Chapter 61

Second-year magic classes were held in the same classroom as the first year.

Most students sat in the same seats as last year, with the only difference being that the seat next to Megara was no longer occupied by Aidalia, but by someone else.

Diane lit up when she spotted Nerys entering the room and waved at her.

“Riz!”

“Hi, Diane.”

The two girls greeted each other with a hug. As Nerys sat down beside Diane, she scanned the classroom.

Many students had grown taller over the summer break. Those who had enjoyed the long vacation looked visibly healthier and happier as they chatted away.

Megara stood out among them. She had turned her head while talking to Albert Resham, who sat to her left, and happened to make eye contact with Nerys.

Megara gave a dazzling smile, as if she were truly delighted. Nerys smiled back.

‘What are you smiling for?’

Nerys’s smile appeared cheerful. Megara, always quick to pick up on such details, immediately noticed that Nerys had gained a little weight over the break and that her cheeks had more color—something that irritated her.

‘How dare she?’

Yes, how dare Nerys Truydd have had a good summer break?

Because of the exam theft incident last semester, Megara had to abandon a rather useful tool. She had gotten away with it, but not without consequences.

While she hadn’t participated in the theft directly, she had been reported for falsely accusing another student to cover for the real culprit. That report had made its way to her household.

The Marquis of Lykeandros wasn’t usually one to interfere with his daughter’s actions. But receiving a formal letter of protest from the student council was a serious matter.

After all, the student council wasn’t just any group—it was a gathering of noble boys and girls destined to lead the empire. To be labeled immoral by such a group? That would spell disaster for his daughter’s marriage prospects.

Compared to that, the friction with the Kendall family was nothing. There was a clear difference in stature between the two houses.

Because of that, Megara had to endure a rather unpleasant vacation. The Marquis of Lykeandros, eager to appear as though he had raised his daughter with proper discipline, banned her from going out for a month.

And when he finally granted permission, it was limited to the Royce estate. She had to miss all the lavish mansion parties on the outskirts of the capital, the riverside gatherings, the forest outings with friends.

And yet, the root of it all had leisurely enjoyed her holiday? Unacceptable.

Megara snorted inwardly. Of course, Nerys’s peaceful days were numbered—Valentin had enrolled.

Valentin Elandria.

That girl, not particularly bright but persistent nonetheless, was still a duke’s daughter. Megara had already given her a proper nudge to wound her pride—Valentin would never leave Nerys alone.

Looking forward to the day when rumors would spread of Nerys Truydd being at her wit’s end, Megara turned her attention to the teacher.

* * *

“This is Isabel, milady.”

Despite her polite tone, Isabel’s eyes couldn’t help but wander across the shabby dorm room. Nerys, seated and receiving the greeting, pointed it out with a languid voice.

“Where are you looking?”

“I apologize, milady.”

Given her years of service in a duke’s household, Isabel knew well the etiquette expected when addressing one’s master. It was undoubtedly rude to scan the room instead of focusing on the person she had come to greet.

But she hadn’t expected this little girl to bring up manners, and so she was slightly taken aback.

A knight’s daughter without even a baron’s rank—there was barely a difference in lifestyle between such nobility and commoners.

Only because she was barely clinging to the lowest rung of nobility did she even qualify for this sort of position, working for an employer who wanted even their servants to appear refined.

As a maid was one of the more popular occupations, Isabel had encountered many daughters of lower-ranking knights at work. Among them, those properly trained in etiquette were few and far between.

And yet this girl… had something else. What was it—a natural authority? Even more so than the Duchess herself…

Without realizing it, Isabel flinched as a word surfaced in her mind that she felt was far too fitting for this child she would now serve.

Impossible. A girl raised in the countryside in poverty?

Before arriving, Isabel had received thorough instructions from Delma. About how disgraceful Nerys’s origins were, how shamelessly she held her head high despite being born to a side branch barely worth calling family.

This so-called display of manners was surely just a bluff. Once properly intimidated, she’d stop talking back.

Surely someone like Isabel, trained for years under the highest members of a ducal household, couldn’t possibly be outmatched by a bumpkin like her. When Isabel decided to assert herself, the girl would surely stumble.

With that thought, Isabel regained her confidence and lifted her chin. And the moment she did, she met Nerys’s eyes—and was startled for the second time.

She’d heard the rumors, but they were true: those vivid, brilliant eyes. Just like the portrait of the first Duke of Elandria—‘Honest Elandria’—hanging in the family estate.

“It seems you haven’t been properly trained.”

Nerys’s lips curled into a faint smile, her eyes gleaming like something out of a painting.

That smile was exactly like the ones Isabel had only caught glimpses of from the highest of guests in the ducal household—those of truly noble blood.

So captivated by the smile, Isabel replied a beat too late in a daze.

“Yes?”

“Yes? It seems the head maid who trained you failed her duties. My brother sent you so I could live comfortably, but it seems you’re not fit for the task. You may leave.”

With that, Nerys turned away.

The firm tone, the cutting words—Isabel was left flustered and frozen. Of course, she couldn’t actually leave. She knew well what would happen if she disappointed both Nellusion and Valentin.

At best, she’d be sent back to the estate. At worst, she could be dismissed without a letter of recommendation—never to be hired by another noble household again.

That could never happen. Isabel wanted to climb higher.

