As Marianne's voice fell, the hall fell silent for a moment before discussions erupted thunderously.

"Does Her Majesty the Queen mean that whoever finds the other half of the brooch could become Princess Sophia's engagement partner?"

"So as long as you can find it, regardless of status, you'd have a chance to marry Her Highness the Princess?"

"Since it's the other half, it should look similar to this brooch, right?"

"Quick! Let's go find it!!"

Amid countless discussions, Celitia suddenly pressed her hand against the black swan brooch on her chest.

She could hardly believe what she was hearing, and her heart, which had finally calmed down, began beating wildly again.

Celitia frantically removed the brooch and quickly hid it in the inner pocket sewn into her dress.

Fortunately, she had been wearing her cloak when she entered and had only briefly danced one dance, so hopefully no one had noticed.

After hiding the brooch, Celitia finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked up with complex emotions toward Sophia's direction.

While Celitia was fumbling around, Sophia had been watching her the entire time, her gaze never shifting away.

Sensing Celitia's gaze, Sophia blinked and showed her a smile that was playful and cunning, yet tender to the bone.

In that instant, Celitia's heart beat even more violently than before.

She suddenly understood the meaning of everything.

This time, it was Sophia's carefully planned confession.

It was her second confession to her, in front of everyone, in a way that only the two of them knew.

The ball was a pretext, the news was a cover, and all the attendees were just background.

All of this was just for this moment, to have her stand by her side under everyone's gaze.

No wonder she had been so secretive when secretly giving her the brooch, afraid that others would know...

No wonder she had specifically instructed her to wear the brooch to the ball...

Shanie's voice rang out at just the right time: "Speaking of which, Benita, don't you think that brooch looks somewhat familiar?"

Benita shook her head: "No, it's a gift from the delegation, right? Have you seen a similar style before?"

"I don't know, but I feel like I've seen it somewhere, but I can't remember."

Shanie scratched her hair in distress, "Where could it have been? It should have been recently..."

Celitia silently pressed the brooch tighter against herself.

If even Shanie couldn't remember, the probability of others discovering the brooch was on her should be even lower.

The huge crystal chandelier on the dome reopened, music continued to play, but the ball attendees basically had no mood for dancing anymore.

After hearing Marianne's announcement, single young nobles were all stirred up.

Although Her Majesty the Queen hadn't made any definitive statements, this opportunity to possibly become the princess's engagement partner was enough to drive many people crazy.

The originally crowded hall suddenly became much less populated as people dispersed to various places, searching everywhere for the brooch Marianne had mentioned.

Perhaps to avoid suspicion, after making the announcement, Marianne took Sophia to the VIP hall.

Sophia didn't forget to turn back and wink at Celitia again.

Watching their departing figures, Celitia wrapped herself in her cloak and sat in the banquet hall, her emotions extremely complex.

"Lily! Lily!"

After discussing for a while and seeing so many people hurrying away while Celitia showed no movement at all, Shanie and Benita rushed to her side anxiously.

"Let's go!" Shanie was extremely excited, "Let's hurry and search for the brooch Her Majesty mentioned!"

Celitia sat in her chair, completely motionless: "I'm not going."

"Why not?" Benita immediately became anxious, "This is a great opportunity!"

With the very brooch they were talking about tucked in her clothes, Celitia rubbed her temples with a severe headache:

"Why would I join in this commotion?"

She was still in emotional turmoil and hadn't figured out what to do next, only wanting to sit quietly by herself.

Shanie raised her voice: "But Her Majesty said that whoever finds the brooch can get engaged to Princess Sophia!"

Benita nodded vigorously: "We need to find it before they do, and even if we can't find it, we can't let anyone else find it!"

The two were examples of being more anxious than the person concerned, now acting like ants on a hot pan.

Celitia closed her ears, lowered her head, and pretended she heard nothing: "I'm tired, let me rest here for a while."

Seeing that no matter what they said, Celitia refused to move, Shanie stamped her feet anxiously: "Oh well, forget it, Benita, let's go search ourselves!"

Benita thought this made sense: "Anyway, Her Majesty Marianne didn't specify that the person themselves had to find it."

The two hit it off immediately, left Celitia behind, and hurried away.

Watching the two leave in such a rush, Celitia didn't know what to say.

She appreciated their good intentions.

But at this moment, Celitia had no way to explain the details to them.

Hopefully, after Shanie and Benita learned the truth, they wouldn't be angry about being played...

Letting out a long breath, Celitia rubbed her forehead again.

In any case, she couldn't go to Sophia with the brooch right now.

She should just hide among the crowd and rest a bit longer...

After the brief interlude, the prelude to the second dance began, soothing and light.

Many of the dancers had left, making the hall much quieter, and the floating music became clearer.

A commotion came from the front, accompanied by light footsteps, as a figure approached Celitia.

Celitia was preoccupied with her thoughts and didn't notice the changes around her.

It wasn't until a pair of black dance shoes stopped in front of Celitia that, before she could look up, a hand suddenly appeared before her eyes.

The hand wore black silk gloves, faintly showing pale and rosy skin underneath, with slender, elegant fingers.

On her pinky finger was a black obsidian ring.

Black obsidian symbolized loyalty and chastity, but when worn on the pinky finger, which represented being single and unmarried...

A puzzled thought flashed quickly through Celitia's mind, and then she heard a familiar yet strange voice:

"Dear miss, may I invite you to dance?"

This voice parted layers of mist like a train arriving from the past, loaded with memories, speeding past her and racing toward the future.

Involuntarily, Celitia's whole body trembled as she looked up sharply.

A woman with long, straight black hair smiled as she stood before Celitia, her pitch-black pupils sparkling like a galaxy, mysterious and unfathomable.

A look of shock flashed across Celitia's face before she immediately suppressed it.

Ileana.

Why had she come to invite her to dance?