I Became The Male Lead's Female Friend.

I counted to ten and took a deep breath. Then the door burst open.

There, Dahlia saw the figure of Rudrick sitting on a blanket.

Shamelessly raising her head, Dahlia spit out the prepared lines.

“Honey, I’m here.”

“…”

“Honey?”

“…Oh, you’re here…”

I pretended to be tired by rubbing the back of my neck like a father who just came from work.

“I wanted to be with you, so I begged them to let me go sooner, but instead they gave me more work? Damn it, those idiots.”

“…”

“Honey?”

Rudrick remained silent for a long time, perhaps because of my amazing performance.

I decided to give an emergency script because if I stay like this, I’m about to ruin everything.

“My sweetheart became prettier after not seeing you in half a day. Let’s give each other a big kiss after a long time…”

“Fo-food!”, Rudrick spitted out in a hurry.

“Would you like to eat…?”

Dahlia’s eyes twinkled and answered him.

“Well, I ate earlier.”

“Well, then… ba-…”

“Ba?”

“Bath, do you want to take a bath…?”

“With my honey?”

“No! Or…”

Dahlia asked, hiding her twitching lips.

“Or what?”

“No, ah, or…”

Rudrick clenched his fist.

I held my breath and watched him, as his face went white and as he slowly opened his trembling lips…!

“…Wah!”

Bang-!

Rudrick burst into tears and ran out.

The door shut as if it was about to fall because he kicked it like a bush, and I soon smiled, staring at the door and the back of Rudrick, who was running away.

Then Dahlia swept her hair back coolly and muttered softly.

“Whoo, here we go again.”

✤

Rudrick, who ran out crying, hid in the farthest corner of the garden.

The Duke of Averine was much larger than most mansions, so it was easy to get lost.

However, Rudrick was so keen that he remembered most of the places he had been to.

Especially on his second day of visit to the Duke of Averine, Rudrick stumbled upon this place while strolling with Dahlia.

(Rudrick POV***)

I didn’t pay much attention to it at that time, but why do I remember it so vividly when it happened?

As soon as I thought, ‘I have to go to a place where no one’s there,’ my legs went there without realizing it.

Now that he arrived here so frantically, Rudrick was crouching in a space where he couldn’t be seen because of the layers of thick bushes.

“It’s… a bit…”

Rudrick sniffed and wiped the tears from his cheeks.

When he uttered those shameful lines, he was so ashamed that he couldn’t think straight, so tears welled up unknowingly.

But after I hid in a place where no one was, I calmed down and the tears slowly stopped.

Then this time, Rudrick couldn’t easily get out of the grass, as he was ashamed that he had burst into tears like a child in front of Dahlia.

“It’s too much…” Rudrick muttered, hugging his knees tightly.

Dahlia’s smiling face still lingered in my head. The shameless face that casually spit out such shameful lines.

‘Were you always like this in the first place?’

Of course, it wasn’t always that Dahlia didn’t do anything wrong.

Because I often heard from my mother that the Duchess of Averine was so playful, and Dahlia sometimes showed that same side as her mother.

She confuses people by embarrassing them with random words, and sometimes makes sudden actions that make it impossible for people to keep up.

To describe it, Dahlia was like a bouncing ball.

However, hidden behind such a mischievous figure was a much sweeter and more mature image than I had expected.

It was when I fought and reconciled with Dahlia that I really felt it.

I don’t know if I should say that we had a fight or that we had a serious problem.

After that, Rudrick thought Dahlia would never want to see him again.

I didn’t even get hurt because of her mean behavior, so I told her first, ‘It’s better not meet me.’

I thought she must have been really angry this time, and that Dahlia would be completely sick of my behavior.

It broke my heart even to think about it… but that was the price I had to bear anyway.

‘Still, she asked me to be friends.’

That’s not the only thing. She also said that we should help each other during difficult times.

Dahlia kept insisting that ‘not for him, but for each other’, but Rudrick knew.

It’s certainly unusual for someone else to do that for others.

It must be troublesome, difficult, and cumbersome.

Nevertheless, Dahlia didn’t show any signs of having such difficulty. No, on the contrary, she came forward and tried to help me.

Rudrick was surprised when she said that she found a way for him. He was grateful for being her friend, but he wondered if he could accept this undeserved thing…

So I wanted to give Dahlia whatever she wanted. Sometimes she played pranks under the guise of help, but all of those were good.

It was because I liked seeing Dahlia, who smiled while joking around, and it was fun because it seemed like we were really normal friends even when we fought.

A friend I thought I’d never have for the rest of my life when I was in the North.

My first friend, who was sometimes mischievous and sometimes forceful, but still infinitely sweet.

But Rudrick didn’t know.

That it was all an image that Dalia made up.

‘Since when?’

When I felt that Dahlia was starting to change little by little.

Was it when I couldn’t call her nickname? Or even way before that?

I don’t know exactly, but this one thing was for sure. That Dalia has finally revealed what she has been hiding.

Had it not been for this situation, Rudrick would have been undoubtedly delighted.

Even though she was the same age as me, I was worried that Dahlia, who was always considerate of me, was suppressing herself.

Rudrick never showed a tantrum, so he wondered if it was okay, but he was ready to tell her right away if she showed any signs of difficulty.

You don’t have to be too considerate for me, but I like her to be honest.

‘I didn’t know it would be like this…!’

But I guess that candid appearance goes beyond a ‘naughty’ and a ‘villain’.

The nickname case was rather cute.

At that time, the Duchess’ prank was more shocking than Dahlia’s.

My mother, who learned the truth later, said, ‘It’s still a lot better than it was in the past,’ but I was shocked twice.

‘Well, it was…?’

Rudrick kept trying not to be surprised, but secretly vowed. He better avoid the Duchess for a while.

But wasn’t there a crisis next to me?

Dalia Averine, his first friend. She wasn’t just a good friend who was a little playful and sweet. She was a villain who was ready to do anything for that prank.

“It was really bad…”

I shouldn’t have said I’d grant your wish.

No, I should have called Dahlia by her nickname first. If I didn’t promise her I would call her by the nickname before then.

In fact, I felt so sorry when I couldn’t call her nickname.

I insisted that I would call Dahlia’s nickname without listening to her even if she tried to stop me like that, and I broke my promise because of her unexpected nickname.

Dahlia looked very upset even though she said, “I couldn’t help it.”

Looking at it, Rudrick made up his mind. ‘I would grant her next wish no matter what, even if I die of shame.’

But I never imagined that I would be able to say a wish worth dying from shame.

‘What’s this kind of play?’

I thought it would be like that until I played this nonsense. Even when Dahlia told me to do the role of ‘wife’, I pretended to be persuaded by her, and thought ‘I could do it.’

But it was only when Dahlia opened the box that I realized that something was seriously wrong.

‘What kind of play was crossdressing?’

Rudrick still remembers.

The embarrassment of seeing the dress inside the box, the dizziness of seeing Dahlia’s dress with a pink princess-like full of laces.

Dahlia boldly demanded of him. She said it would be nice to dress appropriately while playing.

Don’t tell me, was the reason why you wanted to play this so-called game was to dress up?

Now that I think about it, I could see why she suddenly wished for dream play and why she was so excited today.

And no matter how hard I try to persuade her, it won’t even work.

‘Just once.’

Yes, it’s a wish, because I decided to do anything for her instead of not being able to call her by her nickname.

Rudrick thought it would be better to call Dahlia by her nickname, but in fact, he was still not confident calling Dahlia by her nickname everyday…