Surviving As The Villain’s Childhood Friend - Chapter 5

“Hot.”

I opened my eyes wide. It seemed that I fell asleep while I was in thought. The sun had already set and the daylight had dimmed.

‘It’s still the first day, so shouldn’t I exchange greetings with my classmates?’

Ugh. It’s annoying. Let’s do it tomorrow. I pulled the blanket that was down to my leg and covered myself up to my neck.

‘I need to wash up.’ 

That’s annoying too, so let’s do that tomorrow as well.

Hehe.

If this was back at home, I would have been forced to take a bath because I would be pushed in by the maids and butler.

‘This is the power of living alone.’

I laughed, drunk with the little freedom I was given.

“Hey.”

Suddenly, someone called me nearby. I opened my eyes again, which I was trying to close. I turned my head and saw a girl my age sitting on the bed opposite of me.

‘Wow. Pretty.’

The girl with short red hair and golden eyes looked like an angel. She was looking at me with a quiet gaze.

“Me?”

“Yes. I mean you, Miss.”

She used a blunt tone that did not match her pretty appearance. ‘I think she’s my roommate.’ 

You must be angry because I fell asleep without saying hello. 

I got up from my seat and organized my messy clothes.

“I guess I fell asleep because I was so tired. Nice to meet you. I’m Yuria, Zeos.”

She looked away for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“Leniana Mienda. I’m from the Mienda family.”

We both made brief statements. Since then she hadn’t spoken. She just stared at me.

“Do you happen to have something to say to me?”

“Nothing, I took the left drawer in the first closet. It was empty so I used it.”

I nodded.

“Yes, It’s fine. I didn’t bring much luggage.”

Ah. You weren’t mad. I relaxed and laughed. As I looked around, the room was cleanly arranged unlike how it was during the day. She even hung training clothes on the wall. ‘Wow, you’re so diligent.’ In addition, the floor and desks were shiny as if they had been cleaned up.

“You’re very good at cleaning.”

I gave her a light compliment to get acquainted with her.

“…I didn’t do it to be praised.”

“But I’ve never seen a person my age who is so good at cleaning.”

“…Okay.”

“…”

She is such a silent person. Are you shy of strangers?

“Where is Miss Mienda from?”

“I’ve always lived in the capital.”

“Wow. Then you must know this place well? I’ve never been to the capital before.”

“Yes.”

“…”

The conversation kept cutting off. She must be very shy. I tried as a second-time senior in my life to remove her awkwardness.

“What about your family?”

“I have parents and a younger brother.”

“Wow. I have a younger brother, too.”

“…”

“My brother is already nine years old. He’s running around in his tiny body, and you don’t know how cute he is.”

“Okay.”

“…”

I agonized more than ever. Indeed, what type of conversation would this young girl be interested in? 

“What is your hobby?”

“Swordsmanship.”

It was a hobby that closely resembled her personality.

“My hobby is reading. I think there are limited things to do in the countryside, so in my previous life… No, I have read a lot of books since I was a child. I especially like books imported from abroad.”

It was a hobby to sniff out my peer’s tastes. Wasn’t this a good topic? Fortunately, this time she showed some interest.

“…Books from abroad?”

I nodded.

“Why read such difficult books?”

“My goal is to protect the peace of the world. So I’m trying to learn about a variety of cultures.”

In case I have to flee to another country.

“…The peace of the world.”

She looked at me and spoke as if it was a surprise.

The tone of her voice was higher than before, and she seemed to be impressed.

“That’s the mindset of a great knight.”

Leniana’s eyes quickly turned into admiration.

“What kind of book is it?”

I replied with excitement to her continued interest.

“I enjoy reading books that describe deep human psychology.”

“If it’s a book that describes deep human psychology… Did you read Duel’s Evolution and Development of Humanity?”

“… Yeah? What is that?”

“Or The Philosophy of Meditation, written by the renowned Telan psychologist?”

“What I’m talking about is genre novels. The Evil Woman is The Emperor’s Every Night…”

“The Emperor’s…?”

I shouted with a proud smile as she showed interest.

“The novel is called The Emperor’s Bedroom!”

“…”

Leniana’s expression changed subtly.

She took a step back, it seemed as if she wanted to avoid me.

