I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend

 ✿ Dahlia tried hard not to laugh and stared at Rudrick. Then she asked in an overly sweet voice. “Do you want to be with me for the rest of your life?” “Dahlia!!” In the end, Rudrick cried and shouted, and Dahlia burst out the laughter she had been holding back. After that, I had to secretly swallow my inner feelings that I couldn’t bear to convey while bickering with Rudrick. ‘I want to be with you too.’  ✿ [But it must be a false wind. I must eventually return to the North.] [I have been receiving letters from my father since a few days ago.] […However.] [I don’t want to go.]  ✿ Although I couldn’t say it, I was also hoping for something like Rudrick. I hope these pleasant days continue. I want to be with Rudrick a little longer. The friendship between Rudrick and I had deepened to the point where we both wished for the same thing, and I’m now convinced that we are each other’s best friends. No… I was convinced. Until I heard this very thing. “What? It’s his birthday?!” It was the day I had lunch with my parents after a long time. These days, my parents look very busy. My father, who had been busy since the beginning, seemed to be carrying out hell’s schedule to the point where he couldn’t even come home these days, and my mother also seemed to be out every day and spending quite hectic days. I was alone in the leisurely mansion, but I was idle. Nevertheless, my parents barely took the time to get together like this because they felt sorry for leaving me alone. The family that gathered after a long time was quite cozy, so we were having lunch time. My father joked at me, saying, ‘You look busy playing with Rudrick these days.‘ To that, I responded, ‘Rudrick was so in love with me that it’s hard,’ and my father, who heard it, expressed concern, saying, ‘It’s still too early to date.’ It was fun to spend time with Rudrick, but being with my family was also different. Maybe because it’s been a while since we got together, I was laughing all over during lunch, like a flower blooming. Hearing the words soon the laughter stopped… “These days, I’ve been busy preparing for the birthday dinner party. Should I buy the necessary items or send an invitation?” When my mother said that, I asked without thinking. “Who’s birthday?” “Who else? It’s Rudrick.” I spit out the dessert I was eating. “What?” My parents stared at me with a puzzled expression as I quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped the area around my mouth. Then, suddenly, the two of them looked at each other and looked back at me with a disappointed expression on their faces. “Didn’t he tell you?” “Oh my, look at this. I thought you knew…” “What? No, what? Birthday? Was it really Rudrick’s birthday? “Didn’t you hear from Rudrick?” “Not at all?” With my gaping mouth looking like an idiot, my parents looked at me like that, and their embarrassment was evident. Eventually, my mother told me the truth. “It’s Rudrick’s 10th birthday in a month.” ‘What? A month later?!’ No, not that. What? Hes6 10nth birthday? No matter how much Rudrick said he was my age, he was shorter than me, and I thought he was definitely a year or two younger than me! I was devastated that I didn’t even know Rudrick’s proper age, let alone his birthday a month later. The expression on the faces of my parents, who looked at me sadly on the day I was completely dazed and unable to keep my mouth shut, changed in an instant. The expression was embarrassing to think of another fact, so I became anxious again. “Then I don’t know that either.” What the hell was more surprising here? Thinking that I would like something less than this, I asked cautiously, in a trembling tone. “Wha-What?” My mother smiled sadly as she dropped the last bomb on me. “You’re going to do your first dance at the dinner party.”  ✿ My mother’s words were roughly like this. Originally, the Duchess of Bouser was planning to simply pass Rudrick’s birthday. Since she was in the capital for a while, there were not enough servants, and even when they were originally in the northern part of the empire, they’re used to greeting him with a simple gift. It was very different from our home, where we think of our birthday as an ‘event‘ that’s celebrated once a year and prepares grandly. So, my mother suggested it first. Still, it’s Rudrick’s first birthday in the capital, so how about a party to celebrate it? While holding a small dinner party by sending invitation letters only to close acquaintances. The Duchess seemed to be tempted by the fact that my mother, who’s well known in the capital and had connections everywhere, offered to help out first. However, the most important thing remained. ‘Who would do the first dance at the dinner party?’ Usually, the first dance at a dinner party was performed by the host with the highest-ranking man who attended the dinner. As a result, the smaller the dinner party held in a nobleman’s mansion, the more often the couple in the family started the party with their first dance. But now the Duchess of Bouser was alone in the capital. In this case, my father, who usually has the highest status at the dinner, had no choice but to dance with the Duchess. But my father was a very pure man. He would make an absurd suggestion, saying that he did not want to dance with a woman other than my mother. ‘How about having the kids dance together?’ My father’s words made sense. The next highest status was us, and there was no case like this at a family party. But his intention was! Oh my… Regardless of the children’s feelings, the parents readily decided that it would be cute for the first dance. Thanks to that, I was the only one who was crying tears of blood. ‘I’ve never been out in the society yet!’ I’ve been delaying learning social etiquette and dancing lessons as much as possible because I’m lazy, but what kind of a bolt out of the blue? That’s where the most important issue remained… Clap, clap, clapㅡ “1, 2, 3. Turn! 1, 2, 3. Turn!” In line with the sharp applause, I moved my toes nonstop. Take a step forward, turn around, extend the other foot, and turn… At that moment, the steps were twisted and a charming voice was heard. “Lady Averine!” Without realizing it, I closed my eyes tightly. When I opened my eyes, I could see Mrs. Margaret, a short-term tutor looking at me grumpily, and Rudrick smiling in front of me. Upon closer look, I stepped on his foot. That was exactly the tenth time. “You couldn’t even take a step properly, and lost balance, and you couldn’t match the beat. How are you going to stand in front of distinguished guests by making mistakes like this?” Clasping my hands together and listening to Mrs. Margaret’s endless nagging. ‘I screwed up.’ I was overlooking the problems. One was that the period of one month was actually shorter than I thought, and the second was that I’m more serious than I thought. Originally, I had no aptitude for dancing at all, so I felt that I was a little bad at dancing. If I had known that this was an ‘extremely evil body‘ who could barely follow after practicing ten times, I would have strongly opposed my parents’ decision. But the water was already spilled, and I was destined to stand in the center of the magnificent banquet hall. I couldn’t blame my loving parents today. Let me tell you about such an important thing in advance. To have children with no social experience dance for the first time at a dinner party that was decided right away like roasting beans in lightning. ‘You’re so mean!’ In addition, Mrs. Margaret says I have a lot to learn, so she told me to learn this difficult waltz in a week, and there are even more than one or two dances. ‘I’m not really a dancing machine, and no matter how much I think about it, this wasn’t something a human would do…’ As I was about to say that, I shut my mouth again. Because a person who wasn’t a human was right in front of me. “The young lord of Bouser was great. There’s no useless movement and the steps are neat. Have you learned how to dance before?” “No, it’s my first time.” “Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!” Even that strict Mrs Margaret, generously compliments him. ‘I guess the buff for the male lead was good.’ On the first day of learning to dance, he seemed to be wandering with me. After seeing the tutor’s demonstration once, he roughly copied it, and not long after he memorized all of the dances and used them perfectly. Thanks to that, my stiff movements were shown more clearly, so the culprit among the geniuses couldn’t live with shame.