The Price Is Your Everything - Chapter 11: An Excuse to Refuse

“No… I just, suddenly wondered if there was something in your bag since you were standing still.”

This baseless suspicion stirred unease even in Diane. Nerys responded calmly.

“My bag only has my books and writing tools.”

Megara’s methods had not changed, neither in this life nor the last. The only difference was that the current, younger Megara’s attempts at bullying were clumsier.

A few years older, and Megara would undoubtedly develop a level of malice difficult even for adults to detect. For now, her schemes were simple and predictable.

Hearing Nerys’ reply, Angharad’s eyes wavered with surprise. ‘This isn’t right. She should be scared, screaming.’

Flustered, Angharad demanded, slightly accusatory, “Is that so? Can I take a look at your bag?”

At Noble Academy, it wasn’t unusual for students to show off the contents of their bags to one another. For a twelve-year-old like Angharad Nine, it was an excuse that made sense. Nerys smiled sweetly.

“Sorry, my bag is a bit messy. It’s embarrassing, so maybe next time.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? My bag’s not that organized either.”

Angharad’s voice rose. The sudden outburst caused the nearby students to turn and look at both her and Nerys. Some wore faint smirks, each for different reasons.

‘What’s this? Angharad Nine clinging to her? So what if she’s a baron’s daughter—she’s just a poor countryside noble who’s loud and shameless in class. No proper nanny either, so of course, she’s messy.’

The two marquess daughters, arguably the highest-ranking among the class, glanced at the commotion with feigned disinterest. Meanwhile, Megara’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“But I’m still embarrassed.”

However, Nerys remained firm, her tone bordering on coldness that could easily be perceived as aloof.

Angharad, unable to argue further, grew restless. She reached out, trying to forcibly grab Nerys’ bag.

‘If I don’t act now, I’ll have to find another bug later. Better to pretend it’s an accident and make a move now.’

But before Angharad could succeed, Diane swiftly snatched Nerys’ bag and firmly closed the opening. She placed it between their chairs.

“The teacher’s coming,” a student announced, breaking the tense atmosphere. Angharad, her face filled with unease, had no choice but to sit quietly and look forward.

Nerys glanced sideways at Megara, who was smiling kindly at her friends as if nothing had happened. Internally, she mocked her.

‘Your little lizard tail is the same person as always. Too bad for you, your tail just wriggles on its own now and can’t scare me anymore.’

—

In the lower-grade dance class, Mrs. Lunis clapped her hands.

“Switch partners!”

The violinist took the opportunity to pause, allowing his fingers a brief rest. The spacious hall buzzed with subtle glances. Popular students had many partners vying for their attention, while the less favored ones often ended up alone.

“Hello?”

Nerys offered a polite smile to the boy who had made a beeline toward her as soon as Mrs. Lunis finished speaking.

It wasn’t out of joy, but simply to avoid any trouble.

“Hello.”

“You’re Nerys Truydd, right? Can I call you Nel?”

“No.”

The boy froze, bewildered by how decisively she rejected him with a smile. Mrs. Lunis clapped her hands three times quickly, prompting those without a preferred partner to grab the nearest person.

The violin began to play a lively tune, the bow gliding across the strings with precision.

“Uh, can I ask why not?”

As they held hands and began to step in sync, Nerys answered with the tone of an adult explaining to a child, lying smoothly.

“Because ‘Nel’ doesn’t suit me.”

‘Let alone a nickname like ‘Nellusion.”

“But it suits you!”

The boy’s wide-eyed innocence was apparent, but Nerys, well aware of how he had tormented her throughout their school years and how cowardly he became as he aged, showed no mercy.

– “Ha! Watch the dirty Truydd move! Even a little movement, and spoiled milk will cover that girl!”

The rotten milk prank, placing a cup on her head, might not have started with this boy, but he had certainly taken inspiration from it. In her past life, Nerys had vomited numerous times because of it.

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

Faced with her unyielding response, the boy could only abandon his plan to call her by the nickname.

Nerys loathed everyone in the classroom, this boy included, but she danced with him without complaint.

When the dance ended, Mrs. Lunis clapped again, signaling another partner switch. A nearby boy, who had been eyeing Nerys, quickly stepped forward and took her hand.

Four other boys who had hesitated looked disappointed as they dispersed. Alecto, who had been standing partnerless nearby, protested lightly.

“Hey, am I invisible?”

Alecto wasn’t conventionally beautiful, and her personality had its rough edges. Her sharp wit amused her peers, but it didn’t make her particularly popular among boys.

Twelve-year-old boys were unapologetically blunt and lacking in manners. One of them stuck out his tongue at the fuming Alecto.

“That little—!”

