I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess - Chapter 275



275 – Side Story – First Love Becomes a New First Love

Twenty-two.

Some may say that it is still young, but for women in this world, it is a time when they are reaching maturity and are slowly turning their backs on their families.

It was no different from Claire.

“Ha…”

Today too, she let out a short sigh as she remembered the meeting she had made her where she had coldly rejected her partner without even checking his face her her her her.

Why are people around me making more of a fuss when I say I have no thoughts?

Even though it’s my parents’ recommendation, I’m slowly reaching my limits in rejecting it.

At least, if she was the only daughter of her family, she could understand this pushback.

However, Claire has an older brother who is five years older than her, and he is scheduled to take over as the head of the family rather late this year.

So, Claire has been spending her days lately, wishing that her second child would be left alone.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

It seems that her worried expression was clearly expressed to those around her.

Evan, now a strong young man, looked at Claire with concern with red eyes that resembled his mother’s.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Evan.”

“It’s nothing. What’s going on?”

These two people have already been close for ten years.

In particular, Sonia, who had been the link between the two, found a partner, and as she naturally spent more time with Allen than with Claire, the two also spent more time together.

Even though they are four years apart, they are like childhood friends.

This means that the relationship is not so short that we cannot read each other’s facial expressions.

Moreover, even if Amman claims that it is not him, Evan is not so oblivious that he does not notice the difference.

“Is this something difficult to talk about?”

However, before asking for her detailed story of her, Evan asked a question to confirm, thinking that she might not know her.

Of course I am worried.

However, asking her to talk about concerns that she doesn’t even want to talk about may seem like unpleasant nonsense from the other person’s perspective.

Evan said she wanted to help Claire, not just listen to her concerns and give her advice and admonitions.

“A little bit. But I want to tell Evan.”

Claire, who guessed Evan’s intentions her, first announced her intention to share her concerns.

Rather than wanting to get help or advice, it was just first aid to lighten this stuffy heart.

At this, Evan’s face seemed to brighten for a moment, but when she realized that this was not the expression she would make in front of someone with a heavy heart, she quickly shook her head and put on a solemn expression.

Claire smiled for a moment at her rapidly changing expression, and only after taking a sip of the cold tea that was placed in front of her did she open her mouth.

“Actually, a lot of positions have been coming in recently.”

“If it’s a confrontation…”

“I guess it’s time for me to get married. “If we don’t meet now, I don’t know how much longer it will be before we get married.”

Although there are usually differences in matchmaking, it does not always proceed to marriage as quickly as roasting beans in the heat of lightning.

Unless it’s an arranged marriage, meeting each other is an opportunity to meet people, and it will take quite a while for the two people to meet and develop a relationship.

In that sense, it wasn’t that Claire didn’t understand her parents’ concerns.

Still, she is a daughter who has spent 22 wasted years without even having a second lover.

She must have been anxious that if she didn’t set up a meeting place when she was young, she might end up working alone for the rest of her life.

“My parents are very demanding and I know it is a good opportunity. But I don’t feel the same way.”

But she still hated it.

That’s Claire’s honest, unvarnished feeling.

In front of her parents, Dae Han made excuses and refused, but in reality, she just felt rejected by the situation itself.

“Isn’t it too childish?”

From noble mtl dot come

Claire smiled deprecatingly, but Evan shook her head firmly.

“Not really. I think I probably did the same.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Of course, she doesn’t understand the concerns of her sister ’s parents, but after all, she is her own life, right?”

This is something Evan often heard from her parents.

One day, he asked two people who had received basic education from her family but had not particularly forcefully demanded anything from them.

‘What kind of person do I want to be?’

Edgar and Ariel gave exactly the same answer to that question.

‘You live your life.’

That category of life will include many things.

And wouldn’t that be the answer Claire would most like to hear right now?

“Besides, I think it would be difficult for me to be in that position. If I wait, I wonder if a relationship will come more naturally someday.”

“Yes!? That’s what I mean! As expected, Evan understands how I feel… !”

Claire, uncharacteristically, raised her voice an octave and jumped up from her seat.

This is exactly what she wanted to say.

I don’t understand why they try so hard to arrange meetings and get others involved.

She also has a romance about meeting the opposite s*x and has an ideal type.

Even if there’s nothing romantic about accidentally bumping into each other’s shoulders at a ball and dropping a brooch, and then getting closer to the man who later tried to get it back.

At the very least, isn’t it possible to dream of an ordinary, ordinary relationship in which a man who was just a friend becomes increasingly seen as a man, and love sprouts within it?

‘The problem is that I don’t have people around me like that.’

Claire sighed in regret as she reflected on her narrow personal relationships.

As for men she has known, with the exception of Allen and Evan, she is mostly from other families who occasionally show up in her family.

There were so many people that I hadn’t even had a proper conversation with, so there wasn’t even time to develop goodwill and bonds.

Her her little boy her her her, who had been chasing her since he was eight years old, saying he liked her, had grown into a strong young man who looked down on her, but her heart her her her must have cooled long ago.

