“Grandmother gave it to me this time. She says she’ll add a pearl every birthday. It’ll be quite splendid by the time I’m grown.”

Noble children’s toys were usually related to jewels. Necklaces, rings, jeweled knives, pens decorated with gems.

Idalia, who had received precious pearls from Duchess Kendall, modestly replied while conspicuously displaying the necklace outside her collar.

Alecto, the one who pointed out the necklace, smirked a little when Idalia didn’t mention her ruby ring. But Idalia Kendall was a difficult subject to mock.

So what if she’s a bit pretentious? Idalia was a girl you could proudly be seen with.

The school corridors, adorned with delicate arches and slender columns, were so cold in mid-winter that one’s nose would turn red. The two walked together, sharing what had happened during the vacation.

“We went to Hubeuron during the holiday.”

“Hubeuron? Must have enjoyed hot springs, how nice. We were busy entertaining guests for the festival. Even when I pestered to go on a trip, they said it’s family tradition, so nothing could be done.”

Alecto mentioned the famous resort city, and Idalia’s eyes sparkled with fake sympathy.

Though she acted jealous, in noble society this was essentially a way to boast about one’s affluent and popular family. Alecto once again suppressed the urge to make a sarcastic comment.

Idalia, wrapped in a pink-tinged ivory coat, exhaled white breath from her small mouth. Alecto buried her cheeks in her dyed yellow rabbit fur scarf to withstand the cold, and then recognized a familiar figure ahead.

“Isn’t that ‘Nona’?”

Originally, Lianon only allowed people close to her to affectionately call her Nona.

She used to boast that only her family could call her that. Several children remembered this, but ever since she became a target for ridicule at school, that nickname had turned derogatory.

The black-haired girl walking alone ahead slightly flinched her drooping shoulders. Confident, Alecto loudly called out to her.

“Hey, Nona! Going to class?”

Lianon didn’t turn around but dropped her head. A frigid undertone crept into Alecto’s voice.
“Hey! Nona! Not going to answer? I know you can hear me!”

Idalia crinkled her brow due to the echo reverberating down the stone corridor but didn’t stop Alecto.

She quickly rationalized her inaction to herself, “If Alecto had been calling out to another child, then I would have intervened.”

After all, Idalia knew she was soft-hearted. She couldn’t even kill a fly.

However, Lianon had crossed the line. Though Alecto’s behavior was far from noble and rather nasty, it wasn’t like Idalia could do anything about everyone disliking Lianon.

There was no understanding why Lianon had behaved so ‘strangely’. Sending a love letter to Nellusione Elandria, a countess’s granddaughter, with his mere social standing?

There were other children in the hallway. Except for a few outliers, all of first grade was on their way to a basic history class.

Yet, no one stopped Alecto. In fact, a few seemed to enjoy his antics.

“Seems she can’t hear. Alecto, go and smack her one!”

“Throw your book at her!”

The history textbooks were heavy with all sorts of data. From Alecto’s position, throwing it would not reach Lianon, but she quickened her steps nonetheless.

Alecto puffed up with pride.

“Hey! Nona! Ignoring someone who’s calling you?”

Had someone else used such vulgar language, brows would have furrowed, but Alecto was generally considered amusing within the first grade.

Some boys even chuckled at his exaggerated, threatening demeanor.

“Stand there, I won’t hit you! Who’d want to hit someone?”

The kids muttered their agreement in an unstructured manner.

The hallway filled with tiny, snide echoes, and Lianon finally stopped. Alecto swaggered over to her.

“Going to class? People are asking, you know. Why are you being so difficult?”

By the time Alecto finished speaking, only three child-sized steps separated them.

Lianon hesitated, then lifted her head. She looked better than she had during the semester, as if she had rested well during the winter break.

“…Why ask when you can see?”

“What? ‘Why ask’? Are you insane?”

Alecto stood before Lianon, laughing derisively.

The kids gathered around, delighted by the immediate drama at the start of the semester. Idalia caught up with Alecto only then, casting a disdainful glance at Lianon.

Alecto’s question seemed fair to the others. Did Lianon Berta, ‘Nona’, have the right to retort to her ‘normal’ peers? She should be grateful people even spoke to her.

“Hey, hey, hey.”

Alecto’s finger poked through Lianon’s black hair. It was not physically painful, but its humiliation caused Lianon’s eyes to spark.

“You said you wouldn’t hit!”

“I said I wouldn’t hit a person.”

Laughter erupted louder than before. Idalia quickly scanned the area for teachers. She then caught sight of a long shadow rounding the corner.

Megara also noticed the shadow. Though she was not openly spectating, she defused the situation with her gentle voice at the right moment.

“Kids, class is starting.”

“Maggie hates this sort of thing.”

Though Alecto grumbled, he didn’t resist Megara’s subtle order to disperse.

The children scattered, chatting as they made their way to class. Faster than they had gathered. An adult rounding the corner caught sight of the dispersing children and raised an eyebrow.
The adult was a middle-aged man with blond hair close to brown. He carefully observed the children whose eye level reached his waist, and when Alecto passed by him, he grabbed her and asked.

“What grade are you in?”

“Us? We’re in first grade.”

From the start, he had spoken informally to the student, and judging by his attire, there was no doubt he was a noble. Alecto responded in her own polite manner. The man frowned.

“Do you happen to know where Alecto Islani is?”

“Me? I am Alecto.”

When a stranger specifically asked for Alecto’s name, the children looked at him strangely. Idalia, finding the unfamiliar man scary, left Alecto and moved away first. Alecto stared at the man’s nose and suddenly realized.

His nose closely resembled that of Angarad.

“Good. I have something to discuss with you regarding what you did to my daughter. Follow me. And if anyone knows the whereabouts of Neris Trued, tell them to come to Mrs. Hoffman.”