The Price is Everything of Yours (76 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 9
Mahradi’s eyes widened. He quickly glanced at Megara, and when she shot him a subtle glare, he slumped in disappointment.
A few senior students who understood the word’s meaning now looked at Neris with different eyes than before. Sir Voltaire took back the baton from Neris and spoke to Megara.
“My class proceeds only with students who can keep up. You entered this class on Mrs. Hoffman’s recommendation, correct?”
“…Yes.”
“After class, you’ll take a brief Verlenian language test, so don’t go straight to your next lesson. I’ll write you a note explaining the situation, so you don’t need to worry about being late.”
Megara’s face turned pale.
“What about Neris? Will she take the test too?”
“It seems Neris Trude’s ability has already been sufficiently demonstrated.”
Ability. At that word, Megara’s gaze turned sharp. She carefully asked in a voice thinner than usual,
“Teacher, if… if I fail the test, what will happen to me?”
“You’ll be moved to a class that matches your level. The academy places great importance on appropriate learning difficulty. After all, your seatmate can’t keep giving you the answers—if your partner doesn’t know, you’ll get it wrong too.”
Both Megara and Mahradi turned pale. Sir Voltaire knew that Mahradi had been giving Megara the answers.
Neris watched their reactions with quiet satisfaction.
[This is the timeline separator]The rumor that Megara Rikeandros had been expelled from the advanced foreign language elective due to insufficient ability spread swiftly.
Megara’s followers insisted something was off and attacked both Sir Voltaire and Neris, but not all the freshmen joined in. Neris, accustomed to being automatically vilified for even the slightest provocation, found this fact oddly surprising.
Diane’s reaction, in particular, was astonishingly favorable toward Neris.
“She’s really strange. You got first place, so she got jealous and tagged along. If she dropped out because she wasn’t good enough, why blame you?”
“Out of jealousy.” Neris stared fixedly at Diane, amused that her description—which assumed so little knowledge of Megara—was actually accurate.
A hint of regret also stirred within her. Had it really been that obvious?
As a child, Neris had genuinely believed Megara paid so much attention to her precisely because she was so odd and unpleasant to others.
Indeed, people had found Neris’s presence disagreeable not only at school but also in society. Their usual refrain went something like this:
“Ugly and scrawny as she is, with no charm whatsoever, yet she dares expect someone to like her—how shameless.”
“She’s not even exceptionally talented, yet acts so superior it’s unbearable to look at.”
“Her expression is always gloomy, and when she smiles, it’s so revolting it startles anyone watching.”
“Though it’s all true.”
When she first heard such remarks, she hadn’t understood them well. Having never cared much about others’ appearances, Neris had never evaluated her own as pretty or ugly.
In fact, she recalled being called pretty quite often when she was very young, even before entering the academy.
But after hearing complaints about her unpleasantness so many times, whenever she looked in the mirror, she found her own face so distasteful that she’d flinch in surprise and quickly look away.
When she became Crown Princess, the portrait painted by the court artist seemed quite lovely—likely heavily idealized—but since it still revealed the distinctive features of her face, it left her feeling just as bad as when she looked in the mirror.
Naturally, she began paying even more attention to avoid smiling unintentionally.
Yet, in hindsight, not everyone labeled ‘ugly,’ ‘gloomy,’ or ‘arrogant’ like Neris suffered such blatant ostracism.
In fact, everyone except Neris had friends.
There must have been a reason Megara first started disliking Neris—and now, Neris roughly understood what it was.
Beyond her good grades, despite coming from a humble family, there was another factor that provoked Megara’s reaction.
Although a true Za’an hadn’t appeared in House Elantria for over a century, children with violet eyes occasionally emerged in various noble families.
Society assumed any violet eyes signaled Elantrian blood, and claiming kinship with such an ancient, prestigious house became a point of pride.
The imperial family and House Elantria knew what a genuine Za’an truly looked like, but they never bothered correcting other families—after all, the main house hadn’t produced a Za’an heir in generations.
Later, when Neris manifested the Gemstone Eyes, it became universally clear that the famed violet eyes passed down through legend belonged only to someone like Neris—but the old habit of valuing violet eyes persisted nonetheless.
Given her pride in her own appearance, Megara must have been particularly bothered by Neris’s looks.
“Exactly.”
Angharad, who’d been coldly rejected earlier yet still came to sit nearby, eagerly agreed as if finally finding an excuse to speak to Neris.
Though Neris only spoke strictly necessary words to Angharad and never acted friendly, Diane still sided with Neris regarding this cold behavior.
To Diane, Angharad Nain seemed like a despicable, servile type. Since she wasn’t particularly bright or high-born, yet desperately wanted to fit in among the children, she clung to Neris—the one person she thought she could easily manipulate.
Having grown up loved and wealthy, Diane already understood the nature of flatterers at a young age. They’d fawn over you like their own tongue in your mouth, only to treat you like a stranger once they saw no benefit.
Diane saw Angharad Nain as precisely that kind of person—and thus worthy of contempt. In contrast, Neris’s refusal to give such a sycophant any closeness struck Diane as wise.
“Not to mention, it’s even funnier to think Neris is easy prey.”
Neris outshone children from wealthy families with strict educations in every aspect. Though modestly dressed, Diane had never once seen her appear disheveled.
Diane was growing fonder of her. Her pre-enrollment worry about failing to make friends now seemed foolish—here was someone she liked so much.
