Mahradi opened and closed his mouth in anger.

Arthur Pendlant slowly clapped his hands. The rhythmic applause, as if matching a slow song, gradually spread throughout the entire class. Arthur soon chanted Neris’s surname like a song.

“Trude! Trude!”

“Trude! Trude!”

Other students followed solemnly. Neris blushed slightly.

It was the first time she had been the subject of such a favorable mention. When working for the Elandria family, she mainly did activities that couldn’t be spoken of to others, and when active on the diplomatic front, her status as the crown princess meant colleagues couldn’t treat her comfortably.

As the cheers died down somewhat, Lord Volter raised his baton. He spoke nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t heard the commotion that had just occurred.

“Mahradi Ennim, Neris Trude. As punishment for using inappropriate words at school, come to the classroom after eating dinner tonight.”

“Teacher.”

Arthur raised his hand and spoke.

“That’s unfair. Mahradi picked the fight first.”

Mahradi felt betrayed by those words, as he had not been on bad terms with Arthur until now. Lord Volter glared sharply at Arthur.

“In diplomacy, it’s important who started a conflict first. But how one responds is also important. When the other party breaks the rules, we gain legitimacy by staying within the rules. You must always remember that the other’s rule violation does not justify our own rule violation.”

Ren also had a disgruntled expression. He didn’t like Lord Volter’s actions and was about to raise his hand himself, but Arthur beat him to it. However, Neris herself looked unbothered.

Lord Volter’s words were right in one sense and not right in another. Legitimacy is only a weapon when the power between parties is similar.

The fact that Neris was a legitimate descendant of the Elandria family could be well utilized by the imperial family and the Elandria family. However, it didn’t bring happiness to Neris herself.

But in aristocratic society, even with great power, lacking justification meant spending money and time to gain others’ support. In diplomacy, legitimacy was even more important.

So his teaching would be helpful to the students here. It was a lesson as a mentor, not a punishment as a disciplinarian, and since Mahradi was also being punished together, she didn’t complain at all.

When Neris arrived at Lord Volter’s classroom after dinner, she sensed people talking quietly inside.

Neris, thinking Mahradi had arrived early, was about to open the door casually when she paused at the voices coming from inside the classroom.

“Thank you for your consideration, Lord.”

“It’s not against the rules, so there’s no need for thanks.”

“If it were against the rules, I wouldn’t have asked in the first place. But thanks to you, I’ve been given a chance to look after my relative, haven’t I?”

“It would be best not to say things others might misunderstand, Nelrysion Elandria.”

Neris’s hand, gripping the classroom doorknob, grew cold. A light laugh was heard from inside the classroom, then footsteps approached.

Before Neris could do anything, the door opened. The kind and handsome face looked as youthful as it did at the beginning of the semester.

Clear sky-blue eyes blinked once, then met Neris’s gaze and curved kindly.

“Hello?”

Hello?

Countless thoughts and emotions whirled in her mind. Thump, thump. Her heart beat painfully.

‘Nelrysion.’

That name was as sharp as a blade. Just thinking it cut the heart, and just thinking of calling it cut the tongue. It had been like that even though she had passed by him at school several times already.

But she couldn’t stay like this. Neris answered blankly.

“…Hello.”

Nelrysion had tied his fine silver hair, which the siblings prided themselves on, to one side. His eyes, round when open but usually smiling in a crescent shape, had attracted the hearts of many young ladies even before adulthood.

Before, when young Neris didn’t know Nelrysion’s true colors, she always thought he was cool. She was proud of being his relative.

However, now, after meeting many people, Neris could see that Nelrysion couldn’t completely hide his brazen and selfish nature.

His eyes, fixed on her as if without meaning, examined her face moment by moment, and his seemingly kind upturned lips deepened each time.

Nelrysion’s facial changes were subtle enough that an ordinary student wouldn’t notice, but she was a body that had professionally dealt with decades-old sly foxes.

Not to mention the long years spent in the same house with Nelrysion.

If only she had known his true nature earlier. If she had known he always saw others in terms of their usefulness and didn’t even pretend to know them once his business was done, would things have been different?

“Neris Trude. You’re letting in a draft standing in front of my door. Your punishment today has been decided as doing volunteer work for the student council, so follow Nelrysion Elandria.”

Lord Volter approached the classroom door. When Neris didn’t answer immediately, a ripple like a lake’s surface flashed for a moment in Nelrysion’s eyes. He soon smiled and whispered kindly to Neris.

“It’s as Lord Volter says. Don’t worry, I’ll take you back to the dormitory when we’re done. Ennim is an upperclassman so that’s one thing, but you’re still young. As a new student, you must have been scared to have punishment until late, right?”

Though she had already guessed from the earlier conversation, hearing it directly from Nelrysion’s mouth made Neris’s stomach turn.

She took a step back, away from Nelrysion. Then she looked up blankly at Lord Volter and opened her mouth.

“I don’t want special treatment. If I’m doing volunteer work, what will Senior Mahradi do?”

Lord Volter looked down at Neris with unreadable eyes. Neris felt a strange satisfaction at that sight. Cledwin’s face, whose thoughts were also impossible to read, came to mind.

Such a refined and cunning face, the face of someone with their own philosophy, was what she found worth dealing with.

On the other hand, Nelrysion wasn’t worth giving attention to. He was essentially only interested in using and deceiving others.

