The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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Amelia was still only twelve years old.

Of course, one could say the soul inside her was much older. While the novel never explicitly stated her age, there were descriptions that she had graduated from university and had worked for a few years. Based on that, her age was likely in her mid-to-late twenties.

If I were to add that to the twelve years she had lived in this world so far… Well, it might not be appropriate to count that time entirely as part of her age. After all, the experiences tied to growing older and the circumstances of a life reset are entirely different.

Moreover, just as I only remembered my past life after hitting my head when my father dropped me as a baby, Amelia’s memories of her very early childhood might also be the memories of an “ordinary child.”

Still, even taking all that into consideration, Amelia was twelve years old now.

Even if I had a vague idea about Amelia’s real age, her appearance was undeniably that of a twelve-year-old. This was important, so it was worth emphasizing that fact twice..

In other words, there was no reason for me to feel tense about spending the night with her! Really, to feel tense in this situation would be disastrous for many reasons. A few years from now, who knows, but at least for now—

Clack.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh? Oh, um, nothing.”

The door to Amelia’s room opened, revealing her face.

She was noticeably shorter than me. Even accounting for the fact that I grew faster due to the giant’s blood in my veins, this height difference was likely to remain for years to come.

“I sent the maid back to her room, so it’s fine. Come in.”

Amelia smiled as she said that.

She wore a loose, comfortable dress without a corset. Peeking out from under the dress were equally loose trousers that reached down to her ankles, lightly brushing against them.

Come to think of it, I didn’t know what kind of clothes Amelia wore to bed.

After all, we had never spent the night together before. Back in Delkis, Amelia often visited my room to play. And here, as her guard, I spent all day by her side. But spending the night together? That was uncharted territory.

So… This wasn’t about being close or not. Even after spending several years in this world, my twenty-seven years as a man in my previous life still defined my sense of identity. While I had grown accustomed to living as Elsie, it didn’t mean my core self had changed.

Naturally, the idea of spending the night with a girl made me feel a bit… guilty. Especially since Amelia was a young girl, not even my sister.

If she were much younger or her personality was more childlike, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to feel uneasy.

Then again, if that were the case, I’d have vehemently refused in the first place. Spending the night with a twelve-year-old girl? What kind of accusation would that invite?

Regardless of my internal monologue, Amelia’s outfit offered some relief. It was exactly what one might call “comfortable clothing,” no different from what I had brought with me.

With that, I wouldn’t have to avert my gaze or feel awkward while we were in the same room..

“Elsie?”

“Ah, yes.”

Caught up in my thoughts, I hadn’t even realized I hadn’t entered the room after Amelia’s invitation. Trying to act as naturally as possible, I stepped into the room.

The reason I said “tried to act naturally” instead of “acted naturally” was because my movements were anything but.

With stiff legs, I awkwardly shuffled into the room, causing Amelia to burst into laughter.

“What kind of walk is that? You run around just fine during the day.”

“Ah, yes, right.”

“Do you realize you’ve been responding with nothing but ‘Ah, yes,’ since earlier?”

“Ah… Yes.”

“See?”

Yet despite my awkward state, Amelia didn’t seem particularly upset.

“For now, just get comfortable and change your clothes. But… what’s that?”

The thing I carried in my arms wasn’t just my pajamas.

Amelia’s room was spacious, but there was only one bed. The adjoining room, meant for hosting guests, was connected to this one, making this space entirely Amelia’s domain.

There was a table, yes, but even that table was for Amelia’s use.

Naturally, my sleeping space would be the floor. Unlike in the East, where people take off their shoes and sit on soft mats, the floor here was nothing more than cold, hard stone. Still, I was someone who had once fallen asleep outside while playing with wolves. As long as I had my soft, goose-feathered-filled sleeping bag, I could sleep anywhere.

However, when Amelia realized the item I brought was a sleeping bag, her brows furrowed deeply.

“You’re not seriously thinking of sleeping on the floor, are you? Even though winter has passed, the stone floor is still cold.”

“I’ll be fine. Protecting my master means I can’t afford to be picky about where I sleep—”

“You’re not just my escort; you’re also my friend.”

At Amelia’s words, I fell silent.

My face grew slightly warm.

Unfortunately, I’d had little experience with women in my past life. I vaguely remembered chatting with a girl when I was young, but we lost touch after a while. It wasn’t exactly a rare story—plenty of people had childhood friends of the opposite sex.

The real issue was that I had never dated a woman after that.

But wait—no, hold on a second.

Amelia is twelve years old!

I kept almost forgetting, but Amelia was still a child. Just because her mind was that of an adult woman didn’t mean I had any reason to feel embarrassed.

Wouldn’t I somehow be able to manage if I thought back to when I used to play with girls as a child?

…Or so I thought. But even though our mothers were close enough for me to visit that girl’s house, of course, I had never spent the night there.

So much for that memory being useful.

While I lamented my lack of experience once again, Amelia spoke to me.

“Put the sleeping bag on the table over there. You won’t need it anyway.”

“Huh?”

“The bed is wide enough for both of us. We can just sleep together. Besides, we’re the same gender.”

Uh, actually, we’re not.

But it felt too awkward to reveal that here. Amelia firmly believed I was a girl, which was why she had invited me this far.

And honestly, insisting that I was still a man felt strange too. Since I’d be living in this world for the foreseeable future, I couldn’t ignore the reality of my current form.. If so, how would I handle the long years ahead?

Not that I had any intention of marrying a man, though.

“For now, let’s change into something more comfortable,” Amelia said.

“Ah, sure,”

“……”

“……”

For a moment, silence fell.

“Uh, I…”

“Yes?”

When I cautiously spoke, Amelia responded with a curious look.

I scrambled to find the right words, trying to explain why I felt uncomfortable changing clothes in front of her.

“I’m used to having my own room in Delkis. So… I’m not really comfortable changing in front of others.”

“”Oh, I see. That makes sense. I’ve always had maids around, so it never really crossed my mind.”

Thankfully, Amelia immediately understood.

She wasn’t wrong. Back at Delkis, my family couldn’t afford maids, and with only my brothers around, privacy was a given. Amelia, being aware of that, seemed to empathize.

“Then should I turn around?”

“Uh… yes, please. That would be very helpful.”

Honestly, even that felt a little strange, but I couldn’t exactly ask my master to leave the room entirely.

Once Amelia turned her back, I also turned away.

Doing my best not to think about the fact that someone of the opposite gender was in the same space, I began unbuttoning my shirt one by one.

I removed my shirt and skirt, then changed into a shorter skirt and loose pants similar to what Amelia was wearing.

Swish, swish.

Though it was just the sound of fabric brushing against my body, the utter silence in the room made it feel even more awkward. For a moment, I considered starting a conversation to ease the tension, but I doubted I’d manage to say anything coherent in this situation. I clenched my mouth shut, focusing on finishing changing as quickly as possible.

“Are you done?” Amelia asked once the rustling stopped.

“Yes, I’m finished.”

We turned around to face each other almost simultaneously.

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time we’ve seen each other in casual sleepwear,” Amelia remarked. “Even though we’ve known each other for so long.”

“Y-yeah, that’s true.”

Trying to break away from my usual “Ah, yes” responses, I replied, and Amelia smiled brightly.

“Well then, let’s get to bed. I have something I want to talk about,” she said, taking my hand and leading me to the bed.

Her hand was soft and warm.