“But… Neris doesn’t seem to like me much.”
At that thought, Diane’s spirits fell. Why wouldn’t she like her? Diane couldn’t recall doing anything Neris disliked.
Was Neris just shy? Did they need more time playing together?
The last possibility seemed most likely.
Neris was so brilliant that she shared very few classes with ordinary students like Diane. Moreover, their dormitories were far apart—Neris’s room was in shared housing where each student could barely afford one maid, and it had many stairs. It wasn’t even a place Diane had ever considered staying.
“I should host a party next.”
Diane resolved. It would be fine just with Neris, or she could invite other peers too. Since she’d already received several party invitations herself, hosting a reciprocal gathering felt necessary.
It would surely be fun to play together.
Meanwhile, Neris simply thought Diane was odd.
Though Neris held no grudge against Diane, she didn’t trust her either, so she didn’t go out of her way to be kind. Then why did Diane keep sitting beside her and acting as if they were friends?
Who said Neris was likable?
Still, the current kindness wasn’t unpleasant. Since this was almost the first time anyone had sat with her in the school cafeteria, Neris turned her eyes with fresh curiosity.
Even if Diane soon turned away and joined the ostracism, so what? Whatever little was given to her, Neris intended to grow stronger.
[This is the timeline separator]“I hear there’s an outstanding child among this year’s freshmen.”
At Crown Prince Abelus’s words, Nelusion gave a gentle smile.
His kind, intelligent smile had a remarkable effect on the female members of the student council—and sometimes even on the male members.
“Yes, there are a few.”
“It’s good to see such talent. I hope they grow into admirable adults capable of bringing prosperity to the empire.”
Abelus spoke haughtily. A ginger-haired girl approached him with an endearing expression.
Abelus smiled at her.
“Tashi.”
Natasha, with her ginger hair, was not only the most striking beauty in her year but also among all academy students in recent years.
Moreover, being the daughter of Duke Grunehals, her entry into the student council and her closeness to Abelus was an obvious inevitability. Barring any extraordinary events, Natasha Grunehals was the person closest to becoming Crown Princess.
But we’ll see. Watching the pair, Nelusion coldly thought behind his gentle expression.
House Elantria had ambitions. Until those ambitions were fulfilled, it didn’t matter whom Abelus played with—but once everything concluded, only Nelusion’s sister Valentine would become Crown Princess. That was the family’s decree.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought the exam papers of the freshmen you mentioned.”
Natasha handed Abelus a stack of papers in a sweet voice. Nelusion grew interested. Abelus was curious about freshman exams?
“Your Highness, what’s on the test?”
“Thank you, sweet Tashi. Nelusion, take a look too. The blonde girl your house sponsored for tuition got a perfect score, didn’t she?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
That incident had already caused quite a stir in the student council. Abelus untied the string binding the papers and flipped through the pages quickly.
“Let’s see… Rianon Berta, Alecto Islani… Ah, here’s Megara Rikeandros… She begged Hoffman for answers she couldn’t solve and ended up humiliated—quite disappointing… Ah, found it.”
Abelus pulled out several answer sheets marked ‘Neris Trude’ and set them aside. Intrigued himself, Nelusion took the bottom sheet from the stack and examined it.
Confusion soon crossed his face.
“Are these really a freshman’s handwriting?”
“All the other answer sheets are like this too. Her teachers say she writes like an adult, and even her chalkboard writing is beautiful. Nelusion, did your house teach her?”
“No, we only recently learned Neris had even been born.”
A distant relative—someone who’d married a low-ranking knight and been cast out of the family—wasn’t someone the main house would deliberately keep tabs on.
Had the child not been born with the Za’an, they likely would have remained estranged forever.
Nelusion recalled Neris’s face. Though poorly dressed, her features were delicate and pretty—and she had the Za’an.
That child would be useful. His instinct had told him so since the moment he first saw her.
“But how could she write so well? Could you have written answers like this in your first year?”
Abelus thrust the Imperial History exam paper toward Nelusion.
Nelusion was impressed—all answers were clear, concise, and packed with valuable information. Had he not known better, he might have thought a teacher wrote them.
Wait—a teacher? Nelusion suddenly grew cautious. Abelus smirked mischievously.
“Mahradi Ennim raised an issue. He questioned how a perfect score was possible on the freshman placement exam—claimed the test must have been leaked or copied. Either way, he suspects teacher misconduct and demanded an investigation.”
“Even if she copied someone else’s answers, memorizing and reproducing content this thoroughly would still be impressive.”
“I think so too. Anyway, since a complaint was filed, I summoned the teacher. I called Voltaire and asked his opinion directly. Guess what he said?”
“What did he say?”
“He said she speaks Verlenian like a native and has a fairly advanced command of Sacred Tongue. He even mentioned she converses freely with Len Feyel.”
Abelus watched with amusement as surprise appeared on Nelusion’s face. So this ever-inscrutable fellow could make such an expression after all.
“So let me ask you—could she have grown up in a temple as a child?”
“If you’re asking whether she’s a priest’s illegitimate child, no. We sent people to investigate her hometown, and they reported that her mother married her father publicly before the local lord and lived there continuously until recently. Neris’s birth timing also raises no suspicion.”
“Really? Then she’s a genius?”
Abelus burst into laughter—but there was something unsettling in his mirth.
“A genius, the usual kind.”
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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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. 💔