"I know, you want to live, right?"

Celitia's hand still rested on Kassy's shoulder, her fingertips applying slight pressure, gripping her shoulder blade.

"If you want to live, don't cause trouble, and don't touch people you shouldn't touch."

Hearing this, Kassy couldn't help but turn her head toward the doorway, glancing at the blonde girl sitting in the dining chair.

"The person I shouldn't touch—are you referring to Princess Sophia?"

An indescribable bitter feeling rose from her chest. Kassy couldn't express what she felt in her heart right now.

Before, she herself had been the person her master said shouldn't be touched.

Now, she had become the one being threatened.

Following Kassy's gaze, Celitia glanced toward the doorway.

Looking at the girl slumped in the chair with half-closed eyes, the cold, blade-like curve at Celitia's lips finally took on three parts tenderness.

Seeing all this, Kassy felt she was going crazy with jealousy.

But now, Kassy didn't dare say anything, not even letting her know a fraction of her complaints.

With great difficulty, she had gotten her master to agree to let her stay. Whether it was her master or Sophia, she had to treat both with careful caution at this time.

Kassy thought to herself.

"Also," Celitia spoke leisurely, "don't say such stupid things anymore. I don't want to hear them."

She reached out her hand, carefully picking up the fragments in the sink and throwing them all into the trash can in the corner.

"Just like this plate, once broken, no matter how you try to piece it together, there's no way to restore it to its original state. The only ending is being thrown into the trash."

Kassy's gaze followed the broken plate, lingering on the trash can for a long time.

With her head lowered, her lips moving for a long while, she finally mustered the courage:

"But if we used the 'repair magic' that Master created, restoring it to its original state isn't impossible..."

Celitia's lips curved slightly.

Her voice was very light, like the tip of an iceberg emerging from the sea, tearing through the water's surface, bone-chillingly cold:

"You're not worthy."

Kassy's face instantly turned deathly pale.

The hope she had harbored in her heart shattered more completely than that plate under those words.

She stood there woodenly, still staring at the fragments in the trash can, her body swaying as if about to fall, unable to come to her senses for a long time.

Celitia dusted off her hands, brushing away the fragments stuck to her palms, and turned to walk out of the kitchen.

The girl slumped in the dining chair trembled slightly, opened a crack in her eyelids, and secretly observed her.

"Sophia?" Celitia called to the girl. "Feeling better? Should we go back to the bedroom and lie down?"

Sophia was startled and hurriedly sat up straight in the chair: "I, I'm fine."

Looking at the girl's still calm face, Sophia's mood was very complicated.

Celitia probably hadn't noticed, but Sophia had actually seen everything that happened in the kitchen.

She saw Celitia embrace Kassy's shoulders, hold her neck, stand on her tiptoes, and whisper something intimately in the elf's ear.

Then, she gently cleaned up the plate Kassy had broken without a word of blame.

Sophia didn't know how to describe her feelings in that moment.

Maybe she had misunderstood—Celitia didn't dislike Kassy that much. They had once been very close, and now they were about to reconcile.

Logically speaking, if she had seen it, she had seen it. It wouldn't matter to let Celitia know.

Celitia had never been the type to be coy; she should have admitted it openly.

But Sophia still instinctively pretended to be asleep, acting as if she knew nothing.

This heart felt incredibly bitter.

If she had never seen it, if she had never known, could she continue to happily hold her hand as usual?

Thus, shamelessly continuing to approach her, to depend on her.

"Lily."

Sophia suddenly spoke pitifully, her azure eyes covered with a thin layer of moisture.

Celitia responded casually: "What's wrong?"

The words she wanted to ask were ultimately swallowed back. Sophia silently lowered her head, letting her scattered golden hair hide her expression.

She couldn't ask.

She had promised her that she wouldn't pursue those things she didn't want to talk about.

Sophia became even more dejected and shook her head: "Nothing."

Celitia was a bit puzzled. After thinking, she felt she had found the reason:

"Is your stomach uncomfortable? Should we go to the hospital to see Sister Mahee?"

"No need. It's just chili peppers. I'm not that fragile."

Sophia stood up, pushed the dining chair back under the table, supported herself on the chair back with both hands, lowered her head, and remained silent for a moment.

"I'll... I'll go back to my bedroom to rest first. If you and Miss Kassy still have things to say, please go ahead."

Celitia said in surprise: "Huh? Me and Kassy?"

Sophia didn't continue listening, hurriedly walking toward the stairs, her footsteps rushed, escaping into her bedroom in an instant.

Celitia stared at Sophia's retreating figure, completely bewildered.

Did Sophia misunderstand the relationship between her and Kassy?

But why would she have this reaction?

Celitia couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried.

Closing the bedroom door, Sophia threw herself onto the bed, burying herself completely under the covers.

She confirmed once again...

She had developed a possessive desire toward Celitia.

Compared to her previous vague feelings, this came more suddenly and more intensely.

"What should I do..."

Sophia held her head, rolled over on the bed, and stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes.

"But no matter what... I don't want to be hated by her."

Over the next few days, Sophia's gaze when looking at Celitia always seemed somewhat evasive.

Celitia noticed and wanted to ask Sophia several times, but ultimately held back.

Since the bathroom incident, Celitia had been extremely careful about maintaining distance with Sophia.

But sometimes, she would still accidentally forget.

Now that Sophia was actively maintaining distance, logically she should feel relieved.

But why...

Was there a vague sense of loss?

"...Last time you asked me that question, I went to look up materials... the harvest wasn't too great... are you listening, Celitia?"

The gentle voice called back Celitia's wandering thoughts. The girl shuddered and refocused her gaze on the elderly man before her.

"Sorry, Teacher Meilan... I was a bit distracted."

Under Dean Colton's persuasion, Meilan chose to temporarily stay in Cassia and open a temporary authentication course at Samuel Academy.

This course was profound and difficult to understand, belonging to research-oriented subjects. Nobles disdained it for not providing advancement opportunities, commoners couldn't understand it even if they wanted to learn, so very few people enrolled.

In the classroom, besides Celitia, there were only a few scattered people, all focused on studying the construction of spell formations.

"It's fine."

Meilan smiled gently and patted Celitia's shoulder.

"You've been having dreams lately and your spirits are poor, right? You need to find a way to rest properly."

"Yes, thank you, teacher."

With the academy's relationship, the two had begun addressing each other as teacher and student.

Even looking across the entire continent, Meilan deserved the title of "master."

Thinking that she must seize the opportunity to learn from Meilan, Celitia asked him several questions.

Regarding that "Shadow Space-Time" and the several strange dreams she had before, Celitia was quite concerned and hoped to get some clues from Meilan.

"I'll organize the related materials over the next couple of days," Meilan continued, "then you can take them back to study and see if you can find any new discoveries I missed."

"Thank you for the trouble, teacher." Celitia sincerely thanked him.

"It's no trouble," Meilan chuckled, "I'm still hoping to coax you back to be my successor."

He looked up and surveyed the classroom, helplessly shrugging his shoulders.

"It seems the teaching content is still too difficult. Even Princess Sophia, whose theoretical foundation is better than most people's, is stumped."

Following Meilan's gaze, Celitia's eyes fell on Sophia not far away.

Sophia didn't seem to notice their conversation, still supporting her chin in distress, staring at the magic formation before her that emitted a faint, ethereal glow.