“No…… I just thought there might be something in your bag since you suddenly stayed still.”

That baseless speculation gave Diane a sense of discomfort as well. Neris spoke softly.

“In my bag, I have my books and writing tools.”

Megara’s methods were the same in her previous life and this one. The only difference was that the schemes the young Megara devised now were clumsy at best.

In just a few more years, Megara would boast a cruelty that even adults would find difficult to display, but for now, her tricks were cute and obvious.

At Neris’s words, Angarad’s eyes flickered with confusion. This, this isn’t right? Shouldn’t she be screaming in fear?

Becoming urgent, Angarad asked in a somewhat demanding tone.

“Re, really? I’m curious, can I take a look at your bag?”

It wasn’t unusual for Noble Academy students, who loved to show off, to show each other the contents of their bags. It was a reasonable excuse coming from the mind of a twelve-year-old Angarad Nine. Neris smiled brightly.

“I’m sorry, but my bag is not organized. I’m embarrassed to show it, so I’ll show you next time.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? My bag isn’t very organized either.”

Angarad’s voice grew louder. The surrounding children looked at Angarad and Neris at those suddenly blurted words.

Soon, sneers appeared on the corners of a few people’s mouths. The reasons for the sneers varied.

What’s this, Angarad Nine, clinging to her… What does it matter if she’s a baron’s daughter, she’s from a poor country nobility, making noise in the classroom without shame… Without a proper nanny, of course she’d be messy…

The two young ladies of the highest rank in the class, both daughters of marquises, pretended not to be interested, merely glancing at this small commotion. A faint smile appeared on Megara’s lips.

“But I’m embarrassed.”

However, Neris spoke firmly, perhaps in a manner that many would consider cold.

There was nothing more to be done after such a statement. Angarad fidgeted and then reached out to forcibly take Neris’s bag.

After all, if she missed this chance, she’d have to find another opportunity to plant the bug, so she wanted to act now, even if it looked like a mistake.

However, Diane snatched Neris’s bag before that could happen. She then closed the bag tightly and placed it between Neris’s chair and her own.

“The teacher is coming in.”

Before the atmosphere could become too strange, one child said this. Angarad had an anxious look but had no choice but to sit quietly in her seat and face forward.

Neris glanced sideways at Megara, who was smiling sweetly at her friends as if she had never looked this way. And inwardly, she sneered.

Your lizard tail is the same person this time too, what will you do? Now your tail can only wriggle alone, unable to scare me anymore.

Mrs. Lunis, who taught dance to the lower grades, clapped her hands.

“Change partners!”

The violinist took this opportunity to pause the performance briefly. Within the spacious hall, keen gazes of exploration were exchanged. While popular children had many potential partners, unpopular ones were often left alone.

“Hello?”

Neris smiled politely at the boy who had run straight towards her as soon as Mrs. Lunis finished speaking.

It wasn’t out of pleasure. It was simply because she disliked being bothered.

“Hello.”

“You’re Neris Trude, right? Can I call you Nel?”

“No.”

The boy looked dumbfounded when Neris cut him off with a smile. Mrs. Lunis clapped quickly three times, and those who hadn’t found a desirable partner quickly grabbed hands with anyone nearby.

Zing zing! Zing zing! The violin began to play a lively dance tune again.

“Um, can I ask why not?”

The two held hands and slowly stepped in time. Neris answered the question in a gentle, teacherly manner, telling a lie.

“Nel just doesn’t suit me.”

As if a nickname for Nelrysion mattered.

“But it does suit you!”

The boy’s eyes widened. While his expression was innocent, Neris knew how he would bully her throughout their school years and how cowardly he would become as he aged, so she showed no mercy.

“Haha! Watch the dirty Trude move, if she moves even a little, rotten milk will cover that wench!”

While someone else had started the prank of placing a cup of rotten milk on Neris’s head, it had clearly given this boy good inspiration. In her previous life, Neris had vomited several times because of it.

“It doesn’t suit me. So don’t call me that.”

After being told this much, the boy had no choice but to give up on his plan to call her by a nickname, feeling deflated.

Although Neris detested this boy, including everyone else in the classroom, she danced with him obediently.

When one dance tune ended, Mrs. Lunis clapped her hands again to signal a partner change. Another boy who had been glancing at Neris from the side quickly approached and took her hand.

As four boys dispersed with disappointed expressions after missing their timing, Alecto, who was clearly standing right next to them without a partner, lightly protested.

“Hey, am I invisible?”

Alecto wasn’t objectively pretty and had some rough edges to her personality. While classmates found her entertaining for her sharp retorts, she wasn’t particularly popular with boys.

The twelve-year-old boys were brazen and rude. One of them who turned to look at the fuming Alecto stuck out his tongue.

“That!”

The boy seemed to think that since Alecto usually joked around, she would take his behavior as just a prank. However, Alecto, being an ordinary young child, was naturally hurt and fumed, while Neris pretended not to notice.

