@4sarah1212: Well, there's the saying that the difference between genius and idiot is paper thin.
In this case hubris, the ever popular cause of downfall.
He couldn't accept that a commoner girl beat him academically (which, if you think logically, she had to be very smart for a commoner to get into noble school is likely going to require scholarship)
He couldn't stand getting one-up'd by Lippe.
This type either die failing, get his ego crushed hard, or would require some kind of personal revelation to change (like with Julian/Hildert earlier)