Mahradhi’s mouth twitched with anger.

Arthur Pendant slowly clapped his hands. The rhythmic applause, like a slow music, gradually spread throughout the room. Arthur soon sang Neris Trued’s name in a chant.

“Trued! Trued!”

“Trued! Trued!”

The other students followed solemnly. Neris’s cheeks turned slightly red.

It was the first time she had been the subject of such a friendly acclaim. When working for the Elandria family, she mainly engaged in activities that she couldn’t talk about with others, and when working on the diplomatic front, her status as a crown princess made it impossible for her colleagues to treat her casually.

As the cheers subsided, Commander Voltaire raised his baton. He spoke gravely, as if he hadn’t heard the commotion that had just occurred.

“Mahradhi Enim, Neris Trued. For using inappropriate words in school, come to the classroom after dinner tonight.”

“Teacher.”

Arthur raised his hand and said.

“That’s unfair. Mahradhi started the quarrel first.”

Mahradhi felt betrayed by these words, since she and Arthur had not been on bad terms. Commander Voltaire glared sharply at Arthur.

“In diplomacy, who started a dispute is important. But how one responded is also important. If the opponent breaks the rules, this side gains legitimacy within the rules. The opponent’s rule violation does not justify my rule violation. You must always remember this.”

Rendo looked dissatisfied. He was unhappy with Commander Voltaire’s decision and wanted to raise his hand, but Arthur beat him to it. However, Neris seemed unconcerned.

Commander Voltaire was right in some ways and wrong in others. Legitimacy is a weapon only when the power is similar to the opponent.

Neris’s legitimacy as a descendant of the Elandria family was well utilized by the imperial family and the Elandria family. But it did not bring happiness to Neris herself.

However, even if one is strong in aristocratic society, it takes money and time to gain others’ support without a reason. Legitimacy was even more important in diplomacy.

So his teaching would be helpful to the students present. It was not a punishment from the supervisor but a lesson from a teacher, and since Mahradhi was also punished, she did not complain at all.

(This is a time separator.)

When Neris arrived at Commander Voltaire’s classroom after dinner, the sound of soft conversation could be heard inside.

Thinking Mahradhi had arrived early, Neris was about to open the door nonchalantly when she froze at the sound of voices inside.

“Thank you for your convenience, Commander.”

“There’s no need to thank me, as it’s not a rule violation.”

“If it were a rule violation, I wouldn’t have asked from the beginning. But thanks to you, I had the opportunity to look after my relative, didn’t I?”

“It would be better not to say things that others might misunderstand, Nellusion Elandria.”

Neris’s hand on the classroom door handle grew cold. A light laugh and footsteps approached from inside.

Before Neris could do anything, the door opened. A friendly and handsome face looked as youthful as it had at the beginning of the semester.

The clear blue eyes blinked once, then met Neris’s eyes and smiled warmly.

“Hello?”

Hello?

A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions spun in her mind. Thump, thump. Her heart pounded painfully.

‘Nellusion.’

The name was sharp as a blade. Just thinking it cut and stung her heart. It burned her tongue just to think about saying it. Even though they had passed by each other at school several times.

But she couldn’t just stay like this. Neris answered blankly.

“……Hello.”

Nellusion had tied their siblings’ famous silvery fine hair to one side. The eyes, which were round when fully opened but usually smiled in a crescent shape, had attracted many young hearts even before adulthood.
Before, young Neris, who didn’t know the true nature of Nellusion, always thought Nellusion was wonderful. She was proud of the fact that he was a relative.

But now, after meeting many people, Nellusion’s brazen and selfish nature could not hide from Neris’s eyes.

His aimless eyes, matched with hers momentarily, scanned the other’s face, and the corners of his mouth raised in false kindness deepened each time.

The subtle changes in Nellusion’s expression were such that a regular student wouldn’t notice, but she had specialized in dealing with old, cunning snakes for decades.

Not to mention the long time spent in the same house with Nellusion.

It would have been nice if she had known his true nature beforehand. If she had known that he always saw other people’s value in using them and that he would ignore them once his job was done, maybe things wouldn’t have changed.

“Neris Trued. You’re standing in front of my door, letting the wind in. Your punishment today has been decided as community service with the student council, so follow Nellusion Elandria.”

Volter approached the classroom door. When Neris didn’t answer right away, a lakelike tremor reflected in Nellusion’s eyes for a moment. He soon smiled and whispered kindly to Neris.