Edin was a person who believed that in order to protect me and Sylvester, he had to maintain his position as successor.

 

“Ha…”

 

Edin let out a long sigh.

 

I looked at his eyes and carefully opened my mouth.

 

“Still, this is someone I’ll see until the day I die, so it’s better to get along well than to have a bad relationship.”

 

“Anyway, my relationship with Rian will end on bad terms.”