Sophia was stunned for a moment, swallowing back all the words she hadn't finished saying.

It wasn't because Kassy was acting pitiful, but because Sophia suddenly remembered that she was still planning to coax Kassy to go to the church to undergo investigation in place of Celitia.

Although she could use forceful methods, that was only a last resort.

She shouldn't make their relationship too tense—she needed to find a way to make Kassy trust her...

Both harboring ulterior motives, they looked at each other, then guiltily looked away, afraid the other would see through their calculations.

"Your Highness, please let me take your things too. I'll take care of them."

Kassy actively walked to Sophia's side, reaching out to take the books and notes she was holding.

"Ah, alright."

Sophia didn't continue trying to drive her away, handing all the miscellaneous items in her arms to Kassy.

Celitia narrowed her eyes slightly, watching the interaction between the two, but ultimately said nothing.

She casually closed the door and walked inside, seeing the bowls, plates, and utensils set on the dining table.

Kassy followed closely behind Celitia, noticing her gaze, and a hint of pride inevitably crept into her voice:

"Master must have missed my cooking, right? Kassy used her full strength this time and made things Master loves to eat. I hope Master will be satisfied."

Kassy had always been terrible at housework, but her cooking was passable—it could be said to be her only redeeming quality as a maid.

"Did you poison it?" Celitia glanced at her. "What poison did you use this time?"

Kassy's expression changed slightly as she shook her head repeatedly:

"How could that be? I only hope Master can be healthy and well. If something happened to you, Kassy probably couldn't live either..."

At this point, tears glittered in Kassy's eyes. She reached up to wipe the corners of her eyes, her expression both innocent and pitiful.

Celitia frowned in disgust, feeling a bit sick to her stomach.

She didn't think the current Kassy had the guts to poison her—she had said that just to deliberately needle Kassy.

But Kassy's defense was truly nauseating to hear.

If not for wanting to figure out her purpose, she really wanted to kick her out right now...

Sophia, walking beside Celitia, also heard their conversation.

Sophia had always felt that the relationship between the two was a bit strange, but couldn't figure out exactly what was going on.

Thinking back to the previous incident, although Kassy had explained it was a misunderstanding, Sophia was still very worried.

So, poisoning... was really possible?

Taking advantage of Kassy going to tidy up, Sophia found a cloth with identification spells drawn on it and moved the food bowls onto the cloth one by one.

Looking at the bright red seasoning piece by piece in the bowls, Sophia's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

This color was wrong, wasn't it? Why was it so red?

That's right, it was definitely poisoned!

And so obviously too!!

"You can't eat it," Sophia didn't forget to warn Celitia in her busyness, "there's definitely poison in here!"

Celitia glanced at the contents of the bowl, her eyelid twitching slightly, but said nothing, letting Sophia fuss around.

Placing the magic crystal, Sophia quite confidently activated the identification spell.

Light flowed as the magic formation scanned each dish containing food, analyzing suspicious components within.

Sophia stared at the results with anticipation, but the further down she looked, the more disappointed her expression became.

"No poisonous components detected. How is this possible? Lily, come take a look—does this spell formation need updating?"

"Didn't you bring this from the royal palace not long ago?" Celitia coughed lightly. "Since nothing was detected, that means there's no problem."

Sophia pointed at the food bowl and asked: "Then what's this very suspicious-looking red seasoning?"

"That's chili pepper, Your Highness Sophia."

The person answering was Kassy, who had finished tidying up and was slowly walking down the stairs.

"Master likes spicy food. I searched the trading port all day and finally managed to buy chili peppers—it wasn't easy."

"Likes spicy food?" Sophia looked at Celitia in astonishment.

It was said that chili peppers were produced in the southwestern regions of the York Kingdom, where people loved spicy food, but Sophia had only heard about it and never seen it.

"I wouldn't say I particularly like it, just..."

Celitia paused slightly, considering how to explain the principle of spiciness to Sophia.

Kassy stepped in to explain first:

"Master's sense of taste isn't very good. Only spicy food can let her feel some flavor... Your Highness probably didn't know that, right?"

At the end, the elf raised her eyebrows with a hint of showing off.

"I've gradually learned to eat spicy food from following Master around. Indeed, spiciness has its benefits—it's quite addictive."

Sophia choked up. She indeed didn't know Celitia liked spicy food, and couldn't help feeling frustrated.

"Now I know, and I'll remember for the future."

She refused to admit defeat, lifting her eyes to glare at Kassy on the stairs. "Although I haven't eaten it before, don't think I can't handle it!"

The two women's gazes clashed, neither giving way, while Celitia was left aside, rubbing her temples with a headache.

"Since the food is already prepared, let's eat then, to save the trouble of always having guards deliver food for us.

"However, Sophia, spicy food might be a bit stimulating. Can you handle it?"

From Sophia's reaction, she should have completely never eaten chili peppers before.

It would be like making a Cantonese person eat Hunan cuisine... that would drive someone crazy, right?

"What's there to not handle?" Sophia's stubborn nature came up. "If you two can eat it, of course I can too!"

Celitia was silent for a moment, then went to the kitchen to get a bowl of water and placed it beside Sophia.

"Wash up before eating, and don't force yourself."

"I don't need it!" Sophia was quite confident.

She used her fork to pick up a string of bright red pasta and ate it without hesitation.

The moment it entered her mouth, Sophia's expression froze.

Her hand remained suspended in mid-air—she couldn't put it down, but couldn't leave it up either.

After a long time, Sophia finally moved, extremely difficulty extending her fork to pick up another string of pasta.

The pasta was brought to her lips, her right hand trembling in the air, but Sophia never managed to make up her mind to open her mouth.

Celitia: "..."

She clearly saw that tears had already formed in the corners of Sophia's eyes from the spiciness. If not for maintaining her dignity as a princess, she should be wiping her tears with tissues by now.

Sophia stared at the pasta for a long while, took a deep breath, steeled her heart, closed her eyes, and pushed the fork toward her mouth.

Celitia was quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbing Sophia's hand to stop her action:

"If it's uncomfortable, don't eat it, Sophia. Spiciness really isn't something everyone can accept."

"No!"

Sophia stubbornly pried open Celitia's fingers and forcibly ate the pasta on the fork in one bite.

Tears could no longer be held back and flowed from the corners of her eyes. Sophia sniffled while panting and chewing.

"If you and Kassy can eat it, of course I can too!"

When Her Highness the Princess got stubborn, her temper was no less than Celitia's.