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

After the prolonged extermination mission, Liel was called upon by the Emperor before returning to the Academy.

Each step he took into the audience hall was followed by the sound of rusty iron.

At Hemil’s urging, he removed his helmet, revealing his sweaty black hair and gleaming golden eyes.

He shook his head, and his black hair, which he hadn’t cut in over half a year, fell to his shoulders.

A sullen voice stopped him in his tracks.

“The dead Arinel must be weeping.”

As far as Liel knew, there was only one person in the world who would speak his dead mother’s name.

Liel stared expressionlessly at the Duke of Marsen who stood in his way.

“Who told you you could just walk out of the Empire?”

The Duke’s voice carried the anger hidden beneath his stony face.

“I apologize.”

At nineteen, there was not a shred of the young boy left in Liel anymore.

And he had grown mentally to the point where he could offer a casual apology in the face of the Duke of Marsen’s quiet rage.

The Duke of Marsen, shrewdly noticing the change in Liel, frowned in displeasure.

“In my own way, I pride myself on keeping my promise to Arinel. Whether or not you die now has nothing to do with me.”

“I know that.”

“And yet you act like that. Did it ever occur to you that I could throw you out of the Duke’s house?”

There was no falsehood in the Duke’s murderous voice; he had the power to take Liel out of the mansion at a moment’s notice, to turn him to dust overnight.

“I know.”

Liel affirmed.

Sweeping back the bangs that stung his eyes, Liel gave a smirk as he took a step forward, closing the distance between him and the Duke.

When he was close enough to touch Diego’s shoulder, Liel whispered quietly, as if sharing a secret.

“I’m not your child anyway, so you can dismiss me at any time.”

The Duke’s eyes shifted to look at Liel’s sideways face beside his, his expression calm as if he wasn’t surprised by this.

Liel narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“If you were mad at me, you would have done it a long time ago, but you didn’t because you still love my mother.”

“…….”

“It’s not like I really become your child if you do this.”

Finally, the Duke of Marsen’s face cracked.

His complexion turned dark, as if he had been caught in a dirty trick that he had thought would remain unnoticed.

The Duke’s jaw tightened at the humiliation of losing Ariel to another man.

Liel, who glanced sideways at Diego, snorted out a small laugh and closed the distance.

Then his eyes drooped, as if he had not just laughed at the Duke, and spoke in a plaintive tone.

“I’ve done a great deal for my family, so I’m beginning to feel a bit disappointed that you don’t have a word of praise for me.”

Behind him, the Duke of Marsen felt a stirring. Diego turned around to see who it was.

“I, I apologize. I thought no one was here…….”

It was a maid from the palace.

As if she had heard him, the maid spun on her heels and disappeared around the corner.

It was then that Liel spoke again.

“Father.”

To the Duke of Marsen, it felt awkward and foreign to be called by this title by Liel for the first time.

As the Duke looked at Liel once more, he saw a man who looked exactly like Arinel.

It was all he could see, so Diego’s anger disappeared, and in its place was a feeling as if he was dreaming.

A dream in which he felt as if he had been granted his most fervent wish.

“I will continue to be a son who does his best to avoid becoming a stain on my father’s, the Duke of Marsen’s, reputation.”

Liel bowed in respect. The Duke of Marsen, lost in his fantasy, finally closed his eyes.

If only Arinel was here beside him, then he might not have wanted to wake up from this dream.

***

After proving his talent on the extermination mission, Liel was offered a place in the Imperial Knights after he graduated from the Academy.

He politely declined the offer, much to the Emperor’s dismay, but he would not force a reluctant man to join.

After his meeting with the emperor, Liel returned to the academy. Passing through the Academy’s back gate, he dismounted his horse, grabbed the reins, and came to a halt.

The horse stamped the ground with its front hooves, as if it wanted to get moving. The sound of its hooves didn’t stir him.

He remained silent, holding his breath, waiting for the little girl running toward him from a distance to catch up with him.

He wondered how long she had waited.

