A subtle expression that was neither a smile nor a frown. Diane raised her eyebrows, and Neris calmly gazed at Alexto’s face, which was on the verge of exploding. Lianon sharpened his words as he spoke.

“What makes you so great? Do you know why people like you so much?”

Alexto raised one corner of his lips, lifted his plate, and flipped it over Lianon’s head.

Clatter, clang, clatter. Alexto’s cup rolled on the stone floor for a long time, making a clear sound.

Lianon wiped the food falling on his eyelashes with venomous eyes.

“Unlucky. Do you have more friends than me?”

Diane admired Neris’s foresight in choosing this spot. The place where they sat allowed them to comfortably enjoy the scenery without the risk of food splattering.

Usually, they sat a bit apart from the others, so why did they end up in such an amazing spot today?

“Hey, you!”

Lianon seemed to want to logically refute something, but unfortunately, both his vocabulary and logic were lacking.

A scream filled with malice echoed through the hall. Alexto sneered with a disdainful face.

“Are you out of your mind? Why, because I said I’ll reflect, do you feel refreshed? Now I’m scared, and I feel like I can’t say anything. What should I do? Even if your dad is just the second son, I’m the daughter of a count. Are you some kind of real upper-class noble because we put up with you?”

It sounded plausible to the children, even to Lianon himself.

Berta Kyeong, Lianon’s father, would never inherit the title of Count Berta. He was the second son.

But Alexto’s father was already a count.

“How can you pour food on a person? I don’t understand.”

“What, scary…”

Noble children knew very well whose side they should take. The fact that Lianon started the argument with the ‘quiet’ Alexto was also taken into account.

Lianon, looking at the blaming eyes of his peers, stood up boldly. As he left, Alexto’s mocking voice stabbed him in the back.

“Where are you going, old lady! You should eat everything you were eating!”

The suggestion to eat someone else’s hair, clothes, and what spilled on the floor was obviously a joke.

The children burst into laughter, and some even whistled at Alexto, who received handkerchiefs from both boys and girls. Among them, there was a handkerchief from a popular boy among the first-year girls, and a few people whistled.

Alexto proudly chose a few handkerchiefs and wiped his face. A restaurant employee came over and wiped the floor, and Lina, Alexto’s maid, rushed over. Judging by the stains on her clothes, it seemed she had been eating.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

Diane, whose stomach turned at the sight of the mixed food, put down her fork. Neris, nonchalantly responding, stood up.

“Then let’s go. I’m done eating too.”

“Okay! Then let’s go to my room and do homework together… Right, we have to go to Mrs. Hoffman?”

(Note: The translation is provided as faithfully as possible, and names and genders are retained in accordance with the Korean original text.)
“Yeah. Let’s do it together next time.”

“Sure!”

Diane stood up with a happy face, saying it was fun. Holding their plates, as they headed towards the exit, Neris suddenly looked back.

It was a good idea to lightly touch Alexto’s pride on the way from the counseling room to the classroom today. It was also good that Angarad’s father came today, precisely on the first day of school.

Nevertheless, just in case, Neris sat close to Alexto. Without the need for further intervention, she let Alexto cross the line on his own.

Indeed, there was nothing unjust about amplifying negative emotions in a person.

“You’re the daughter of a count, but it was too much for a viscount to come and act so arrogantly. Your father must be hurt in his pride.”

“You just said it for fun, but do I have to be confined for three days? It’s a bit much. Honestly, what did you do so wrong?”

“Of course, you might have done a little wrong, we all make mistakes. But did you deserve to be punished to this extent? Wasn’t he the one who provided the cause?”

While Alexto looked at Neris with disdain, he couldn’t help but feel unjust. And Lianon made it unbearable.

Even if the meal ended smoothly in the restaurant, Alexto would have vented his frustration on Lianon wherever they were. Whether Angarad or Lianon, both were easy targets for Alexto to vent his inferiority complex. Since he couldn’t touch Angarad right now, Alexto started to shout something exciting to the children again. Neris, who was sitting nearby, exchanged a knowing smile with Megara and turned her body to leave the restaurant completely with Diane.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Neris.”

It was a late hour, and when Neris, who had come out of the reflection room, heard her name being called, she raised an eyebrow.

However, when she turned to the direction where the voice came from, a genuinely pleased expression had already appeared on her small face.

“Nel Oppa.”

“Is it all over?”