The Price is Everything of Yours - Chapter 59

The news of the second child of the Elandria family entering the school caused quite a stir.

There was already Nelrysion Elandria as a descendant of that legendary family, and he was a person worthy of the family name.

He was humble, prudent, and intelligent. A boy who perfectly embodied the name of ‘Honest Elandria’, one of the three legendary heroes.

If there was anything to be desired, it was the fact that he was too rational.

Children of great nobles usually showed conspicuous differences in consumption compared to children of other families, but Nelrysion’s lifestyle, while dignified, was not extravagant.

So he hadn’t been very entertaining to people thus far.

Therefore, people were thrilled to hear that the beloved daughter of Duke and Duchess Elandria had arrived in several generations of luxurious carriages.

The students chattered excitedly about how even the nanny that Valentine Elandria always kept with her wore such expensive clothes.

Neris listened to such talk without any interest.

Besides Nelrysion, no one in this school knew about Valentine’s extravagant lifestyle as well as Neris did.

And Neris probably knew better than Nelrysion about how much Valentine allowed her nanny, Delma.

Around the time Neris was adopted into the Elandria family, a single outfit that Valentine wore was made with a cost equivalent to about twelve outfits of other noble young ladies combined.

The Duchess always complained about her daughter’s extravagance, and Neris believed that her adoptive mother was genuinely upset.

So she quietly accepted when she was given only the clothes that Valentine could no longer wear. Sometimes, clothes that Delma had stopped wearing were mixed in among them.

Either way, they were more expensive than any clothes ever made for Duchess Neris Elandria. Except for the ‘wrappings’ tailored to present her to the imperial family.

It was also ironic that Valentine, just before killing her elder sister with her own hands, wore the clothes of the Crown Princess that her sister used to wear.

During the few days it took to travel to the Academy by carriage right after the regression, Neris felt her heart burning with a sense of betrayal and hatred towards Valentine.

If Valentine had appeared before her then, she wouldn’t have been able to control herself and might have slapped her.

But now, a year after the regression, Neris was prepared to act according to more rational thinking.

‘It’s not like slapping her directly is the only way to get revenge.’

The indifferent expression on the small girl sitting in the upper-class classroom looked quite adorable to others, as if a child was pretending to be an adult.

The upper-class students, much taller and bigger than her, kept sneaking glances at the delicate-looking girl with blonde hair and purple eyes.

The famous members of the Elandria family weren’t just the siblings Nelrysion and Valentine.

Neris Trude, a distant relative of the Elandria family, but more famous for her genius intellect and strange maturity, had become a second-year student and entered their classroom.

Around this time last year, the upper-class students didn’t know much about what kind of person Neris was. They just thought she was a child who got into a school beyond her station thanks to being born as a relative of the Elandria family.

But now, there wasn’t a single person in the entire school who didn’t know the name Neris Trude.

Even if there were children who didn’t know that Neris took all classes with upper-class students except for the mandatory first-year subjects, they had at least once been advised during this vacation, “I heard the son of Duke Elandria and the daughter of Count McKinnon favor her, so it’s good to get along with her for the future.”

So one or two upper-class students were eager to strike up a conversation with Neris.

However, they hesitated, not wanting to give their classmates the impression that they were sucking up to a child, and above all, because she had a strange atmosphere that seemed to repel those around her, making it difficult to casually open a conversation.

If Neris could have read their thoughts, she would have thought ‘That’s right’ with a bitter smile. There was no way the Crown Princess of the Empire of Vista would appear to be an easy target for just anyone to approach.

Even if she was just a nominal Crown Princess, Neris, having sat in that position for a long time, had her own aura that teenage kids couldn’t easily deal with.

The strange and dense silence surrounding Neris was broken a moment later with the arrival of one person.

Click. The classroom door opened, and the teacher for the “International Resources and Trade” course, Neris’s first class as a second-year student, entered.

Like many other teachers of upper-level courses, he was someone who had been active in the frontlines of his specialized field before taking up teaching at the Academy at the request of the student council.

A strict and businesslike gaze swept over the students. That gaze paused briefly on Neris.

“…I read Lord Volter’s letter of recommendation well. According to his evaluation, you’re quite an excellent student?”

Among upper-class students, especially those in the political department, Lord Volter’s strictness was well-known.

“Lord Volter must have exaggerated. I’ll try not to be a hindrance to my seniors.”

Neris answered politely with a calm attitude, not minding the attention focused on her at all.

At the end of last semester, when applying for this class, she had received a recommendation from Lord Volter. Without it, the application would have been difficult.

“My class can’t be followed by effort alone. If I think you can’t keep up, I’ll send you down to the lower class immediately, so keep that in mind.”

Since upper-class courses were so high-level, it was not uncommon for students who confidently entered advanced classes to give up midway through the semester.

Unlike Megara, who had forcibly entered a class clearly not suited to her level from the start, it was not shameful to enter a recommended class first, reassess one’s abilities, and then retake a class one level lower.

