I Will Become the Villain’s Childhood Friend - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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62

Even after sending the second letter, more than a month passed without any reply from Kail.

Could it be that two letters in a row got lost?

Or maybe Kail is much angrier than I expected.

His expression at the last moment was quite serious. The sense of betrayal from the misunderstanding must have been enormous.

Still, I sent two apology letters.

With a troubled heart, I wrote a third letter.

Much longer and more carefully than before, containing a sincere apology. I removed all traces of humor and pleaded for him to believe my words.

To ensure proper delivery, this time I entrusted it to Darius, who was visiting the estate.

“Please make sure to deliver it directly to Kail.”

At my earnest request, Darius told me to just leave it to him and carefully tucked the letter into his chest.

After that, I also spent the summer at Brante Estate and returned.

After enduring a long month, as soon as I arrived in Pelrn, I rushed straight to Diern Manor, hoping for Kail’s reply.

In the reception room, Darius’s face, which I met after a month, was shadowed with gloom.

“Brother Darius! Did you have a good trip to the estate?”

“Yes. Did you have an enjoyable vacation too, Miss Rieze?”

After exchanging brief updates, he delivered the bad news.

“Miss Rieze. I’m terribly sorry. I wasn’t able to meet Kail.”

“Wh-why not?”

“They said he went out for long-term field training outside the ducal palace.”

Darius must have stayed at the estate for ten days.

“For ten whole days?”

“Yes.”

“Does he always go out for that long?”

“…Well. He might have been avoiding me. I wanted to see Kail’s face after so long too.”

Darius pressed his eyes and gave a bitter smile.

“Didn’t you hear anything about how he’s doing?”

“It seems like he only trains except for eating and sleeping. While receiving intensive training from the captain.”

“The captain?”

“Someone named Henriette Sierrden. He looks gentle, but he’s merciless when it comes to training.”

Hearing that name, I recalled a supporting character from 【Golden Covenant】.

Henriette Sierrden. A commoner by birth who rose to the position of knight captain through swordsmanship alone.

He was also the character who stopped Kail from harming Darius when Kail went berserk at the end of the original story.

He was mentioned as the master who once taught Kail with Spartan methods. So that’s happening now.

Darius returned to the main topic.

“I couldn’t put the letter directly into Kail’s hands, but I asked his aide to place the letter on Kail’s desk in his room. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no. That’s enough. Thank you!”

At least with that, the letter wouldn’t get lost along the way.

After four whole months, my apology was finally delivered to Kail with certainty. I felt refreshed as if old grime had been washed away.

A reply should come soon.

But Darius’s expression was still dark.

After clenching and unclenching his fists, he finally spoke after much deliberation.

“Please don’t be too hurt when you hear this, Miss Rieze.”

“Yes?”

“He said not to wait for a reply to Miss Rieze.”

“…Who said that?”

“The aide who delivered the letter.”

“Is that… Kail’s intention?”

“…That’s what he said.”

“…”

All strength drained from my body at once.

The teaspoon in my hand clattered to the floor.

That means he received the two previous letters and chose not to reply.

I even asked in the second letter to send a reply even if his anger hadn’t subsided.

This is too much.

Even after a serious fight, unilaterally cutting off contact like this is too much.

What does that make me, waiting anxiously for a reply every day for months?

A sigh escaped me.

“Why is Kail… doing this?”

“…”

“When I think we’ve gotten closer and I’m happy, he distances himself, and when I barely manage to close the gap again, he distances himself again… He’s like an elusive mirage… I believed we had finally become close friends…”

“Miss Rieze.”

Darius called my name gently.

“You’ve tried hard enough, Miss Rieze. That’s enough. Thank you for making an effort for Kail.”

Darius lightly patted my shoulder.

“I’ll apologize on Kail’s behalf. I’m sorry.”

“…No. Why should Brother Darius apologize?”

“I’m largely to blame for Kail developing such a twisted personality…”

Whenever talk of Kail’s personality came up, Darius would always blame himself.

For what he did to torment him in the past.

At this point, I’m somewhat curious about what, how, and how much he tormented him.

