"No... I just suddenly stopped moving, so I wondered if there was something in my bag."
Diane felt uneasy due to the endless speculation. Neris spoke softly.
"There's just my book and stationery in my bag."
Megara's method was the same as before, both in her previous life and now. The only difference was that the current young Megara's torment was somewhat amateurish.
If Megara were just a few years older, she would boast of her cruelty, making it difficult for adults to handle her. However, for now, she was still cute and innocent-looking.
Neris's words made Angrad's eyes flutter in surprise. What's going on? Shouldn't he be screaming and getting scared?
Angrad, who became anxious, asked in a slightly teasing tone.
"That's right? Can I take a look at your bag?"
It wasn't unusual for students at the noble academy to show each other the contents of their bags. It was a decent excuse for a 12-year-old Angrad. Neris smiled faintly.
"I'm sorry, but my bag is a mess. I'm embarrassed to show it to you, so I'll show it to you next time."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. My bag is also a mess."
Angrad's voice grew louder. The surrounding children looked at Angrad and Neris after hearing his sudden outburst.
Soon, a few people's mouths curled up in ridicule. The reasons for their ridicule varied.
What's with Angrad, sticking to her like that... If she's a duke's daughter, what's the big deal? She's just a poor rural noble, making a fuss in class and not knowing shame... She doesn't even have a proper nanny, so it's no wonder she's messy...
The two duchesses, who were considered to have the highest status in the class, pretended not to be interested and simply observed the small commotion. A faint smile appeared on Megara's lips.
"But I'm embarrassed."
However, Neris spoke firmly, with an attitude that might be considered cold by many people.
There was no other way. Angrad, unable to back down, reached out to grab Neris's bag.
It was now or never. If he missed this chance, he would have to find another excuse later, so he might as well try to take it now.
However, Diane took Neris's bag before Angrad could. She closed the bag tightly and placed it between Neris and her own chair.
"The teacher is coming."
The atmosphere was becoming too strange, so one of the children said that. Angrad looked anxious, but he could only sit quietly and look ahead.
Neris smiled kindly at her friends, as if she had never looked at Megara before. And she laughed inwardly.
Your lizard tail is still the same, but what can I do? Now your tail can only squirm on its own and can't intimidate me.
Mrs. Lunis, the dance teacher, clapped her hands.
"Change partners!"
The violin player took a brief break, and the children's curious gazes swept across the large hall. Popular children had many partners to choose from, while unpopular ones were often left alone.
"Hello?"
As soon as Mrs. Lunis spoke, a boy ran straight towards Neris with a smile.
Neris didn't welcome him with a smile. She simply didn't want to be bothered.
"Hello."
"Are you Neris Truedeji? Can I call you Nell?"
"No."
The boy looked disappointed when Neris rejected him with a smile. Mrs. Lunis clapped her hands three times, and the children who hadn't found partners quickly grabbed anyone nearby.
The violin began to play a lively tune again, and the children started dancing.
"Hey, can I ask why not?"
The two of them held hands and took slow steps. Neris lied to him in a gentle, adult-like tone.
"Nell doesn't suit me."
It was a nickname for Nerlysion.
"But it does suit you?"
The boy's eyes widened. His expression was innocent, but Neris knew how he had tormented her throughout her school years and how cowardly he had become with age, so she didn't sympathize with him at all.
"Haha! Look at the dirty Truede moving, just a little movement and the rotten milk will cover that girl!"
The boy who had started the prank of pouring rotten milk on Neris's head was someone else, but it was clear that it had given this boy a good idea. In her previous life, Neris had suffered from it multiple times.
"It doesn't suit me. So don't call me that."
The boy's spirit was crushed, and he had no choice but to give up on calling her by that nickname.
Neris found everyone in the classroom, including this boy, to be disgusting, but she danced with him politely.
When the dance was over, Mrs. Lunis clapped her hands again to change partners. Another boy who had been eyeing Neris quickly approached her and took her hand.
The four boys who had missed their timing looked disappointed and dispersed. Alekto, who had been standing alone without a partner, lightly protested.
"Hey, don't I get to dance?"
Alekto wasn't objectively pretty, and she had a prickly personality. Her classmates thought she was interesting, but she wasn't particularly popular among boys.
The 12-year-old boys were shameless and lacked manners. One of them stuck out his tongue at Alekto, who was pouting.
"There!"
The boy thought that Alekto would take his behavior as a joke, but Alekto, being a normal child, was naturally hurt and pouted. Neris pretended not to notice.
