The Reason I Keep Avoiding My Childhood Friend

Our principality was located in quite a corner.
It was almost at the edge of the empire, so it was tedious to ride a carriage to get to the capital.
I never knew as I never went outside the city before.

“Aren, are you okay?”

“Ye, yes.
I’m okay.”

“Does your butt hurt?”

I smiled vaguely at the stark question.
Perhaps because of my memory of living in a place where the road was well developed in my previous life, so I kept cursing at this tremendous road condition.

It was shaking and rattling, motion sickness was a standard.
If one move wrong, one might even bite their tongue.
Even though I was sitting, I suffered from muscle pain when I slept at night.
I don’t know what answer he read from my smile, but Mr.
Hafterry comforted me.

“Hold on a little.
We will arrive at the village soon.”

“Yes!”

Even though I answered energetically, I actually thought I was going to die because of the poor riding comfort throughout the journey.
Fortunately, Father was with me on this long journey.
He wasn’t going to move together with me.
He received a special vacation from the Grand Duke to send me off.

It was only natural because even if I was with Mr.
Hafterry, he would be worried about me and would want to see the environment with his own eyes, such as where I live or where I would study.

The longer the carriage ride, the heavier Father’s mood because.
I think it was because he was worried about the distance, and he felt the feeling of being apart all the more.
I stuck closer to Father, and Mr.
Hafterry tried to reassure Father with soft words.
Father’s expression became more and more distraught.

As time passed and the exhausting journey came to an end, we arrived at the capital of the empire.
Since we had an invitation with a clear identity warrant, we quickly passed through the gate search and easily entered the capital.
After passing the entrance and going a little further, the carriage finally stopped.

“Let’s get off now.”

“Wow!”

As soon as I got off, I was in awe.
I liked our house, which was so small that it felt full when my bandit-like father was in, but the house in the capital was unexpectedly nice.
Was it the size of ten of our houses combined?

Mr.
Hafterry said that this was where we would be staying.
So, was Mr.
Hafterry the son of a fairly well-off family? Now that I know it, maybe his status was not that humble? And, perhaps proving my guess was correct, the butler came out and bowed toward Mr.
Hafterry.

“Master, you’re here?”

“Long time no see, James.”

The rest of the employees also came to greet Mr.
Hafterry, and there were a whopping 8 people.
To say that the owner of this mansion was Mr.
Hafterry, and that he hired these people with money.

It wasn’t that I underestimated Father’s budget for my tutor, but it seemed like an extremely small amount for the owner of a mansion like this to receive.
I think my tutoring fee was even less than Mr.
Hafterry’s pocket money.
Father and I were just shaking our eyes in shock.

“This is my pupil’s father, Mr.
Hertman Aide.
This smart and cute-looking Miss is my student Arendine Aide.
Aren will be living here from now on.”

“Yes.
As we were informed in advance, we prepared a separate room for the Miss.
Nice to meet you.
I am James Miller, one in charge of this mansion.
Please tell me if you need anything.”

“Hello.
Nice to meet you too.”

Father and I were at a loss because of Mr.
Hafterry’s wealth.
Mr.
Hafterry volunteered to guide us as we stood awkwardly.

“You have to see where Aren will live.
It is this way.
I will guide you.”

Following his guide, we visited every nook and cranny of the house.
The first floor had a kitchen, dining room, and parlor, and the second floor had bedrooms.
On the third floor, there was a study that was much larger than Kir’s, and my jaw dropped.
In the study, there was an enormous number of books piled up for an individual to collect.

“It’s amazing.
There must be a lot of books I’ve never read before, right?”

The tone of my voice rose slightly because I got excited.

“I mainly collected rare books.
There will be many books you haven’t seen in the Grand Duke’s residence, so feel free to read them during your stay.”

“Thank you.”