Mahradi’s eyes widened. He quickly glanced at Megara, and when she glared at him slightly, he became sullen.

The few upper-class students who knew the meaning of the word looked at Neris differently than before. Lord Voltaire handed the baton back to Neris and then spoke to Megara.

“My class proceeds only with students who can keep up. You entered this class on Mrs. Hoffman’s recommendation, right?”

“…Yes.”

“After class, you’ll take a simple Berlenese test, so don’t go straight to your next class. I’ll write you a card 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?”

“Neris Trude’s skills seem to have been sufficiently proven.”

Skills. At that word, Megara’s eyes grew fierce. She carefully asked in a thinner voice than usual.

“Teacher, if… if I don’t pass the test, what happens?”

“You’ll have to go to a class that matches your level. The academy considers appropriate learning difficulty extremely important. We can’t have the student next to you teaching you the answers every time, can we? If your partner doesn’t know the answer, you’ll get it wrong too.”

Megara and Mahradi’s faces turned pale. Lord Voltaire knew that Mahradi had been giving Megara the answers.

Neris watched this scene with satisfaction.

***

The rumor that Megara Likeandros had been kicked out of the advanced foreign language elective class due to lack of skill spread quickly.

Megara’s followers attacked Lord Voltaire and Neris, claiming something was off, but not all the freshmen joined in the attack. Neris, who was used to being unconditionally criticized at the slightest opportunity, found this fact strange.

Diane’s reaction, in particular, was surprisingly favorable towards Neris.

“She’s really weird. She followed you because she was jealous when you got first place. Why is she badmouthing you when she dropped out because she wasn’t skilled enough?”

‘Jealous.’ Neris stared blankly at Diane’s eyes, amused by that accurate expression from Diane, who didn’t know much about Megara.

She felt some regret too. Had it been that obvious?

When Neris was young, she truly believed that the reason Megara paid so much attention to her was because she was that strange and unpleasant to others.

In fact, people found Neris’s presence unpleasant not only at school but also in social circles. Their repertoire was mainly as follows:

Ugly and skinny, yet shameless enough to hope someone would like her despite lacking charm.
Unbearable to watch her act superior when she doesn’t even have outstanding skills.
Usually gloomy-faced, but when she smiles, it’s so disgusting it startles those who see it.

‘It’s all true, though.’

When she first heard such things, it didn’t make much sense. Neris had never been interested in others’ appearances since childhood, so she had never evaluated her own appearance as pretty or ugly.

It seemed that she was even called pretty quite often when she was very young, before entering the academy.

However, after hearing such complaints of unpleasantness several times, when Neris looked in the mirror, she was startled to find her own face unpleasant to look at and quickly averted her eyes.

The portrait painted by the artist when she became the Crown Princess seemed pretty, perhaps having beautified her actual face a lot, but still, as the characteristics of her appearance were revealed, she felt bad, similar to when she looked in the mirror.

Of course, she became even more careful not to smile inadvertently.

However, thinking about it now, not everyone who was ‘ugly,’ ‘gloomy,’ and ‘acting superior’ like Neris was ostracized as blatantly as she was.

No, everyone except Neris had friends.

There must have been a reason why Megara started disliking Neris at the very beginning, and now Neris roughly knew that reason.

Besides having good grades despite coming from a humble family, there was another factor that Megara would react to.

Although the true purple eyes of the Elandria family hadn’t appeared for over a hundred years, children with purplish eyes were occasionally born in various families.

People in social circles thought that all purple eyes revealed Elandria family bloodline in their owners, and being related to such an old and noble family was a point of pride.

The imperial family and the Elandria family knew what the true purple eyes were like, but they didn’t bother to inform other families of this fact. After all, no successor with the true purple eyes had been born in the main family.

Later, when Neris manifested her jewel eyes, it was revealed to all that only purple eyes like Neris’s were the true purple eyes that had been passed down as precious for generations, but the old habit of cherishing purple eyes didn’t change.

Megara, who took pride in her own appearance, must have been bothered by Neris’s appearance.

“That’s right.”

Angarad, who had been coldly rejected before but still came to sit nearby, enthusiastically agreed, as if she had found an excuse to talk to Neris.

Neris only said what was absolutely necessary to Angarad and never acted friendly, but Diane was on Neris’s side even regarding such cold behavior.

To Diane, Angarad Nine was an unpleasantly servile type. She seemed to want to fit in with the children somehow, but she wasn’t particularly good at studies or of high status, so she was trying to cling to Neris, whom she saw as easy prey.

Diane, who had grown up loved in a wealthy family, knew the habits of flatterers even at her young age. They acted like the tongue in one’s mouth when face to face, but turned away like strangers when there was nothing to gain.

To Diane, Angarad Nine was exactly that kind of person and an object of contempt. On the other hand, it seemed a sign of wisdom that Neris, whom she liked, didn’t allow such a sycophant near her.

‘It’s even funnier that she sees Neris as easy prey in the first place.’

Neris was far superior in every aspect compared to children who had received strict education in wealthy families. Although her attire was modest, she had never been seen in a disheveled state.

Diane liked her more and more. Her worries before entering the academy about possibly not making friends her age now seemed foolish. With someone this likable around.

‘But Neris doesn’t seem to like me much.’

