The carriage traveled all the way to the royal palace, and the three followed the servants who came to receive them into the ballroom's great hall.

The moment she entered, Celitia felt somewhat dazzled.

Crystal chandeliers hung high from the dome, below which was a vast dance floor with transparent glass tiles.

The two banquet halls outside the dance floor each had two long rectangular tables laden with all sorts of food, desserts, and drinks.

Numerous servants continued bustling about in every corner, busy with preparations for the ball.

Many guests had already arrived, everyone dressed particularly elaborately, as colorful as peacocks showing off.

Celitia had originally thought her outfit was a bit much and worried about being too conspicuous.

But at this moment, among the many gorgeously dressed guests, she became rather inconspicuous.

That was good—fortunately she had dressed up properly, otherwise being too casual would have attracted more attention at this kind of occasion.

While Celitia thought herself inconspicuous, Sophia, who was busy not far away, spotted her immediately.

"Lily, you're here!" Sophia was very happy and immediately came over to greet her.

Today's Sophia wasn't dressed garishly but rarely wore a white dress.

The gauze skirt was voluminous with flowing ribbons, understated and exquisite without being ostentatious, like an elegant white swan.

"You and Shanie can rest in the banquet hall over there with Ariel. The ball is about to start. If you get hungry, you can eat some pastries first to fill your stomach."

Sophia winked at Celitia, showing a playful yet cunning smile.

"I hope you'll have fun at the upcoming ball."

After saying this, Sophia hurried away again.

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Celitia felt that Sophia's smile just now seemed to contain some special meaning.

Her right hand silently moved to her chest, tightly gripping the black swan brooch she wore.

Why give her this brooch?

Why show her such a smile?

Why leave her with even a shred of hope...

Celitia didn't understand but couldn't ask.

"Let's go rest over there. We can eat some pastries first since dancing is quite energy-consuming."

Ariel said to Celitia, "Speaking of which, I heard mother mention that there seems to be some surprise activity in the middle."

Shanie asked curiously: "What kind of surprise activity?"

"I don't know either. They're being mysterious and won't tell me." Ariel shook her head, "Anyway, once the ball starts, everything will naturally be revealed."

The two followed Ariel to the banquet hall, where Shanie cheered and pounced on the pastries like a hungry wolf.

Looking at the dazzling array of food on the long table, Celitia had no appetite whatsoever.

"Won't you eat something?" Ariel looked at her with concern, "You seem to have been listless since earlier."

Celitia forced a smile: "I'm probably not used to this kind of occasion and feel a bit constrained..."

Before she finished speaking, a commotion suddenly arose from the entrance, attracting most people's attention.

Countess Meilenn and another male noble led the way as they entered the hall together.

Behind them, a woman followed their steps and slowly walked in.

She had long, straight black hair cascading to her waist, smooth and light as silk.

Her features were innocent like a young girl's, as if unworldly; yet her eyes were deep as a starry sky, like the deepest pure black in the night.

From within, she radiated a mature, languid, and mysterious aura that formed a stark contrast with her girlish appearance.

Her expression was gentle and peaceful, responding to all curious gazes with a faint smile.

Noticing Celitia watching the people entering through the door, Ariel lowered her head and whispered in her ear:

"The one leading is Countess Meilenn, whom you should have met; beside her is Count Berendil, the current Foreign Minister. The black-haired woman who arrived with them is the leader of this peace negotiation delegation, the Regent and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of York, Lady Ileana Douglas."

Celitia's gaze lingered on Ileana for a long time.

So they did meet after all, Ileana.

Compared to her memories, she seemed unchanged.

Sensing Celitia's gaze, Ileana turned her head, her eyes traveling through the crowd to look at her from afar.

The distance was too great for Celitia to clearly see the expression on Ileana's face.

She only felt that Ileana's gaze lingered on her for an unusually long time.

Then she nodded very lightly at her.

Marianne brought a group of nobles to personally greet Ileana at the entrance with enthusiasm.

They smiled and said something, then were led by servants toward the inner VIP hall.

Celitia's gaze unconsciously followed Ileana.

At the moment she was about to enter, Ileana suddenly turned back and gave Celitia a meaningful look.

Celitia was startled and immediately looked away, avoiding eye contact with Ileana, lowering her head and pretending she hadn't seen anything.

Her heart pounded in her chest—for that instant, Celitia almost thought Ileana had recognized her.

But no matter how she thought about it, this was absolutely impossible.

Celitia let out a long breath and asked Ariel: "Why are even the delegation members attending the ball?"

"After all, they are important guests," Ariel replied helplessly, "we can't exclude them from such a grand event."

Celitia fell silent.

She was now extremely grateful that she hadn't brought Kassy along.

Otherwise, if Ileana had seen Kassy...

...No.

Even if Ileana saw Kassy, she probably wouldn't have any particular reaction, much less learn about her situation from Kassy.

A bitter smile appeared at the corners of Celitia's lips.

Since reaching adulthood, she and Ileana had grown increasingly distant, until later they might not exchange a single word in an entire year.

To Ileana, she was just a dispensable existence.

She should just treat this as meeting a stranger.

Thinking this way, Celitia's emotions gradually calmed down again.

"You seem very interested in Lady Ileana?"

Ariel whispered in Celitia's ear, "I had never met Ileana before, only heard her name. When she led the delegation here this time, I accompanied mother to meet her once."

Speaking of this, Ariel's voice became even lower, cautious and alert.

"I could sense that Ileana, like her brother, is absolutely not someone to be underestimated. She might even be... more terrifying."