After circling around Celitia, Sophia had to admit that it was indeed enough.

Celitia wore almost no makeup today, only applying a light layer of lipstick that gave her somewhat pale lips more color.

She rarely wore a deep red long dress with a simple style and not very bright color, yet it made her skin appear even more fair, creating a striking contrast between red and white.

The girl stood straight, her aura restrained and unreleased, like a sharp sword sheathed in its scabbard, dignified and imposing, naturally commanding respect.

The more Sophia looked, the more satisfied she became.

Indeed, no matter how she dressed up, her Lily always looked so beautiful.

"Let's go! Set out for Viscount Herbert's estate!"

Sophia waved to those behind her.

For this outing, Sophia brought a full ten palace guards.

These palace guards weren't ordinary soldiers, but truly born of noble families.

There was only one person who could inherit a title, so the others had to find other paths.

Since Her Royal Highness had given orders, they naturally competed to come.

With Sophia's command, the ten guards formed ranks and followed behind Sophia and Celitia in a grand procession.

This ostentatious parade through the streets attracted countless gazes, displaying their prestige to the fullest.

So much so that when the Herbert family's main gate opened, the servants thought their master had committed some crime again and was about to be arrested by people sent from the court.

Butler Frank stood at the door, his voice trembling:

"Princess Sophia, perhaps... I should first report to the master and ask you to wait in the main hall?"

Sophia disdainfully raised her chin:

"Go ahead, tell your master that we're here to pick up people, and tell him to prepare quickly."

"Pick up people?"

Frank was stunned, his gaze falling on Celitia beside Sophia, his face gradually turning green.

No wonder Luna, Rebecca, and Gidi had suddenly returned home the day before.

Along with them came two guards responsible for protecting them, who quite rudely occupied the guest rooms at home.

Frank had tried to ask those two to leave, only to receive their cold mockery and ridicule.

The butler felt that life was simply too difficult.

Her Majesty Marianne had been ruthless, stripping Herbert of his position, demoting his rank for a year, throwing his wife and son into prison, and temporarily not allowing them to be redeemed with indulgence certificates.

Now, Her Royal Highness was also coming to cause trouble, deliberately sending people back only to take them away in front of everyone, clearly intent on severely trampling on the Herbert family's dignity.

When those events happened, who could have imagined the subsequent developments?

Moreover, he himself had been one of the perpetrators at the time, hadn't he?

The master was punished with loss of position and title, the mistress and young master punished with loss of freedom—what could he use to pay for his punishment, his life?

Furthermore, the master's position and title could return, the mistress and young master would eventually be released from prison, but his little life was just this one—if lost, it would be gone forever!

The more Frank thought about it, the darker his vision became. His legs trembled, and he could barely move.

Seeing Frank motionless for a long time, Celitia couldn't help but glance at him.

Her gaze was very calm, containing no particular emotion, yet it frightened Frank so much that his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground on the spot.

Having already knelt, Frank simply threw himself forward and hugged Celitia's calves:

"Miss Celitia! I know I've done many wrong things. As long as you're willing to spare my life, I'll accept any punishment!"

Celitia had no idea this butler had such an elaborate inner drama, and her eyebrows couldn't help but twitch: "Let go."

Sophia was also displeased: "What are you doing?!"

Without them needing to act, the guards beside them had already walked over, grabbing Frank by the collar and forcibly pulling him up from the ground.

"Are Her Highness and Miss Celitia people you can touch? If you dare offend them like this again, you can roll off to prison!"

"Go, go, go! You were told to find your master, what are you dawdling here for?!"

Frank was pushed and shoved by two guards, still constantly turning back to try to see Celitia's reaction.

Celitia simply pretended not to see.

Let him temporarily live in this kind of fearful anxiety, suffering torment from possible punishment.

With Frank's departure, the entire courtyard fell silent.

The gazes from other servants changed from their former disdain to fear, mixed with barely concealed envy.

The young lady had only been away for a month, yet she had attached herself to Her Majesty the Queen and Her Royal Highness, turning around to trample the Herbert family underfoot.

The fortunes between people truly couldn't be generalized...

Celitia didn't care how the servants viewed her, but Sophia was quite pleased.

She had accompanied Celitia here to show off, precisely to announce once again to the entire Herbert family that no one should think of bullying Celitia.

Not the Herbert family, and certainly not the servants below them.

Celitia's gaze swept across the courtyard, looking at those familiar corners as memories floated up bit by bit.

After a long moment, Celitia sighed softly: "It's actually somewhat unaccustomed."

Sophia asked nervously: "What's wrong?"

"Hmm... probably because it feels too quiet."

No brother's roars, no stepmother's screams, and no servants' whispered conversations—everything was quiet beyond imagination.

With the help of Marianne and Sophia, and through her own efforts, she had finally taken a big step forward.

The anger, sadness, and pain that had persistently entangled her memories gradually calmed down at this moment.

"Let's go, Sophia," she said gently.

With their grand procession, the two swaggered to the main hall.

Soon, Charles arrived hurriedly with the butler and three maids.

Seeing Sophia and Celitia sitting in the main hall, Charles's expression was terrible.

He felt that he had already been careful and cautious enough, even yielding and retreating, so why was Sophia still being so aggressive?

However, since people had already come to his door, no matter how frustrated Charles was, he could only suppress it and put on a smile for Sophia.

"Your Highness honors us with your presence. You should have had someone notify me in advance so I could wait at the gate. How could I let Your Highness wait for me in the main hall?"

He glanced sideways at the butler behind him, his voice becoming increasingly stern:

"Frank, why don't you apologize to Princess Sophia for your negligence?"

Frank knelt even faster than before: "Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

Charles's thinking was clear: if Sophia was still angry, let Frank take the hit first.

Moreover, being too concerned about a mere servant would be beneath his dignity.

Frank had served Charles for many years and knew his master's thoughts well, cooperating accordingly.

Sure enough, Sophia frowned: "Enough, Viscount Charles—no, Baron now. We're only here to pick up people. You don't need to put on this pretense."