The ceremony didn't last long, ending amid much excitement.

Celitia still sat in her original spot, silently watching as the attendees departed.

Sophia had left the stage and gone to Queen Marianne's side. Mother and daughter were talking about something.

"Aren't you going over?" Benita's voice sounded beside Celitia. "You helped Princess Sophia. This is a perfect opportunity to make a good impression on both of them."

"Not interested," Celitia replied flatly.

Staring at Celitia's cool profile, Benita's gaze grew increasingly puzzled.

The girl before her was as aloof as an isolated glacier, completely different from earlier when she had barged into the Queen's lounge and performed unknown magic with her own blood in front of everyone—like two entirely different people.

Benita had assumed Celitia was seeking advancement, which was why she had acted so outrageously in front of Queen Marianne.

Born with the illegal status of an illegitimate child, one not only lacked any inheritance rights but was also consistently looked down upon in noble circles. Even pursuing paths as knights or in religious orders was much more difficult than for other nobles.

Although Celitia had never acknowledged her illegitimate status, Benita thought they might be similar.

But now it seemed... she had guessed wrong?

Or perhaps Celitia simply didn't want to appear too eager?

While Benita was puzzled by Celitia's thoughts, Celitia's eyes also fell on her.

"You came with Her Majesty the Queen, didn't you?" Celitia said. "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you hurry over to find them?"

Though Celitia appeared to be asking, her actual meaning was extremely obvious—she was trying to get rid of Benita.

"Her Majesty is surrounded by many noble people," Benita's voice was gloomy, as if she hadn't caught Celitia's implication. "It's not my place to go over there and curry favor."

From Benita's tone, Celitia detected a sense of resentment, which made her look at her once more.

Benita, however, took this as a sign of Celitia's interest in her and couldn't help continuing:

"I'm also a student at this academy. Princess Sophia promised me that if I graduate successfully, she would give me a chance to become a knight... What about you?"

"None of your business," Celitia said coldly.

Once again receiving Celitia's cold treatment, Benita bit her lip and said nothing more, though her eyes still gleamed with persistence.

"Lily! Lily!"

Shanie, who had been looking around, suddenly became excited, patting Celitia's shoulder. "That Queen seems to be waving at you. Is she calling you over?"

Celitia looked up at her words and indeed saw Marianne looking at her tenderly, beckoning to her again.

And beside Marianne, Sophia was staring at her without blinking, her smiling expression hiding an indescribable expectation.

Shanie pushed her from behind: "What are you daydreaming about, Lily? Go quickly!"

A circle of nobles surrounded Marianne, and honestly, Celitia really didn't want to get involved.

But after seeing Sophia's expression, Celitia's heart softened. She ultimately stood up reluctantly and walked toward Marianne.

Seeing Celitia approach, Sophia's eyes lit up with joy. She cleared her throat, somewhat shyly yet proudly boasting to Marianne:

"Mother, look, this is the new friend I made at the academy. Her name is Celitia Herbert, daughter of Viscount Charles Herbert."

Celitia curtseyed to Marianne accordingly: "Good day, Your Majesty."

"You look so polite and well-behaved now," Marianne couldn't help but tease Celitia.

Sophia was very surprised: "Have you met each other already?"

"Yes, right before the ceremony," Marianne smiled, pressing her lips together. "Celitia did something quite remarkable. Sophia, have you properly thanked her?"

"What do you mean?" Sophia was even more confused.

"Celitia hasn't told you? Really, between friends, one should let the other know what they've done. Mutual giving makes friendship last longer..."

Marianne chatted on, telling Sophia everything that had happened in the lounge.

Sophia listened, forgetting to maintain noble etiquette, her mouth opening wider and wider, her eyes full of disbelief as she looked at Celitia.

Celitia had actually hoped Marianne wouldn't discuss this matter in public, but since quite a few people had been present at the time, the story would eventually spread throughout noble circles even if Marianne didn't mention it.

Her eyes swept behind Marianne, and sure enough, she met a hostile gaze.

Margaret's expression changed from disbelief to fury as she glared at Celitia, who had ruined her plan. From her expression, she looked like she wanted to devour Celitia.

Celitia imperceptibly pursed her lips.

Great, another enemy gained.

"Barged in... knife... black magic..." Sophia felt dizzy just hearing about it.

If it had been Sophia herself, she believed she couldn't have managed to do something like that.

"So, that wound on your hand was actually caused for my sake?"

Her gaze fell on Celitia's right hand, and Sophia noticed that her index finger was still well-wrapped with her ribbon, which hadn't been untied, still sporting the elaborate butterfly knot.

Recalling that ghastly wound, Sophia empathized, feeling as if her own finger began to ache.

"Why... didn't you tell me?" Sophia asked.

She had never imagined that when Celitia simply handed her a few sheets of paper, there were so many twists and turns behind it.

Sophia had even thought Celitia had just been lucky enough to find them and hadn't even thanked her.

Celitia shrugged: "I didn't have time then. I was planning to tell you later."

She was telling the truth. The ceremony was about to begin at that time, and Celitia didn't want to distract Sophia.

Celitia had indeed planned to tell Sophia the whole story later, though she might have glossed over the parts about herself.

Seeking credit for what she had done wasn't Celitia's style.

Sophia glared at her: "Really? You didn't forget, or pretend to forget?"

"I really didn't," Celitia defended herself.

"Alright, alright, that's not the main point," Marianne smiled, taking both their hands and placing their palms together. "You must get along well in the future!"

Marianne winked playfully at Celitia.

"Sophia is a shy child. From now on, I'm counting on you to take good care of her."

Hearing this, Sophia protested: "What do you mean, take care of me! It's clearly me who's been taking care of her. I've accompanied her to the hospital three times in two days!"

"Correction, only twice," Celitia said.

"If you hadn't stubbornly refused the third time, I would have sent you there already!!"

Looking at the two arguing girls, Marianne's face once again showed a gentle smile.