The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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“Did… the wolf just… bite your head…?”

The prince’s words were disjointed, as if his voice couldn’t come out properly.

Just as I had done before, I silently pried Snow’s mouth open.

So, biting my head was what she resorted to because she was whining?

I understood that wolves apparently express affection and trust this way, but the fact that she did it every time she saw me… that seems to be becoming an issue.

Was she feeling uneasy being alone?

Even though Snow had been allowed inside the castle, I was actually the only one who took care of her. Though not to the extent of Prince Evan, most people were still reluctant to approach Snow. After all, no matter how cute the pup she carried was, a wolf was still a wolf.

A wolf so large, in fact, that she could likely crunch a human head in one bite if he wanted to.

No, the size of her mouth wasn’t the only issue. Even her paws were as big as the average person’s head. If she struck someone’s head with those paws, they might end up with a concussion—or worse.

Hmm.

I’d thought it would be better for her to be in a warmer place rather than outside in the cold, but maybe she felt even more anxious in a place where most people avoided her.

Every time someone showed fear, like Amelia or the, Snow would react the same way by biting my head each time. To Snow, I was probably the only reliable person within the castle.

I gazed silently into Snow’s eyes,

and then—chomp.

“Yelp!”

“Ehh!”

Just as I had before, I firmly bit Snow’s nose.

Though she whimpered in complaint, it still wasn’t acceptable for her to casually nip at people so easily. Right now, I was the only close person she had, but if she found someone else to befriend later and tried this, that person’s head might just be chomped right off.

Thanks to the giant’s blood in my veins, not even a scratch remained, but if the person she’d bitten were Amelia, she might have ended up with a lifelong scar on her neck or face.

Obviously, that wouldn’t do.

I released her nose from my mouth and rubbed her face with my hand. Snow, who had tensed up a bit, began to relax. Was she calming down?

After soothing Snow, I stood up.

…Thanks to her deciding to fit my head in her mouth, my hair was now damp with her slobber. I brushed the hair that had fallen around my face back and wiped the saliva from my hands onto my clothes.

“So, what did you come to talk about?”

“Uh, uh… um…”

It seemed the prince was fairly rattled by what he had just seen. Amelia hadn’t been nearly as startled when she’d seen the same thing.

“…”

Eventually, the prince clammed up, glancing between Snow and me a few times before abruptly turning and hastily leaving the room.

Did he think he’d get bitten, too?

If he’d waited a bit longer, I could’ve let him pet the pup.

…But, then why exactly had he come here? He’d mentioned something about a sparring match, I thought.

*

It wasn’t until the next day that I learned what the prince had intended to say.

“A sparring match!”

“Pardon?”

“I said, let’s spar!”

“….”

So, the prince had come to request a sparring match with me after all.

But why me?

I looked up at my older brother Harvey, who had brought the prince along.

“His Highness wants to see the skill of the House of Delkis.”

But… why did it have to be me?

I had undergone some basic sword training, yes. But if anyone asked if my skill rivaled that of my brothers, my answer would be a clear ‘no.’

I could manage to follow the basic stances well enough. Since I’d inherited the Delkis family’s physical capabilities, I had the fundamentals down.

The problem was my strength.

I was shorter than other kids my age, and that small frame seemed to limit my strength as well, so no matter how hard I swung, I wasn’t as powerful as kids my age.

In the North, all living beings were strong.

Yes. Not just ‘animals,’ but all ‘living beings.’

It wasn’t an issue with fruits, as we just picked and ate them, but trees were a different story. To make firewood or tools, we needed to chop down trees, and the trees in the North were incredibly tough. They burned for a long time once lit, and when crafted into bows and arrows, their power was formidable.

Even so, at my age, one was expected to have enough strength to fell at least a sapling, but my lack of strength meant it took me twice as long as other kids to cut down a single tree.

In the end, I turned to hunting instead. Not that hunting was easy, but the problem was that ‘hunting’ was all I could manage. And even that was only possible with the help of the wolf pack.

My older brother fixed me with a stern gaze. Judging by his look, he wanted to tell me something, but couldn’t say it outright with the prince here.

Hmm…

Oh, I get it.

Prince Evan was only ten years old.

Because of his pride, they couldn’t openly say it, but the chances of a ten-year-old winning a spar against an adult of Delkis were zero. So, they likely intended to set him up against an opponent he at least had a slight chance of beating.

Is that what he had wanted to tell me yesterday?