And now, wasn’t this a chance to get into the good graces of both the young lady and young master?

“I apologize, milady! I’ll fix all my shortcomings immediately. Please allow me to serve you! I promise to do my best and never cause you discomfort.”

And so Isabel awkwardly dropped to her knees and began begging.

Nerys turned back around and looked down at her with a bored frown.

Even if someone like Isabel smashed her head against the floor, it wouldn’t impress Nerys. In the Imperial household, that sort of thing didn’t even qualify as punishment.

Knees that could bend and straighten again and again meant nothing.

“Get up. As you can see, this room is quite small. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be done.”

Barely able to breathe properly, Isabel stood up in a hurry. Nerys stared at her with unreadable eyes, then motioned with a flick of her chin.

“It’s been a while since I returned to the dorms, so there’s plenty of laundry. Go wash the bed sheets immediately and hang them to dry. I expect to sleep on clean sheets tonight.”

It was ridiculous. It was already nearly evening. If she washed the sheets now, they’d still be damp by bedtime.

Seeing the confused expression on Isabel’s face, Nerys tilted her head.

“Don’t you know how to press with an iron?”

In other words, she was expected to wash them right now and dry them quickly using an iron. Isabel felt even more wronged than before.

Both laundry and ironing were heavy labor, the kind of chores usually left to the newest maids in a ducal household.

“Milady.”

Thinking this girl clearly didn’t know what a ‘maid’ was supposed to do, Isabel straightened her neck stiffly. Surely someone of her background had never had a servant before.

“What is it?”

“I’m a maid of a ducal house, not a common housemaid. I wasn’t trained to do such tasks and I’m not good at them. My role is to serve and assist you so that you may live with dignity.”

The scorn in Isabel’s voice wiped away the earlier begging. It was as if her desperate pleas to fix her shortcomings had never happened.

Nerys laughed inwardly. Then and now, Isabel was persistent. Even when she bowed her head, her mind was always fixated on being superior to others in some way.

“In that case, I have no use for you. As you can see, what I need in this room is a maid who can handle everything on her own—not someone who simply follows behind me like a child’s attendant.”

Nerys’s tone was far more resolute than Isabel had expected. Isabel was momentarily frozen, unsure how to respond, and darted her eyes around.

The blonde girl spoke gently.

“Kneel again. Looking up at you hurts my neck.”

Isabel dropped to her knees once more. And only then did she realize how naturally she had obeyed, without hesitation.

The tone had been soft, almost coaxing, but every word from Nerys had been a command. A command that even an adult like Isabel obeyed without question.

“If that’s how you are, it’s best you leave. I have no need for a servant who doesn’t understand her duties. A servant who ignores her master’s words is even more useless than one who can’t do her job. …Oh, and earlier, didn’t you say you would fix your shortcomings?”

That wasn’t the end of it. Nerys lowered her gaze and continued.

“How do you expect to fix stupidity? Come to think of it, there’s no way Nellusion would have sent me a girl who wasn’t properly trained. So it must be that you weren’t improperly taught—just too dim to learn anything, isn’t that right?”

Isabel almost shouted from the frustration and rage, but her last ounce of reason barely held her back. She’d just protested a little, that was all! Did she really deserve to be humiliated like this?

Every impression Isabel had of Nerys Truydd until now had been wrong. This brat had a temper as nasty as her background. A truly horrible girl.

She wished Lady Valentin would put her in her place and drive her away!

It was as if Nerys could see right through Isabel’s thoughts. People show their true selves when they’re faced with someone they believe to be beneath them—but who holds something they want.

And ever since she’d been adopted into the ducal house, Nerys had seen Isabel’s true nature plenty of times.

Nerys looked back at Isabel and sighed elegantly.

“Are you mute? Why don’t you tell me yourself, Isabel? Are you stupid, or should I tell Nellusion that none of the maids in House Elandria—from the head maid down—are properly trained? A maid who walks behind her master and upholds their dignity is called a senior maid. To assign such duties, my brother would’ve sent someone of better birth than you, along with another servant just to care for her.”

This girl knew the hierarchy among servants? Isabel turned pale and prostrated herself on the floor, begging desperately.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, milady! It was my fault. My inadequacy caused you discomfort! I’ll do better, I swear I will! Please…!”

Nerys sighed again, sounding like an adult. Isabel felt even that sigh stab like a needle.

Her heart pounded in fear. What if this child really went running to the young master and said something awful?

Then a voice came, like salvation.

“I’ll let it go this time. Not because I think you’re useful, but out of respect for my brother and Valentin. Don’t be mistaken. Work sincerely.”

“Yes, milady! Thank you, thank you…!”

“Can you do the laundry now?”

“I’ll do as you say, milady.”

With that, Isabel added a line with a sense of relief.

“Um, would you like to eat first?”

“Eat?”

With an expression that clearly said how dare you comment on my schedule, Nerys raised one thin, dark eyebrow. Isabel lowered her eyes and responded politely.

“Lady Valentin invited you to dinner by the lakeside tonight, milady. She said to meet her at the white pavilion by the lake.”

“Is that so?”

Nerys smiled gently. Isabel, who already had a vague idea of what Valentin had prepared for tonight, barely suppressed her urge to smirk in triumph.

Let’s see how long that smug face lasts! Hopefully that brat faints from the shock—or better, catches a cold and dies!