The Price is Everything of Yours (76 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 4
How much farther to the dormitory? Neris passed through a section lined with houses whose low walls offered clear views into their courtyards.
Some of those houses belonged to residents of Karten, others were used for educational purposes, and a few served as dormitories for wealthy students.
One such house—likely one of those dormitories—was a two-story building whose courtyard bloomed thick with white egret orchids.
A boy sat in a small gazebo in the ground-floor garden.
His forehead was casually covered by slightly curly, deep-pink hair, and he appeared no older than seventeen.
His peach-soft cheeks and large, long-lashed eyes lent him a youthful look, yet his face—chewing lazily on a blade of grass—was stained with boredom and anger, making him seem more mature.
“What?”
Noticing Neris standing still and staring at him over the wall, the boy frowned.
“What do you want, gawking like that?”
“I’m a freshman.”
“How does a freshman know this road?”
“I stumbled in by accident.”
Neris lied without even moistening her lips. The boy jerkily jerked his chin.
“Then accidentally leave. Why stare?”
He had a point. Neris had no habit of gawking at strangers.
Had she not noticed the red tinge staining the line where the grass met his lips, she likely wouldn’t have spared him a glance.
“Isn’t that item prohibited from being brought onto campus?”
At her cold question, the boy’s eyes widened.
The aristocratic circles used countless kinds of illicit substances. More than half of noble houses handled secret, potent poisons passed down exclusively among their direct bloodlines.
Yet among those substances, only one recreational herb—when chewed—produced that ominous red juice.
Feyjal herb.
Named after the Feyjal region where it grew, this herb was famed as the region’s most renowned plant and possessed powerful sedative effects. Even chewed raw, it remained highly potent.
Foreign physicians occasionally prescribed it. Imperial physicians rarely used Feyjal herb, and the reason was simple:
“It’s poisonous.”
Moreover, it was highly addictive, making it a strictly controlled substance.
“You—how…? No, never mind. What’s it to you? You don’t even know who I am.”
“You’re Len Feyel.”
At her words, the boy’s face flushed instantly. Annoyance carved deep furrows between his brows. He spat out the grass and glared fixedly at Neris.
“How do you know me? I’ve never seen you before. Wait.”
Len narrowed his eyes.
“You’re Zaan, aren’t you? The second child of House Elantria? Nelusion’s younger sibling?”
“We’re distant relatives.”
“Hah.”
Neris felt a momentary surge of fury at being called Nelusion’s younger sibling but masked it with calmness in her reply. Len scoffed.
“It must be quite the scandal back home. It’s been ages since a Zaan was born into your main house.”
Indeed, the most recent portrait of a Zaan in House Elantria’s ancestral gallery dated back over a century.
Though this fact remained obscure outside House Elantria and the Imperial family, Len apparently knew more than he appeared to.
Len finally tore his gaze away from Neris, then stomped on the grass he’d just spat out and grumbled.
“Damn it, you made me throw away something precious.”
After grumbling at Neris, Len stood up. Before he could turn away, Neris quickly spoke.
“Dying from Feyjal herb addiction at such a young age would be a waste. If you stay healthy, good days will come.”
Neris had only heard—after growing up—that Len Feyel, younger brother of the previous Pope, had been expelled from the academy before graduation and died shortly after in Hanji.
According to society gossip, he’d been found dead, emaciated to the bone after years of dissolute living weakening his body.
Feyjal herb was a substance restricted to only a few licensed physicians. There was no way a boy like him could easily obtain it.
In the year Neris entered the academy, Omnitus III had just recently ascended as Pope and would have sought to erase as much as possible of his predecessor’s legacy.
This boy, known publicly as reckless and arrogant, had likely been a pawn in adult political games.
But since Len was an enemy of Omnitus III, he wasn’t someone Neris disliked. After all, the enemy of my enemy can be an ally.
“Don’t meddle.”
Predictably, Len—who until recently had lost not only his family but also his allies within the Temple—was in no mood to be genuinely moved by kind words.
Neris sighed. Len looked at her strangely.
“A tiny thing like you sighing like an adult.”
“You’re a returning student but still here on Freshman Orientation Day, which means you have nowhere to go over summer break. I’m sure upperclassmen were always popular, so this must be hard for you. But don’t hurt yourself. You should seek revenge instead.”
Len stood frozen in place. He remained statue-still for a moment, then stared at Neris with suspicion.
His pretty eyes trembled—not just from suspicion or the herb—but for another reason. Neris held his gaze without looking away.
After a brief pause, he sharply turned around.
“I told you not to meddle.”
But his voice sounded weaker than before.
Len strode briskly inside the house, and Neris watched his retreating back before resuming her own path.
[This is the timeline separator]Noble Academy was broadly divided into the Theology Department and the General Department.
The Theology Department, headed by the Pope himself, was where priests directly taught students to cultivate the next generation of outstanding clergy. The General Department, under the Emperor’s authority, was where royal and noble children studied necessary scholarly subjects under masters chosen for them.
Thus, despite belonging to the same academy, the Theology and General Departments followed entirely different curricula and possessed vastly different atmospheres.
On the first day of classes, all the children gathered in Neris’s classroom belonged to the General Department. Barring unexpected changes, this group would likely stay together until graduation.
Neris knew everyone present in the classroom. Aside from Diane, all faces were familiar.
Diane naturally sat beside Neris on her right, while the other children cautiously introduced themselves to their seatmates as if meeting strangers.
“Neris?”
Hearing the child on her left address her name so familiarly, Neris inwardly sneered.
She’d known it would turn out this way the moment this girl approached and took the seat. Though the exact memory was hazy, their first meeting in her past life had probably unfolded just like this.
“You know me?”