“I understand.”

Fully grasping my brother’s meaning, I nodded and accepted the sparring challenge.

But when I looked up at Harvey—

—I saw a somewhat surprised expression on his face.

Oh, was that not it?

*

My brother, walking with me to the training room, began to speak a bit quickly.

“Elsie.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“…First of all, I’d like to point out that using such an informal title when His Highness the Prince is nearby is inappropriate, but since this is urgent, I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Yes.”

“You must lose this duel.”

‘…Excuse me?”

“And when you lose, you have to make it look believable.”

“Um…”

I mean, I wasn’t planning to win, but…

“But isn’t losing like this essentially lying? Isn’t our family motto that nature does not lie?”

“That principle doesn’t necessarily apply to outsiders. Listen carefully, Elsie. People from outside Grattanmount don’t necessarily share our beliefs. Some even think of nature as something to be conquered.”

Uh…

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

I’d been raised with these values since childhood and assumed everyone in the Delkis family lived by them too.

Now that I think about it, in the novel, Harvey wasn’t such an absolute fool. Though he was often deceived, he was able to deceive others when Amelia asked him to.

“Then think of it this way. Animals disguise themselves to hunt, right? You’re doing the same. You’re disguising yourself to deceive a human beast, so that we can secure a more advantageous position.”

“I understand why you’re saying that, but… what led to this situation in the first place?”

“When outsiders challenge Delkish people to a duel, we typically refuse. The odds of someone the same age defeating a Delkish swordsman in a fair fight are close to zero—especially if the challenger is from a higher-ranking family. It only causes trouble.”

“…”

“This situation is actually quite common. Young people sometimes act recklessly or lose their senses after drinking. Our family has always refused in such cases; there’s nothing to be gained from making more enemies. When someone gets a bad impression during childhood, it tends to stick for life.”

“Then why did the prince ask to spar with me?”

When I asked out of genuine curiosity, my brother sighed deeply and replied.

“Usually, if a ‘woman’ is suggested as a sparring opponent, most people give up on their own. It’s a matter of pride.”

But it seemed that this prince had specifically sought me out for a sparring match.

It seemed the people of Delkis hadn’t expected the prince would actually want to spar with me.

…How absurd.

*

Though I couldn’t understand why the prince had specifically asked me to spar, I had accepted, so we had to proceed. If I suddenly backed out now, it would seem as though I was mocking him.

Each of us held a wooden sword carved from Northern pine, renowned for its sturdiness.

My brother had warned, “If you hit him hard with that, something will definitely break, so don’t strike directly.”

He’d also said, “Make sure to keep your strength relaxed when you swing.”

…Was that level of concern really necessary?

For other members of Delkis, it might be. Even if they’re female, if they’re the same age as the prince, they’d be taller than him. And if they were male, there’d be no need to mention it.

But I was… well, even though I was younger, we were about the same height.

And I didn’t have much muscle either. Though I’d gained some strength from running through the forest, my body was still that of a child.

“Both of you, take your positions.”

The judge was Father.

On this estate, the lord handled both judging and justice. Both were the sacred duties and rights of the lord. Even if the king himself were here, at this moment, he would still have to follow the lord’s ruling.

“Bow to each other.”

The prince and I gave each other a slight bow.

“Prepare.”

Once we straightened, Father spoke again.

I gripped my sword with both hands. It was a slightly longer bastard sword. While this would typically be wielded single-handedly by someone from our territory, my small stature threw off my balance if I tried that.

The prince, too, gripped a similar-sized sword with both hands.

His gaze on me was sharp.

…Did I do something to offend him?

“Begin the duel.”

After confirming that both of us were ready, Father gave the command. His voice, as always, was steady and strong.

And as soon as his words echoed, the prince charged straight at me.

And then—

Clack!

The sound of the two wooden swords clashing echoed—

Thwack!

Followed by another distinct noise.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Both the prince and I let out a sound of surprise.

The sword had vanished from the prince’s grip.

Harvey, who had been watching us, pressed his hand to his forehead, and Father closed his eyes tightly.

“My sword… where?”

The prince stammered, his words broken in confusion.

Finally, he lifted his head and found his sword.

“Oh.”

It was embedded in the ceiling.

The tip of the blade was wedged into a crack in the wooden ceiling. After a moment, gravity pulled it back down, and it dropped to the floor with a thud.

“…”

And in the face of this scene, no one said a word.