The Reason I Keep Avoiding My Childhood Friend

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

I heard the coachman’s voice urgently calming the horse. As the horse ran wild, the carriage ran along with it. I trembled with anxiety, not knowing what was going on from inside the rocking carriage.

It wasn’t until the swaying of the carriage subsided that I could get myself together. I was even more surprised because I had never experienced anything like this while riding a carriage.

I grabbed my beating heart and looked out. I saw a person lying face down in front of the carriage hurriedly putting on the robe again. I caught a glimpse of the bluish hair, then it disappeared under the robe.

“Hey! How could you just jump out like that?”

It seemed that the person suddenly jumped out and almost hit the carriage.

“I was in a hurry, so I was lost. I’m sorry.”

As the coachman raised his voice, the man who had fallen stood up and apologized. The low voice was grotesque. Seeing that he was pressing the side of his chest where the heart is, that person also seemed surprised.

“No, I do too. If you act like that, you will get hurt. Are you injured anywhere?”

Wasn’t that a dangerous situation? Still, the coachman’s voice was quite even, and he even asked about the other person’s condition.

“Yes. I’m fine because you stopped on time. I’ll be careful. I’m really sorry.”

He was politely apologizing, but the man in the robe looked a little nervous. It was like a person being chased as he kept glancing around.

“Uncle, what’s the matter?”

“Oh my gosh, Miss. I’m sorry. Suddenly, a person pops out of the alley… Are you injured anywhere? I should have taken care of Miss’ safety first, I’m sorry.”

The coachman treated me like a very noble lady, perhaps due of Mr. Hafterry’s influence. Not only the coachman, but everyone in the mansion were like that. Even if I told them not to do that, they said it was better for them, so I couldn’t stop them.

Anyway, I checked my condition because of the restless uncle’s attitude. We weren’t going that fast in the first place, so even if I hit the side, I wasn’t hurt. I think it might be bruised, but I decided to skip this because I thought the coachman would feel uncomfortable if I said I was hurt.

“Yes. I’m fine. What about Uncle? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. By the way, Miss… Nothing has happened so can we go? If things get bigger for no reason, it’ll just be a bother. And the sage will be waiting for you.”

Since the coachman was a hired man, he asked for my opinion when trouble arose. The person who almost caused the accident pulled his head out like a meerkat and turned this way. It seemed like he was wondering if I would just go over or push the matter further.

I don’t know what kind of face he is looking at me with since he covered his face with a robe. But it was clear that he was watching my answer nervously. He was nervous, and the coachman carefully asked for my permission, but if I nitpicked on it, it might look like a power abuse.

The carriage I was riding almost hit a person. I decided to consider myself lucky that such a terrible thing did not happen.

“No one was hurt, so let’s go quietly.”

“All right. I’ll hurry up and get you there. Hey, as the Miss said, no one was hurt, so I’ll just let it go this time. Be careful from now on!”

The coachman shouted at the robe-wearing man. Come to think of it, I almost had an accident. Usually, in a situation like this, you would get angry, but the coachman was quite rational.

If that person in the robe had a bit of sense, he would have said thank you and left. Instead, the robed man looked ahead, turned around, and glanced at me repeatedly.

“What are you doing! Get out of the way and go!”

The coachman had put up with the accident, but he started to get annoyed as shown in his voice. Then, instead of hesitantly stepping out of the way, the man wearing the robe came closer to me. His hand came up at the window. His thin, white fingers drew attention.

I didn’t know what the situation was, so I looked at him. As the distance drew closer, the face beneath the robe was revealed. The moment our eyes met, I took a breath.