The Price Is Your Everything - Chapter 18

The first impression Rhiannon left on Nerys, back when Nerys could hardly remember her classmates’ names, began with a single letter.

– “I want to be your friend. Nona.”

Even young Nerys knew that her peers didn’t like her, and it weighed on her.

She was always too busy reading during free time to need someone to play with, but being disliked was painful for anyone. When it came time to pair up in class, no one wanted to be her partner, which often left her in an awkward position.

The perfect world she had known before entering school was quickly falling apart.

The letter arrived about three seasons after Nerys had started at the academy. Exhausted by the constant whispers around her, things being thrown at her hair, and people brushing against her shoulders as they passed, she had taken to spending her free time reading in her secret spot.

That day was no different. While she was absorbed in her book, a letter fell out of the pages, tucked inside an envelope.

When Nerys saw its contents, she was thrilled. Who could the sender be?

It couldn’t have been one of her classmates. All the other first-years avoided her, calling her dirty or accusing her of sticky fingers.

Could it have been an upperclassman who hadn’t yet heard the nasty rumors?

Overjoyed, Nerys immediately accepted the correspondence.

– “I want to be your friend too. Nerys.”

The book containing the first letter had to be returned to the school library, so Nerys stored her reply in her locker drawer, along with the book. Surely, the sender would check her locker.

Had Nona seen her reply? Filled with nervous excitement, Nerys barely slept that night. The next day, she was elated to find another letter from Nona in her locker.

– “I’m glad. What do you like, Nerys? Nona.”

From then on, the letters flowed back and forth almost daily. Nerys shared everything with Nona—romantic phrases she’d read in books, her favorite scenes, and the whimsical fantasies of her childhood.

At her core, Nerys loved to talk and had a vivid imagination. She shared fanciful stories, like how fairies secretly lived by the lake or how the massive painting in the Aine Hall contained a tragic tale. Nona listened kindly and responded warmly.

– “Your stories are always so fun, Nerys. Was the fairy you saw by the lake from a book? You spoke as if you’d seen it yourself—I almost believed it was real. I want to be closer to you. Nona.”

No one had ever told Nerys they wanted to be closer to her before. She began to rely on Nona. Even when her classmates ignored her during lessons, the thought of writing to Nona made her day bearable.

– “Thank you. I want to stay friends with you forever, Nona. I really like you. Let’s promise to be friends for life at my secret spot. Nerys.”

– “I really like you too. Is your secret spot where you go sometimes to read? Where is it? I want to see it. Nona.”

Unlike her fellow first-years, Nerys avoided common areas. She preferred places where she wouldn’t run into others. This led her to an old, abandoned courtyard behind an unused building occasionally visited by upperclassmen for their classes—a spot she had discovered while doing volunteer work to earn pocket money.

It was spring. The courtyard, quiet and forlorn amid the awakening, vibrant world, became her sanctuary.

Nerys spent her earnings on flower seeds and planted them in a small sunny patch of the courtyard. Though the saplings grew tall and spindly from lack of sunlight, Nerys cherished them all the more.

It felt like a declaration. ‘Look, I’m not just someone who memorizes things. There’s a life here that depends on me.’ She wanted to show someone. To proudly say, ‘This is mine.’

She shared the location with Nona without hesitation, writing her usual detailed descriptions and instructions.

The next day, Nerys found her secret spot in ruins. She was stunned.

—

The disarray wasn’t the work of adults cleaning the overgrown courtyard. Only the sunny patch she had carefully tended to was destroyed.

– “Did you visit my secret spot? Nerys.”

It wasn’t an accusation. How could she suspect the first friend she had made at this school?

She only wanted to ask about what had happened, but no reply came. Nerys felt hollow and heartbroken.

The bullying escalated. Every new secret spot she found was eventually exposed. She was constantly confused. ‘Why do they hate me so much?’

It wasn’t until later that she discovered a truly safe place in the library to hide, but until then, Nerys wandered aimlessly, growing quieter and more withdrawn.

—

Weeks later, Nerys was paired with Rhiannon for a public Lundian language class.

Rhiannon was visibly displeased and made no effort to hide her feelings throughout the lesson. Still, she couldn’t avoid participating in the conversational exercises that would affect their grades.

Rhiannon wasn’t particularly bright. Though she would eventually choose the same language-focused studies as Nerys, it wasn’t due to talent—it was because she fared worse in literature and music.

Young Nerys couldn’t understand how anyone failed to grasp the material taught in class. She corrected Rhiannon’s clumsy sentences without malice, but her actions wounded Rhiannon’s pride.

“You’re unbelievable. Do you think you’re so great? If you’re so good, why don’t you skip ahead a grade? Do you think any of us ‘want’ to be in the same class as you? That’s why no one likes you.”

Rhiannon’s bold words hit Nerys like a blow.

She was right. Every word hurt.

No one liked Nerys. If even one person had, things might have been different.

Nerys truly didn’t know what she had done wrong, so she blamed everything on herself.

It was near the end of that class when Rhiannon, along with Megara, Alecto, and a few others, passed around notes. Nerys, shrinking under the vague sense that they were all mocking her, thought of Nona.

‘I have a pen pal too. But why hasn’t Nona replied? Is she sick? Or is it like the others? Did she grow to hate me so much that she doesn’t even want to speak to me anymore?’

Lost in her thoughts, Nerys happened to catch a glimpse of the note Rhiannon had carelessly left open on her desk. The paper was covered in exchanged handwriting, filling every inch, rendering it useless now.

She recognized the handwriting—and the signature.

‘[Nona]’

That was when Nerys realized the truth. Nona was Rhiannon’s nickname.

Staring at the signature in disbelief, Nerys was met with irritation from Rhiannon, who snapped at her for looking at someone else’s note before folding it and slipping it into her bag as if nothing had happened.

“You… it was you? You’re Nona? You’re the one who destroyed my secret spot?”

—

For a moment, Nerys saw a flicker of guilt cross Rhiannon’s face, but it quickly disappeared. Rhiannon glared at her, feigning ignorance.

“What are you talking about? What secret spot?”

“You sent me letters! Saying you wanted to be friends. You signed them with ‘Nona.’”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you have any proof?”

Of course, Nerys had proof—all the letters she had exchanged with Nona. But she knew no one would believe her, just like during the bracelet incident.

And even if someone did believe her, it wouldn’t change the fact that the friend she had thought cared for her had never existed.

After that day, Rhiannon began treating Nerys with a thinly veiled hostility, bristling at even the sight of her. Perhaps it stemmed, at first, from guilt—a guilt Rhiannon didn’t want to acknowledge. But soon enough, it turned into open contempt.

“She came at me out of nowhere, calling me a liar. Can you believe it? She must be losing her mind. Thank you for standing up for me; you’re the best,” Rhiannon would say to others.

In an age where peer validation mattered more than anything, friendships often operated on an unwavering belief in a friend’s perfect morality, whether warranted or not.

The students, outraged that someone like Nerys Truydd would dare slander Rhiannon without cause, turned against her. Some approached her multiple times a day, demanding she stop lying and questioning why Rhiannon would ever lie about her.

The escalation reached a peak one day when several classmates cornered Nerys in the school’s back courtyard and beat her.

No matter how much she tried to deny it, her protests were useless. To the students, the important thing wasn’t the truth—it was standing by Rhiannon.

‘Why would a ‘friend’ ever lie to incite such chaos?’ Thus, Rhiannon’s words became gospel.

The incident was the work of children too young to grasp the weight of responsibility and too privileged to feel the need for accountability. What started as a game turned into increasingly severe violence, leaving Nerys frightened and in pain.

Fortunately, before things went too far, a passing teacher noticed her.

Though Nerys suffered no permanent injuries, she was hospitalized in the school infirmary for several days. Returning to the classroom after her discharge required every ounce of courage she could muster.

The students, who had inflicted pain with such cruelty and persistence that it was as if they didn’t even see her as human, no longer seemed like people to her.

Would the same thing happen again once she returned to class? Maybe not in front of the teacher, but what about in the corridors? On her way back to the dormitory?

Her secret spots were no longer safe, and Nerys truly had nowhere left to go. Trembling, she stepped into the classroom, feeling an icy sense of relief as she realized all the students were ignoring her.

As she walked to her usual seat, she glanced at Rhiannon. To her surprise, Rhiannon was also watching her. Their eyes met, and Rhiannon smirked coldly.

“You’re going to go snitch to the teacher again, aren’t you? You can’t do anything on your own, can you?”

“Rini.”

Megara’s soft use of Rhiannon’s nickname instantly silenced her. Nerys watched as Rhiannon grew quiet, a clear indication that Megara had taken charge of the situation.

Later, Nerys would understand why Megara, who usually turned a blind eye to her torment, had intervened this time.

Nerys’ report of the assault was dismissed due to “lack of evidence.”

Evidence? The bruises on Nerys’ body were evidence enough. Witnesses? The teacher who interrupted the attack had seen it all! Yet, no such teacher could be found, and the school concluded that Nerys’ injuries were “unlikely to have resulted from an assault.”

After that, the physical attacks stopped, at least in their original form. But it wasn’t because the students realized Nerys was human.

The brief lull in hostilities was simply the result of a deal struck between the school and Megara to protect the students who had participated in the attack. The victim’s opinion, of course, was never consulted.

—

Why was Rhiannon protected? Why were the others protected?

Nerys couldn’t remember exactly which students had attacked her, but she was certain they were people Megara found useful to her.

Rhiannon, most likely, was more useful than most. As the beloved daughter of the Berta family and a somewhat popular girl, she held a higher social value.

This time, Nerys thought, she would ensure that Rhiannon’s words lost their influence.