Sure enough, as Sophia spoke those words, the girl's long eyelashes trembled violently, then slowly lowered, casting faint shadows over her pale cheeks.

With the truth she had been hiding now exposed by Sophia, Celitia took a deep breath, slowly calming herself.

Since being cursed, Celitia's sense of taste had gradually failed, and she had long been unable to taste food properly.

Even after being reborn, this curse had followed the girl to her present body, like a persistent disease that couldn't be shaken off.

But perhaps it wasn't without benefits—after all, this body had a weak constitution, fell ill easily, and often needed medicine.

Since she couldn't really taste anything, she could drink even the bitterest medicines without difficulty, which had even brought Luna great relief.

"Your Highness guessed correctly. I indeed can't taste flavors very well," Celitia finally admitted, her voice gradually growing sharp. "So now that you know, what are your thoughts on this, Your Highness?"

"Uh... no... I didn't mean anything by it... I was just curious... wanted to, wanted to understand you a bit better..."

Sophia hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Celitia and became flustered, inadvertently revealing her true feelings.

"That's unnecessary," Celitia lowered her head, no longer looking at Sophia. "We are people from different worlds. There's no need for us to understand each other."

As she said this, Sophia was deeply hurt, her eyes visibly downcast.

In truth, rather than being angry at Sophia, Celitia was angry at herself.

When Sophia had offered the chocolate, deliberately making Celitia eat it, Celitia should have easily seen through her test.

But at that moment, Celitia hadn't considered any ulterior motives at all, and had simply gone along with what Sophia said, never suspecting Sophia's intentions.

...When had she become so unguarded around her?

It was utterly unimaginable.

For the first time, Sophia felt this anxious. She wrung her fingers together, her throat working for a long time before weakly uttering:

"I'm sorry... I didn't realize..."

She hadn't realized Celitia would mind so much.

But of course, personal privacy was something no one wanted others to pry into.

Sophia regretted her actions intensely, wishing for a spell to turn back time.

Celitia still kept her head down, gently biting her lower lip.

Actually, it had nothing to do with Sophia; Celitia was only angry at herself.

She remembered that day when the Flame Flower poison took effect, when the ice crystal sword pierced her chest, when the sealed space blocked her final escape route.

All of this served to remind her what fate awaited when she lowered her guard and completely entrusted her true heart to others.

Her chest began to ache as if on cue. Though her old body had been destroyed, that wound had never healed, and still bled profusely.

"Ha, haha, ha..."

Seeing the atmosphere plunge to a low point, Shanie put down her cutlery, wiped away the cream at the corner of her mouth, and laughed awkwardly, trying to salvage the situation.

"It's my fault, all my fault. I thought Lily wanted to eat cake this morning, so I dragged her here..."

Sophia couldn't help but ask: "Did she say she wanted cake this morning?"

"Uh, I think she did, or maybe she didn't," Shanie scratched her hair, smearing a small layer of cream on her already messy pink locks. "She asked me where she could buy small cakes, so I assumed..."

From her observations so far, Sophia hadn't felt that Celitia liked eating cake; even joining them seemed like she was merely completing a task.

"Could it be... not possible..."

Sophia's face suddenly turned red.

She vaguely remembered that earlier in the morning, half-asleep, she had dreamed about sweet little cakes, and even almost mistook the girl in front of her for a cake, nearly taking a bite.

Could it be that Celitia had heard her sleep-talking, and that's why she had asked Shanie?

No, Sophia clearly remembered Celitia's attitude at that time—how could she possibly go buy cake for her?

Sophia fell into confusion, repeatedly doubting herself and doubting Celitia, unable to speak for quite some time.

Shanie realized she had made things worse; this topic hadn't eased the awkwardness but instead dragged the atmosphere further down. After pondering hard for a moment, she quickly changed the subject:

"Oh, right! Lily, I never got to say it, but you were so cool at the jewelry store today! And when you made Charlotte apologize to me, I was really, really happy!"

Shanie tried to express her gratitude, but as Celitia heard these words, she pressed her lips together even more tightly.

"Shanie, I think you might have misunderstood something."

After a long pause, Celitia spoke heavily. "I was only using you to suppress Charlotte's arrogance, not doing it for your sake. Please don't misunderstand."

"Eh?!"

Now Shanie was also stunned, not knowing how to respond.

Realizing she had completely ruined the atmosphere of the gathering, Celitia clutched her faintly aching chest and rose from her seat.

"Excuse me, I just remembered I have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

With that, she left the table and walked toward the door.

"Celitia!"

Sophia called out to her from behind, but failed to stop Celitia, who only quickened her pace and disappeared from the sweet shop in the blink of an eye.

"Is that really what she thinks..." Sophia lowered her head, sighing in frustration.

"I don't think so," Shanie suddenly spoke up, answering Sophia.

She rested her chin on one hand, blinking her bright brown eyes earnestly. "I think Lily is just looking for excuses to hide her true feelings."

"Why do you think that?" Sophia couldn't help but ask.

"It's simple," Shanie smiled. "Lily said she wanted to use me to suppress Charlotte's arrogance, but offending Charlotte doesn't benefit Lily in any way! We country folk know that to live well locally, it's best not to offend the baron lords, their officials, and the knights under them if you can avoid it."

"You're right..." Sophia suddenly realized.

From the beginning, Celitia had no need to get involved in the conflict.

She had intervened to prevent Sophia from buying fake gems, to stand up for Shanie who had been falsely accused...

From start to finish, Celitia had only been concerned and busy with others' affairs.

After doing so much for others, in the end, she denied her own kindness, rejected others' goodwill, passed through their world alone, and left by herself.

Thinking of this, Sophia felt her heart ache, unconsciously pressing her hand against her chest.

Wait, when Celitia left just now, she was also clutching her chest...

Could it be...

Remembering Celitia collapsed in the hallway last night, Sophia became instantly worried.