As Alecto used her fingers to fix her red hair that had become disheveled from dancing earlier, the cream-colored satin ribbon attached to her hair came loose and fell to the floor.

Alecto left her spot quickly, trying to find a new partner before the music started again. With the bustle of short and tall children’s heads moving about, no one noticed what had just happened. Except for one person.

“Hello, Neris.”

Neris greeted the boy who wisely didn’t attempt to use a nickname from the start, in a voice that could be perceived as friendly.

“Hello.”

“You dance well.”

“Thank you.”

Neris’s reply came in a tone that, while soft-spoken, left no room for further engagement. However, the boy persisted, his eyes sparkling eagerly.

“You know the lower grade ball the student council is holding next weekend? Would you like to go as my partner?”

Fortunately, she had an excuse to refuse.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not attending the ball that day. I have an assignment to submit the following week, so I need to study.”

“Studying again? On the night of the ball? Come on, take a break just for that day.”

“Since it’s a class I’m taking with seniors, I need to work harder to keep up.”

In reality, the assignment due early the week after next was a research project for International Politics, which wouldn’t be difficult for Neris. She was in a position of knowing not only the current surface-level international situation but also the undercurrents of international affairs.

However, the boy seemed to accept this, though with a sulky expression. Neris pretended to make a mistake and stepped back slightly, bumping into a black-haired girl who happened to be circling nearby.

The girl, Rhiannon, spoke irritably to Neris.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry. It was my mistake.”

Neris apologized with a confident face. Rhiannon wanted to show more annoyance towards Neris, if only to impress Megara, but being in front of the teacher, she lowered her voice and only gave a warning.

“Watch where you’re going. You couldn’t take responsibility if you dirtied my dress, could you?”

“Hey, Rhiannon Berta.”

Neris’s partner rolled his eyes ostentatiously.

“Don’t talk like that.”

“What? Did I curse? Did I say anything wrong?”

“People can make mistakes, don’t you make mistakes when dancing? Are you such a great dancer?”

“Why are you picking a fight? You’re ridiculous.”

Rhiannon said this but quickly grabbed her partner’s hand and moved away. Neris watched her partner’s proud expression with a indifferent feeling.

Before she came back, when the current freshmen were about fourteen years old, her current partner had acted similarly during dance class.

While he was dancing with Rhiannon, Rhiannon bumped into Neris, and the two of them insulted Neris together as she staggered alone, embracing the air due to not having a partner.

“Watch where you’re going. You couldn’t take responsibility if you dirtied my dress, could you?”

“What are you talking about? It’s already dirty. Rhiannon, your clothes touched that thing.”

Right now, she’s too young for her beauty to show, but in a few years, Rhiannon would develop attractive features with clear-cut facial features in her own way.

This partner had also said meaner things to Neris to attract Rhiannon’s attention. Just like he had spoken strongly to Rhiannon just now to attract Neris’s attention.

Completely unaware of such a past, or future, the partner asked in a somewhat mature and friendly manner.

“Then are you going to the party Angarad Nine is hosting this weekend?”

However, Neris felt no affection for her partner at all.

He was kindling. Useful when needed because he was stupid, but ultimately destined to burn away.

“I’m going.”

“It seems she invited the whole class. If you’re going, I might go too.”

Before she came back, Angarad had also thrown a party around this time inviting the entire class. It was an intentionally expensive affair to avoid being looked down upon by lower nobility, and in Neris’s memory, Angarad had made several friends at this party who would accompany her throughout her school life.

But whether they would become friends this time remained to be seen.

There was a reason Neris had bumped into Rhiannon. She deliberately frowned, putting her acting skills to use.

“My shoelace is loose. Just a moment.”

“Oh, okay.”

Her partner looked like he wanted to tie it for her, but fortunately, he didn’t act so presumptuously.

Neris deliberately retied her perfectly fine shoelace, then tapped the toe of her shoe on the floor a few times. Then she picked up the cream-colored ribbon that had fallen nearby.

The satin ribbon, originally loved by nobles for its beautiful sheen, now looked shabby from being stepped on. Neris checked the cream-colored initials discreetly embroidered on one end of the ribbon and smiled gently.

“Alecto.”

Alecto seemed to have just realized that her ribbon was missing, as she was frantically scanning the floor around her. Neris approached her and held out the ribbon.

“I found this over there. Weren’t you wearing a ribbon earlier?”

“Oh!”

Alecto was delighted to receive the ribbon Neris held out.

“Thank you. It is mine. I bought it at a high price in the Imperial Capital, I was worried about what to do thinking I’d lost it.”

“I’m glad you found it. Keep it safe. These days everyone wears similar ribbons, so it’s hard to tell whose is whose if they get lost.”

“Yeah. I’m really grateful. I had my initials embroidered here, so I can tell it’s mine when I see it. Oh, people stepped on it. I’ll have to wash it.”

Just because Alecto found her ribbon once didn’t mean she would like Neris, but her attitude was momentarily softened due to her immediate joy. Neris simply said, “Well then,” and left.