Chapter 12

– Chapter 12 –

Aiden nodded his head as if he was convinced.

Upon seeing that, Erin was barely able to hold back the sigh she was about to let out.

Thankfully, it seemed like Aiden believed her.

Because it wasn’t completely a lie.

It was a common occurrence for friends to hold hands.

And friends can hug each other all they want.

They hug when something good happens, and to comfort each other when they’re sad.

Kissing though…… it isn’t too common, but it happens sometimes between really close friends.

It’s not the end of the world if it does.

Because a light peck on the cheek can also be a form of greeting.

Erin continued to convince herself, trying to calm her beating heart.

She wasn’t tricking Aiden.

This was also a case where an accident happened purely because of bad timing. An incident like this should be laughed at.

As if to purposely show him, Erin smiled brightly and looked at Aiden.

She was thinking about how to change the topic, but Aiden opened his mouth first.

“Then…….”

“……”

“Can we try it?”

Aiden stared at her.

It was obvious that she was going to ask ‘do what?

Erin instinctively began to feel a little anxious.

It seemed that no matter what Aiden asked of her, she wouldn’t be able to say no.

Aiden’s eyes went from Erin’s eyes to her lips, and then slowly shifted from her lips to her hand.

Her hands, which were being stared at by him, tingled.

“Everything that friends do……. I want to try.”

Aiden’s voice rang clearly.

It seemed as though Erin had opened up a new world for him.

If it was like the novel, Aiden would have been disgusted and avoided her, but it was a change that happened because Erin worked that much harder to be friends with him.

After looking at Aiden curiously, Erin slowly opened her mouth.

“Of course.”

Even before Erin could finish her words, Aiden pulled out his hands.

With slight hesitation, Aiden put his hand on top of Erin’s.

At first he just left his hand like that, but after a while Aiden slowly locked his fingers onto hers.

He had held Erin’s hands first.

With each finger intertwined, they were both able to feel the weight of each other’s hand.

Erin and Aiden were both nervous for different reasons.

In complete silence, their eyes looked at each other.

After the long silence passed, Aiden’s lips formed a smile.

Erin’s hand felt warm. It was small and very soft.

When he first saw her, it felt like something bad could have happened if he made even the tiniest bit of contact with her…….

But now that he was actually holding her hand, it was a completely different sensation.

“That’s how it is.”

“……?”

“It is possible to hold it.”

Aiden mumbled while grasping Erin’s hand tightly.

He raised his head and opened his mouth, directly staring at Erin.

“I think I like it.”

For a moment, Erin mistakenly saw Aiden glow brightly.

He had the biggest smile on his face, and out of every smile Erin had seen, his was the most beautiful.

“Holding hands with a friend… I like it.”

Aiden’s hold on Erin’s hand became stronger.

Everything that had been tormenting him up until now felt invalid.

Erin also tightened her grip and grabbed onto Aiden’s hand securely.

That was the moment when Aiden’s last barrier was broken down.

Erin looked at him proudly after seeing his confident face.

Aiden was suddenly curious about something and asked her.

“Can friends hold hands anytime they want?”

“If they want to?”

Why is he asking that all of a sudden? Erin nodded her head in response.

“I see……”

Aiden was deep in thought while holding Erin’s hand.

“……good.”

“Aiden? What did you just say?”

Erin couldn’t hear him well, so she asked again. Aiden’s face got closer to her’s.

“I’m glad that you’re my wife.”

Aiden said something that made Erin’s heart drop.

Seriously……. If Aiden could get rid of his trauma, Erin was willing to split her soul.

However, hmm…… it seemed a bit difficult.

Erin’s eyes gazed at the ground.

Many hours had passed since they began holding hands, but Aiden showed no signs of letting go.

He was just like a toddler who had just begun to walk, and there was no way Erin could let go of his hand first.

It felt uncomfortable because there was sweat trapped in between their fingers and she couldn’t move around like she wanted to, but Aiden was unwilling to let go.

Aiden, who didn’t let anyone other than a select few knights touch him, was walking while firmly holding Erin’s hand. The reaction from the workers who witnessed the scene caught her eye.

