With these words that went beyond common sense, Nerris was confident. Looking at her, Cledwin suddenly burst into a light laughter.

Nerris was confident in her words. Who else knew their abilities and potential better than herself?

She could do a lot, and she was determined to repay much more than he expected. Cledwin, with a smile, raised one eyebrow gracefully.

“All right. The specifics, then.”
“I’ll send a letter. Thank you for accepting it so readily, senior. I didn’t expect you to accept it right away.”

She had prepared herself to answer a few questions falsely and had called him. Although today’s business ended much faster than she thought, making her embarrassed, Nerris concluded with a polite thank-you.

Cledwin shrugged and looked at Nerris, who seemed uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“Did you stir up trouble between Alekto Isilani and Lianon Berta for today?”

Nerris looked at him strangely. Her thoughts paused for a moment.

Of course, what he said was true. But he shouldn’t have known the truth.

The children felt uncomfortable just hearing Lianon’s name, annoyingly and disgustingly. Nerris guessed that there would be a day when they couldn’t stand their discomfort anymore.

In her previous life, the luck of Lianon—something that would be unfair to someone—had not spread to this extent of discomfort.

Lianon was not hated, and she looked good among the upper-class children in her own way.

Lower-class children accepted the fact that Lianon’s family background was different from theirs, and upper-class children accepted her presence because she was a quiet child.

But this time was different. Nerris had twisted everything.

Everyone was secretly ignoring Lianon, and anyone had seen the disaster of the ‘meddlesome old woman’ at least once.

But who wouldn’t laugh at her becoming a real Countess?

People, when mixed with jealousy and spite, had a surprisingly fast way of turning stories. A similar thing had happened when Nerris became the daughter of a duke in her previous life.

If it were a wagon wheel, the children, who had turned the same complaint dozens of times inside, had come to hate any topic related to Lianon and eventually avoided it. It was a convenient psychological escape for the noble children who believed in their own nobility and dignity.

What could they do? They would have to endure Lianon’s presence in the social circle in the future.

The same solution didn’t apply to Nerris. Nerris, who entered the academy a year later than Valentine, the ‘real daughter’ of the duke, was famous for ignoring and despising Nerris even within the school.

In her previous life, Nerris had been openly and behind her back, more subtly, hated less conspicuously than before after becoming a duchess. To put it bluntly, Berta Count was a person who played a much better role as a father than Elandria Duke’s role as a stepfather. And he was a person with enough power and affection to give a diamond necklace to his young daughter.
If you’re wise, it was the moment to slowly close your mouth and realize that you need to cut back on yourself.

So, Alekto’s wit, which continued to bring up uncomfortable topics, was no longer welcomed in a flash. Nerris knew well how seemingly simple children could be so complex and change their attitudes in an instant.

However, how did Cledwin know that Nerris had manipulated things behind the scenes to make such a day come?

Nerris responded with a more nervous tone than she had wanted.

“How could I know that Countess Berta and Count Berta would pass away? Am I a prophet?”

“I don’t know.”

Cledwin looked up at Nerris and smiled slightly. A handful of sunlight came in, illuminating his face.

Smooth forehead and nose like marble, and the gray eyes that were subtly tinged with a golden color in the part where the sunlight came in.

Cledwin was truly a handsome boy, and the contours of his face became more dramatic due to the angle of the sunlight. Nerris, who had seen a fair share of beautiful people in the palace, had never seen such beauty.

But what was the use of a handsome face? Abelus liked beautiful women, but Nerris did not make a hobby of befriending people based on their faces.

She suppressed a momentary hesitation and faced Cledwin. He seemed to be scrutinizing her for a moment.

After a while, Cledwin smiled lightly and stood up.

“I’ve saved the seeds you mentioned. I’ll send them, so try planting a garden or something.”

“Thank you.”

It was good news. Nerris smiled with a neat face and stood up from her seat.

Cledwin watched her small and elegant figure leaving for a long time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alekto couldn’t believe the situation she was in.

It had been several days already. The children she used to hang out with would avoid her like a contagious patient when she approached, and when she joined a group, all the children there would get up and leave.

At first, she thought she was just being overly sensitive, but when only a silent response came back after throwing a self-reflection joke during class, she couldn’t doubt it anymore.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

Alekto, who had considered the question and asked, was perplexed by Idalia’s awkward face.

Alekto, who was one of Idalia’s few friends among the passive Idalia, was surprised by that reaction and slightly annoyed. Shouldn’t she have spoken up if there was a problem? So they could fix it if there was a mistake or resolve a misunderstanding?

‘That’s probably why she has no friends.’

Sighing at Idalia’s immaturity, Alekto kindly urged her.

“It seems you do. What is it? Speak up; we can fix it if you say it. If there’s a problem, we can solve it, right?”

However, the one who answered wasn’t Idalia after all.

“Ha.”
A boy sitting nearby burst into loud laughter. The classroom was noisy as the teacher was away, but Alekto could hear the laughter smartly enough to feel hurt in the absence of the teacher.

“I guess she doesn’t know what she did wrong.”

Both Idalia and Alekto turned bright red simultaneously. Idalia gave a sharp glance to the boy.

“His.”

His Anderson had a liking for Idalia. Idalia was pretty, slender, and kind. Moreover, her family background was good.

Even if she said what she wanted to say, there shouldn’t be anything wrong. Shouldn’t she be able to say what she wanted, and now, just because of the despicable Alekto, she had to see her stammering and unable to say anything in front of her?

He didn’t think so.

“What do you mean?”

Alekto asked, bewildered. Even if the boy were less perceptive than Alekto, it would have been difficult for him to understand the contempt and hostility conveyed in His’s voice.

His chuckled once again.

“It’s really sad that Benny Shire trusted you. Calling this a friend! Do you know how angry the kids are right now?”

“What?”