Cordelia Is Not a Loner – 1

The weekend library date ended quite successfully. There were some minor incidents, such as me constantly holding and fiddling with Hestia’s hand until she complained about her hand getting chafed, or her briefly nodding off and leaning on my shoulder due to food coma, but ultimately it was a very satisfying date for both of us.

On Sunday, I went to the training hall for some self-training, and did some preparation and review for classes. It’s funny how I don’t think I studied on weekends even during my senior year of high school, but here I am studying in this world. I guess the environment really does matter for studying. If I had had a girlfriend who ranked first in school during my senior year, could I have gone to Seoul National University?

After the weekend passed, Monday came, and although I felt a bit sluggish, it wasn’t too difficult thanks to the fulfilling weekend.

The first class is basic swordsmanship with Cordelia. I decided to start Cordelia’s friend-making operation that I had been postponing. Isn’t it a bit sad that she, who goes crazy at the mere mention of knights because of her obsession with female knights in novels, can’t even exchange a word with real people who will become female knights?

I swallowed hard as I looked at Cordelia. She too looked back at me. Her lips were completely dry, perhaps from being very nervous about my promise to help her make friends.

“Lady Deneb, are you ready?”

I asked Cordelia, who was visibly tense. She took a very serious and solemn attitude, as if going to a battlefield.

“Of course, I’m ready.”

“Why are you so tense?”

I was bewildered. Anyone watching would think she was going to her death.

“Loosen up. If you stay this stiff, even things that should work out won’t.”

“But it’s my first time.”

“Please don’t say things that others might misunderstand. The object ‘making friends’ is missing.”

Cordelia’s suggestive words drew stares from around us. I hastily tried to recover. I really wish she would specify the subject, object, and verb clearly when she speaks.

“And making friends isn’t such a big deal to begin with.”

“It is a big deal!”

She retorted with wide, angry eyes. She went on for a while about the difficulties of making friends. It’s hard to approach strangers, conversations don’t flow well if interests don’t align, and noble girls are all so crafty that it’s uncomfortable to deal with them. After laying out all the reasons why she doesn’t have friends, she panted heavily.

“Do you understand now?”

What’s there to be so proud of? It’s just a matter of talking to students taking the same class, but if she’s this stiff, things that should work out won’t. Moreover, I’ll be the one initiating the conversation. I also promised to support her until she blends in with the group. All she has to do is enjoy the feast I’m preparing for her.

“I can see why Lady Deneb has only Hestia as a friend. How did you even become friends with Hestia in the first place?”

Judging from how she interacts comfortably with me and Hestia, she doesn’t seem like a loner by nature, so I don’t understand why she’s so extremely shy with strangers. Hearing my question, Cordelia rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Well, it was about 10 years ago. I don’t really remember how I became friends with Hestia. We just became close at some point.”

“That’s it.”

I clapped my hands. Right. How many people in the world explicitly say, “Let’s be friends from today,” and become friends? The vast majority of friendships just happen naturally as people hang out together.

“What do you mean?”

“Where in the world do people become friends by saying ‘Let’s be friends from today’? You just exchange words, hang out together, and at some point, you find yourselves as friends. So there’s no need to feel pressured about making friends right away.”

Cordelia’s eyes sparkled after hearing my explanation. She seems to have been greatly impressed by it. She nodded her head repeatedly and exclaimed:

“Oh! Now that I think about it, that makes sense. Mikhail, you’re not actually unable to make friends, you just choose not to!”

I flinched at this sudden attack. It’s not a lack of magnesium; I just want to hit Cordelia once.

“Please keep that mouth of yours quiet. Hestia and I might tolerate it, but if you say such things to someone you’ve just met, they’ll instantly lose any affection for Lady Deneb.”

Kindly put, she’s uninhibited; less kindly, she’s thoughtless. If she had always gone around saying whatever came to mind, she couldn’t have survived the nobles’ brawls full of slander. Even ordinary girls on Earth engage in behind-the-scenes conflicts when three or more gather, let alone noble ladies in a romance fantasy.

“I don’t say such things except in front of you and Hestia.”

“That’s because you don’t speak at all except in front of Hestia and me.”

There’s no persuasiveness in claiming not to say such things when you don’t speak at all to begin with. At my point, Cordelia shrieked in denial.

“That’s not true! I talk with Lily now too!”

“Lady Adamas?”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t paid any attention to what happened after seeing them talking on Friday. I casually asked Cordelia:

“Did you two reconcile well?”

“Of course, naturally!”

Cordelia confidently asserted, chest pushed out.

“After talking, I found out she had her circumstances too. Honestly, I’m even somewhat grateful she stole that bastard. It’s like someone took away an item I wanted to discard but couldn’t. I was shocked and a bit angry since she took something right out of my hands, but thinking about it, I didn’t lose anything at all.”

Should I call this magnanimity or just being a pushover? It’s amazing that she can so easily forgive a detestable woman who stole her fiancé and even provoked her right in her ear. Moreover, a lady who has once been jilted can’t expect the same treatment as before.

“I don’t think it’s that simple, but if that’s how you feel, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“What, are you worried about my marriage prospects?”

“Not particularly.”

Cordelia snickered. I turned my head away in disgust. She followed my face and laughed again. I’m tempted to give her a flick on the forehead.

“Don’t worry. Someone of my caliber has men lined up begging to take me. A broken engagement is hardly a blemish.”

