My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 41
“……!”
Her vision lurched, and Ivy froze, unable to move.
His breath touched her. Warm.
Before that warmth could fade, the phantom images from last night surfaced in her suddenly narrowed field of vision.
How long had she stayed like that, perfectly still?
“……Ivy Underwood.”
Only when she heard him call her name softly did she break free from that stubborn memory.
Through the misaligned frame of her glasses, his eyes fixed on her with a clarity she hadn’t noticed before—sharper, more vivid than anything filtered through the lenses. The thought arrived, incongruous and unbidden.
“Speak.”
Speak about what?
When Ivy’s lips merely trembled, he spoke again.
“Refute it.”
“…….”
“Tell me what doesn’t add up. What you think.”
“……I have nothing to refute.”
“Underwood.”
Only then did he pull his face back from where it had been nearly touching hers, straightening his glasses by the bridge with long fingers.
“You’re genuinely terrible at lying.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what you’ve been hiding this whole time, but I have no interest in it. No reason to care.”
“…….”
“Same with this Debate Competition.”
When his hand moved closer, Ivy flinched, shoulders drawing inward.
But he merely took her glasses by the frame and straightened them properly on her face.
As the arm settled behind her ear, his fingertips brushed against her skin—a touch unexpectedly careful, almost tender.
“So stop looking like a prisoner mounting the stand.”
Her glasses sat properly now. Even after his hand withdrew, the skin behind her ear still tingled.
He retreated a handspan away, yet remained uncomfortably close—near enough to feel like a warning.
“You’re walking into war. And right now, I’m on your side.”
Cyrus Quinton, an ally.
The thought felt strange—the person she’d always insisted must be defeated was now supposedly her ally. Yet hearing it from his own mouth didn’t sound so bad.
In fact, it felt strangely reassuring.
Oddly so.
“Understood?”
He asked it as if confirming.
The gentleness from when he’d straightened her glasses had vanished without trace.
“……Yes.”
Ivy answered with pursed lips, uncomfortable with the feeling, then bent her head back toward her notes.
He returned to reviewing the other arguments.
‘But what in the world was that just now?’
Usually, when two people found themselves that close, they instinctively pulled away—didn’t they?
Distance in sight, distance in body.
Yet neither of them had moved hastily in that moment.
‘I have the dream to blame, but why did Cyrus just stay still?’
Perhaps……
‘Is it because he has no friends, so he doesn’t understand proper distance with others?’
Or was he trying to warn her with that intensity, to pull herself together?
Regardless, what he’d said was true.
Ivy had indeed been treating this Debate Competition like her own trial.
But really, it was simply a place to argue for an assigned position as persuasively as possible.
And she was here representing other students. She had an obligation to do her best.
Thinking of it that way, her heart grew lighter.
“Ah.”
Cyrus, who had been studying her phone’s notes, suddenly looked up as if remembering something.
“Looks like you got a DM. There was a notification.”
“Really?”
Probably some Dormitory student sending a request. Her DM inbox was usually full of things like that.
Ivy took the phone he offered.
A new message had arrived, and she opened it absently, a faint smile already on her lips.
Click.
But the moment she saw the details, the tips of her fingers went pale where they gripped the phone.
A message from an anonymous account.
In it was a photo of Tiffany. From a few days ago, wearing ‘that headband.’
[@Unknown: Doesn’t it suit you better? Let’s meet later.]
This was definitely a message from someone who ‘knew’ everything.
Who was it? And what did ‘meet later’ mean……?
“What’s wrong?”
Quinton asked, studying her expression.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Ivy quickly killed the screen and forced a smile.
“Looks like another troublesome thing has come up.”
“…….”
His silent face seemed to repeat: ‘You’re genuinely terrible at lying.’
Mercifully, he didn’t press further.
“You got a call too. You should check it.”
“A…… call?”
Could it have been from that anonymous person?
No, that couldn’t be.
“It was a man.”
“You picked up my phone?!”
“I had no choice. The calls kept coming, and they were interrupting my focus.”
Good grief—a man? Who?
The only student Ivy knew who’d be bothersome enough to call her was Logan. But Quinton would certainly know Logan’s voice, so perhaps it really was……
“His name was Owen.”
“……!”
Owen?!
Ivy almost shrieked aloud.
This was worse than if the anonymous person had called.
Please tell me he didn’t immediately start calling her ‘Princess’?!
Ivy studied Cyrus’s face carefully, checking whether he’d caught onto anything suspicious.
He seemed to have a gift for uncovering her lies.
“I just said it was your phone and answered, so he started shouting at me.”
“What was he going on about?”
“Nothing particularly remarkable. That I should hand the phone back to you immediately. Oh, and something about calling the police?”
“……Good grief. So?”
“I told him it was bothering me and hung up.”
She could practically see Owen fainting at such audacity.
Ivy shoved the returned phone into her pocket.
‘Owen’s going to be furious when I call him back.’
Ever since the anonymous message had arrived, Owen had been constantly advising her to keep her phone on her at all times.
For safety.
And of course, a call would come while she’d briefly lent it to someone.
At least he hadn’t revealed his identity to Cyrus. That was something.
“……So, who was he?”
Cyrus now flipped through the notebook Ivy had brought, asking in a quiet voice.
Why would he care about that? Had something seemed off after all?
“He’s…… just someone I know?”
“Just someone you know gets that angry?”
Because he’s my secretary. An extremely overprotective secretary, at that!
The honest answer screamed silently in her mind as she forced out something else.
“He can be like that. He’s family to me, and I cause a lot of trouble, so……”
“Family to you?”
“What? I……”
“So he’s not actually blood-related.”
Stop digging! Please!
Ivy felt like screaming.
Fortunately, her phone ringing was a blessing.
A perfect excuse to slip away from this interrogation……
[Owen]
But the moment she saw the name on the screen, she found herself checking Cyrus’s reaction.
“Answer it. Your ‘family’ seems worried.”
He said it with undisguised mockery.
Ivy made a face as she climbed down from the flower bed and stepped away to take the call.
“Hello?”
Now Owen was definitely going to lose his mind.
He’d grill her in detail about why his phone had been in Cyrus’s possession.
But there wouldn’t be time to explain everything now—she also needed to tell him about the message she’d received……
-Princess.
“……What?”
His voice came through unexpectedly grave.
-Listen carefully. I’m heading your way now. Is Cyrus Quinton with you?
Quick and tense.
Owen only moved like this when danger was closing in on her.
“Not right next to me. But he’s nearby.”
-Don’t separate from him. From this moment on, don’t move alone, no matter what. Do you understand?
It was ominous. That Owen—Owen, of all people—would tell her not to leave Quinton’s side.
He had always classified Quinton as an ‘enemy,’ a sinister figure who would strip away her freedom of choice.
“I hear you. What’s happening?”
-That.
Owen’s words cut off briefly, probably because he was driving. She could almost feel how recklessly fast he was coming toward her.
-The anonymous message.
“Did you identify who sent it?”
Ivy asked, her voice trembling.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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