His pretty eyes were trembling, not just from herbs or suspicion. Neris met his gaze without avoiding it.
A moment later, he abruptly turned away.
“I told you not to interfere.”
But his voice sounded weaker than before.
Ren walked briskly into the house, and Neris watched his back before beginning to go her own way again.
(This is a time separator.)
Noble Academy was divided into two major parts: the Theology Department and the General Department.
The Theology Department was a place where priests, led by the Pope, taught students directly to cultivate the next generation of excellent clergy, and the General Department was a place where imperial family and noble children hired teachers to study the necessary academic subjects for the future.
Therefore, even within the same academy, the Theology and General Departments had entirely different curriculums, and the atmosphere was vastly different.
On the first day of class, the children gathered in one classroom with Neris were all from the General Department. Unless there were significant changes, this group would likely be together until graduation.
Neris knew everyone gathered in the classroom at the moment. Except for Diane, all were familiar faces.
Diane naturally sat next to Neris on her right, but the other children introduced themselves cautiously to the child next to them, seemingly unfamiliar.
“Neris?”
Neris, at the sound of the child to her left calling her name familiarly, grinned bitterly to herself.
From the moment she saw her and approached to sit down, she knew it would be like this. She didn’t remember exactly, but perhaps their first meeting in her previous life was like this.
“Do you know me?”
But Neris reacted as if surprised that someone knew her. The brownhaired girl sitting to Neris’s left spoke with a shy face.
“You are Neris, right? I’m Angrad Nine. Do you remember?”
How could she forget?
“When were we so close? Don’t talk to me. Kids will misunderstand.”
“I saw it all! It was Trued’s doing! She’s the thief you were looking for! It’s shocking, and then you talk to me? Ridiculous!”
Angrad Nine was the daughter of a nobleman ruling the territory right next to where Neris lived.
The Count Wilmot, whom Neris’s father served, brought Neris as a playmate for Angrad when the Nine Baronet’s people came to visit the castle. Thanks to this, there were memories of childhood days between the two.
So when Neris first arrived at Noble Academy, Angrad approached her again. But not long after, when Neris was falsely accused of something, Angrad changed her attitude as if she had been waiting for the moment.
Moreover, after growing up, she was the one who fabricated and spread rumors about Neris’s origin in social circles. There was probably Megara’s involvement in the latter.
The betrayal of someone she thought was a friend was a huge shock to the young Neris.
Neris didn’t know it well back then, but thinking about it now, the person who first created the atmosphere to ostracize Neris among the children was Angrad.
She must have wanted to avoid becoming the weakest in the class. Uninterested in anything other than books and unable to read the atmosphere of the children, Neris, with a sufficiently low status, must have been a good target.
“Sorry, I don’t remember well.”
The Baron Nine’s family was not very wealthy. Even compared to other baron families, they were weaker.
Perhaps the baron and his wife had incessantly impressed upon their daughter how important human relationships were at the academy when sending her here.
And Neris knew, even if Angarad had some expectations for the school, that all of it would betray Angarad.
If Neris wasn’t the weakest in this classroom, then naturally, the weaker Angarad would become everyone’s prey.
Angarad didn’t give up and continued speaking in an even smaller voice.
“We used to play together when we were young…….”
Yes, they had. For Neris, it had already been more than 20 years ago, but for Angarad, it wouldn’t have seemed so long ago.
The scenes from the Rohan forest where they had run until they were out of breath, the golden fish scales breaking at the boat’s bow from the leaf boats they had floated in the stream, she might still clearly remember them.
Her chest was constricted, and Neris hesitated for a moment.
What should she do?
So far, Angarad had not done anything wrong.
And the bullying of her childhood, to the adult her, had no significance…….
Then, the children sitting across the classroom, who were whispering among themselves and glancing over here, caught Neris’s eye.
Her chest felt suffocated as if it was gripped in someone’s hand. She knew what that feeling was.
Fear.
The glances sent her way, one by one, the whispering voices behind her back. She had become afraid of them all. It had become her habit.
The culprit who had built this habit over a long period was the entire classroom.
Despite all those memories, those who had betrayed her first were over there.
How could she think that those things had no significance!
The wounds from that time had grown with her.
‘Did you think what happened to me was nothing? If so…… from now on, what happens to you should mean nothing to you.’
Don’t worry. Nothing worse than what you did to me will happen.
A flame seemed to surge within her. Neris looked at Angarad with blank eyes and then said with an emotionless face.
“Sorry. I’ll ask my mom later.”
“Okay…… sure.”
It was a gentle rejection that left no room for further conversation.
Angarad looked around awkwardly, perhaps feeling embarrassed to continue talking. But already, the children around her had found partners to talk to.
“Liz.”
Dian called Neris by her nickname. She had insisted on calling her ‘Nel’ if she wasn’t taught a nickname, but since Neris couldn’t bear to hear that name, she had no choice.
Looking at Dian, who naturally called her by that name as she had known her for several years, Neris asked indifferently.
“Why?”
“Who’s that? Someone you know?”
Dian asked, whispering very softly into Neris’s ear. Neris answered with a scowl.
“I don’t remember.”
“It doesn’t seem like that.”
If it had been a truly forgotten person, instead of bluntly saying ‘I don’t know’ like Neris, she would have asked how they knew each other and started a conversation about their common ground.
Dian, who pointed this out, was too perceptive. Neris cut her off coldly.
“I really don’t.”
“Okay.”
Saying that, Dian backed off.
Dian had already experienced mingling with peers in her family and had naturally been born with good observational skills. She had more insight into human relationships than most in this classroom today.
To her, Neris was a friend with many virtues.
First of all, Neris was cool. Accustomed to the MacKinnon family’s relatives eyeing her possessions from time to time, Neris’s indifferent attitude felt noble to her.
Next, Neris was very elegant. Not only was her face pretty, but her speech, pronunciation, and manner were also flawless.
Mature and intelligent Neris Trued’s actions must have had a reason. So convinced, Dianne looked at the front of the classroom, and unknowingly, her eyes widened.
A boy with long silver hair was walking in. The boy had a balanced and elegant face like a marble sculpture, with a sharp nose, and his dignified walk was full of vitality.
“Riz, look over there. Isn’t that Lord Nellusion of the Elandria family? Your maternal relative.”
On the day of the entrance ceremony, when the student council was introduced, all the firstyear students had seen him, and the fact that the siblings of the Elandria family were the owners of dreamlike beauty was wellknown in social circles, so there was no chance of a mistake.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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