The boy probably assumed that Alecto, known for her playful jabs, would take his rudeness as a joke. However, Alecto, an ordinary girl at heart, was understandably hurt. She huffed in frustration, while Nerys pretended not to notice.

Alecto, distracted by the dance earlier, ran her fingers through her red hair to tidy it. In doing so, a cream-colored satin ribbon slipped from her locks and fell to the floor.

Before the music resumed, Alecto hurried off to find a new partner.

With the bustling crowd of children’s heads at varying heights, no one noticed what had just happened—except for one.

“Hello, Nerys.”

Nerys greeted the boy, who had wisely avoided using any nicknames from the start, in a voice that could almost be considered friendly.

“Hello.”

“You’re a good dancer.”

“Thank you.”

Though her voice was gentle, Nerys’s response left no room for further conversation. However, the boy persisted, his eyes sparkling.

“You know the lower-grade ball hosted by the student council next weekend? Would you like to go with me as my partner?”

Fortunately, she had an excuse to refuse.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be attending the ball that day. I have an assignment due the following week, so I need to study.”

“Studying again? But it’s the night of the ball! Come on, take a break that day.”

“I’m taking a class with upperclassmen, so I need to work harder to keep up.”

In reality, the assignment due early the week after next was a research paper on international politics, which posed no difficulty for Nerys. She was privy to not only the current surface-level international affairs but also the underlying dynamics.

The boy pouted as if he understood. Pretending to make a mistake, Nerys stepped back slightly and bumped into a nearby girl with black hair who was passing by.

The girl, Rhiannon, snapped at Nerys irritably.

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry, that was my mistake.”

Nerys apologized with a composed expression. Rhiannon wanted to show more annoyance toward Nerys, especially for Megara’s benefit, but since a teacher was nearby, she lowered her voice and only issued a warning.

“Watch where you’re going. If my dress gets dirty, you can’t take responsibility, can you?”

“Hey, Rhiannon Bertha.”

Nerys’s partner glared ostentatiously.

“Don’t talk to her like that.”

“What? Did I swear at her? Did I say anything wrong?”

“People can make mistakes. Don’t you ever mess up when dancing? Are you that good?”

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

Despite her words, Rhiannon quickly grabbed her partner’s hand and moved away. Nerys watched her own partner’s proud expression with a feeling of indifference.

Before she returned to this time, when the current freshmen were around fourteen, this partner had behaved similarly during dance class.

While dancing with Rhiannon, she had bumped into Nerys. As Nerys stumbled alone, grasping at empty air without a partner, the two had insulted her together.

“Watch where you’re going. If my dress gets dirty, you can’t take responsibility, can you?”

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

Right now, Rhiannon was too young for her beauty to show, but in a few years, her distinct features would make her quite attractive.

This partner had wanted to catch Rhiannon’s attention, so he had said nastier things to Nerys—just as he had spoken harshly to Rhiannon now to get Nerys’s attention.

Unaware of such past—or future—the partner asked in a rather mature and friendly manner.

“Then, are you going to Angharad Nine’s party this weekend?”

However, Nerys had no affection for this partner.

He was like kindling—stupid and used when needed, but destined to burn up and disappear.

“I’ll be going.”

“Seems like she invited the whole class. If you’re going, maybe I’ll go too.”

Before she returned, Angharad had also held a party around this time, inviting the entire class. She had spent a lot of money deliberately, to avoid being looked down upon among the lower nobles. In Nerys’s memory, Angharad had made several friends at this party who would accompany her throughout school life.

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

Nerys had a reason for bumping into Rhiannon. She deliberately frowned, pretending to have realized something.

“My shoelace is loose. Just a moment.”

“Oh, okay.”

Her partner looked as if he wanted to tie it for her, but fortunately, he didn’t overstep.

Nerys retied her perfectly fine shoelace and tapped her toe on the floor a few times. Then she picked up a cream-colored ribbon that had fallen nearby.

Originally a satin ribbon loved by nobles for its beautiful sheen, it now looked shabby after being stepped on. Nerys checked the cream-colored initials subtly embroidered on one end of the ribbon and smiled slightly.

“Alecto.”

Only then did Alecto realize her ribbon was missing and frantically scanned the floor around her. Nerys 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 from Nerys.

“Thank you. It’s mine. I bought it for a high price in the capital and was worried I’d lost it.”

“I’m glad you found it. Keep it safe. Lately, everyone has similar ribbons, so if you lose it, it’s hard to tell whose is whose.”

“Yeah. Thanks a lot. I had my initials embroidered here, so I know it’s mine. Ah, it’s been stepped on. I’ll have to wash it.”

Finding her ribbon didn’t make Alecto suddenly like Nerys, but her immediate happiness softened her attitude for a moment. Nerys simply said, “Well then,” and left.