Though the workers did a good job of hiding their reactions.

But still, it was an odd sight to see the two of them holding hands.

One worker’s eyes widened in shock, and another let out a shaky breath.

Every time that happened, Erin’s face felt

hot.

But still, she held it in. If it was for Aiden, she could easily be patient with something like this.

However, the most difficult thing to suppress was……

“When do friends hug?”

“Huh…….?”

“I want to try hugging too.”

Aiden asked straightforwardly.

Taken aback, all Erin could do was gawk at Aiden’s face.

As if everything that was suppressed up until now was being released, Aiden’s curiosity was brimming

His eager glance waiting for her response was enough to make Erin feel uncomfortable.

Aiden was not hesitant.

It seemed that after he made contact with her, he didn’t mind them touching anymore.

That’s why he would ask something like this.

“You don’t hug anytime you want just because you’re friends.”

“Then? When do you hug?”

For a moment, Erin couldn’t talk.

Even while thinking of an answer to tell him, Aiden’s interest didn’t falter.

“How far can you go with a friend?”

Aiden wanted to do everything friends do with Erin.

Erin was thinking seriously. She was contemplating how to handle this situation.

It would be better to do it with me rather than with other people.

Being able to be someone Aiden could rely on and have a lot of skinship with would eventually make it easier for him to approach people in the future.

Erin spread out her arms and brought Aiden in for a hug. To be more exact, she just had her arm wrapped around his back and was patting him.

“If there is something to congratulate, or to comfort each other…… or, if you want to uplift them, you can give them a hug.”

Erin said with encouragement as she hugged him, hoping that from now on, only good things would happen to them.

After a few days passed, Erin got used to Aiden’s change.

Even the next day, and the next, Aiden grabbed Erin’s hand every time he saw her. As if it was a necessity to hold her hand.

So whenever the two of them were together, they would always be holding hands. They were always a pair.

Erin gave it a thought.

It seemed that the words she had said in the moment were taken far too well by him.

After having done it once, Aiden seemed to like skinship more.

Well, at least this is better than him acting cold.

That’s why, even if Aiden asked about something friends didn’t do, all she did was nod her head in agreement.

She wanted to help him so that he could do whatever he wanted to.

Erin didn’t think that this could head into a different direction. She was just happy about the fact that he was able to get over his trauma.

***

There was no one in the duchy who didn’t know about how sweet the two were acting.

While brushing Erin’s hair, Mona said,

“It’s a nice sight to look at.”

“Really?”

“I was worried that the two of you wouldn’t get along, so it’s such a relief that the both of you care for each other so much.”

Mona said in a satisfied tone.

Although she didn’t make it obvious when Erin first came to the duchy, she was frustrated.

It was obvious to Mona that Aiden had been avoiding Erin, and with no one on her side besides Mona, her future seemed dark.

However, since the two were still young, it looked like they were just playing around, and they were together like a happy couple.

After seeing them, Mona had a hard time holding back her tears.

She continued speaking after thinking of that memory.

“Do you like Aiden that much?”

“Of course I do.”

Erin said, with the corners of her mouth tilting upwards.

Mona smiled as well and spoke.

“I thought you guys were just married by name and were too young…… but you’re all grown up. Our Miss is already loving someone too…….”

“……what did you say just now?”

After hearing Mona say that, Erin’s face slowly began to harden.

Something about Mona’s words seemed weird.

Loving…… Who’s loving who?

Surely there was a different meaning to that.

She didn’t even need to hear Mona’s response. Erin spoke with a stern voice.

“No. We are just friends.”

Erin looked straight into Mona’s eyes.

“What……?”

“Although it’s true that I like Aiden, it’s a platonic love.”

Erin quickly tried to fix any misunderstandings that might have been caused because of her words.

However, even after Erin’s explanation, Mona’s facial expression seemed weird. Her eyes narrowed and turned into a slight frown.

“We’re really just friends and nothing more.”

Even without Mona asking, Erin tried to clarify again. They couldn’t be anything more than that.

The reason why the distance between Aiden and Erin closed was because they were friends.

And Erin needed that safeguard. To not fall for Aiden.

– To Be Continued –