My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

The rest of them must have been oversleeping.

For the three who usually have severe insomnia, Romeo gave them sleeping magic to get a good night’s rest.

Oh yeah… they won’t find a good friend like him.

‘Anyway, these guys are blessed. To be friends with me.’

Romeo headed to Lelia’s room, and smiled as he hummed cheerfully.

As he passed by, his charismatic smile made the maids blush, and they whispered among themselves.

***

Knock

At the sound of the knock, Lelia rubbed her eyes as if not awake yet, telling the person to come in.

Becky came in with a bright expression, followed by a line of people from the drawing room carrying luggage.

The owner of the dressing store greeted her politely.

“Lady, the dress samples I mentioned yesterday have been repaired and brought back.”

“… Already?”

Apparently, they came yesterday afternoon and picked up a dress, but the swatch repairs have already been completed.

“Yes, yes. If you don’t like the dress, we will have to get you a new one before the banquet. Besides banquet dresses, the Duke also requested a lot of extra clothes, such as everyday clothes! He told me to fit it for you.”

The owner of the store seemed very ambitious and diligent.

Lelia didn’t know how resolutely her grandfather had urged the seamstress, so she didn’t expect this.

Lelia woke up sobbing in her hazy mood.

The servants made a small dressing room by placing a partition in the middle of the large room. That way, she can change clothes and they can check it on the spot.

When the workers left and only the female servants remained, Becky quickly picked up a dress and shoved it towards Lelia.

“Lady! How about this?”

“Huh… great.”

To be honest, Lelia didn’t have an eye for dresses. They all just looked pretty.

Even when she wore men’s clothes in the capital, she tended to wear what someone gave her.

At Lelia’s lukewarm reaction, Becky pouted her lips as if dissatisfied.

Just then, she heard the sound of someone knocking on the door again.

Lelia asked the person to come in and she went inside the dressing partition.

“Hey, did I come here when you are busy?”

It was Romeo who entered.

Romeo laughed awkwardly, as if he had not expected it at all.

“Fine. What’s going on this early? Did something urgent happen?”

Lelia hadn’t taken her clothes off yet, but she asked, with only her face peeking out from the partition.

She was worried that Kalix’s condition had deteriorated overnight.

Romeo shrugged his shoulders as if nothing had happened.

“Nothing… If it’s okay, then excuse me.”

Romeo hurried inside and closed the door. Then he came closer to her.

“You must have been choosing a banquet dress.”

“Yes… I have to attend a banquet that her grandfather gives for her guests.”

Lelia was exhausted. Romeo, one of those “guests,” grinned. He blames Lelia, who struggled to play her flirt role at the prom.

He smiled and made the suggestion lightly.

“Then what do you think of me choosing a dress for you?”

“Uhhh? Really?”

Lelia smiled and her eyes widened. Becky’s eyes gleamed as she watched quietly.

“Anything for you.”

Becky’s expression softened at the very sweet tone.

Lelia paused at the soft words, but when Romeo smiled slyly, her forehead wrinkled.

[What kind of prank are you trying to play?]

Lelia just got nervous. She didn’t think he still suspected her to be the one who killed Leo, right?

While hesitating over complicated thoughts, Becky seemed to have already lost her mind to Romeo.

“Then will the prince pick out the lady’s dress carefully?”

Becky showed him the dresses one by one, acting politely as if Romeo was Lelia’s husband.

Romeo accepted the politeness quite naturally.

“Well, Lelia prefers blue to green. It goes well with silver hair.”

Becky’s expression brightened.

“Oh, you really know that!”

“But if it’s bright green, it’s a different story. It’s because the color of Lelia’s eyes is the same.”

“Oh, oh my, that’s right! So what about this yellow?”

“It’s cute, but the design is too childish. Lelia looks good when she’s mature.”

“That’s right! There’s really nothing you don’t know about our lady… Ah! What about this red dress?”

“I think… Do you think it would be better to try this red dress and that blue dress before deciding? Oh, and this silver dress too.”

“Oh my, my, you are excellent! How do you know her so well…!”

“Are the jewels ready? I want to choose them together.”

“Of course! Hold on, hold on!”

Becky hurriedly entered the dressing room inside the drawing room.

“…”

Lelia wanted to ask what he was doing, and looked at Romeo behind the partition.

Romeo looked at her with smiling eyes, and said, “Because you are so…”

“……?”

“Like a dog? A dog waiting for its owner to rub his neck. Very cute.”

What do you mean?

Lelia was bewildered, as she saw the dressing room owner and female servants who had been watching, whispering and smiling.

Lelia was confused because she didn’t know why he was doing that.

“Here you are!”

Becky, who had brought a bunch of jewelry boxes from the room, led Romeo to the sofa across from the cubicle. He sat down and looked at them slowly.

“These are all newly purchased jewels by the Duke. There is also one that Sir Carius bought from the capital!”

Romeo sat down in the middle, just like the main character, leisurely and looked at each jewel box that Becky opened.

It was like a rich man who came to buy jewelry.

