My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 88

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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 88
That night.
Ivy waited until Joy was completely asleep before reaching for her mobile phone.
She pulled the blanket over her head to keep the light from leaking out.
She checked that post on the anonymous forum.
The comments had grown since earlier, but the atmosphere remained the same. Everyone laughing, dismissing it all as a “joke.”
‘It’s fine.’
No one would take such an absurd rumor seriously.
It was exceedingly rare for royalty to attend Royal High School directly, and most of those who did eventually gave up and quietly returned to the Royal Palace.
‘It’s fine.’
She tried to calm her racing heart with the same reassurance as before.
Yet even as she did, her thumb kept refreshing the page.
Anxious. Grasping at straws.
‘How on earth did this post even go up?’
Fabian?
No, surely not.
They’d been working on an assignment together in the Seminar Room just moments ago, perfectly normal.
He was the one who’d said he wanted things to go back to how they used to be.
‘It can’t be him.’
Then had the news leaked from the palace?
There were plenty of people in the Royal Palace who knew about her absence. In a world like this, it was impossible to keep everyone’s mouth shut.
‘If that’s the case, I should contact Owen.’
She couldn’t bring herself to send a message.
She knew exactly what his response would be—Come back at once! And it would be the right call, too.
But the problem was…….
‘I want to stay here longer.’
She set the smartphone down and curled herself into a ball, hugging her knees.
The ancient bed creaked with that small movement.
A sound she’d grown accustomed to by now.
At first, she’d only wanted to rank first. Under the fake name “Ivy Underwood.”
That resolve hadn’t changed.
But the problem was.
‘……I want to actually become Ivy Underwood.’
The class representative of the Third Dormitory, where trouble never ceased.
A model student trusted by every teacher except physical education, while simultaneously a troublemaker caught up in incident after incident.
Joy Carter’s closest friend.
A loyal girl who kept Emily’s and her lizard’s secrets.
And the only concern looming immediately before her—the preliminary investigation happening on Sunday…….
‘You know it can’t happen that way.’
The very fact that she longed for it was proof. If something could be grasped in your hands, there’d be no need to dream about it.
Besides, she knew that entertaining such a thought was itself a kind of deception.
‘……You mustn’t dare hope.’
Because it isn’t yours. It belongs to Evelyn.
‘Either way…… I have to be careful.’
No one seemed to be taking it seriously, but who could say?
The anonymous forum’s influence was immense. Now that such talk had started, someone might well grow curious and go looking for “Evelyn.”
And if she were exposed, if it came to that…….

Ivy clutched her knees tighter. Fear crashed over her.
She could hear Joy’s breathing from the bed nearby.
But swallowing this fear—that was something she had to do alone.
It was heavy.
Period 11
Ivy’s eyes opened before the alarm.
To be precise, she wasn’t even sure she’d actually slept.
When she looked over, Joy was still asleep.
She quickly found her glasses and put them on, then quietly climbed down from bed and stood before the mirror.
The face looking back at her.
Glasses. Tousled hair. Dark circles under hollow eyes.
The same face she saw every day.
No different from when she’d first arrived here and looked in this mirror, thinking, ‘No one will ever know.’
And it had been true.
But now she was thinking something entirely different.
‘Will they really not know?’
Ivy adjusted her glasses and tucked her hair to one side, then let it fall again. Nothing changed.
‘Why am I so anxious about this?’
No one was taking that post seriously.
But.
[Should I search for it?]
That single comment—curious, inquisitive—kept surfacing in her mind.
Even knowing it was just another throwaway joke in the conversation.
‘Don’t worry about it.’
Ivy warned herself in the mirror.
Without even being able to meet her own gaze.
* * *
The Cafeteria was ordinary.
As it should be. This was the ordinary, after all. There was no reason for anything to change.
“Hi, Underwood!”
Ivy flinched and looked up each time a student tapped her shoulder as they passed with a greeting.
“O-oh…… hi!”
“What are you so startled about?”
Ivy laughed awkwardly. She couldn’t quite meet their eyes either, but fortunately no one seemed to think it strange.
As she turned with her tray—coffee, bread, and an omelet—Ivy did something she’d never done before.
She scanned her surroundings.
Checking if anyone was watching. If anyone was furiously typing something on their mobile phone or whispering.
‘Don’t do this.’
This was the one thing she shouldn’t do. The moment you show awareness, it shows. And suspicion is born from that moment on.
Wasn’t that why she’d been trained to act confidently at all times?
But all those years of training couldn’t help her now.
Ivy didn’t go to her usual spot by the window. She sat in a quiet corner instead.
She finished eating without even tasting it and left the Cafeteria.
* * *
First period was mathematics.
When Ivy entered the classroom with her head down, Cyrus was already in his seat.
His usual spot by the window.
He was writing something intently in his notebook.
He seemed to be studying, so Ivy didn’t bother speaking to him and simply passed by. His pen faltered for just an instant, but then it resumed moving.
The moment she sat down, Bennett entered and class began.
Students often call first-period mathematics a disaster.
Apparently, staring at numbers with a half-asleep mind is torture.
As a result of that disaster, students began dozing off in droves before fifteen minutes had even passed.
“Well now, let’s all try to stay alert, shall we?”
The teacher pressed on with the lesson, struggling. A few students barely managed to lift their heads.
“Let’s work through this one together. It’s an extension of what we covered last week. Who’d like to walk us through the first case?”
The shift to participatory learning was a good move. Students seemed worried their names might be called, casting cautious glances around.
Bennett’s gaze swept across the classroom.
Normally, Ivy would have raised her hand. Class participation was directly tied to grades.
But not today.
Ivy kept her pen in hand and simply lowered her head.
She knew the answer. But her hand wouldn’t rise.
She couldn’t draw attention to herself.
That was the only thought.
“No one?”
The teacher looked puzzled. Surely Ivy wouldn’t just sit quietly.
“Well then.”
He called on a student and guided them toward the answer.
Another problem followed. Again the classroom was silent, and a few sleepy students met their real disaster—having to solve the problem.
Ivy kept her head down, organizing her solutions in her notebook.
She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
This wasn’t like Ivy at all. Though “Ivy” was a persona she’d created herself in the first place, still…….
‘Stop thinking about it. Focus on the class.’
Ivy pulled herself back from useless thoughts.
“This one’s a bit tricky. Anyone want to take a stab at it?”
In the silence that fell over the classroom, Ivy read the problem.
Tricky as it might be, she could solve it. She was confident she wouldn’t make a mistake.
But she didn’t raise her hand.
“No one? Ah, thanks, Cyrus.”
At those words, Ivy glanced back at his seat.
She’d never seen Cyrus volunteer to raise his hand first like that before.
Usually, he only came forward reluctantly when the teacher called on him, then returned to his seat.
‘What’s gotten into him?’
Though she was relieved she didn’t have to go up.
Resting her chin on her hand, Ivy watched Cyrus work through the solution.
She’d sensed it before, but the way he solved problems was beautiful. Truly…….
“Huh?”
Before she knew it, Ivy let out a sound.
Her voice carried unnaturally through the quiet classroom.
A dozing student lifted his head. Someone in the front row turned around. Even the teacher’s gaze shifted to Ivy.
All the gazes she’d been avoiding since this morning crashed down on her at once.
Eyes.
Ivy pressed her lips shut. But it was already too late.
Only Cyrus at the blackboard didn’t turn around. His chalk-holding hand didn’t slow.
He continued writing the next line as if he hadn’t heard her “huh?” at all.