They’re fighting among themselves. Diane snorted and spoke softly to Neris.

“The flower scent is nice. I wonder who really picked the flowers?”

“I heard Lord Sheridan picked them with the senior sisters. In exchange, those sisters will help when Lord Sheridan holds literary salons with the noble ladies he knows well.”

Neris answered gracefully. This time, Alecto’s face contorted.

What Neris just mentioned was the so-called ‘Sheridan Brigade’.

Every year, Lord Sheridan introduced his favorite disciples to the highest-ranking ladies in society, and since those ladies were also his favorite disciples during their school days, they took good care of the introduced students. Though they say it’s to help with the salon, it’s actually a place to build social connections.

Alecto’s elder sister had desperately wanted to join the Sheridan Brigade but heard she couldn’t unless she was first or second in the senior social studies class, so she gave up. But how did someone like Neris Trude hear news from there?

Unless Lord Sheridan was thinking of putting Neris in his brigade, why would he have hinted at future plans and such!

“Is that so? It would have been nice if you could have gone too. I’m curious about such things.”

Diane, who perfectly understood the meaning of those words, very kindly steered the conversation for Alecto, Rhiannon, and the quiet Angarad to hear. Neris also kindly played along.

“It would have been a great honor for me, but as you know, I’m young. I’m clumsy to begin with, and I can’t participate in formal salons anyway.”

“Right, that’s true.”

Diane looked at Alecto, Rhiannon, and the still quiet Angarad with a ‘Did you hear that?’ expression. Alecto turned her head with a sour expression, and Rhiannon’s hands trembled intermittently.

Lord Sheridan, who had progressed from the most common flower arranging methods to the flowers that symbolize each family, clapped his hands.

“As you all know, there’s a midterm exam in two weeks? So we decided to have a rehearsal for the exam next weekend. It’s not a class substitute, so you don’t have to come, but I’ll be taking questions about the exam during that time. Many of your seniors who used that time well got good grades, so I recommend coming if you have time.”

The students who were twisting their bodies at the idea of having to prepare for an exam with a rehearsal reluctantly accepted Lord Sheridan’s explanation.

Diane pouted but whispered, thinking it wouldn’t be so bad if Neris went together.

“Do you have other classes that day? You’ll go together, right?”

“I should go. It seems like it will be helpful.”

As she replied, Neris looked at the table where Megara was sitting.

Idalia and Megara were whispering at their table. Idalia, with her thin and voluminous beige hair loosely braided and tied with a ribbon, wearing a fluffy pink sweater, looked quite lovely.

Idalia chuckled at something Megara said, then turned her gaze and her eyes briefly met Neris’s.

Neris naturally turned her gaze away, and Idalia tilted her head before soon forgetting about it.

[This is the timeline separator]

Idalia Kendal had been called kind since she was young.

Neris had guessed as much.

In her previous life, even when most of the students in the same year openly threw barbed words at Neris, Idalia did not.

When Neris opened her mouth in front of the children to ask about homework the day after she missed class due to illness, other children complained loudly without a subject, but Idalia did not.

When other children roughly threw materials that should have been passed to Neris on the floor, Idalia did not.

Idalia did not speak to Neris. Idalia did not look at Neris. Idalia did not pass anything to Neris.

In school life that felt like rolling in a thorn bush every day, Idalia’s attitude gave Neris some relief. She had long given up expecting anyone to like her anyway.

Neris thought she would rather the children not see her at all. She was grateful even for the attitude Idalia seemed to show. So Idalia’s image was relatively good to Neris.

That image shattered at the graduation ceremony.

On graduation day, children wearing black hats hugged bouquets and gifts. And they exchanged hugs and letters with friends, anticipating the freedom and new life in society that would unfold before them.

Among them, Neris stood alone, ruminating on the sorrow of her mother’s sudden death. Outside, a carriage waited to take her to the Elandria ducal family.

That’s when Idalia spoke to Neris.

At first, Neris thought Idalia was just going to say something like ‘Move’ or something rough like that. However, Idalia handed Neris a letter.

Neris, who hadn’t received a letter from a classmate in so long, naturally thought it was given to her to deliver to someone else. Seeing that naive attitude, Idalia smiled.

“It’s for you. Read it later when you’re alone.”

It was an incomprehensible statement. However, Idalia had a pure atmosphere that made it difficult for anyone to believe she had malicious intent.

With her slender shoulders, large clear eyes, and thin facial lines decorated with calm high-end items, she was truly elegant and cool. Though not as full-blown as Megara, who was like a red rose, she received admiration wherever she went.

Neris couldn’t go against Idalia. Afraid that Idalia would be displeased if she heard her voice, she nodded without speaking, and Idalia smiled at her once more before quickly returning to her friends.

As she left Noble Academy forever in the unfamiliar carriage of the Elandria family, Neris opened Idalia’s letter.