But Neris feigned surprise, as though astonished that someone recognized her. The brown-haired girl seated to Neris’s left spoke with a shy expression.
“It is you, Neris! It’s me—Angharad Nain. Do you remember?”
How could she not remember?
“When were we ever that close? Don’t talk to me. The others will misunderstand.”
“I saw everything! It was Trude’s doing! She’s the thief you were looking for! Unbelievable—you’re talking to me after that?”
Angharad Nain was the daughter of a noble family ruling the estate adjacent to Neris’s own.
When Baron Nain’s family visited the castle, Sir Willemot—whom Neris’s father served—had once brought young Neris along to be Angharad’s playmate. Thus, the two shared childhood memories.
So when Neris first arrived at Noble Academy, Angharad approached her again. But soon after Neris was falsely accused of something, Angharad immediately changed her attitude as if she’d been waiting for that moment.
Later, as an adult, Angharad herself became the very person who spread malicious rumors about Neris’s origins in society. Though Megara likely had a hand in that too.
Being betrayed so abruptly by someone she’d considered a friend had deeply shocked young Neris.
Back then, Neris hadn’t known—but now she realized Angharad had been the one who first set the tone for the class to ostracize her.
She probably just wanted to avoid becoming the weakest link herself. Neris, uninterested in anything but books, unable to read social cues, and of moderately low status, had made an easy target.
“Sorry, I don’t really remember.”
House Nain wasn’t particularly wealthy; compared to other baronial families, their influence was weak.
Angharad’s parents must have drilled into her how crucial social relationships at the academy were.
And Neris knew that if Angharad had any hopes for this school, all of them would inevitably be betrayed by Neris herself.
Once Neris was no longer the weakest in the classroom, Angharad—now the most vulnerable—would naturally become everyone’s prey.
Undeterred, Angharad lowered her voice further and tried again.
“We played together when we were little…”
Yes, they had. Though for Neris it felt like over twenty years ago, for Angharad it hadn’t been that long.
Perhaps the memory of racing through Rohan Forest until dusk, or the golden ripples breaking against the sides of leaf boats they’d floated down the stream, remained vivid in her mind.
Neris’s chest ached, and for a moment, she hesitated.
What should she do?
This Angharad hadn’t done anything wrong yet.
And childhood bullying—surely that held little meaning now that she was grown…
At that moment, Neris noticed children on the other side of the classroom whispering among themselves and sneaking glances toward her.
Her chest tightened as if gripped by an invisible hand. She knew exactly what this feeling was.
Fear.
She had grown accustomed to fearing every gaze directed her way, every whisper spoken behind her back.
The entire classroom had shaped this habit over many years.
Despite all those memories, it was they who had betrayed her first.
How could she possibly think those events held no meaning?
The wounds from back then had grown alongside her.
“Did you think what I went through was nothing? Then… whatever happens to you now should mean nothing to you either.”
Rest assured—I’ll never do anything worse than what you did to me.
A flame surged in her stomach. Neris looked at Angharad with clear eyes, then spoke with a face devoid of emotion.
“Sorry. I’ll ask my mother about it later.”
“Uh… okay.”
It was a gentle but definitive dismissal, leaving no room for further conversation.
Angharad, feeling awkward about pressing further, glanced around distractedly—but by now, the other children were already deep in their own conversations.
“Liz.”
Diane called Neris by her nickname. Neris had reluctantly allowed it because Diane had insisted she’d call her “Nel” otherwise, and Neris doubted she could stay calm hearing that name.
Turning to Diane—who now addressed her as naturally as if they’d known each other for years—Neris asked indifferently,
“What?”
“Who’s that? Do you know her?”
Diane lowered her voice to a whisper, speaking quietly into Neris’s ear. Neris frowned and replied,
“I told you, I don’t remember.”
“That doesn’t seem right.”
If Neris truly didn’t recognize someone, she wouldn’t have shut down so stiffly with a simple “I don’t know.” Instead, she’d have asked how they knew her and tried to find common ground.
Diane was too perceptive, catching nuances instantly. Neris cut her off coldly.
“I really don’t.”
“Got it.”
At that, Diane backed off.
Diane had prior experience socializing with peers in her own household and possessed innate observational skills, granting her deeper insight into interpersonal dynamics than most in the room.
To Diane, Neris had many admirable qualities.
First, Neris was impressive. Accustomed to MacKinnon cadet-branch children eyeing her possessions enviously whenever they met, Diane found Neris’s indifference refreshingly noble.
Second, Neris was exceptionally graceful. Not only was her face beautiful, but her speech, pronunciation, and demeanor were flawless.
Since Neris was mature and intelligent, Diane reasoned her actions must have good cause. Accepting this, Diane turned toward the front of the classroom—and her eyes widened involuntarily.
A boy with long silver hair walked in. His face, finely chiseled like marble, featured a sharp, elegant nose, and his dignified stride radiated vitality.
“Liz, look over there. Isn’t that Lord Nelusion of House Elantria? Your maternal cousin.”
All first-years had seen him during the Student Council’s introduction on orientation day. Given that the Elantria siblings’ legendary beauty was famous in society, there was no mistaking him.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
_____
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The male lead being so proud of his wife is honestly adorable, even when he gets jealous.
And the female lead is so elegant and beautiful—I can’t wait to see this scene illustrated
Haha, did the ML really just say that to the FL? He’s so cute when he gets a little jealous.
Can’t wait for next chapter
The ML is so considerate of his wife. He treats her with so much care and gentleness, even when she doesn’t say a word—he just understands her. He’s honestly so perfect, I can’t 😭
I really hope the FL can overcome these painful feelings soon. I can’t bear to watch her suffer this much. 💔