If only she had known that fact before receiving all the wounds. Why did she only come to feel this disillusionment and regret now?

“Don’t misunderstand, just because Nelrysion is taking you doesn’t mean your punishment will be easier. You will do activities worthy of the name volunteer work, and Mahradi Ennim will also do work I deem appropriate.”

Those words sounded fair. Even Mahradi himself couldn’t complain. Neris’s eyebrows trembled for a moment, but she quietly bowed her head.

“…Yes, I understand, teacher.”

“Go. I have work to do as well.”

Lord Volter closed the door as soon as Nelrysion withdrew. At that brusque attitude, Nelrysion burst out laughing.

“He’s always like that. Can’t say a kind word even to a young and cute new student.”

“He’s a good person.”

“Huh? Of course he is.”

Nelrysion was inwardly flustered at Neris’s dry voice, but he didn’t show it.

Lord Volter usually inspired fear in young students due to his cold, almost neglectful attitude and demanding nature.

Coming from homes full of love and suddenly being dropped among classmates better than oneself and solemn teachers at school, anyone would be scared. So students hoped for someone to speak warmly to them.

Nelrysion was well-liked not only for his looks but also for his kind attitude. Rhiannon Berta’s disgrace also came from expressing such feelings in the wrong way.

Nelrysion, who had his secret drawer discovered by Crown Prince Abelus because of that stupid child’s actions, had not been in a good mood lately.

However, he had come here expecting some mood improvement while thinking about talking with Neris, but from the start, the conversation didn’t go as he had thought.

‘How strange.’

Not only was she not afraid of Lord Volter, but Nelrysion thought there was no admiration at all in Neris’s eyes as she looked at him.

It bothered him. Her attitude so different from before the semester started, and her refined demeanor also quite different from then.

“Shall we go then, Neris?”

Nelrysion smiled broadly, deliberately using a kinder voice than usual. Neris met his eyes briefly before lowering her gaze.

“…Yes, let’s go. Thank you for your consideration.”

Hearing those last words, the vague sense of discomfort disappeared.

Thinking that her awkward attitude must have come from shyness or been his own misunderstanding, Nelrysion started walking with satisfaction.

After all, there was no one who wouldn’t admire him.

The student council room was empty.

Neris thought it was natural given the late hour, but in fact, today’s solitude was deliberately created by Nelrysion.

Student council members enjoyed feeling like they belonged to their own small social circle in the council room during free time. There was no helping it during daytime classes, but even when the lights in surrounding classrooms all went out in the evening, laughter could often be heard late into the night from the student council room.

“What I’ll ask you to do today is organize attendance records. It’s not difficult work, so don’t worry.”

Speaking kindly, Nelrysion walked to the bookshelf covering one wall of the student council room.

As the de facto heir to the Elandria duchy, he had joined the student council at quite a young age and thus knew every nook and cranny of the complex student council room well.

“Aren’t attendance records managed by each subject teacher?”

Though she already knew the answer, Neris pretended not to know and asked.

Nelrysion pulled out a fairly thick stack of documents from the bookshelf. Unlike the crude paper made by Katen’s civilian manufacturers, the paper used by the student council was expensive imported paper. Thus, it had a fine silk-like sheen and took up little space even when many sheets were stacked.

This should impress her. Paper is an expensive item after all. Nelrysion handed the documents to Neris with anticipation.

“Primarily yes, but the student council has the authority to manage academic records comprehensively. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’re more lenient towards laziness than teachers. The spirit of student self-governance is premised on diligent study.”

The attendance records, beautifully drawn and lined by staff from vegetarian backgrounds, were decorated with expensive ink and valuable in themselves. They weren’t items to be discarded after use, but would be stored in the archive for a long time once each year’s records were filled.

Neris’s expression didn’t particularly change even when she saw the attendance record on top of the documents, and Nelrysion raised an eyebrow. See?

Is it that she doesn’t recognize it due to limited experience, or is she accustomed to such beautiful objects?

Common sense would say the former.

“I’m not asking you to write anything on these documents. That’s something that needs to be done carefully by trained people. This paper is an expensive item specially bestowed by the imperial family, so wouldn’t it be disrespectful to the imperial family if a novice carelessly handled it and made it unusable?”

Neris inwardly sneered.

Of course, she had lived handling the most expensive paper on a daily basis, and the paper used in the documents she just received was not at a level to talk about disrespect to the imperial family.

If it were such a precious item, it wouldn’t have been entrusted to students’ hands in the first place. They would have just copied scripture.

It was obvious what Nelrysion wanted to do. His sister Valentine and his mother, the duchess, often used such materialistic methods.

They would deliberately show an incredibly expensive item to make the other person nervous, and then act kindly as if doing a favor. Then the other person would be moved by the fact that such a great person was treating them kindly and open their heart.

The structure itself was no different from simple boasting, but it was malicious in that it was a method to manipulate others.

Neris deliberately put on a soft, innocent smile. Nelrysion, facing that smile up close, was momentarily dazed.

He had heard that Megara Likeandros was the most popular among the new students. However, in his view, Neris not only had a pretty appearance but also possessed an innocent sparkle.

Nelrysion immediately imagined the benefits he could gain by using her and his throat went dry. He felt like he had discovered a treasure. This child could look like this too?