Chapter 32 - Friend Request (1/2)
Chapter 32 – Friend Request
“…”
It took awhile for my brain to process his words, and it was about three seconds before I reacted.
“What?” I blurted out.
“Ah, of course, I’m saying that I like you as a friend,” Claude said.
“Friend?” I repeated stupidly.
“I think you’re a good person. Would you like to be my friend?”
“H-hold your horses. This is too sudden…”
Today was a day of confusion—I had a three-party encounter with Xavier and Claude, and suddenly Claude wanted to keep meeting me because he liked me as a friend.
I couldn’t hide the bewilderment on my face as I tried to clarify his words. “If by friend…you mean friends who eat, talk and shop together?”
“Yes. You don’t have to think too hard,” Claude said with a smile. “I hear you’re friends with Lady Odeletta. It’s not that difficult if you think of a relationship like that—friendship.”
“Oh…”
But…was being friends possible between man and woman? I never had a male friend before, and I couldn’t help but be hesitant.
“Do you need some time to think?” Claude offered.
“…”
It’s not like he was asking me out—he just wanted to be my friend. I couldn’t keep him waiting. In the end, I gave an approving nod, and a wide smile split Claude’s face at my answer. He was so dazzling that I squinted one eye without realizing it.
“Thank you, Lady Maristella. It’s an honor,” he said solemnly.
“No, you needn’t… It’s embarrassing to hear that,” I replied, flustered.
“I thought you would refuse. So I was a bit worried.”
“Me?”
Did I look like someone that played hard to get? Claude’s words put me into an unexpected agony. I thought I was a fairly open person, but did I not seem that way to other people?
“Sometimes you draw lines,” Claude explained. “That’s why I thought that way. I’m glad you agreed readily.”
“Yes, well…” Somehow I felt embarrassed and I smiled awkwardly.
Claude shot me a strange look, then stood up.
I looked curiously at him. “Are you going now?”
“Just earlier you asked me to go. Now that I’m really going, do you feel sad?”
“It’s not like that… But stay safe.”
“Yes, Lady Maristella. I will come again in two days,” he told me.
In two days? Not tomorrow?
“Is there anything happening tomorrow?” I asked.
“Are you sad that I’m not visiting you?”
“Just…” Some vague unpleasant feeling settled in my stomach, like something was out of place. No other emotion. I spoke honestly. “It’s just that someone who comes every day suddenly told me he won’t be coming tomorrow. So I was just wondering,” I explained.
“I have an important deal,” he said.
“Important deal?”
“Yes,” Claude confirmed with a smile. “I have to solve something with the Cornohen family.”
“…”
My breath hitched at the familiar name.
Cornohen family—that was Dorothea’s family.
Claude’s brow creased when he saw the sudden stoniness of my face. “Are you alright, Lady Maristella? Your complexion suddenly…”
“It’s nothing, Your Grace,” I said with a dismissive shake of my head. “I just recalled a bad memory for a second.”
“I see.” Claude nodded his head. “Count Cornohen and his wife are greedy merchants. I don’t know the details…but I hear that Count Bellafleur and his wife have a close relationship with the Cornohen family.”
“…”
Even Claude knew about that. I suppose that our families really were close. But was it true that we had fallen out because of me?