But unlike the other upper-class political department students here, this tiny second-year student had entered the advanced course directly without following the step-by-step curriculum.

As can be seen from the course title alone, this class would be filled with all sorts of terminology and case laws, so could she really keep up without having taken classes like “Introduction to International Law” or “Introduction to Economics” for 5th or 6th-year students?

Such doubts were clearly visible in the eyes of the other students. Neris smiled slightly.

“Yes, teacher.”

As soon as the first class ended, the students flowed out of the classroom like arrows released from a bow.

The main topic of their whispered conversations was the personality of the teacher who had thrown out all sorts of difficult subjects from the first hour and even given a ton of assignments.

Unlike this class held in the Kartak Circle, Neris’s next class was in the Aine Circle, but fortunately, there was some time until then.

Neris waited for the classroom to empty to avoid being jostled by the larger upper-class students.

And just as she was about to slowly walk out into the hallway.

That child. Yes. Elandria…

A few words from what had been just a murmur of hallway noise pierced Neris’s ears. Someone’s softly muttered name followed.

Valentine.

Neris’s body stiffened. She forced herself to move, quickly slipping out of the classroom door. Then she slowly surveyed the commotion in the hallway.

The usually busy hallway during break time had lost its normal flow and was stagnant.

Because all the surrounding students were taller than Neris, it wasn’t easy to see, but it was clear that everyone was staring intently in one direction.

“Oh, you.”

Arthur Pendlant, who spotted Neris being inevitably and uncomfortably jostled among the upper-class male students, noticed her. He gestured to those around him.

“There’s a second-year here, be careful.”

Arthur, who had taken Berlene 3 with Neris last year, was in the graduating class this year.

This area happened to be where small lecture rooms for upper-class students were gathered, so Arthur’s friends were with him too. They made room for Neris to stand comfortably.

“Thank you.”

Arthur’s friends looked down at Neris as if she was cute, but Neris had no mind to pay attention to them.

Now she could finally see what she aimed for without being jostled between them, who should now be called young men.

A lovely silver-haired girl was walking confidently down the hallway.

Round, clear sky-blue eyes in an oval face like an egg, a high and lovely nose above cherry-red, tiny lips.

Silver hair flowing smoothly like satin and a wide sky-blue headband studded with pearls, a sky-blue dress with cute puffed sleeves and a voluminous skirt with several layers of frills.

It was the basic dress code for Academy students to wear somewhat active clothes in preparation for a full day of classes.

Especially since a considerable number of Kartak Circle students majored in swordsmanship or magic, they had a lot of movement, so the higher the grade, the less decorated and more comfortable clothes they wore.

Valentine alone was out of place among such boys. Her young and lovely face, like a porcelain doll painted with a master craftsman’s utmost brush strokes, made it even more so.

However, Valentine looked as if she didn’t care whether she was out of place or not. As if she had never even imagined that there could be a place where she wouldn’t be welcome.

‘No, she really wouldn’t.’

Neris changed her thought. Where in the world would there be a place where Valentine Elandria wasn’t welcome? Under the power of the Duke and the affection of the Duchess, Valentine grew up doing whatever she wanted.

That was the first rule Neris learned after being adopted into the Duke’s family. Not to go against Valentine.

The new first-year students who entered with Valentine this semester will soon learn the same rule. Especially from the hands of that nanny who is now following her with a gentle face behind Valentine.

That face full of confidence brightened innocently like an angel when she found the person she was looking for. People around her unknowingly felt affection for that pretty face with its bright smile.

“Brother!”

“Valen?”

Nelrysion, who had just finished a class nearby and was talking with Abelus, spotted his sister. He smiled gently. Valentine approached Nelrysion with quick steps.

“What brings you here? Didn’t you have class?”

“I did! I was curious about where you have classes, brother. Valentine of the Elandria family greets Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Valentine greeted Abelus politely and cutely as if she had just noticed him. Abelus responded to her greeting with a fairly generous and gentlemanly attitude.

“It feels different seeing you at school. The long journey must have been tiring for a young lady, how was it, Miss Valentine?”

“With Your Highness showing such concern, I feel all my travel fatigue melting away already!”

It was really something else. Seeing Abelus laugh pleasantly at Valentine’s brazen aegyo, Neris felt her insides twist slightly.

It wasn’t because of an emotion like jealousy. It was simply because she felt sick imagining that after her death, these disgusting people must have gotten along exactly like this.

How many people had to shed tears of blood to allow the people of the imperial family and the Elandria ducal family to engage in elegant social activities while pretending nothing had happened?

By chance, Nelrysion’s gaze fell on Neris’s face. When their eyes met, Nelrysion smiled brightly. It was a smile similar to his sister’s.

“Neris!”

The gazes of Abelus and Valentine turned to Neris simultaneously. In this situation, she couldn’t just observe anymore. Since she had to face them at some point anyway, Neris approached them with a polite smile.

“Brother Nel.”