Kapitel 11: [Chapter 12] The Real Thief
"Nell, Diane, thanks for coming."
"Thanks for inviting us."
Neris and Diane greeted Angrad and handed her a small gift. In the Empire's noble culture, it was customary to give a small gift to the host as a token of appreciation.
Angrad, who was dressed in a fashionable cream-colored dress, smiled in delight. Neris's gift was a delicious-looking blueberry jam, and Diane's gift was an expensive, high-quality chocolate.
"The jam looks really delicious, Nell. Diane, the chocolate is really pretty. I'll enjoy eating it."
Diane raised an eyebrow when Angrad continued to call Neris "Nell" after the bag incident, but she didn't say anything since they were guests at the party.
Angrad spoke in a mature tone, befitting a host.
"Megara and Idalia were invited to a gathering of high-ranking nobles. But since everyone else is here, go and greet them."
Although they attended the same classes and called each other by their names, the two duchesses were actually in a different social class from the other children.
There was one archduke, three princes, and five dukes.
The members of the nine great noble families, who were considered high nobles in the Empire, were so noble that they hardly noticed the difference between lower-ranking nobles and commoners.
Idalia, the daughter of the Kendal duke, tended to stick with Megara, but Megara, who was the daughter of the Rikendros duke, a family with more power than the Kendal duke, showed kindness to the other students. This was one of the reasons why Megara was extremely popular.
"But if there's a gathering of high-ranking nobles, there's no reason for her to decline that and come to Angrad's party instead."
It was actually a good thing. If Megara got involved in today's events, things would get complicated.
Neris took Diane's hand, and they entered the party hall together. Unlike Angrad, who had invited the whole class to the party, Diane's dorm room was not large enough to accommodate everyone, so the party was being held in one of the Academy's historic banquet halls.
"It's old-fashioned."
Diane evaluated the banquet hall, which had old-fashioned arch pillars, with a single word. Neris chuckled.
"It's an old building. I heard they used to hold many masses for the theology department here."
"Ah, I see."
Diane's cute eyes widened.
"The theology department has moved to a new building, and now this place is used as a banquet hall."
"That's right. This building itself was a temple. If you go a bit further, you'll find a lot of spiders, right?"
Diane was delighted by Neris's knowledgeable comment.
"You're really knowledgeable, Liz. But I need to go to the bathroom now. The way from the dorm to here was too long."
Diane said, and Neris nodded in understanding.
"Let's go together. The bathroom is upstairs."
Diane couldn't help but nod at Neris's offer. If it were a more luxurious party, they could have asked for help from the staff, but Angrad only had one maid who was busy running between the kitchen and the banquet hall.
"Okay, thanks."
"I'm thirsty, so I'll just grab a drink and come back."
"Okay."
Neris left Diane to chat with a suitable classmate and headed to the table with drinks and food. She poured herself a glass of peach punch and then returned to where Diane was.
"Let's go."
The lower-ranking noble child who was chatting with Diane also spoke to Neris.
"Next month, I was thinking of organizing a casual gathering with Angrad and Hardy. Would you like to come if it's okay with you? It's a gathering for lower-ranking nobles, and some 2nd and 3rd-year seniors will be there too."
The Academy had gatherings for high-ranking nobles like the one Megara and Idalia attended today, but there were also many gatherings for lower-ranking nobles. It was natural for people of similar social status to gather, as it was a good way to find potential marriage partners and strengthen their relationships. There were countless other gatherings that could only be held at the Academy.
In her previous life, Angrad had taken on the role of distributing invitations to class gatherings shortly after entering school. And Neris was always excluded from the list of recipients.
Neris was the lowest-ranking and poorest among her classmates, and she had no friends, so no one objected when she was openly excluded.
"Okay, send me a card later."
"Okay, thanks."
Neris and Diane said their goodbyes and headed to the upstairs bathroom. Diane quickly finished her business and washed her hands with cold water from the marble basin. Neris helped Diane wash her hands and then had Diane help her wash hers.
As the two girls were heading back downstairs to the banquet hall, they heard a loud noise coming from the stairs.
Someone was shouting in a loud, angry voice. The joyful noise of the party, which had been faintly audible until they went to the bathroom, had completely stopped.
"Is this yours?"
Diane and Neris's eyes widened in unison. Their footsteps became more cautious, and they quickly headed towards the banquet hall door.
The banquet hall door was open, as it was during the party, and the noise from inside was echoing out into the hallway.
"Look straight!"
The angry voice shouted again. The two girls carefully entered the banquet hall.
As they entered, they saw a commotion in the hall.
The two girls carefully entered the banquet hall, and they saw that all the party attendees were gathered in a circle, staring at something in the center. Diane and Neris stood on tiptoes to see what was happening and found that Angrad and Alekto were standing in the middle of the circle.
Angrad's face was red, and her hair was disheveled, while Alekto was still pouting.
