My Childhood Friend is Like a Stone - Chapter 8

Episode 8. Chapter 2. The Little Kid and The Little Kid. (6)

 

“How about you?”

 

“What?”

 

“Do you think I’m not pretty?” It was then that Adrienne suddenly asked.

 

What in the world is this again—. Cyril looked at Adrienne with a squint. A few strands of curly hair shifted the round brow. The flowing red hair contrasted with the white forehead, emphasizing the colors of each other.

 

The brows had a distinct and neat texture beneath it, and the long eyelashes had already created a deep shade. Cyril’s face became solemn as he considered criticizing Adrienne. What about the eyes? Even at sunset, Cyril could see the bluest eyes he’d ever seen.

 

Despite the overall aggressiveness, the slightly drooping eyes gave the impression of gentleness.

 

Looking back, he believes he initially mistook her for a fairy. That was before he heard her say he was small.

 

‘…That’s not wrong.’

 

Cyril realized all of a sudden. Adrienne de Cassinel Bluea was as beautiful as she claimed, and as everyone else in the castle agreed. And that’s quite a lot.

 

“….Not at all.”

 

Cyril, who had managed to take his gaze away from Adrienne’s clear eyes, uttered something different from his heart. Pretty is pretty, but he had no idea what Adrienne’s future held.

 

“Really?”

 

“….Yeah.” Cyril paused for a moment before nodding slowly.

 

Adrienne lowered the doll. “But Cyril is beautiful.” Her eyes sparkled as well. Adrienne murmured quietly as she looked at the doll with a pout on her face. Cyril flinched, as though it had caught his mind. Should he change his words now? ‘Actually, you’re a little bit, a little bit more beautiful…’

 

It was when Cyril, feeling guilty, was in conflict.

 

“But it’s okay.”

 

“Suddenly, what’s okay?”

 

“Because I’m not marrying Cyril!”

 

Adrienne, who had immediately regained her energy as if she had been angry, shouted bravely. The act of picking up the doll was also pleasant. Cyril, who had been struck by a sudden blow, opened his lips without realizing it, but it was too late to close it.

 

“Who wants to do it with you?”

 

“You can’t!”

 

“I won’t!”

 

Why would I marry an idiot like you? Cyril shook his head, suppressing his anger. Somehow he felt like he lost before he even fought. Who said he wanted to marry her…

 

Cyril recalled Adrienne’s words and denied them once more. She acts as if he is the one who wants to marry her…

 

Too much denial persisted until Adrienne left the room.

 

*****

 

The mysterious disease was Cyril’s oldest and worst friend. He caught Cyril off guard just as he was ready to forget, and tortured him all night as if he had forgotten him. Cyril, who had a brief seizure, looked blankly at the ceiling.

 

It was morning after he felt strange, as if his body was not his own. The symptoms of numbness throughout the body, the disappearance of all senses in an instant, and the blurring of the mind several times that have not become used to them.

 

‘I saw Jerome.’

 

Cyril had a vague memory of his doctor’s face.

 

He appears to have hurriedly pulled the bell with an ominous feeling. As a result, Jerome had to come. Jerome would have given him his usual medication and knitted his arms and legs tight so the seizure wouldn’t last any longer—

 

Just like right now.

 

Cyril was used to his tickling little touch.

 

‘….A little force?’

 

—No, it didn’t. It wasn’t like that at all.

 

Jerome was an adult man and a competent doctor. He couldn’t have laid his hands in such a clumsy manner.

 

Only then did Cyril notice something odd and try to turn his head. His movements were sluggish immediately after regaining his senses because it was difficult to move.

 

“…..?”

 

Cyril, who managed to look in the right direction, saw an unexpected figure.

 

Adrienne.

 

His lips moved slightly, but he lost the sound due to his lack of strength. Adrienne, who was sitting next to the bed, was simply pulling Cyril’s hand out of the blanket and rubbing it. The way she looked around, it was clear that she wasn’t sure if this was the right way. The clumsy touch was very strange.

 

‘Is it a dream?’

 

With his hazy mind, Cyril barely thought about it as the medicine didn’t go away. It was a reasonable thought. Why is Adrienne here instead of Jerome at this time? Furthermore, Jerome was familiar with Cyril’s personality. He’s stubborn and doesn’t want to be caught in pain.

 

Cyril was confident that his doctor, Jerome, would not have opened the door easily. Even if Adrienne has been quite close to him.

 

‘It must be a dream.’

 

In many ways, it was a reasonable inference. Cyril, relieved, closed his eyes slowly.

 

‘There’s no way a moron who has no idea what a successor is could nurse him.’

 

Even if she could, he didn’t want Adrienne to look after him. This was especially true given that he had already been caught weak.