Since the past between these two wasn’t detailed in the original beyond the word “tormented,” I could only speculate.

“…Did you beat him up and yell at him?”

Though it might be a sensitive topic, I asked cautiously.

“It was worse than that. I was a real bastard.”

Darius said with a self-deprecating smile.

Worse than hitting and shouting? Given Darius’s current temperament, it’s hard to imagine.

“Hah. He’s not a bad kid by nature…”

I silently agreed with Darius’s muttered words.

Right, he wasn’t rotten to the core. That’s what makes it more maddening.

Would it have been better not to show him affection at all?

“…I made an unnecessary request. I’m sorry for burdening you with something so heavy, Miss Rieze.”

Darius bowed his head deeply with pained eyes.

He was referring to when he asked me to get along well with Kail.

Darius. You did that for Kail’s sake.

Understanding his feelings made me feel even more upset.

“I’m fine. You don’t need to apologize, Brother.”

I smiled, regaining my composure.

I tried as much as I could. I’m done with this now too.

If Kail’s heart is moved after reading the third letter, he’ll extend a hand of reconciliation, and if not, then it’s over.

After reaching that conclusion, I switched off my thoughts about Kail and blocked them out.

“More importantly, I brought lots of gifts from our estate.”

I plopped down a bundle of Brante Estate specialties on the table.

I changed my voice to a cheerful tone and brightened my expression.

Darius, who had been dejected, also noticed my intention and smiled.

As he unwrapped the armful of wine, coffee beans, fruit jams, and tea bags I had packaged, Darius’s face lit up like a lamp had been turned on.

“Wow, thank you, Miss Rieze.”

“There’s more. Ta-da! I heard Brother Darius likes this kind of thing, so I bought it for you.”

I also carefully placed a palm-sized plaster statue wrapped in cloth on the table.

It was a sculpture of an angel blowing a trumpet.

A famous craftsman made it with meticulous care, stitch by stitch, and I bought it at the highest bid at an auction!

I bought it knowing that Darius was crazy about artworks like paintings and sculptures.

Darius picked up the angel statue to examine it, then let out an exclamation.

“My goodness! I’ve never seen such detailed and delicate sculpture before! This is incredible….”

Darius held his mouth while continuously expressing admiration. His amber eyes sparkled like clear marbles.

His reaction made spending that large sum of money worthwhile. This is why I offer tributes!

“Huh? This was made by craftsman Bitern?”

Darius looked at the seal carved on the bottom of the plaster statue, then stared at me with disbelieving eyes.

“…I don’t really know. It looked pretty and they were selling it cheap, so I bought it?”

I quickly pretended not to know its value, worried he might feel burdened thinking he received an expensive gift.

Then Darius jumped up in excitement.

“If this is authentic, it’s incredibly precious, Miss Rieze! At first glance, it’s so delicate that it seems genuine, so I’ll have it appraised later. Anyway, I’m incredibly grateful, but I wonder if I should accept something so precious….”

This was the first time I’d seen Darius lose his composure and ramble like this.

Oh my, he’s truly an art enthusiast. And indeed, passion comes from the heart!

I gestured vigorously with a motherly smile that naturally emerged.

“Please do take it! It would just be a waste for me to keep it when I don’t even know its value.”

“Ha. This is unbelievable…. I’m so happy…. Truly….”

Darius held the sculpture like a precious baby and murmured while stroking it.

“I’ve received the best gift ever…. The Diern Estate is just a barren wasteland, so I couldn’t prepare anything special….”

Darius, drooping like a dejected retriever, took out a small box.

When I opened the box he handed me, a pearl necklace with small beads reflected light brilliantly.

“Well, I noticed you wear the bracelet I gave you before, so I thought jewelry might be okay. My sense is terrible, isn’t it?”

“…You call this nothing special? And you think this is terrible?”

When I picked up the necklace, which was undoubtedly made of the finest pearls, and asked back in amazement, he smiled with a face more angelic than the angel statue.

That alone made me feel like the dark clouds had cleared.

The stone that had weighed on a corner of my heart because of Kail was healed by Darius.

‘I don’t care about someone like Kail anymore!’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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