“Hehe, if she had known this would happen, she would have snatched Evan away before he gave up on her.”

Claire muttered playfully, with a unique laughing sound that made her feel like she was floating on clouds.

Of course, it was just a joke, but the problem was that one sentence mixed in with it offended a man.

“What do you mean, you give up your heart?”

“… Yes?”

As Evan twitched her eyes and responded, Claire, who met his gaze at her, also looked confused.

It was none other than Claire who first broke the heavy silence and opened her mouth.

“In the past, Evan said he liked me and she followed me around, right? That’s what she said…”

Claire swallowed her words, wondering if she had erased it from her memory because it happened when she was so young.

According to her memory, she had been quite active in her approach until she was eleven or twelve, so she did not think she would have forgotten.

Evan shook his head and frowned at her.

“No. It’s not that she doesn’t remember. What I meant was why was it in the past tense?”

“Past… “This?”

Claire tilted her head, not understanding the true meaning behind Evan’s words.

What do you mean by past tense?

It sounds like it’s not past tense.

‘Wait.’

Claire, whose thoughts had reached that point, opened her eyes wide and thoughts of what-ifs.

What happens if it’s not past tense?

That means Evan can’t believe he’s still…

“… “Sister.”

“Yes, yes?”

Claire, who was continuing her thoughts, straightened her back and responded in surprise at the sudden call.

As she felt somewhat harsh, it became difficult for her to properly look into Evan’s eyes, which she had been looking at just a moment ago.

Evan, perhaps aware of her true intentions, continued speaking in a cold voice that he had never heard from Claire before.

“Did you just think it happened when I was young and that I just gave up like that?”

“Oh, no. No way. It’s just that Evan started treating me normally at some point, so I thought I had another favorite child…”

It was like that.

According to Claire’s recollection, Evan began to make little advances towards her when she was around fourteen.

When she was young, she did not hesitate to confess that she liked him out of the blue, but after that, she just became like her close older sister.

Evan smiled bitterly, as if he was dumbfounded by this excuse.

“Of course. “If I say that she likes me all the time like I did when she was young, it’s obvious that she’ll be uncomfortable with my older sister.”

“Well, well, that’s right. Oh, of course, I’m not saying Evan feels uncomfortable! Just something… If you blurt it out in front of other people, I’d be a little concerned about what people think…”

“Wow, I think this is my first time seeing my sister speak so quickly.”

Evan was so moved that he got to see a side of Claire that he had never seen before.

Anyway, that was it, and the fact that he thought he gave up his mind early was somewhat unfortunate.

“Anyway, I’m a little disappointed, right? How can you trample on my innocence that she has been with me since I was eight…”

Therefore, he used the blood he received from his father to sharply dig in as soon as he found an opening, and Claire, who was exposed to this, hurriedly shook her head and fiercely denied it.

“T-That’s wrong! It’s not that I took Evan’s feelings lightly, it’s just that so much time has passed and the younger a person is, the more quickly a person’s mind changes…”

Claire could definitely say that today was the most confusing thing she had ever experienced in her life.

As proof of this, he looks like he doesn’t know where to turn, and even waves his hands dizzyingly as if he’s drawing a magic circle.

Watching this, Evan raised one corner of his mouth and then carefully grabbed Claire’s right hand.

“Your sister said that, right? He said he would wait. So I tried to wait too. Until I am old enough to take responsibility for my words.”

“What would you do if you had a lover?”

“I would have given up cleanly at that time. In that sense, I think I also did something very dangerous.”

By reducing her her her her approach her her her to her her her her her, even her her promise her her to wait for her her almost ended up kicking her in the foot her her her her.

It was a bit chilly for Evan, but in any case, she had unintentionally waited until the end for her, and he is now two months away from the day she set her sights on her.

“Sister, do you know that?”

In case anyone thought they were blood relatives, Evan quietly spoke with a playful smile that looked just like his father.

Why did those words, which normally would have seemed insignificant to her, make her feel so anxious today?

Claire shook her shoulders slightly and asked in a cautious tone.

“What… “You mean?”

“I will be an adult in two months.”

“… !”

Yes.

In two months, a new year will dawn, and although it is not her birthday and she will not be able to have her coming-of-age ceremony yet, Evan will become a full-fledged adult.

With a deep smile as if he was waiting for that moment, Evan raised her hand her, which he held dearly, to eye level and pushed it towards her face her.

“Did you say you would wait for me? Obviously.”

“…”

Claire was unable to say anything as Evan was confirmed dead.

It’s not because I’m fascinated by his declaration of war, or because I’m filled with anxiety wondering what to do.

Just.

Kongdak. Kongdak.

‘I’m crazy… ’ … !’

I’m already 20 lines into the topic, but I’m having a hard time calming down because I’m embarrassed to feel my heart pounding at the confession of an 18-year-old boy.

In a way, this may mean that the changes brought about by time are significant.

To the extent that the day comes when the boy who only seemed cute feels like a man, and you inadvertently cast your gaze on his broad shoulders.

The girl who gave a young boy the dream of her first love at the age of twelve met her first love through the boy at the age of 22.