I Couldn’t Stop my Childhood Friend from Turning Into a Villain

“Now, stop crying. Ttuk!”

I slightly pushed Liel’s shoulder, which I was hugging, and faced him.

When I spoke with force, Liel closed his eyes tightly and tightened his nose.

Liel’s dark eyelashes, soaked in tears, trembled faintly.

Ah, you’re so cute.

There was actually one more reason why I couldn’t let Liel go.

Setting aside the fact that he’s going to be crazy later on, Liel was so cute.

No matter how cute kids are, Liel looks exceptionally cute.

“Let’s blow our noses, too. Huungh!”

I took a handkerchief out of my pocket and put it on Liel’s nose. Then Liel blew his nose.

Then he hugged me again.

“Lucy, Lucy. Don’t leave me behind.….”

There was water in Riere’s voice. After a moment of hesitation, I nodded with a determined face.

“Yes, I won’t.”

I thought I should do my best to prevent Liel from turning evil.

‘My friend Liel hasn’t done anything yet.’

Now Liel was too young to see others as the opposite sex. So, from now on, he should try not to fall for Dioleta.

Seeing Liel sniffing in my arms, I began to feel confident that I could do it.

***

Liel sniffed, shaking his body, as if the lingering feelings were still there. I could see his dark hair shaking in sync of Liel’s movements.

In his hand was the bread the servant had brought.

Liel, who held it in both hands, took a bite while babbling.

The shape of Lière’s small mouth remained on the bread.

I thought it would take him a long time to finish eating.

I wiped Liel’s face with a handkerchief other than the one where he blew his nose.

I always carried two handkerchiefs because of the crybaby Liel.

One is for wiping tears, and the other is for blowing his nose.

“But Liel.”

I called Liel instead of wiping his tears.

“What?”

While eating the moist bread, Liel answered as he chewed the food in his mouth.

Cute.

I guess he’s already this cute even before I got my memory back…….

“You know, the…… I mean, the snake.”

I said, glancing at Liel’s ankle, pretending not to be scared.

Then Liel, who swallowed the bread in his mouth, knelt on his knees, looking at me.

Like he’s trying to hide the tattoo on his ankle.

But regardless of his intentions, he looked like a child being punished, so I stopped him.

“Why do you sit like that? Don’t kneel down!”

It looks like he noticed.

As I said with a shudder, tears fell from Liel’s eyes again.

I can’t say anything.

I thought I should just move on, but I didn’t give up and continued because I thought it would be a big deal.

“I’m not trying to say anything to you, but you…… You only showed it to me, right?”

In the original, I think what happened was probably because ”Lucy” knew, but I needed to check just in case.

Liel, who had been straightening his posture again at my words, nodded.

“Yeah… My mom told me not to show it to anyone. It’s a secret….”

But why didn’t you listen to your mother….?

I couldn’t help but smile.

The mother that Liel is talking about here, is his biological mother.

It seemed that Liel’s mother had asked him in advance before sending him to the Duke.

Don’t show anyone your snake tattoo.

Also, given the emphasis on secrets to Liel, it was highly likely that she knew something about the tattoo.

That means that no one knows about Liel’s tattoos anymore. Because Liel’s biological mother died before she could send him to the duke’s house.

Fortunately, the duke’s people were indifferent to Liel, so that his tattoo was not noticed by others.….

In the meantime, however, Liel broke his promise with his mother only once and confessed to someone about the snake tattoo.

That’s me

Sigh…

At the same time with a smile, I touched my forehead and said to him with the sternest face possible.

“You have to continue to listen to your mom like that. The thing on your ankle. Never! You should never show it to others. Got it?”

As I repeatedly emphasized, Liel blinked and nodded again.

“Yes!”

The answer was very good.

Of course, considering Liel’s age, he was never a big mouth.

As evidence, “Lucy” was the only one who knew Liel’s secret in the original.

It won’t be that different now.

“Promise?”

Still, I couldn’t help being anxious. For a definite answer, I held out my pinky to Liel.

Holding the bread Liel was eating in one hand, he grabbed my finger with his remaining hand and shook it up and down.

“Yes, I promise!”

That’s a very good answer.

The crumbs on Liel’s hand stuck to my finger.

“Alright. Finish eating now.”

“Yes!”

The answer was very well done to the end.

***

Now that I remembered the original work, I thought I should visit Liel more often than now.

I think it would be just right for others to wonder if I’m the third daughter of the Duke of Marsen.

“Grandma, I’ll be back after visiting Liel’s.”

