If Celitia knew what Sophia was thinking, she would probably tell her that she hadn't said anything wrong.

It was Celitia's own problem.

This heart looked normal on the surface, but inside it was already riddled with holes, barely functioning through her powerful self-control that patched it up here and there.

It was good to maintain this distance—neither too far nor too close.

If they got too close and she saw the rotten roots deep in her heart, perhaps she would come to hate herself instead.

This... was good.

Deliberately cutting off the topic, Celitia raised her arm and handed the clothes hanging on it to Sophia.

"Here, this is your cloak. I washed it clean this morning and dried it all day. It's dry now, so you should put it away."

"Cloak?"

Sophia was stunned, looking at the deep blue cloak embroidered with luxurious patterns. She finally remembered that this was the cloak she had wrapped around Celitia when taking her to the hospital.

She had been too angry when leaving the hospital, and so many things had happened afterward that Sophia had completely forgotten about the cloak.

"Yes," Celitia continued, "and your hair ribbon. I just washed it clean too. I'll return it to you once it's dry."

"Even the hair ribbon..."

Sophia suddenly didn't know what to say.

When she had given those things to Celitia to use, Sophia hadn't planned on getting them back.

Now that Celitia had washed everything clean and wanted to return them, Sophia felt like she was drawing a clear line between them.

Sophia didn't take the cloak from Celitia's hands. She stepped back half a step and shook her head dejectedly.

"You don't need to return them to me. If you like them, just keep them."

She paused for a moment before saying quietly, "If you don't like them... just throw them away."

With that, Sophia casually pushed open the bedroom door and walked in, closing it in front of Celitia.

She planned to be alone and calm down for a bit.

Celitia held the cloak, staring blankly at the tightly closed wooden door before her.

A delicate wooden nameplate hung on the door with "Sophia" written on it. It matched the style of the nameplate next door that read "Celitia," showing the maker's thoughtfulness.

She must have been looking forward to having a roommate her age, but unfortunately, she had ruined the atmosphere again.

This version of herself, full of sharpness and contradictions, no longer knowing how to trust others...

She would only bring them unhappiness.

Sighing very softly, Celitia carried the cloak into her own bedroom.

She didn't throw the cloak in the trash but carefully folded it square and placed it reverently in the deepest part of her closet.

○

The next few days passed peacefully.

Sophia continued dealing with students trying to curry favor with her as usual, while Celitia's surroundings remained off-limits to strangers.

Although the atmosphere between them was somewhat distant, they both acted as if nothing had happened, so well that neither Shanie nor Benita noticed anything wrong.

During these days, news about the competition swept through the entire academy, and registration began simultaneously.

Almost everyone was talking about the competition that would unfold next month, and anyone with some ability eagerly signed up.

Celitia was very self-aware, knowing she currently couldn't even tie up a chicken, so she had no intention of registering.

Even so, news about the competition kept drilling into her ears.

For example, the competition format adopted a red versus blue team system, which was more like a military exercise than individual victory or defeat.

Also, Her Majesty the Queen would attend in person, Duke Augustus who served as regent would be present, and many lords looking to scout talent would also participate.

Celitia wasn't interested in this news. What she cared more about was the arrival of rest days.

According to academy rules, students couldn't leave campus on non-rest days and were normally confined to the academy.

Therefore, when rest days came, students either went home or went wild, basically disappearing from sight.

Sophia returned to the royal palace, and Shanie and Benita also went to their respective homes. Only Celitia left the academy gates alone to wander around the seaside trading port.

Usually she would complain about the surroundings being too noisy, but when they weren't around, Celitia actually felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Habit... was truly a frightening thing.

Celitia sighed inwardly and turned to walk into a materials shop deep in the alley.

It was time to put her alchemy plans on the agenda. She could make some handcrafted tools to consign to shops for sale and earn some living expenses.

Materials were fairly easy to buy. The troublesome part was that she currently had no magical power and needed to find some magic crystals somewhere...

Celitia calculated while shopping for what she needed.

Gradually, as if sensing something, Celitia frowned slightly and inconspicuously looked up toward the shop entrance.

She felt like someone outside had been watching her.

With Celitia's appearance, she attracted many gazes wherever she went, and she was basically used to it.

But this gaze was different from the usual passerby glances—it was full of a certain probing quality.

But it seemed to have no malicious intent.

Celitia mentally went through several candidates, eliminating them one by one, but still couldn't guess who it might be.

Silently paying the bill, Celitia carried her purchased materials out of the shop and walked deeper into the alley along the street.

The further in she went, the fewer shops there were, leaving only a few residential buildings with their doors tightly closed.

The bustling voices gradually faded, leaving only Celitia's footsteps echoing regularly in the alley.

Celitia carefully distinguished the sounds behind her.

Her senses were no longer as sharp as before, but fortunately her judgment hadn't diminished at all.

Very light footsteps, more likely female, the distance was gradually closing—ten meters, eight meters, five meters... no obvious killing intent...

Celitia deliberately turned a corner, her figure disappearing around the bend.

The person following behind hurriedly quickened their pace, trying to continue tailing Celitia.

Just as the tracker passed the corner, they felt their vision blur as dancing flax-gray hair covered their sight. Then they took an elbow strike to the chest, felt sharp pain in their wrist as someone gripped it tightly, and found themselves firmly pressed against the wall.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?"

The recent burst of action had consumed considerable energy from Celitia. She tried hard to conceal her breathing and maintain a steady voice.

Orange-red short hair entered her vision, and when she clearly saw those distinctive blue-green eyes, Celitia couldn't help but be stunned.

Florence?

What was this person doing following her when she had nothing better to do?