[To Neris. Clever Neris, I actually wanted to become closer friends with you during school. But Megara disliked you so much that I couldn’t. I heard you were adopted by the Elandria ducal family. Congratulations. Let’s greet each other with a smile when we meet next time. From Idalia.]

So, Neris knew she wasn’t very good at reading people. She was also poor at reading the intentions behind people’s words.

It was natural. That kind of knowledge is gained through various experiences. But even Neris could tell that Idalia’s words were absurd.

She couldn’t become friends because Megara disliked her too much?

Of course, it was natural that no one could go against Megara’s words. But the children were cruel to Neris even when Megara wasn’t watching.

Idalia, too, acted as if Neris was invisible even when no one else was around. So if that’s what she decided, shouldn’t she continue to act as if Neris was invisible in the future?

Why reveal such circumstances in a letter?

It would have been better if she hadn’t mentioned Megara’s name at all. However, Neris felt like she had seen Idalia’s true face then, someone who worried that everyone was too kind.

The Viscount Kendal’s daughter was so obsessed with her own kindness that she was even explaining to a child she had decided to ignore that the cause of that ignoring lay with someone else.

Though it was embarrassing, the letter wasn’t terrible enough to make Neris harbor resentment towards Idalia. It just made her think that Idalia might not be as pure and kind as her reputation suggested.

The incident that really made Neris dislike Idalia occurred not long after she entered society.

Natasha Grunehals was Abelus’s lover until her mid-twenties. Since they had been dating for so long and she was the precious daughter of a ducal family, everyone thought they would soon hear news of their marriage.

However, unexpectedly, marriage talks began between the Elandria family and the imperial family, and Natasha took notice of this small, ugly junior, Neris Elandria, for the first time.

Neris was not unaware of such circumstances. Since the couple of Natasha and Abelus had been famous since school, Neris thought there was no way someone like her could replace the position of Natasha with her beautiful ginger hair.

However, if the Elandria family, no, if Nelrysion, who had taken in her who had nowhere to go, needed it, she had to do anything. Neris blamed herself hundreds of times for her shamelessness, but still complied with the marriage talks.

It was around that time. When Idalia called out Neris.

[Elder sister Natasha wants to talk to you. It’s not something I dare interfere with, but if you’re willing, please come out. I’ll be there with you, so don’t worry.]

Thinking about it now, that letter was full of suspicious points from the beginning. But at that time, Neris was very tired. To the point where she thought it wouldn’t matter even if Natasha hurled insults at her.

The promised place was an old mansion in a remote location. It wasn’t a place that high-ranking noble ladies would typically set as a meeting place, but Neris entered the mansion without much suspicion, following the servant’s guidance.

And she was kidnapped in what appeared to be a reception room.

The main culprit was Eustace Grunehals, who adored his one and only elder sister.

The next Duke Grunehals might not have had personal ill feelings towards Neris.

However, when he judged that his sister, who he believed would one day reach a higher position than anyone else, was hurt because of some girl who came from who knows where, he acted swiftly.

Unlike her pretty face and sophisticated behavior, Natasha had a cruel nature. Eustace’s plan to feed Neris a poison that would render her mute and sell her as a slave probably contained quite a bit of Natasha’s taste.

Fortunately, Neris used her wits to escape from that situation well, but Duke Elandria, who found out about the incident, scolded his adopted daughter for being careless.

After learning that the plan had fallen through, Idalia kept sending letters to Neris saying there seemed to have been some misunderstanding. For the first time, it was revealed that Idalia, who had only seemed gentle, could be so persistent when it came to her own affairs.

Neris didn’t reply to the letters because she thought she knew what Idalia wanted to say, but she had to encounter this popular viscount’s daughter somewhere.

Finally, at a party, Idalia grabbed Neris’s hand tightly and apologized with teary eyes in a place where there were no people.

“I really didn’t know, Neris. Even when I found out later, I was so surprised. I never thought elder sister Natasha would… How was it resolved then? Did elder brother Nelrysion come?”

Seeing Idalia’s eyes sparkle at the question she slipped in at the end, Neris felt like she finally understood her true nature.

Idalia knew everything. The fact that Neris was deeply in love with Nelrysion.

And the fact that Nelrysion occasionally showed her at least enough favor that a fool might misunderstand.

She didn’t know Natasha would do that? Was that really true?

It’s difficult for high-ranking nobles who have been going back and forth between families since childhood to be completely unaware of each other’s true nature. Natasha, who was older, probably guessed Idalia’s pretentious nature as well.

So she probably chose Idalia as an accomplice who would call out the target but keep her mouth shut.

Now that she had a new opportunity, Neris intended to not forget to greet Idalia regarding that incident.

The same method used for Angarad, Rhiannon, or Alecto wouldn’t work. And it wasn’t something that needed to go that far. Just.

‘I haven’t forgotten. That’s all.’

No matter what reputation she created, it would be difficult for a viscount’s daughter to suddenly find herself in an awkward situation at school. At least, Neris in her current powerless state had no such means.

But.

‘It’s not that others are powerless too.’