Still, after I regained my memory, I felt proud that my pronunciation became clearer and I felt smarter than an eight-year-old.

Then suddenly, I remembered that Liel was one year older than me.

Why does he cry so often when he’s already 9 years old? I wasn’t that bad when I didn’t remember.

Maybe it’s because he didn’t get enough love.

However, when Duchess Marsen said something, he only bowed his head and closed his mouth, but did not cry.

‘Are you dull?’ 

(t/n: this is said by the Duchess)

Uh… my head is hurting again…….

The things that I didn’t really care about when I had no memory of the original are now making sense.

Before that, I thought she was just a bad person who said mean things to my friend…….

Now that I think about it, isn’t it natural that the child her husband brought from outside doesn’t look good?

‘No, then what did she say to her husband!’

If she’s going to hate him, she has to hate her husband in the same way.

For Liel, who was just born, the label “illegitimate” was too harsh.

At least by my standards.

If she’s going to curse him, shouldn’t she do it to the Duke who brought his lover’s child?

As I stood still and gritted my teeth, my grandmother, who put her thick glasses on the desk, smiled and said with a benevolent face.

“Alright. Don’t come back too late.”

“Yes!”

When I answered in a strong voice, my grandmother nodded at me as if she were looking at a lovely child.

Although I don’t have parents, I have a grandmother who loves me.

Perhaps Dioeta was like that to Liel.

Thinking about it like this hurt me again.

“You’re going to the Duke of Marsen, right?”

The coachman asked me familiarly as I approached the carriage.

His gracious smile was like my grandmother.

He was always proud of me by going to my friend’s house alone.

“Yes!”

As I bravely climbed into the carriage, I heard the coachman’s voice.

I quickly settled down and sat down so as not to fall.

Soon after, I heard the sound of horse hoofs.

I sat still and bruised until I reached the Duke of Marsen’s mansion.

***

As I entered the mansion, Liel was running toward me in the distance.

“Lucy!”

Liel always welcomed me and came out before the butler.

He usually moves very slowly.

Wait, then does that mean he is just waiting for me to come all day?

It may seem self-conscious, but with Liel’s behavior, it was a reasonable doubt.

“Hi, Liel. Did you eat?”

I asked Liel. Then I handed over my hat to the butler, who was belatedly approaching me.

“What about Lucy?”

But Liel returned a question  to my question.

“I’ve eaten.”

When I answered honestly that I had lunch, Riere said with a bright smile.

“Then I’ve eaten, too!”

Look at him

I squinted at Liel.

Then Liel opened his eyes wide as if he was asking why. Then he smiled softly and blushed his cheeks.

“What’s with that? Sure. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“Well…”

Realizing that his lie had been found out, Liel made a pained sound. I turned my head and looked at the butler next to me.

“……The young master hasn’t eaten yet.”

Perhaps my fierce eyes were burdensome, the butler replied after much consideration.

At the butler’s confession, Liel smiled embarrassedly.

“Why are you lying?”

In the past, I might have been fooled without knowing anything, but now I’m not.

When I raised my eyes and stared at Liel, he wiggled his fingers like a guilty man.

“Ha, but…… Lucy had a meal.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“If I say I haven’t eaten, you’ll just go home and tell me to eat quickly..….”

“Me?”

“You did it before!”

Did I…? Why did I do that?….

Before I regained my memory, I was just an immature child, just like Liel.

So it’s probably because it’s annoying to wait until he’s finished his meal, so I think I just went back…….

I didn’t know Liel had it in his mind.

In an instant, the tide turned, and I held Liel’s hand with an awkward face.

“Why did I do that? I’m so mean. Right? Liel must have been disappointed.”

Honestly, I don’t even remember.

Liel remembers what I said or did better than I did, so maybe what he said is not a lie.

In particular, Liel remembered it better than I do, which makes me sad.

When he told me something a few times before, he used to cry because I couldn’t remember.

Later, however, when I listened to Dioleta and my grandmother, it turned out that Liel was right.

There were several precedents, so this time I admitted Liel’s claim and rebuked myself.

In the past, I would have been embarrassed and pretended not to know.

After my memory came back, I wondered what I would do with a child.

“Oh, no. Lucy is not mean…….”

“Really?”

Meanwhile, Liel shook his head to deny that he couldn’t stand me swearing at myself.

Look at this. He’s so nice!

There was enough possibility that Liel would not go astray.

The more I talked to him, the more hopeful I felt.

“Yes. But it was true that I was sad… … .”

I see.

Having said that, I have nothing to say.