"I left the slums, but I never forgot that place. When I was very young, I made a vow to the goddess that when I grew up, I would help the people of the world. So when I was ten, I actively asked Father to let me enter the church to study. During my training, I indeed experienced many difficulties and hardships, but I never regretted it."

Speaking of this, Ariel's smile gradually took on a touch of melancholy.

"Helping the people of the world is the vow I made. Entering the church and dedicating my body and soul entirely to the goddess means I have already given up my secular identity. Do you understand what I mean, Celitia?"

Celitia slowly nodded.

Ariel was using this opportunity of chatting about their backgrounds to tactfully tell her that she had completely given up her inheritance rights.

She probably wanted her to help relay this to Sophia, to tell her that there was no conflict of interest between them, so they could repair the rift between them.

Actually, Celitia felt that Ariel might be overthinking things.

Although on the surface they had many disagreements, and it could even be said that Sophia greatly disliked Ariel.

But deep in her heart, Celitia believed that Sophia still trusted Ariel as family.

After all, Sophia was quite stubborn.

It was normal for Ariel to not understand the complicated thoughts of a teenage girl, leading to misunderstandings and even anxiety.

"I understand." Celitia winked at her.

Although she didn't know how much Celitia had actually grasped, Ariel still breathed a sigh of relief.

Telling her about those things that had been weighing on her heart made Ariel feel much more at peace.

When she had passed by here earlier and saw Celitia feeding pigeons all alone, Ariel had worried she was in a bad mood, so she had specially come over to talk with her.

Unexpectedly, the one who ended up being comforted was herself.

She seemed to have a particularly calming quality about her that unknowingly infected Ariel, making her feel peaceful as well.

Scattering the last piece of bread, Ariel clapped her hands and brushed the breadcrumbs from her palms.

"It's getting dark. The remaining pigeons should all be preparing to return to their nests. You should hurry back too. It's very cold at night—don't catch a chill out here."

As Ariel spoke, a cold wind swept by, and the girl's long ash-blonde curls danced in the wind, floating onto her face.

She instinctively reached out to catch them and felt the dampness in her hair, causing her brow to furrow.

"Your hair is still so wet, yet you came out to blow in the cold wind, you—"

Before she could finish speaking, Celitia covered her mouth, lowered her head, and unconsciously curled her body into a ball.

"Mm... cough cough... cough cough cough..."

Not wanting to be nagged by Ariel, Celitia tried hard to hold it in, but ultimately couldn't suppress it and began coughing softly while covering her mouth.

"You really are..."

Ariel felt utterly helpless and reached out to touch her forehead, casting a healing spell on her.

The warm sensation dispelled some of the physical discomfort, and Celitia's coughing subsided as she managed to say:

"I'm fine, it's just that the cold night wind was a bit chilly and irritated me."

Ariel touched Celitia's forehead and felt it burning hot.

Her brow gradually furrowed, and her tone dropped several degrees: "That's enough. Do you always act so tough?"

Ariel was starting to regret her decision.

The sanitary conditions in the slums had always been poor, with many sick people, especially now in winter during flu season.

Knowing that Celitia had a weak constitution, she should have forcibly persuaded her to go back and not participate in the relief activity.

Well, now she had indeed caught something.

Hearing Ariel's scolding, Celitia covered her mouth again and muffled a few more coughs.

Aside from those few days when the curse was acting up, she hadn't been sick for quite a while.

Celitia thought that perhaps because she had been consistently exercising, her body had become much better than before, which was why she had dared to come out and court death.

Sure enough, if you don't court death, you won't die.

Her temperature was gradually rising, and Celitia clearly felt chills throughout her body, with her head beginning to feel dizzy and heavy.

"Hurry back!"

Ariel reached out and tugged at Celitia, trying to pull her up from the fountain's edge.

Celitia was feeling dizzy and disoriented, and when Ariel pulled her like this, she involuntarily fell into Ariel's arms.

"I'm telling you, if your body feels so uncomfortable, why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Ariel didn't even know where to begin scolding.

Thinking that Celitia had just patiently chatted with her, possibly worsening her condition, Ariel felt both angry and regretful.

She bent down and scooped up Celitia, running toward the church.

"Just bear with it for now. I'll take you back to rest and immediately have someone prepare medicine for you."

Celitia bounced in Ariel's arms and bumped headfirst into her chest.

Hey...!

She tried to struggle, but Ariel held her even tighter, forcing her face to be buried even deeper.

Ariel's strength was exceptionally great—even her pre-rebirth self would have had trouble, let alone the current Celitia.

"Don't move around!" Ariel scolded her. "Disobedient children get their bottoms spanked!"

"..."

No, you...

...forget it...

Celitia, who couldn't fight anyone, had no choice but to endure.

Ariel carried Celitia and ran all the way, attracting countless stares.

Celitia kept her head buried the entire time, not daring to show her face, afraid of being recognized.

But actually, it was impossible not to be discovered, right...

From this relief activity, she could see that these priests and monks were just as gossipy as the students at the academy.

Especially since they usually lacked entertainment activities, they were even more eager to discuss such matters.

Oh goddess, please control your family's Saintess...

Celitia sighed inwardly.

Taking Celitia back to the bedroom, Ariel sent someone to prepare medicine for her and worriedly used healing spells to treat Celitia's body again.

Even so, Ariel could still feel that the girl was burning hot all over, and her body wrapped in blankets was constantly shivering from the cold.

"How am I supposed to explain this to Sophia?"

The complaining words still couldn't help but slip out.

Not being able to stop her was her own responsibility.

But Ariel hadn't expected Celitia to fall so seriously ill all at once.

It seemed her body was even more fragile than she had anticipated—she needed to raise her vigilance level even higher...

Ariel thought with annoyance.

"Don't worry too much about it. My body only looks bad on the surface, but actually, no matter how serious the illness, I'll get better on my own in a day or two."

Celitia wrapped herself in the blanket, her cheeks flushed red with fever, and explained to Ariel in a daze.

"I understand," Ariel didn't believe her at all and reached a conclusion. "You're not only physically weak and stubborn, but also particularly hard-headed."

"..."

She swore to the goddess! She was telling the truth!!