When that thought occurred to her, Diane became glum. Why doesn’t she like me? I don’t think I’ve done anything she dislikes.

Is she shy? Should we spend more time together?

The last one seemed to be the right answer.

Neris was so smart that she had few classes with ordinary Diane. And their dormitories were far apart―Neris’s room was in a shared housing where only one maid per student could barely fit, with many stairs. It was a place not even considered by Diane in the first place―.

‘I should throw a party next time.’

Diane decided. It would be fine with just her and Neris, or inviting other peers would be good too. She had already received party invitations from several people, so there was a need for a return party anyway.

It would be fun to play together. Definitely.

Meanwhile, Neris just thought Diane was strange.

Neris had no memorable grudge against Diane, but she didn’t trust her, so she didn’t treat her particularly well. So why does she keep sitting next to her and acting like they’re friends?

As if anyone would like Neris.

Anyway, the immediate kindness wasn’t bad. It was almost the first time she had sat with someone in the school cafeteria, so Neris looked around with a fresh feeling.

This girl will soon turn her back and join in the bullying anyway, but so what? If that’s all Neris was given, she intended to become stronger.

***

“I heard there’s an outstanding child among the new students this year.”

At Crown Prince Abelus’s words, Nelrysion smiled faintly.

His gentle and intellectual smile had a great effect on the female members working in the same student council. And sometimes it had an effect on male members too.

“Yes, there are a few.”

“It’s good to have many talented people. I hope they grow into excellent adults who can make the imperial family prosper.”

Abelus said arrogantly. A girl with ginger-colored hair approached him with a cute face.

Abelus smiled at her.

“Tash.”

Natasha, with her ginger-colored hair, was not only the most striking beauty in her grade but also among all students who had attended the academy in recent years.

Moreover, being the daughter of Duke Grunehals, it was an obvious course for her to enter the student council and become close to Abelus. Unless something special happened, Natasha Grunehals was the person closest to becoming the Crown Princess.

But we’ll see. Nelrysion thought coldly behind his gentle face as he watched the two.

The Elandria family had ambitions. It didn’t matter who Abelus played with before those ambitions were realized, but when everything was over, the only person who would become the Crown Princess was Nelrysion’s sister, Valentine. That was what the family had decided.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought the new students’ test answer sheets you mentioned.”

Natasha said in a sweet voice as she handed a stack of papers to Abelus. Nelrysion showed interest. Abelus is interested in the new students’ tests?

“Your Highness, what’s in the test?”

“Thank you, cute Tash. Nelrysion, you take a look too. The blonde girl your family is sponsoring got a perfect score, didn’t she?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The student council had already been turned upside down over that matter. Abelus untied the string binding the stack of papers and quickly flipped through the pages.

“Let’s see, Rhiannon Berta, Alecto Islani… here it is, Megara Likeandros… I heard she begged Hoffman and asked for something she couldn’t handle, ending up embarrassed… Ah, found it.”

Abelus pulled out several answer sheets with the name ‘Neris Trude’ written on them and set them aside. Nelrysion, who was also interested, took the bottom sheet from the answer sheets and examined it.

Confusion soon appeared on his face.

“Is this really a freshman’s handwriting?”

“All the other answer sheets are like that too. I asked the teachers who teach this child, and they say she writes as well as an adult. Even her handwriting on the blackboard is beautiful. Nelrysion, did your family teach her by any chance?”

“No, we only found out recently that Neris was born.”

There was no reason for the main family to deliberately check on how a distant relative, especially one who had been expelled from the family for marrying a low-ranking knight, was living.

If a child with the true purple eyes hadn’t been born, they would have continued to live without contact.

Nelrysion recalled Neris’s face. She was shabbily dressed, but her features were delicately pretty. And she had the true purple eyes.

That child would be useful. His instinct had been saying so since he first saw Neris.

“But how did she write so well? Could you have written such an answer in your first year?”

Abelus thrust the Imperial History test paper at Nelrysion.

Nelrysion was impressed that all the answers were composed of clear, concise sentences with high information value. If he hadn’t known the situation, he would have thought it was written by a teacher.

Wait, a teacher? Nelrysion’s face suddenly became serious. Abelus smiled mischievously.

“Mahradi Ennim raised an issue. He said, what kind of new student assessment test produces a perfect scorer, there must have been a leak of questions or cheating. He said it seems like there’s teacher misconduct either way, so he asked for an investigation.”

“Even if it were copied answers written by someone else, it would be impressive to memorize and write this much content.”

“I think so too. Anyway, since a complaint was filed, we called in the teacher. I called Voltaire and asked for his opinion directly. Do you know what he said?”

“What did he say?”

“He said she speaks Berlenese like a native speaker, and her level of the sacred language is quite high too. She had a free conversation with Ren Feyel.”

Abelus watched with amusement as surprise appeared on Nelrysion’s face. So this cunning bastard can make such an expression too.

“So let me ask you something. Did she perhaps grow up in a temple when she was young?”

“If you’re asking if she’s the illegitimate child of a priest, no. We sent someone to investigate where she lived, and it seems her mother married her father in front of the lord and has lived there continuously until recently. The timing of Neris’s birth is not suspicious either.”

“Is that so? Then she’s a genius?”

Abelus burst into laughter. However, there was something sinister about that laughter.

“A genius, as they commonly say.”