I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess

The reason why Ariel came to like stars was simple.

It was a story about when she was younger than now, when her height could only reach her mother's waist.

Her mother, Helena, would often look up at the night sky from the terrace or balcony.

At first, she thought she was just looking at the stars, but after seeing such a scene often, she suddenly became more curious.

"Why does my mom look up at the sky so often?"’

In the eyes of the young Ariel, the night sky was always similar.

It's just that on a snowy day or a cloudy day, there are fewer stars in the sky.

What's so interesting in such an unchanging night sky that her mother would often laugh as if she's having so much fun while looking at the sky?

Ariel couldn't resist her curiosity, so she ran straight to her mother's arms and was hugged.

Helena seemed a little surprised for a moment, but she immediately welcomed her daughter with a friendly guy as usual.

Her mother always smelled good.

Does it smell good because she's a pretty and nice mother? Then what about herself(Ariel)?

Ariel inadvertently buried her nose in her shoulder and sniffed like a puppy.

There wasn't any particular smell.

It was her dream to be like her mother, but she guesses that she still has a long way to go.

"Whoa, you're not a dog. Why are you smelling like that?"

"My mom smells good, so I thought I smell good , too."

"Is it? My daughter smells good too."

Helena lifted Ariel up and kissed her on the cheek.

Then, the wind outside was quite chilly, so she covered her daughter's body with the coat she was wearing in case her precious daughter might catch a cold.

"Mom, aren't you cold?"

"No, mother is fine."

"Hehe, as expected, my mom is amazing."

For Ariel, Helena was the object of admiration.

She was always elegant, her appearance was more beautiful than anyone Ariel had ever seen, her heart was good, and she did everything well.

It is unknown whether Ariel, a maverick like princess always listened to her mother at least, because it was a natural cause or because she(Helena) was her(Ariel) object of admiration.

After patting her lovely daughter's head who looked up at her with sparkling eyes, Helena then asked carefully.

"Am I a good mother to Ariel?"”

The anxiety that every mother in the world has, even though they were for different reasons.

Helena was not an exception either.

Am I really acting right for my daughter?

Was there anything wrong with my own education?

Unless you can read your daughter's inner feelings, it was a worry, and a kind of improvement that one must take as a mother.

“Of course, yes!”

As if to put an end to her mother's anxiety, Ariel answered at once with an ideally bright face.

A smile of relief appeared on Helena's lips as well.

It was a good thing and she was quite curious to see how much her daughter loves her.

Maybe she'll ask a little naughty question.

“Then who do you like better, mom or dad?”

"Mom!"

“Huh, Dad will be sad if he hears it.”

But to some extent, Ariel's answer was within an expectation.

Her husband was by no means a bad person, but he was a man whose educational policies and values ​​were quite rigid.

From Ariel's point of view, it was natural for her to feel repulsive at her father's attitude.

It was for this reason that Helena dared to accompany her two-year-old daughter as her friend, and to raise Ariel more freely than the other girls of her age.

There's already one person acting as a proper parent, and if the mother's child also joined into that rigid parent's category, then who will be left for the child to open her heart to?

“By the way, why did my daughter come to visit mother?”

“ I was curious because my mother was always looking at the sky every night.”

In response to Ariel's answer, Helena opened her eyes wide for a moment, and then she smiled benevolently and gently pinched her daughter's cheek.

Regardless of what she does, it seems that only her daughter keeps an eye on her.

“Ariel, do you hate stars?”

“Oh, I don’t hate it. I just don't like them very much.”

“Huh, you look exactly like me. Your mother used to be like that too.”

“Mom?”

Compared with what she had seen, she couldn't imagine that her mother doesn't like stars.

But because her mother said it herself, Ariel held no doubts about her mother's statement.

That's because her mother had never lied to her before.

This was the strength of her trust she had built up over the years.

" Then, maybe if you listen to what mother has to tell, Ariel will definitely like the stars too.”

“Is this a funny story?”

"Well? Give it a listen and let me know what Ariel thinks of the story. Because mom is also very curious(about Ariel's like or dislike of the story).”

Since Ariel was inquisitive, she nodded her small head vigorously with her eyes shining brightly as she listened to the story for the first time.

Helena slowly started telling the story, while brushing her daughter's hair which was blowing in the cold wind.

