Chapter 1555: Have You Heard? She’s A Nilm

Well... The rumours were spread and I basically had to act like I was someone who was not from the Nilm Family pretending to be someone from the Nilm Family but is actually from the Nilm family who isn’t trying to pretend that they are not from the Nilm Family.

That’s pretty tough even to try and visualise but... I guess I already set the stage for myself so I just had to perform it.

The next few days passed and I could already see the effects of the rumours being spread around.

First, more students were now paying attention to me when I walked by.

Previously, it was mostly the first year students and even that was relatively few in number since most of the first years didn’t really know what happened on the first day of my entrance exams.

Now, practically everywhere I went there was at least one group of students who would point in my direction and whisper amongst themselves or just stare at me as I walked by.

I managed to catch some of the whispers when I walked past in some cases.

"You heard right? She’s already at the advanced stage for multiple magic proficiencies..."

"Yeah... That girl’s crazy..."

"Who the heck is she?"

"I heard some people whispering that she was blessed by the Gods..."

"That’s old news. I’ve heard something even crazier."

"What? What could be more crazy than that?"

"I heard... She’s the heiress of the Nilm Family..."

"What?! No fucking way! That’s definitely not possible!"

"Did she even claim that she’s the heir?"

"She didn’t and I don’t know if it’s true either... But the way she’s acting? All that noble bearing and whatever? I think there might be a chance that it’s true... Do you really want to risk it if it ends up being true?"

"Guess not..."

"Yeah... So I’m just going to just treat it like it’s true..."

I had to pat myself mentally on the back for being able to maintain my poker face even when I heard what they were talking about while pretending like I did not hear anything they said.

One bad thing that came from this was now I was literally in the centre of attention wherever I went, so it was pretty impossible for me not to attract attention from people around me whenever I was outside.

There would be stares and whispers wherever I went, but at least some turned out to be a good thing since people would start making way for me.

On this particular day, I had just finished my classes and was making my way towards the canteen as usual.

I also had my egg out in my arms as I continued to feed it my mana, wondering how much longer I would need to feed it my mana before it was ready to hatch.

The students all parted for me without me needing to do anything, several of them whispering the word "Nilm" as I walked past.

The rumours really were working I see.

But as I moved towards a corner, another group of students walked out and stood in my way, blocking me from walking past.

In front of them was a Nyarel with blue scales who looked even more arrogant than I am with her head held high so that she was looking ’down’ on everyone in front of her.

It took me a moment to remember that this was Patris Grainsire, the one who was supposedly the heir of a family specialising in the slave trade and had not so subtly suggested that I might become one of their merchandise.

She smiled at me, baring her rows of sharp teeth at me.

"Ah, Aster. How nice to meet you again. I’ve been meaning to talk to you since our last... Conversation."

I stopped and tilted my chin slightly at her to match her pose of ’looking down’ at the person in front of us, "Oh? And what do you want to talk about, Patris?"

Her smile widened as she gestured towards me, "I heard somewhere that you think yourself to be the heiress of the Nilm Family?"

From the looks on her face, she definitely did not believe that there was any possibility that might be true. In fact, her followers also did not look convinced at all.

Oh, oh~ I’ve prepared myself for this exact moment where someone might question me like this!

I tilted my chin higher, "I don’t think, I am."

There was a pause and even her followers seemed to be unsure of themselves after I had declared that to be fact so brazenly.

Patris narrowed her eyes at me slightly, "You do realise what you are insinuating here, right? Are you sure you can deal with the consequences?"

I pretended to be confused, "Hmm? I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that? What consequences?"

"The consequences of lying about your family? Especially... The family that you are trying to lie about?"

"Hmm? I suppose lying about my family would be a pretty bad thing. But it’s a good thing that I’m not lying about my family," I answered her as a matter of factly.

She gave me an incredulous look, as though she could not believe that I really just claimed what I did.

If it was any other person trying to impersonate me and claiming themselves to be the child of my Mother, I think they would probably be dead before their lies could spread any further.

Well... At least I think that’s what was going through their heads anyway.

Patris recovered after a moment to smirk at me, "I see... So should I be calling you... ’Lady Nilm’ instead?"

I huffed at her, "There is no need. I came here without relying on the prestige of my Family, so it is fine to just refer to me by my name instead."

"Oh my, how generous. Then don’t mind if I do, Aster. But I do want to know why aren’t you advertising the... Ahem... ’Fact’... That you are the heiress of the prestigious Nilm Family?"

I tilted my head, "Like I said, I did not rely on the prestige of my family to get into the Academy, so I saw no need to advertise it."

She smirked, probably thinking that I was making things up as an excuse to bullshit my way through this questioning.

"I see... How very mundane of you, Aster. Don’t you think you could have a way better life here if you were to just... Flaunt it a bit more?" She asked with an insincere smile on her face.

"I do not see a need for me to do that. And my life is pretty good at this point so there’s no need for me to do that."

Her smile widened and it was clear she genuinely thought I was just giving that excuse just to avoid causing more trouble for myself.

"That’s very interesting, Aster. I suppose you are... Different from other Nobles. Hmmm, hmm~ I don’t suppose you would reject my invitation if I were to say... Invite you for a social gathering? After all... Nobles like us should stick together since we are clearly better than the common folk, don’t you think? Some of us host tea parties during the off days and I would be... Quite honoured... Hehehe... If I manage to get the heiress of the Nilm Family to attend~"

I could see her real intentions as clear as day.

She’s definitely aiming to try and embarrass or ’expose’ me during these gatherings as a way to undermine me. Or she could also just embarrass me here if I were to reject the offer since she might have thought an impersonator would try their best not to stand out.

Well... Here’s the thing though...

She said the magic words... There was no way I would not want to accept her invitation after she said the magic words!

What magic words, you ask? Tea parties of course!

If there’s a tea party, that means there’s going to be sweets! Why would I ever miss out on the chance to have some sweets?!

"I would love to, Patris. Do let me know about the time and place and I shall be there," I curtsied elegantly.

Well... As elegantly as I could with an egg in my arms of course.

Once again, my answer surprised her but she recovered quickly, "Ah, of course. Very well. I shall make sure to... Get our fellow nobles together for the next tea party then. I’m sure you would feel right at home with them there!"

I straightened myself, "I shall look forward to it."

"I shall keep in touch then... Lady Aster."

She gave me one last smirk before walking off, most likely thinking how I’ve just sealed my own fate.

The other students who had been in the hall quickly went on their way after witnessing my encounter, no doubt already moving to spread the news.

I’m pretty sure I handled that quite well so the rumours would probably be reinforced after this~

Ehehehe~ I think I’m already getting the hang of this~