I Became The Male Lead's Female Friend

The division leaders got excited and started teasing each other.

“Then, are you two getting married?”

“It just so happens that neither of you has a fiancé. Wow, that’s so romantic.”

“It’s amazing how people who are said to be the best in the Empire have never had a fiancé until now…”

The atmosphere was getting hot for a while, and Rudrick pretended to ignore them and listened intently.

Then there came a cold-watering voice between them.

“By the way… wouldn’t it be difficult to get married in reality?”

It was the second division commander, Ruth Fedex, who could be said to be the most rational among the division commanders.

“No, Sir Ruth! Why, Sir, are you blocking their road to marriage…?”

“There’s one thing we’re forgetting, isn’t Princess Averine the next successor to Averine?”

For a moment, there was a dead silence in the room.

“Well, you’re right…”

“But they said that the Princess is a woman, so after all, she has to hand it over to someone else…”

“Sir, I didn’t see it that way, but you’re rather persistent…”

“What?!”

“Anyway…”

Ruth Fedex coughed and continued,  “It’s common for a woman to inherit a family in the Empire. If a Princess intends to take over the family, she also thinks that she will choose a suitable partner to take care of their family…”

He slowly blurted out the end of his words in the increasingly cold air while calmly speaking his thoughts.

In an atmosphere where no one could bring up the words first, someone raised their hand slowly.

“Isn’t there a rare case where the heads of each family got married?”

“If you look for it, you won’t find it. Still, it’s because the high-status family called Duke and Duchess can’t leave their spouse’s seat empty.”

“We also left Madame’s seat empty for a long time…”

At the same time, they peeked at Rudrick’s expression, and until then, he looked around, looking at the documents silently and not even listening.

It may seem to them that Rudrick was still expressionless and doesn’t show much emotion.

But now his insides were boiling.

‘Is it hard?’

Of course, he didn’t take Dahlia’s engagement seriously.

Although he had been wanting to meet her for a long time, it was a longing that came from the happy memories of his childhood, not a deep romantic emotion.

Above all, he was skeptical about marriage.

Because the marriage he’s seen so far has always been catastrophic. So was his mother, and so was his father, whose lover he loved so much ran away.

So Rudrick thought if there was something between Dahlia and him, he hopes it wasn’t love.

I hope it’s not love, but a friendship that we could be together with for a long time and the rest of our lives…

‘But why?’

However, after hearing from others that he and Dahlia could never continue their story, Rudrick’s mood quickly went to the bottom.

One side of his chest, which had been throbbing pleasantly just a moment ago, turned cold.

Before he knew it, his heart was beating with a disturbing beat. By the time Rudrick clenched his teeth, he had endured the discomfort.

“Come to think of it, isn’t there one more high-ranking noble knight who doesn’t have a fiancé?”

Suddenly, a name was heard that took his mood down completely.

The second son of the Goldman family.

“River Goldman.”

✿

‘What am I planning on doing here?’

I was at a small party hosted by a countess.

Originally, I was not a fan of social gatherings. To be precise, it’s not just a ‘social gathering’, it’s a ‘social party’.

Clubs, where people share similar hobbies, were fine. Because there was a club that I participated in regularly.

But social parties were a little different. I thought a social party was a place where you could eat delicious food, chat with close people, and dance together until you get into high society properly

‘Not at all.’

It was a troublesome place for them to spread rumors and show off their power.

Even minor misbehavior would pass quickly, and under the guise of culture, they would gently demean the opponent.

It felt like a battleground. I didn’t pick up a sword, but it was a battleground of social warfare in which people’s tongue was used as a weapon.

I also entered the social world with bright dreams at the debutante ball, but I was reluctant to attend social gatherings for a while as it was the flagship of the bloody nerve war that unfolded in front of me.

But the reason I came to social parties like this was nothing special. It’s because of ‘the rumor’.

‘Rumor that Rudrick and I are passionately dating…’

I wanted to check with my own eyes just how much the rumor had spread, and I had no idea that if I went to parties and hung out with other young nobles in the future, those rumors would also be forgotten.

And, as Jeron said, the rumors were more widespread than we thought.

“For some reason, Princess Averine…”

“… Then will the Duke Bouser also attend?”

“I don’t think he’ll come… But if it’s between the two of them, maybe he’ll show up later…”

“Then the rumors are true…”

“No, It’s not.”

One thing I’ve overlooked was that I’m already part of the rumor.

Why does this matter?

‘No one is coming!’ Dahlia screamed inwardly.

At least, the idea of ​​dispelling rumors by showing up with friendly conversations was a great mistake.

What am I doing here talking with these young nobles? There were only a few glances, but they had no intentions of approaching me at all.

Thanks to this, I became a ‘flower on the wall’ after standing here a long time, and I was alone, sipping my drink.

“Should I go home?”

What kind of wealth and fame do I have here to enjoy myself alone?

But I wanted to show that I’m not playing hard to get with ‘Losing an Innocent Heart to Rudrick.’

The reason I had unintentionally hit the iron wall all this time was that it was because of my high standard along with my busy schedule.

Yes. I have slightly-a lot-higher standards than normal young nobles.

Was it because I grew up watching Rudrick, the king of beauty, including my parents since I was young? I was not satisfied with the most common beauties.

On top of that, I was strangely proud of my family at the time.

Since I was born with a golden spoon in a Duke family, I’m going to try to have a passionate love affair with a very handsome man in this lifetime.

Even in the original story, countless handsome men were associated with the female lead.

I thought that if I did well, a few people would appear around me.

“But there’s none at all.”

There wasn’t a single one!

Maybe because I met Rudrick, the ultimate king, when I was too young to associate with other nobles?

Jeron, a decent man, was eventually tricked by Rudrick, not me, and there was no such misunderstanding after that.

‘Was this the difference between the main character and an extra?’

By now, it would be right to realize the reality and compromise moderately.

However, I still couldn’t get it off my mind, so I kept looking around.

“There’s a rumor that Lord Lloyd is wearing three legs.”

“Baron Hemington gave a present to Courtesan…”

“Earl Giovanni is developing a new drug…”

I, who had been sitting lonely on the wall and listening to the chatter of the nobles, put the empty glass down on the table.

Yeah, rumors come and go anyway, and in a society full of all kinds of scandals, Rudrick and my scandal would disappear over time.

But I don’t think I’ll meet my fateful love here, so I’ll just have to go home for today…

“Dahlia?” 

A soft voice that was pleasant to listen lingered to in my ears.

I looked back slowly, then the wind blew from somewhere and my hair fluttered.

As my vision was suddenly clouded by a shadow, the sweet ‘love song’ could be heard, and my lips gaped blankly.

‘Is this supposed to be indoors?’

In front of me stood River Goldman, the culprit who created even a non-existent fantasy.

After a long time, he looked more radiant.

At the Victory Party, he had neatly swept hair over his uniform and looked like a ‘prince.’

But now, in a straight suit, with his naturally lowered hair, exuding a handsome atmosphere like an ‘everyone’s boyfriend’ kinda guy.

And how about that smile that’s still refreshing and warm? When he saw me, he smiled, and I also chuckled in response.

“Cough…!”

After all, I almost forgot where I was, but I barely caught hold of my swaying reason.

Yeah, even if it’s Rudrick, aren’t I still managing my image in front of him?

I blinked cautiously like any other noblewoman and immediately addressed him.

“Sir River?”

He blinked as if to answer my call. I wanted to give him a standing ovation at the sight.

‘Yes, this is the handsome man I was looking for!’