“……”

Lelia looked suspiciously at Romeo, who was comfortably choosing her jewels.

“Lady! So, would you like to try this on?”

Before long, Becky came inside the partition and urged Lelia.

She started to try on the red dress that Becky had given her, even though she was embarrassed by Romeo.

Just then, she heard another knock on the door.

Romeo, who was examining the jewels one by one, glared at the door with a keen eye.

With an animal sense, he noticed.

Who is outside the door?

When asked to confirm who it was and come inside, Becky stepped out of the partition and walked towards the door.

But as soon as she opened the door, she backtracked, startled by the rush of people.

The three men who entered were Kalix, Griffith, and Oscar.

Becky shrugged her shoulders in surprise when the big men came in all at once.

“……”

“Why is everyone…”

Lelia blinked, bewildered at the eyes of the three people looking at her.

The three looked at Romeo, turning her gaze away from Lelia.

“Did you dare cast sleep magic on me?”

Griffith walked over to him, grinding his teeth. Romeo sighed deeply as he saw them waking up earlier than expected.

“What are you doing now?”

Meanwhile, Oscar looked at Lelia and walked towards her.

It seemed suspicious to see the female servants surrounding Lelia inside the partition.

He came like a heavy cavalry charge at an enemy, not caring whether the servants were embarrassed or not.

“For a moment! Stand there!” Lelia exclaimed, startled, as he was about to push through the partition.

“……”

Oscar wrinkled his brow and stood still.

“That… I’m changing my clothes. I’m sorry, but can you all go out?”

“……”

Oscar couldn’t even blink an eye at those words. He just stood still, trying to interpret what he had heard.

Griffith, who was shaking Romeo by the collar, turned his head in embarrassment.

He didn’t know Lelia was changing her clothes.

‘Is that why you were in that cubicle?’

Griffith’s cheeks and neck turned bright red in an instant. 

Romeo sighed and thought to himself as he looked at Griffith like that, ‘You’re interrupting my happy time… I didn’t think the magic would break soon.’

Meanwhile, Kalix was still standing by the doorway by himself, his chest shaking.

Breathe… He had difficulty breathing.

‘Looking at Lelia, I can’t breathe…’

[T/N: I feel like I am translating a zoo scene o.O these three men are just xD]

[PR/N: And poor Lelia is the one stuck in the zoo]

“Yeah, I’d rather it be like this. Let’s choose Lelia’s dress together.”

It was Romeo’s words that made Kalix come to his senses. 

‘What dress do you pick? It’s funny that the boy chooses a girly dress for himself. Really…’

Though Kalix thought he was an idiot, he followed Romeo’s advice and walked forward like a dog.

“Oh my, that’s fine, Sir! There will be a coming-of-age banquet soon, so can you choose the color of the dress that men will respond to in advance?”

Becky ran as if frightened, with her eyes shining.

“No…”

Lelia was perplexed, but lost her consciousness when Becky stepped inside her cubicle and quickly put her clothes on.

[I’m still in a hazy state because I haven’t woken up yet…]

After all, after a while, the situation in the room had changed to a strange atmosphere.

Romeo was sitting in the same position as before, but he rubbed his forehead with an annoyed expression unlike before.

Oscar was still standing there, probably because Lelia didn’t tell him to move, and 

Griffith sat diagonally across Romeo, still with an angry expression.

And Kalix…

[T/N: I LOVE THIS SCENE!]

‘You’re a man.’

He leaned against the window and glared at Lelia with anger.

“That’s it!”

Becky spoke brightly and the servants removed the partition.

Lelia felt awkward in this situation. She was still sleepy, so she thought maybe this was a dream.

The eyes of four people darted towards Lelia.

She wanted to hide herself behind the partition again under those stinging looks. She suddenly felt like she was wide awake.

She couldn’t understand why she felt naked when she was dressed up, even with a dress with coverage.

The red dress looked elegant. There was no skin exposed at all except for the slight exposure of the neckline.

However, it was a little uncomfortable because the waistline was emphasized.

Becky looked at Lelia and said, “Oops,” to the owner of the dressing room.

“Oh, look at my mind. The guests are here, and they don’t even have anything to eat. I think I’ll have to pick a dress and contact you directly.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Then come on.”

Becky winked, and the owner and servants rushed out of the room.

Becky said she’d bring the food cart, too.

Lelia stood awkwardly and tried to enter the inner room thinking that she would change into her casual clothes.

Then, Kalix, who had been standing by the window all along, strode over to her. He looked very angry.

“Hey!”

“……”

When Lelia stopped walking in surprise, Kalix approached her.

But… his eyes were fixed looking at a strange place.

Lelia bowed her head following the direction of Kalix’s angry eyes. It was under Lelia’s neck where he was looking.

“How long are you going to dress up as a woman? You’re a man like that? Oh! That’s enough, that’s enough! What the hell did you do with your chest, you perv?”

“Hey, you crazy man!”

Romeo roared at the rude look and tone of Kalix.

“……”

Lelia was so surprised that she fell on her hips.