"Oh no, miss. Please don't fight."
"Miss, please don't behave roughly."
Angrad's maid and Alekto's servant were trying to calm down their respective masters, and Angrad's hair was a mess.
When Diane saw the cream-colored ribbon in Alekto's hand, she covered her mouth. Neris raised an eyebrow.
Alekto was shaking the ribbon in front of Angrad's face, looking fierce.
"You thief! Don't you have anything to say? Why did you steal someone else's property? And you're hosting a party with the stolen goods? A party that's infested with bugs?"
"What are you talking about? Why is Angrad a thief?"
Diane whispered to a nearby child, who was watching the scene with interest.
"Angrad stole Alekto's ribbon."
Diane looked surprised.
"Why? She has her own ribbon."
"That one got wet from a drink last time."
"Didn't she wash it?"
"I don't know, maybe the stain didn't come out. Anyway, Alekto had her initials embroidered on her ribbon, and it was found on the ribbon Angrad was wearing."
The child turned to Neris and asked.
"Weren't you friends with Angrad when you were younger?"
"I don't know, I don't remember."
Angrad's voice was shaking with anger.
"How could you say that? We were never friends. Don't talk to me. The other kids will misunderstand. They'll think I'm a thief too."
Neris felt like she was hearing the voice of both the young Angrad and the grown-up Angrad at the same time.
In the past, when Neris was a freshman, a child had lost a gold coin during a party. It was common for kids to lose things while playing, but the problem was that some people accused Neris of being the thief.
Including Angrad.
The whole class had gathered to search Neris's bag, and they found the gold coin inside.
No one knew if the coin was the same one that had been lost during the party, but no one paid attention to that fact. Someone even claimed to have seen Neris stealing the coin, so it was obvious that it was the same coin.
Neris's honest explanation that she didn't know why she had the coin didn't help at all.
This incident was the spark that brought the bullying that had been going on beneath the surface to the forefront.
Neris's belongings, hair, and clothes were constantly filled with bugs or leaves. One year, a popular game among freshmen was to see who could throw the most stones or acorns at Neris Truede's "dull and matte" hair.
At the time, Angrad had pretended to be innocent while enthusiastically and humorously drawing a line between herself and Neris. And whenever she had the chance, she would morally criticize Neris's behavior, using it as an excuse to bond with the other kids. She would periodically bring up the theft incident so that the kids wouldn't forget.
As an adult, Angrad had spread rumors about Neris in social circles, including one related to this incident.
At the time, Neris had been sad and resentful, but she couldn't figure out who the real culprit was. She knew she hadn't stolen anything, but she didn't know what Angrad had seen.
However, now that she thought about it with a clear mind...
"Back then, Angrad was the only one who could have accessed my bag."
In the Academy, where classes were held in different locations, students rarely left their bags unattended. Sometimes, when they went to the bathroom, a friend sitting next to them would watch their bag.
Angrad had been the person closest to being a friend to Neris when she was a freshman.
And...
"Angrad started hosting class gatherings around that time."
That was a strange coincidence.
Unlike the nine great noble families, the criteria for lower-ranking nobles were not clear-cut. However, the Nain baron was a poor rural lord with no connections to the capital, so most kids considered Angrad a lower-ranking noble.
But how could she, of all people, host class parties that included the children of the great noble families throughout her school years? It wasn't as if Angrad was the sole host, but it was still unusual.
In the Empire's social culture, being the one to distribute invitations meant having considerable power.
It was unlikely that Angrad, who was weak, had fought to obtain such a good role.
Unless someone had allowed her to take on that role in exchange for something big.
And Neris thought she knew who that person was.
A duchess who could have attended only high-ranking noble gatherings without anyone objecting, but who had always attended class parties.
"Thanks for the fun yesterday, Angrad. Will you be distributing the invitations again at the next class gathering?"
"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Megara, for always attending. I'd love to do it again at the next gathering..."
As a child or as an adult, Angrad might have thought she was acting to survive. But Neris no longer cared about such excuses, nor could she care.
Because she wouldn't give Angrad the chance to make such excuses.
It was Angrad who had chosen the easier and more cowardly path.
"Angrad seems to think we were close friends, but I... well, it's a bit embarrassing to say something bad in this situation."
"Why be embarrassed? Did you tell her to steal the ribbon or something?"
The child laughed and said this, and Diane asked patiently.
"What's with the bugs?"
"Right, don't drink the peach punch. There's a spider in it."
"Ugh."
Diane and Neris both made a face. The child shrugged.
"It's not surprising, given how old the building is. It's only natural that there are spiders around."
"That means we don't know where else there might be spiders."
"Exactly. So, everyone's leaving."
Indeed, the servants were starting to come in and escort their masters out. Angrad shouted, tears streaming down her face.
"No! I didn't steal it! That's my ribbon, which Masca washed for me!"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein