The next day.

The results of this exam came out very quickly, all announced before school ended the next day.

Looking at the grade report that was handed down, Celitia felt incredulous.

She looked again at the name and score on it, confirming she hadn't taken the wrong one.

That glaring red "56 points" was quite jarring.

Failed—how was this possible?

Celitia was certain she knew how to do all those questions.

Yet she actually failed?

There must be some mistake!

Shanie, holding her grade report with a worried frown, glanced to the side and suddenly cried out as if discovering a new continent:

"Huh? Lily scored three points lower than me??"

Hearing this, Sophia and Benita also leaned over to look, their eyes widening.

"Is there a mistake?" Benita asked in confusion.

Celitia innocently shrugged.

"Everyone quiet down first."

The teacher on the podium let out a heavy cough.

"A serious cheating incident occurred this time. One student copied answers to the wrong positions when transcribing, so other students who copied from her paper also got everything wrong."

Speaking of this, the teacher was truly disappointed in them.

Magic theory class was indeed quite difficult, and the teacher had already been lenient enough with these students.

But this group's copying was far too obvious, simply unbearable to watch.

They copied answers completely mindlessly, even continuing to copy obviously misplaced answers without error.

Because of Celitia's one mistake, most of the classroom made identical errors.

Even wanting to turn a blind eye, the teacher could no longer let this continue.

"Ah? I transcribed to the wrong positions?" Celitia looked completely bewildered.

No way?

She had indeed been quite absent-minded at the time, writing while thinking about other things, and after finishing, she was too lazy to check again.

But this was too ridiculous!

She failed this subject because she copied answers to the wrong positions?

No way??

Celitia looked up, gazing questioningly at the teacher on the podium.

The teacher nodded slightly at her and smiled comfortingly.

"..."

Celitia was speechless.

Numerous resentful gazes were cast her way, all from classmates who had been dragged down to failing grades because of her.

This included Calvin.

Calvin hadn't directly copied Celitia's answers, but the paper he copied from had copied from Celitia.

Could this girl be deliberately retaliating against them?

Single-handedly leading most of the classroom astray!

Calvin's face flushed red.

Under their stares, Celitia very innocently shrugged her shoulders.

What was the use of looking at her? Everyone would just take the makeup exam together anyway.

"Lily actually wrote answers in the wrong positions?" Shanie marveled, "This is simply too amazing!"

"For Lily," Benita smiled with pursed lips, "this counts as a super major blunder, right?"

Charlotte snorted coldly: "What excuse is that? From the results, she simply failed!"

Among countless whispers, Sophia's expression was also quite incredulous:

"This really doesn't seem like something you would do, Lily."

Celitia was always so cautious, thorough, and confident, as if she would never make any mistakes.

A low-level error like copying answers to wrong positions shouldn't happen to her.

Celitia coughed lightly: "I was a bit distracted at the time..."

"You were actually distracted during an exam?" Sophia asked curiously, "What were you thinking about?"

Thinking about... things related to you.

Celitia couldn't say these words aloud, only silently lowering her head and keeping her mouth shut.

Seeing Celitia refused to speak, Sophia didn't press further.

"It's okay," she showed Celitia a brilliant smile, "anyway, even when Lily acts foolishly, she's especially cute."

Sophia's smile was as bright and warm as always, but seeing it made Celitia feel even more melancholy.

Perhaps only these few days remained—from now on, her smile would no longer belong to her.

"Tonight... are you still not coming back?" Celitia asked in a low voice.

Just like an abandoned wife left in her chambers, though she herself was completely unaware.

Sophia was about to answer when the dismissal bell suddenly rang, interrupting her unspoken words.

Celitia was slightly startled and sighed softly: "Never mind, I understand. Go ahead and be busy. Just pretend you didn't hear that question."

Sophia hurriedly stood up.

Watching her hurried movements, Celitia felt increasingly dejected.

As a princess, being busy was natural for Sophia.

Celitia tried to convince herself.

However, the next moment, Celitia's arm suddenly tightened as the girl beside her grabbed it firmly.

Her body was involuntarily dragged up from her seat by Sophia and pulled along as they headed outside. Celitia asked in bewilderment: "What's wrong?"

"Come with me, I'll explain in a moment."

Sophia forcibly dragged Celitia and pulled her into an empty classroom across the hall.

Looking around stealthily and confirming no one was nearby, Sophia closed the classroom door.

"Sorry, Lily. Last rest day, I broke our promise and couldn't accompany you to the church. These past few days, I've been far too busy and haven't been able to come back."

Hearing Sophia's words, Celitia was quite confused.

If it was just to apologize, why drag her to a place with no one around?

Didn't she want people to hear her apology?

Celitia couldn't figure it out.

"It's nothing, I understand," Celitia muttered quietly, "Her Majesty the Queen's birthday ball is an important major event that definitely takes priority in preparation."

"Hmm?" Sophia tilted her head.

It probably wasn't her imagination—Celitia's words seemed somewhat sour.

Quite rare indeed.

Thinking of this, Sophia's mood brightened considerably.

Marianne had said to stimulate her appropriately, and it was indeed effective.

"It's not just because of the birthday ball," Sophia explained, "the Kingdom of York suddenly sent a delegation, and I've been so busy because we need to receive them."

"A delegation?"

Hearing this unexpected news, Celitia couldn't help asking in confusion: "What did they send a delegation for?"

"Their internal affairs are currently a complete mess," Sophia shrugged, "they probably hope to sign a peace agreement so we won't disturb each other for several years."

Celitia was silent for a while.

Even knowing that asking this question might be somewhat presumptuous, Celitia couldn't help asking:

"Who's leading the delegation?"

Sophia looked slightly confused.

Huh, so Lily was this interested in current affairs? She thought Lily wasn't interested in such things...

Since this wasn't classified information, Sophia answered:

"It's the Regent and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of York, Lady Ileana Douglas."