"This is a story told by my mother, that is, Ariel's grandmother."

"Yes."

Ariel's maternal grandmother had passed away already by the time she was born into the world.

That's why she can only hear the stories about her grandmother through her mother, Helena, but she was even more curious when she heard that the story was directly told by her grandmother.

"The title is ‘The Story of the Star.' A long time ago…….”

Listening to her mother's voice in the cold air, Ariel somehow felt like her heart was warm.

The story of the star, which is recited gently and comfortably, but not boring enough to fall asleep, was very interesting.

Ariel has only thought that stars were just unknown objects floating in the sky.

She has never paid any attention to them, and she has never made any wish to the stars like other childrens of her age would do.

The Story of the Star was a content that changed the existence of stars imprinted in Ariel's head quite differently.

In short, this was the case.

Stars have their own stories, their own faces, and their own colors.

And when the quiet night arrives when everyone in the world falls asleep, the stars gather for a while and share ‘star stories' among themselves.

The night was always quiet as usual and they thought no one would notice them as always.

As the stars gathered and talked among themselves, a girl who was confined in a tall tower witnessed their little gathering.

There was an unwritten rule that humans should never witness them, so they decided to erase the girl's memory in exchange for gathering the power of the stars and granting her a wish.

When asked what she would wish for, the girl said she wanted to ask about the whereabouts of a boy who visited the tower when she was younger.

The boy always told her the story of the outside world and promised to take her away from this tower, but at some point he stopped visiting her.

She doesn't care if he doesn't come back, she only wants to know if he's alive or dead.

The stars joined forces to find the boy's whereabouts, but the boy had already died at the hands of the bandits.

However, the stars came up with a trick because they thought they might hurt the girl if they told the story as it was.

They said, the boy couldn't find the tower right now, but if you like to listen to him, we'll tell you, and we won't erase your memories either.

The girl accepted, and the stars told her stories every night, little by little, the stories of several other people they had hidden in the night sky. (The stars are cheating other people's stories as the boy's)

Decades later, her last day in this world came.

She told the stars what she had hidden so far.

– Actually, I knew he was dead. I'll never forget your efforts for me, stars.

And she wrote "The Story of the Star" on an old notebook in her room so that others could read the story.

However, in order to keep the secrets of the stars, she added a request to deliver it to only two people in their lifetime.

"Isn't it amazing?"

"Yes, it's amazing."

Then, do stars still secretly appear and talk at night?

Ariel tilted her head, and Helena opened her mouth, as if she had guessed her thoughts.

"In fact, mom always looks at the night sky every night because I want to see the stars talking."

"Have you seen them yet?"”

" No. Maybe your grandmother probably didn't see them either.”

It's really hard to see.

Well, that's why it's only a story.

Ariel, who nodded as if she was convinced, raised her hand confidently.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure to listen to their story and let my mom know!"

"Really? Thank you, my daughter."

Helena, who once again kissed her cheek, entered the castle holding Ariel.

It was getting colder and colder, so she couldn't let the weak child outside for long.

"Mom, should I tell this story to only two people in my entire life?"

"Yes. It's a promise passed down from generation to generation."

"Then who else did you tell besides me?"”

"Whoa, well. Who could it be? Ariel, can you guess?”

If it's just two people in their lifetime, they should be that precious.

Even the young Ariel could guess that much.

"A precious person to my mom.….’

As she was racking her brain, she immediately opened her eyes and shouted triumphantly as if an answer had come to her mind.

"Dad! It's him, right?"

"Correct. You are my daughter".

"Hehe."

Ariel, who was excited, bounced around and asked Helena again, wondering as if she had realized another problem for a moment.

"Mom, who should I tell it to?"

"That's up to Ariel. Someone like that will definitely appear someday."

"How do you know?”

"Even if Ariel doesn't know, the child sleeping in here will definitely tell you when the time comes. So don't worry."( The sleeping one is referring to Ariel's adult mindset.)

Ariel blinked at her mother, who was pointing near her stomach.

‘Is someone asleep in here? Then why doesn't the sleeping one tell me the answer right now?'

I'll just lie in bed and think about it myself.

Ariel ran straight to her room, Ding.

She silently tilted her head, as there was suddenly a face that popped up in her mind but it quickly disappeared before she could catch it.

She didn't know why, but it was a face that reminded her of a friend's face.