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

Bright sunlight shone hotly on the swordsmanship class students’ heads, just like the sunny weather.

Professor Hemil was talking to the students in front of him, and the students’ eyes were full of boredom.

Rhode was looking forward with a bored face, but only Liel next to him stood expressionless.

Among them, Liel was the only one listening to Hemil.

It’s always been like that, and it’s the same today.

Rhode respected Liel’s concentration every time he did this.

“What?”

Rhode, who glanced sideways toward Liel, soon noticed that his gaze was toward somewhere other than Professor Hemil.

After a moment of suspicion, Rhode quietly turned his head along Liel gaze.

There was a little girl running in a hurry with her tangled light purple hair pressed down with a beret.

‘Is he looking at a girl?’

Rhode was shocked because Liel was not interested in others, especially women.

He looked carefully at the girl Liel was staring at with a surprised face.

‘If you’re going to run like that, wouldn’t it be better to just walk….?’

As such, Lucy’s running was not practical. Maybe an adult male walking is better than that.

Suddenly Lucy stopped her steps and breathed heavily. Running to the academy so urgently at this time meant she was late for the lecture.

At that time, Lucy turned to the students in line, as if she had noticed Liel’s gaze toward her.

Curiously, she spotted Liel at once.

Lucy, who found Liel, smiled brightly. It was brighter than the sun shining overhead.

Lucy’s shoulders flinched as if she was about to raise her hand immediately. Soon after, she stopped raising her hand, as if she had noticed that Professor Hemil was in class.

Instead, her lips twitched.

Li – el.

Each syllable is clear to Rhode.

What do you think? Do you know what I said?

With expectations in her eyes, Lucy smiled at Liel. Soon after, Liel’s mouth moved.

At Lucy’s words, he also seemed to have answered back.

The two looked at each other for a while and smiled.

How long were the two making eye contact like that?

Recalling that she was late for the lecture, Lucy began to walk again with a contemplative look.

Rhode, who was watching Lucy’s increasingly distant back, turned to the back of Liel’s head this time.

It was the angle at which Liel’s side was visible, so Rhode could quickly see that the corner of his mouth was up.

Not to mention the tip of his red ear.

Soon, the puzzle, which had been scattered in pieces in Rhode’s head, was put together.

‘A girl with purple hair who is believed to be a freshman, who said she was a friend of Liel…….’

Rhode noticed with a quick glance that Lucy was Liel’s childhood friend. Of course, that was not the only one.

‘He likes her……! This is the reason why he hasn’t shown interest in the opposite sex so far, right?’

Even though he only saw a glimpse, he could notice that his friend Liel, who didn’t show interest in anyone, is in love with his childhood friend.

‘No, are they already dating?’

He wanted to ask right away, but if he asked Liel something he’s not sure about, he’ll suffer the consequences for no reason.

And fortunately, Rhode’s curiosity was quickly resolved.

Soon after, rumors spread throughout the whole school that Liel was walking around the academy hand in hand with Lucy.

꧁꧂

It’s already been a week since I entered the academy.

Melissa was still reserved around me, but now she seemed used to taking classes and eating with me.

Feeling proud inside, I was about to head back to my dorm room after the few classes I was taking alone.

“Lucy Seywint, can I see you for a second?”

“……what?”

Someone called me up to the dorm. I turned around and looked at the other person with a puzzled face.

“You wouldn’t say you don’t know who I am, would you?”

I couldn’t even say I knew her, but I couldn’t say I didn’t know her either.

“Uh… you know, I mean…….”

That’s because it was none other than the senior who confessed to Liel a few days ago who called me up in a subdued voice.

My senior’s eyebrows trembled as I hesitated and blurred the end of my words. Then, regardless of my will, she started dragging me to a deserted place.

As I was being dragged by my senior, I quickly assessed the situation.

Is that it?

Threatening not to be close to the boy she likes.

Having grasped the situation, I rehearsed several times inside with a determined expression.

‘We’re just friends. We’ve been close since we were young, so us being close might look strange, but really, we’re just friends.’

I have to say it right away before she starts talking.

Up until this point, I had no idea what kind of expression the senior walking in front of me had.

꧁꧂

After all, my preparation was useless.

“Hu, heuk….”

“…….”

It was because of Bella, who was crying endlessly next to me.

“When did I ever say that he was sweet, heuk…… heu-heuk!”

Bella, who brought me to a deserted place, suddenly grabbed my sleeve and sobbed.

My senior cried so sadly that I couldn’t just leave her alone.

I didn’t know I’d be this weak to a crying person……. It didn’t matter when Flinch was crying…….

I gave up my innocent sleeves and sweated a lot.

If she was trying to keep me in check for being close to Liel as I expected, I would have explained that we were just friends and returned to the dormitory without any regrets…….

“It’s not too much, it’s not too much……? That’s too much, isn’t it? That’s too much……!”

“What, what?”

To be honest, I couldn’t understand most of what Bella mumbled while crying so much.

If you ask me if it’s too much all of a sudden, what do I answer….?

“I’m not even expecting a kind answer…”

I’m sure it’s about Liel.…?

I’m sure it is. In the first place, the only contact between me and this senior was the last time I was with Liel.

What’s really ambiguous about this is that my senior wasn’t swearing at Liel, so I am not sure how to take this.

Isn’t this more of a complaint than a curse?

But don’t you usually tell this kind of story to a friend of your own…?

“Of course I know he’s not sweet, but still, but…….”

Isn’t Liel sweet…?

By my standards, Liel was on the friendly side. What is it? Do other people have different standards?

“He could’ve just said it nicely when he said no!”

“Oh, maybe in Liel’s point of view, he turned you down in a kind way.….”

I don’t know exactly what happened between the two, but if I roughly interpret Bella’s words, she seemed to have been rejected by Liel and hurt quite a lot in the process.

I knew that Liel had rejected Bella, but I didn’t know how because I didn’t ask about this.

“The bottom line is to refuse, but what’s the use of it all!”

Bella, who was crying out loud, now grabs me and starts complaining.

No, she said she wanted him to turn her down kindly…….

Surely Liel would have politely declined in his own way. It’s just that it didn’t meet Bella’s standards.

I was sure when I saw my senior doing this and that.

“And I don’t care if he’s not sweet! I didn’t like him because of his personality in the first place!”

“Senior is just kind–-“

Bella now grabbed my arms and shook me back and forth.

Since I am smaller than Bella, I flapped helplessly on her hand.

Strange…? I was trying to soothe you, but why were you more anxious…?

Feeling a little motion sickness, I hurriedly took a step back from Bella’s hand.

“Senior, calm down for now—”

“I like him because he’s handsome!”

Oh, yes…

I couldn’t refute anything my senior said. That’s how good looking Liel is, enough to ruin someone.

‘Hey, he’s still 18 years old yet he’s already making girls cry!’

The thought that popped up in my mind soon changed to “Is it Liel’s fault?”

Yeah, he must be tired, too.

“But why are you telling me this…….”

When I asked as if I didn’t know what to say, Bella sniffled a bit.

Looking at her appearance, I searched through my school uniform pocket and took out a handkerchief and held it out.

“I’ve never used it today. Use it if you like.”

“…….”

Bella had tears at the corners of her eyes and stared at my handkerchief. After a moment of hesitation, Senior took my handkerchief and pressed her eyes hard.

“You can blow your nose, too.”

“Thank you..…. I’ll wash this and give it back to you.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to give it back.”

I smiled as brightly as I could to soothe Senior.

“You’re a good girl..…. My friends, of course, thought I’d get dumped, but they wouldn’t listen to me……. But you even lent me a handkerchief…….”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah… I confessed because I knew I’d get dumped, but why am I crying?… Heuk….”

“No, you won’t know that until you confess!”

“…… No. I confessed, actually, ready to get dumped. You and Liel look so close……. I was anxious, so I stopped…….”

“Uh…”

Well, that’s not my fault, is it?

“I’m sorry. You were flustered because I cried all of a sudden, right?”

Hearing from her softened tone, she seemed to have calmed down a little now. Unlike when she was anxious, the way she spoke became much more tender.

She reminded me of Dioletta unnie.

“I was embarrassed, but you apologized, so it’s okay.”

“You’re so nice…”

Bella blew her nose in the opposite direction with the handkerchief and cried, then she gently pressed it near her red cheeks.

“I cried my heart out. Thank you for listening to my complaint.”

She seems to be aware that she has lamented about her life. I nodded with the meaning that it was okay this time as well.

“I’m going to give up on Liel and find a new love. I’ll definitely find a better-looking man than Liel.”

Bella grabbed the handkerchief I gave her and said. Her determined look seemed somehow refreshing.

But I couldn’t just ignore Bella’s words this time.

“Is there anyone more handsome than Liel…?”

When I spoke with a very serious expression, the warm air around me quickly became lukewarm.