“I brought that book with me. Would you like to borrow it?”

“No.”

“Oh, why not? I really want to recommend this novel! Listen. A wicked woman waged a meticulous psychological battle to avenge her parents’ enemy, the Emperor…”

“…It’s okay.”

She suddenly turned pale.

“I don’t know how that describes deep human psychology, but… I don’t think that’s a very good novel.”

Leniana sighed low and spoke.

“Just from the title, even if I were beheaded for treason, I would have nothing to say.”

“Come on. The Emperor of the Empire wouldn’t cut off someone’s throat just for this.”

I laughed proudly.

“I think there are about 300 books in my house with the title ‘The Emperor.’”

She was now completely distancing herself from me.

“Hey, Leniana?”

“It was nice to meet you.”

Excuse me. Do we share the same room?

She went into her bed and covered herself with the blanket. Then she closed her eyes tightly and told me.

“There will be an entrance ceremony tomorrow morning, so you’d better go to bed early.”

“…”

It was a perfect iron wall.

* * *

It was the next morning.

When I woke up, Leniana was already out of the room. Only her neatly arranged bed confirmed that she was here.

After taking a bath, I changed into my training suit and went outside.

‘Oh, it’s hot.’

Even though it was early spring, the Evelian estate was hot because it was close to the south.

The sky was blue and the sun warmly settled onto the ground. Trainees gathered at the training ground like chicks who came out to bask in the sun.

The children were noisy as if they had already finished getting to know each other.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“I heard a lot of young children from famous families came to Agelisk.”

“Oh. I heard it too! I heard Leniana Mienda is here?”

“If it’s Leniana… Then would it be Lady of Count Mienda, who serves as the Imperial Knights Commander?”

The children’s eyes sparkled. The Imperial Knights were one of the knight orders people dreamed of joining. The daughter of such a family. Isn’t that cool? I wanted to get closer to her.

Then, a girl said in an excited voice.

“I heard that the Zeos family’s young master Blandis also came. He’s handsome, right?”

“Yeah. He’s so handsome. The rumor spread all the way to the west where I live.”

…Sorry, I’m here instead of Blandis.

I felt bad that I trampled on the hopes of these young boys and girls. I stood on the training ground awkwardly.

‘I wish there were people I knew too.’

I fell asleep early yesterday. I should have been eager to say hello too.

It was then.

In the distance, familiar red hair was walking towards my side.

“Le-Leniana Mienda.”

Obviously, she was pretty. Her beauty could be seen shining on the street as well.

I pretended to know her.

“Leniana!”

“…”

She looked at me and stopped walking.

“I guess she knows her.”

I felt the children paying attention to me.

“…Yes.”

Leniana approached me at a distinctly different pace than before. It was a very slow and hesitant appearance.

“Where have you been since this morning? When I woke up, you weren’t there.”

“I was training.”

“Morning training?”

Unlike her elegant face, she spoke bluntly, so I wondered why, and there was a reason. I patted her on the shoulder with the desire to comfort her.

“Well, certainly early weather dries people up.”

“What?”

“You don’t have parents here, so you can take it easy.”

For example, oversleeping, oversleeping, and oversleeping.

Leniana avoided my eyes and said.

“Well, for a knight, morning training is a given.”

I smiled and replied to her words.

“I know that. But I didn’t expect anyone to really do it.”

“I’m sure you did…”

Her gaze fell to my sword.

It was an old iron sword that I brought back after rejecting my father’s suggestion of buying an expensive sword.

She continued slowly, staring at my sword.

“You seem to be more interested in other things than the mindset of a knight. Like the emperor or secret love… Hmmm.”

“A knight’s mindset? Come on, I know enough.”

“Is that so?”

Her expression was still full of doubts.

“But I think you’d better be more serious because this is Agelisk.”

As she said, Agelisk must be strict about the basics.

The children chatted when they saw my sword. A poor aristocrat, she doesn’t seem to have skills, doesn’t have the basics, etc. The backbiting of chicks didn’t hurt me much. But…

“Maintenance? I don’t know how to do it.”

The problem was that I had never taken care of a sword.

“…Are you serious?”

“Um… don’t we just put soap on it and then wipe it off with water?”

“…… ”

Leniana’s eyes shook like a ship in a storm.

…I guess not.