Finally, Lucy came, gasping for air. Looking down at her mauve crown, Liel’s eyes lit up.

“You, you…! You, you…!”

Lucy straightened up suddenly and pointed a finger at Liel.

She probably had a lot of things she wanted to say, but her head was in a jumble, and she couldn’t seem to get the words out.

Liel smiled wryly. Lucy’s face crumpled even more harshly.

“Are you hurt?”

Still, Lucy picked and chose her words, and the first thing she asked was if Liel was okay.

The white bandage around Liel’s neck bothered Lucy.

Realizing that Lucy was looking at his neck, Liel slowly removed the bandage.

Lucy reached out and stroked Liel’s neck, just in case.

Her hand was warm after all the running she’d just done.

“You know, it heals fast.”

Were you worried?

He thought. As if he’d hoped she’d be worried, Liel sounded somewhat excited.

“Is that what you call it? Because every time you act so impulsively, I feel like I’m going to fall down by the scruff of the neck.”

[Lucy’s POV]

He was so timid when he was younger.

Lucy stamped her foot in annoyance as she spoke. Her footprints were carved into the snow beneath her feet.

Lucy was so angry that she briefly considered punching Liel’s armor.

It would only hurt me, right?

Lucy looked at Liel’s armor, which was dented here and there, and lowered her fist.

“What about the confession?”

“What?”

What confession?

It had been nearly six months since Liel had left, so she didn’t immediately understand his words.

Then she realized he was talking about Pavon, so she raised her fist and swung it at his forearm.

“How could I accept it!”

Liel took a step back, dodging Lucy’s angry punch.

Lucy’s body jerked slightly as inertia overcame her. Lucy glared at Liel in exasperation.

“It might hurt.”

Liel calmed her down with a soothing voice.

“What?”

Lucy’s lips pouted in exasperation.

“Not me, but you.”

He was right, but it was humiliating.

Just then, a snowflake on the bridge of Lucy’s nose melted and formed a trickle.

Liel stared at the droplets, then gripped the reins harder.

***

“……You’re not telling me you’re going to be following the instructors this vacation, aren’t you?”

I said, handing the unopened bread to Liel. Unlike yesterday, Liel was dressed neatly.

His hair, which hadn’t been cut in six months and had grown to cover his neck, had been neatly trimmed overnight.

He must have hated the messy look of his hair, too.

“You don’t want me to go?”

“You call that a question?”

I shot Liel a look that was meant to tell him not to take things for granted, but he just laughed nonchalantly.

Why had he gotten so smirky in the short time I hadn’t seen him?

“Just because you’ve been living with adults doesn’t mean you’re already an adult!”

“But I’ll be an adult in another year, and then I’ll have to slay demons according to Imperial law, whether I like it or not.”

Yes, those damn laws, indeed.

Why does he want to be a knight so badly?

In the original, Liel took swordsmanship classes, just like he does now, but that was it.

After graduation, I think he gave up on becoming a knight and just locked himself in his room and became a hermit.

But my friend Liel is not a recluse. He’s too active and doesn’t want to become a shut-in.

Of course, if I were him, I wouldn’t want to go back to the mansion with the duchess.

“When you graduate, are you planning to work under the Duke?”

Liel chewed the bread in his mouth in silence, swallowed, and paused for a moment. Then, his red tongue flicked across his lower lip and disappeared.

“No, I’m planning to start my own Knights.”

“Huh?”

I asked, stunned by his ambition. He’d worked so hard because he was greedy in his own way.

Only then did I realize that I’d been trying to hold Liel back just because I was worried about him.

“I want to create Knights in Lucy’s family.”

Ah, he wants to create Knights in my family. That’s a wonderful ambition. I’m glad I know about Liel’s dreams now.

Honestly, I don’t know if I could ever be confident that I wouldn’t worry about him every time he ventures out on a mission. However, that’s what being a true friend is all about.

Besides, he’s thinking of making it in my family, not someplace else, huh?

“Huh?”

N, not under the Duke, but my family……?

I wondered if I had misheard him, but he smiled at me. I must have heard him right.

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