My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 63

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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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Chapter 63
“Ah, I suppose you’re right.”
Ivy felt a snide remark climb up her throat, but she swallowed it for the sake of the princess’s dignity.
In any case, his explanation was sufficient.
He was simply saying that he found it tedious to carry the jacket around, she was cold, and so supply and demand matched perfectly.
But there was a problem with this.
She couldn’t enjoy this sweet escape from the middle of the reception all by herself.
And it was too chilly to take off the jacket just yet.
‘I’ll give it back after a bit, somehow, and then slip away somewhere inconspicuous.’
While she sipped the still-warm Hot Chocolate and thought this, Ivy’s footsteps faltered.
A flower stall overflowing with spring blooms—daffodils, tulips, and white roses.
Cyrus, who had been walking a few steps ahead, turned back to look.
Before he could say anything, she answered quickly, not wanting to hear it.
“I know—flowers. The reproductive organ of flowering plants, right?”
“No.”
He adjusted his Silver Glasses.
“Stopping suddenly in a crowded place is dangerous.”
“But your feet stop when you see something beautiful.”
Besides, there was room enough here; people could move around freely.
Ivy’s gaze shifted to a woman buying a bundle of daffodils wrapped in brown paper.
Was she decorating her home for her family?
Her own governess used to do that—to display the eggs Ivy had painted alongside the flowers.
Had the governess bought flowers somewhere in this Market, to arrange them with her own son’s painted eggs?
Suddenly, she wondered if Cyrus’s home had such scenes too.
“Did you decorate your home? I mean… you, specifically.”
As they resumed walking side by side, Ivy fumbled over what to call him, tangling her words.
“Well, I’m not sure.”
He answered after a brief pause.
Perhaps he’d considered pointing out her strange phrasing but decided against it.
“My mother probably does, most likely.”
She recalled him mentioning his mother once—that she was fond of children and worked caring for them.
“That’s nice. So your mother decorates the house with flowers, your father changes the cushion covers, and you paint eggs?”
“Ordinary households don’t stage such drama.”
“Drama?”
She widened her eyes and glared at him.
“A woman just bought a bunch of daffodils. That’s not drama—it’s right in front of us!”
“One woman hardly constitutes a meaningful sample.”
The familiar response came back.
So familiar that she nearly forgot she was in disguise and cried out.
“Moreover, inferring an entire harmonious domestic scene from the single fragmentary fact that someone purchased flowers is a logical leap too far.”
It felt like a debate tournament nightmare awakening.
“So you’re saying my claim that you paint eggs is a ‘logical leap,’ is that right?”
Well then, she’d make a leap for him.
Ivy grabbed Cyrus’s arm and pulled him toward a pink tent that had just come into view.
It was an experience booth where visitors could paint Wooden Eggs. Children and couples sat happily, coloring wooden eggs together.
Ivy claimed an empty seat and offered the one beside her to Cyrus.
“Sit. This seems like a perfect chance to experience what a logical leap feels like together.”
His eyes behind his glasses seemed to narrow slightly, but soon he exhaled and sat down beside her.
Cyrus drew a rabbit on the egg.
He’d drawn it so poorly that she wanted to tease him, but thinking of the princess’s grace, she offered instead: “What a unique rabbit.”
He gazed thoughtfully at her painting, then asked:
“An egg yolk?”
“That’s rude! It’s a chick!”
Ivy swatted his arm in protest—she’d just heard the worst possible insult a chick could receive.
But looking at the yellow circle she’d drawn, his misunderstanding wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
“If I attach Stickers for the beak and eyes, it’ll look charming. I’ve done this for years, you know. Look.”
She confidently placed an eye sticker on it.
Now it would surely be an adorable chick….
……
It wasn’t.
The eyes were so large that it just looked like some strange creature with enormous eyes.
“What a unique chick.”
He returned the courtesy, offering his refined opinion.
The booth attendant placed both distinctive eggs into one bag and handed it to Cyrus.
“See? This proves my logic wasn’t that much of a leap after all.”
When Ivy said this proudly, he stared down at the bag of eggs instead of answering.
She would have bet her notes from last semester that he was thinking: ‘Here they are, made like this, and still she claims such things.’
Well, what did she care. As long as it was made, that was enough.
“Decorating your home for Easter is not something that only happens in dramas. You’ve just proven it with your own two hands—”
Ivy had been chattering away happily beside Cyrus when she suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
In the crowd flowing toward them from the opposite direction, she’d glimpsed—no, seen—a familiar face.
‘Logan Blake!’
She glanced around, and the first thing that caught her eye was Cyrus’s unnecessarily tall frame.
His head stood a full head above others, so he’d definitely be noticed.
Logan would definitely find Cyrus and appear right in front of them.
Ivy’s appearance was so different from usual that she probably wouldn’t be recognized, but……
‘The problem is that Cyrus is the top student, and I’m currently in princess mode.’
How this would look to him.
What rumors would spread through school.
If those rumors leaked beyond the school itself……
It was terrible.
Both sides of the path were lined with stalls—a perfect dead end with no way out.
There was no way to avoid meeting Logan.
Warning lights began flashing frantically in Ivy’s mind.
“This way.”
Her hand was caught at that moment. Her body followed without hesitation.
As if it already knew how to be drawn by this hand.
Cyrus immediately pulled her through the gap between the stalls, and beyond that lay a narrow passage between buildings.
A quiet place with almost no foot traffic.
The moment they stepped into the narrow Alley, the clamor of the Market receded all at once. Her heart jumped once at the silence.
From the darkness, Ivy looked back toward the Market.
Sunlight streamed down on the main path. Logan Blake, oblivious to anything, passed by in front.
“Ha……”
Cyrus let out a short breath.
“Whew… I’m alive.”
And at the same moment, Ivy too exhaled. She’d really thought they were caught.
But the brief relief didn’t last.
Soon, she realized one thing.
In this situation, Princess Evelyn couldn’t afford to look relieved watching Blake pass by!
She was supposed to be bewildered by suddenly being dragged into an Alley.
And she’d just made such a careless mistake!
Her mouth went dry.
Whether it was the shadow of the narrow Alley or something else, his eyes behind the Silver Glasses held an unusually deep shadow.
Was that skepticism in the cool silence?
If so, it was the worst outcome.
As far as she knew, Cyrus Quinton didn’t let observed problems pass lightly.
He simply peeled away the shell until the kernel of truth emerged.
She had to make an excuse.
Any excuse, quickly.
Fortunately, several explanations came to mind.
That she’d seen someone she knew, that an aide had passed by, things like that.
“……I.”
But she couldn’t say it.
The reason…… she couldn’t quite articulate it. When their eyes met properly, she just froze.
Before him now, any plausible excuse seemed to feel like cheap theater, or perhaps she was simply tired of lying.
……
She gave up trying to escape the situation and slowly lowered her head.
Then, over her hand that remained held, his thumb slowly traced downward.
Once. And then again. Tenderly.
Unbidden, a certain thought arose.
Perhaps he already knew everything.
Ivy lifted her head again. His gaze was still there, and the gentle stroke of her hand continued.
Ivy’s lips parted.
“Maybe……”

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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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