Cordelia spoke as if it was truly nothing. Come to think of it, romance fantasies are filled with divorced female protagonists and jilted female protagonists. Maybe it really isn’t a problem.

“I wasn’t worried to begin with.”

“Okay, okay.”

She continued to snicker annoyingly. Her expression seemed to say, “You’re not being honest.” Should I just hit her once? I forcefully suppressed my rising violent urges.

“So you’ve reconciled with Lady Adamas and decided to be friends?”

“That’s right. We even met yesterday, had a meal together, and went to a café.”

Cordelia boasted as if she had done something remarkable. It is remarkable in the sense that it’s something ordinary people couldn’t easily do. She’s really thick-skinned. Even after reconciling, there should still be some lingering resentment, but she can immediately laugh and eat meals and drink tea together?

“Did Lady Adamas enjoy it too?”

“Of course, naturally.”

I must ask Seol-ah later to hear her true feelings. Honestly, I think she probably felt uncomfortable.

I subtly encouraged her, who was still holding her nose high.

“Then for Lady Deneb, who now has friends besides Hestia and me, making another new friend should be a very easy task.”

“That’s right. For me, such a task is… huh?”

She was proudly boasting about making a new friend when she fell victim to my sudden attack. With not much break time left, we need to get this done quickly. I left the flustered Cordelia and locked onto my target.

“Very well. I’ll approach and speak first, so follow me.”

“W-wait! I’m not mentally prepared yet…”

Cordelia grabbed my arm and held back, dragging, but her strength was no match for mine. With Cordelia hanging from one hand, I approached a group of female students chatting together.

“Ahem. Hello there.”

After clearing my throat a few times, I spoke in the gentlest tone I could manage.

They stopped their conversation and simultaneously turned their heads toward me. Having multiple gazes fixed on me at once is quite burdensome. A female student who seemed to be the representative of the group stepped forward.

“What is it?”

Her tone conveyed sharp vigilance towards me, if not outright hostility. What did I do to deserve this? I felt wronged.

“What are you doing, come out.”

I poked at Cordelia, who was hiding behind me with only her head peeking out, and whispered. Since she still wasn’t getting her act together, talking about mental preparation and such, I just applied some force and pulled her to my side. It’s not like we’re carrying a game for her; if she wants to become friends, she at least needs to show her face.

“We’d like to build a friendship with you all.”

Cordelia still wasn’t saying anything and kept her mouth shut beside me. I have no idea where the woman who was snickering and poking her face at me earlier has gone. The girls naturally shifted their gaze to Cordelia, as if asking who this person next to you is.

“Say it, say you want to be friends.”

I poked Cordelia’s side again, who was still hesitating. Unable to resist my urging, Cordelia stammered as she opened her mouth.

“I want… to be friends with you all.”

I covered my face with my hand and sighed. Just a little while ago, she heard the explanation that friendship is something that happens naturally as people hang out together, but now she suddenly charges ahead like this. The lesson on the concept of friendship I had given just minutes before had gone completely to waste. Even I would probably run away thinking, “What a suspicious person,” if a guy I’d never spoken with suddenly approached me and the first words out of his mouth were “I want to be friends with you.”

The girls scanned our faces alternately and then gathered among themselves to start discussing in whispers. We’ve blown it. I began serious contemplation about whether I should comfort Cordelia when we go back or give her sharp feedback. Immediate comfort would probably be better…

“Alright. You’re Cordelia von Deneb, right? We thought you were deliberately keeping your distance from us because you’re always alone. We didn’t know, but you have a surprisingly cute side. If you want to be friends, let’s be friends.”

“Really?”

Having been almost half-dead from embarrassment after speaking, she suddenly regained vitality.

“Actually, we had thought that Lady Deneb…”

“Call me Cordelia!”

“We thought Cordelia was avoiding us.”

Another girl from the group came forward and started talking. According to her, since Cordelia kept her mouth tightly shut throughout the class except when talking with me, they thought she was cold, stern, and a haughty person who wouldn’t even converse with mere knights.

“But seeing you just now, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Actually, we wanted to talk with Cordelia too.”

Cordelia looked as if she was about to shed tears of joy at those words. I was dumbfounded. This works? I suddenly recalled what Seria had told me a few days ago.

‘Women like pretty women too.’

Considering that no one approaches me favorably just because I’m handsome, men don’t seem to particularly like handsome men. Anyway, hurray for looks-ism.

Cordelia is undeniably beautiful, after all. It seems to have created a reversal charm when someone they thought was silent and haughty suddenly approached them, blushing and stammering that she wanted to be friends.

I tried to quietly slip away as the girls began chattering excitedly.

“Where are you going, Duke’s Heir Mikhail? You clearly said you wanted to build a friendship with us, right? We have so many questions for you too.”

I felt several hands grabbing me. I tried to shake them off, but it was useless. I might have been able to handle one or two, but with more than three, there was no way out. Their sturdy forearms caught my eye. Being aspiring knights, they’re all quite strong. They’ve long since overcome the barrier of gender. How can women be this strong?

“Well, my role seems to end here.”

Despite my subtle rejection, their grip only became more forceful. I heard them discussing what to ask me while keeping me captive.

“First, let’s ask about his relationship with the rumored fiancée.”

“No, the love triangle with Lady Lily and His Highness the Crown Prince…”

“There’s also a rumor that the reason His Highness took a leave of absence was because he was rejected by the Duke’s Heir?”

Ah, I just wanted to pass out.