My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 72

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

Chapter 72
Fabian returned to his room and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Did Ivy know?
How much her voice had trembled when she said it.
How tightly she’d clenched her fists.
And more than anything, those eyes brimming with guilt.
His shadow filling them completely.
That was when he understood.
That he had come all this way for this moment.
Hoping that only he would occupy the gaze of the girl who had turned away from him.
Buzz—his phone rang. He reached out blindly and brought it to him.
He checked the school announcements, scrolled through social media, then froze on a post.
[I’m going to find you, no matter what.]
It was Tiffany’s story.
Alongside a photo of the Headband, Jewelry, and Bag that Fabian had once bought her as a means of access, all lined up on her vanity.
‘I should’ve been smarter about this.’
Nothing he’d done through Tiffany had ever satisfied him.
He’d thought until now that it was because his tool was inadequate, but today proved otherwise.
What he’d really wanted was perhaps…….
“……I wish tomorrow would hurry and come.”
He murmured it under his breath.
Life would begin where Ivy didn’t avoid him.
How much would she look at him with eyes soaked in guilt.
And sometimes, perhaps, she’d tremble with the fear that his true nature might be exposed.
In all those moments, Ivy still wouldn’t be able to turn her gaze away from him.
Whether that alone would be enough to ease his long resentment…….
He didn’t know yet.
* * *
Cyrus set down the book Ivy had returned to him with a soft thud on his desk.
Good.
He repeated it to himself as he sat down.
His hand trailing across the book’s surface was careful. Careful without even realizing it.
As always, the answer was within the pages.
He’d thought he’d never forgotten that truth, but this time he had. Foolishly.

The words he’d said while deliberately pulling her back as she tried to leave.
The perfect Apollo.
Not merely foolish and selfish, but ultimately destructive of those around him.
He already knew what he should do.
Do nothing.
Let the troublesome thoughts fade away.
But why had he acted that way today?
Her face flushed as she poured out her rambling words—it felt as though something lay hidden within them.
Perhaps he’d wanted to take it out and see what it was.
How pathetic.
It was unlikely there was anything there that he’d ever longed for, and more importantly——
……you can’t afford to hope for such things.
Ivy Underwood was an inconvenient person.
She always had been.
Never once pretending to be a princess, she’d always tried to stand equal with him in every way.
But she’d never know.
That a day would never come when they could truly be equal.
That this pretense of indifference only made him more uncomfortable.
That the harder she tried, the more it caught his attention, the more it bothered him.
And she would never know, either.
How long he had cursed the royal family.
“…….”
So it was good this way.
The fracture that appeared between them today would dutifully expand, and soon they would return to a time when nothing had happened at all.
He approached the bookshelf to return the book to its place.
As he searched for the book’s original spot, a Memo that had been wedged there fell to the floor with a soft tap.
“…….”
Just as it had when he’d tried to lend the book to Ivy once before.
He bent down slowly. And picked up the Memo he’d hidden then, saying it was “personal.”
The thin, small thing that now lay in his palm.
Holding it, he stood before the bookshelf again.
“……Sigh.”
The Memo was hidden once more behind Metamorphoses Book 1.
Back in its original place.
Beneath the foolish Apollo’s words.
“Stupid bastard.”
Period 9
When she returned from finishing the Dormitory dorm representative meeting, the climbing roses had already spread across the Dormitory’s outer wall.
And now she noticed that more and more students were lying on the grass with their blazers spread beneath them.
Could you feel the change of season?
No—more than that, she was realizing just how painful it was to watch couples rolling around in pairs on the grass.
Could they please go somewhere out of sight to do that sort of thing?
Even as she thought this, Ivy was carrying news that would make all of them happy.
Tack, tack.
The cork board in the Dormitory hall.
Ivy posted the announcement she’d received from the meeting.
Students usually found school announcements tedious, but not this one.
Couples rolling in the grass came flocking around Ivy without even brushing the grass from their hair.
[Summer Semester Events Guide
– Sports Day
– Year-End Dance Party]
Excited gasps erupted from all corners.
“It’s not black tie, right?”
“Semi-formal, semi!”
Ivy appealed to the couples whose attention was fixed solely on the Dance Party.
“Listen, Sports Day is coming up sooner, okay? Pay attention to that too…….”
“Who are you going with?”
Her plea went unheard.
If the students performed poorly on Sports Day, people might start questioning her leadership as dorm representative.
But watching her friends get excited like this wasn’t so bad.
“Fine, okay. Do what you want.”
The party was the last week of June.
But everyone had already begun getting excited as if the party were happening tonight.
‘Well…… as long as they’re happy.’
Ivy slipped away through the growing crowd of students.
‘It’s not like the Dance Party matters to me anyway.’
She’d probably just eat some dessert in a corner and leave.
With Joy.
‘Though, if the boys let Joy be…….’
The ones who worshipped Joy as a queen would never pass up such a tremendous opportunity.
Some of them were genuinely decent, so Joy might actually consider them seriously.
‘Well, it’ll work out somehow.’
Just as she was about to brush off the thought lightly, she spotted Cyrus coming down the stairs.
His hood pulled deep, a book in hand as always.
His gaze never once touched the bulletin board as he crossed the first-floor hall toward the entrance.
Ivy quickly looked away and pretended to look at something else.
She’d grown accustomed to acting this way.
The truth was…….
Since returning the book to him that day, Ivy hadn’t exchanged a single word with Cyrus.
Not even met his gaze.
She’d decided not to judge whether it was uncomfortable or comfortable.
The corridor leading to the Latin Classroom.
Light footsteps approached from behind.
“Ivy.”
It was Fabian. Despite the early morning hour, he showed no sign of fatigue as he came to stand beside her.
“I looked over the translation draft you sent. Your interpretation of the transformation was excellent. I couldn’t manage it that way myself.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll send my part by tonight too. Then we can meet Friday and realign our approach, right?”
“Yeah, let’s meet at the Library then.”
Ever since promising to work on the group assignment together, there had been some lingering worry in her heart.
Could she really work through the assignment smoothly with Fabian?
But he proved her concern wrong, tackling the assignment with sincerity and seriousness, and never once putting her in a difficult position.
Had what he’d said on the Rooftop been true?
Was he really trying to return to that distance from their childhood?
When they arrived at the Latin Classroom, Ivy took a seat on the corridor side. Fabian naturally took the seat beside her.
Soon Hartley came in, followed by Mia, who barely made it in time to avoid being late.
At the teacher’s warning, Mia pouted and went to her seat as if it were obvious—by the window, beside Cyrus.
The very spot where Ivy had sat not long ago.
She didn’t want to think about it, but that was undeniable.
“Now, let’s begin the lesson.”
Ivy fixed her gaze forward.
It was foolish to daydream during class.
When the Latin class ended, an alarm sounded on her phone. It was a notice about the Elective Physical Education class happening tomorrow.
Ivy had chosen Equestrian.
Tennis, swimming, cricket—other sports would all be disasters for someone uncoordinated like her.
Since she’d been riding since childhood, at least she could avoid catastrophe.
‘8 a.m., assembly in front of the Sports Hall. Transport to the Royal Riding Facility by bus.’
The Royal Riding Facility.
She’d already factored in the risk of having to go to a place she’d frequented since childhood when she first applied.
But the instructors at the facility wouldn’t see this modest girl as a princess.
Still, there was one concern…….
Ivy sent a message to Owen.
[Is that one still there?]
Owen’s reply came immediately.
[Yes, Your Highness. No one else can touch it.]

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