Alekto tidied up her red hair, which had become disheveled while dancing, and in the process, the cream-colored satin ribbon on her hair came undone and fell to the floor.
Alekto quickly left to find a new partner before the music started again. Amidst the commotion of children's heads, no one noticed what had just happened, except for one person.
"Hello, Neris!"
Neris responded to the boy who had approached her with a friendly tone, but without using a nickname.
"Hello."
"You dance well."
"Thank you."
Neris's response was gentle, but her words were firm and didn't give in. However, the boy persisted, his eyes sparkling.
"There's a lower-grade dance party hosted by the student council next weekend. Will you be my partner?"
Luckily, Neris had an excuse to refuse.
"I'm sorry, but I won't be attending the dance party. I have a project to submit the following week, so I need to study."
"Study again? On the night of the dance party? Don't do that and just take a break that day."
"I have to work harder because I'm taking classes with my seniors."
In reality, the project to be submitted the following week was a research assignment on international politics, which wouldn't be difficult for her. She knew not only the current international situation but also the underlying international dynamics.
However, the boy looked disappointed and Neris pretended to stumble and bumped into a black-haired girl, Rianon, who was standing nearby.
Rianon spoke to Neris in a nervous tone.
"What are you doing?"
"Sorry, I made a mistake."
Neris apologized with a calm face. Rianon wanted to scold Neris more, but since they were in front of a teacher, she only warned her in a low voice.
"Be careful. If you get my dress dirty, you'll be responsible, right?"
"Hey, Rianon Berta."
Neris's partner glared at her with a showy expression.
"Don't talk like that."
"What did I do? Did I curse or say something wrong?"
"People can make mistakes, can't they? You didn't make mistakes while dancing, did you? You danced so well?"
"Why are you picking a fight? You're funny."
Rianon said this while quickly grabbing her partner's hand and leaving. Neris watched her partner's proud expression as if it was ridiculous.
Before returning, the current freshman had done something similar to this during dance class when they were around 14 years old.
At that time, Rianon and her partner had danced together, and Rianon had bumped into Neris, who was left alone, stumbling and holding onto thin air. The two of them had ridiculed Neris together.
"Be careful. If you get my dress dirty, you'll be responsible, right?"
"What are you talking about? It's already dirty. Rianon, your clothes touched hers."
Rianon, who would become beautiful in a few years, had a charming appearance that would attract attention.
This partner also wanted to get Rianon's attention, so they spoke ill of Neris. It was similar to how Rianon had spoken strongly to Neris just now.
However, the partner, who didn't know about the past or future, asked Neris in a very adult-like and friendly tone.
"So, are you going to Angrad's party this weekend?"
But Neris didn't have any interest in her partner.
He was a useless person, only needed when necessary, but ultimately destined to be discarded.
"I'll go."
"It seems like the whole class is invited. If you go, I'll go too."
Just like before, Angrad had hosted a party around this time, inviting the whole class, and had spent a lot of money to impress the lower-ranking nobles. In Neris's memory, Angrad had made many friends at that party.
But it remained to be seen whether they would become friends this time as well.
Neris had bumped into Rianon on purpose, using her acting skills to pretend to be careless.
"My shoelace is undone. Just for a moment."
"Ah, okay."
Her partner looked like they wanted to help her tie her shoelace, but fortunately, they didn't overdo it.
Neris deliberately retied her perfectly fine shoelace and tapped her shoe on the floor a few times. Then, she picked up the cream-colored ribbon that had fallen nearby.
The satin ribbon, which was originally shiny and beautiful and loved by nobles, now looked dull and worn out. Neris checked the cream-colored hair tie on one end of the ribbon, which had a subtle embroidery, and smiled faintly.
"Alekto."
Alekto finally realized that her ribbon was missing and was frantically searching the floor around her. Neris approached her and handed her the ribbon.
"I found it over there. Weren't you wearing it earlier?"
"Ah!"
Alekto was delighted to receive the ribbon from Neris.
"Thank you. It's mine. I bought it at a high price in the capital and thought I'd lost it."
"I'm glad I found it. Take good care of it. These days, everyone's wearing similar ribbons, so it's hard to tell whose is whose if you lose it."
"Ah, thank you so much. I had my initials embroidered on it, so I can tell it's mine. Ah, the kids stepped on it. I need to clean it."
Just because Alekto was happy to get her ribbon back, it didn't mean she started liking Neris, but her attitude softened for a moment due to her joy. Neris simply nodded and left.