 

‘Well…’

 

He didn’t feel so bad because he knew it was all a dream. With a more relaxed expression on his face, Cyril fell asleep. Adrienne was waving his hand in the dream world when they met again. Surprisingly, last night’s pain seemed to vanish.

 

In the midst of ticklish comfort, a smile spread around Cyril’s sleeping mouth.

 

******

 

It was the day after winter. The spring wind, which had yet to take off its cold energy, passed through the soft branches. Cyril lay in bed and gazed away at it. The last few days in a row were filled with pale, low depression.

 

‘You’re a lot better than you were before. The paralysis symptoms are significantly reduced. It’s just a cold, so don’t worry too much.’

 

Despite his doctor Jerome’s reassuring conversations, Cyril’s hearing was limited. As a result, only negative words like “paralysis” and “heat cold” remained in his mind. Only then, Cyril was depressed and was waiting for a seizure that might come back.

 

Only a few weeks ago, the beginning of the 7-year-old was slightly better than the end of the 6-year-old. He can’t believe the new year has begun with a fever. Cyril coughed, having opened spring with disappointment. The coughing sound was unusually louder in a quiet room.

 

Tick.

 

A small frictional sound was then heard. Cyril coughed a few more times before turning his head when he heard the sound. The window was the source of the noise. A thick thing was banging on the window. Count Cassinel’s garden had as many old trees as it had in its long history, but the trees were still trees.

 

The tree moves on its own and comes into contact with the window. It couldn’t possibly have happened. Even though Cyril’s room was on the first floor, the branches of tall trees rarely reached the first-floor windows.

 

“Adrienne?”

 

Adrienne appeared when he thought he saw a shadow on the window. The thick branch was shaped like a wooden sword. Adrienne, wielding a powerful sword, stood nearby. “What are you doing there?” Cyril muttered over the window in a voice Adrienne couldn’t understand.

 

It was the first time they had met in a week because she had been prohibited from entering because they were concerned that the cold would spread.

 

Cyril gave Adrienne a quiet look. Adrienne, on the other hand, appears to be in good shape, unlike him. Her flesh-colored blush glistened above her white cheeks, and her sparkling eyes sparkled with liveliness.

 

‘Must be great.’

 

Cyril thought morosely, a little envious of it.

 

Some people just lie down because they don’t have the energy to go out—.

 

Even though he knew it wasn’t Adrienne’s fault he was sick, he couldn’t help but feel envious.

 

Tack, tack.

 

Adrienne, who had been staring at her, knocked on the window again. It was a stronger sound than before.

 

“What?”

 

Cyril responded casually for no apparent reason. It doesn’t matter how he says it because it won’t be heard anyway. Whether Cyril was rationalizing it or not, Adrienne pointed her finger at herself.

 

‘What else are you going to do?’

 

The eyes that couldn’t be found with anticipation turned to Adrienne. Nonetheless, he did not turn his gaze away from Adrienne, and he listened to her. Adrienne stumbled three or four steps away from the window when she noticed Cyril’s gaze.

 

And she breathed out once, and then…

 

Huck!

 

As it was, she swung a wooden sword. It was both a quick and flexible movement. Cyril’s jaw dropped as he witnessed the unexpected action. Adrienne continued. She raised her brows and opened her mouth from time to time, as if she was putting on a show.

 

‘What the hell is that—?’

 

If the Viscountess Parte had seen that, she would have shouted, ‘Mademoiselle Cassinel! You can’t behave like this!’ and be terrified.

 

Cyril felt the same way about Adrienne as he did about a governess, but he had no idea that his eyes would fall off her agile body at some point.

 

‘Count Cassinel is a strong soldier. They claimed that the Young Master would return after living a healthy life under him. This nanny guarantees it.’

 

The nanny held Cyril’s hand tightly and said so the night before he left Thesar. In fact, he didn’t listen to it because he believed he had been abandoned at the time—.

 

‘I think she’s doing a good job.’

 

Looking at Adrienne, the Count’s remarks were agreeable. Adrienne’s movements were light, as the bloodline of Count Cassinel.

 

Of course, to the Knight’s eyes, that would appear to be a joke, but to Cyril’s eyes, who couldn’t get out of bed, it appeared to be quite plausible.

 

Adrienne approached the window after a short demonstration while Cyril put it in without realizing it.

 

Knock knock.

 

Instead of the wooden sword, a small fist tapped the window this time. Cyril, who had been awakened by the sound, looked up and hardened his expression as if she had been paying attention.

 

Meanwhile, Adrienne was now standing right in front of the window. Red hair overflowed over the large window. The midday sun shone over it, and Cyril thought it was a little dazzling.

 

“—What?”

 

That could explain why he didn’t understand Adrien’s words. It was a bright day, too bright to read her mouth shape.

 

Adrienne has never looked so shining—.