Completely unprepared for Charlotte to cast such blame on her, Shanie immediately became agitated.

"I-I didn't! A store clerk helped me open the counter lock; he watched me take it out!"

Charlotte said: "You might not have tampered with it while taking it, but who knows if you secretly replaced it with a counterfeit along the way?"

"What?!" Shanie was dumbfounded on the spot.

Earlier, she had been so fixated on the beautiful gemstone that she had secretly touched it a couple of times while helping to carry it, never imagining she would be accused like this.

On the way from the counter to the workshop, she was alone, and Shanie truly didn't know how to prove her innocence. She was so anxious that tears were about to fall.

Fortunately, at this moment, Celitia's voice calmly rang out:

"Charlotte, didn't you take and carefully examine the gemstone before Shanie handed it to Mr. Meilan? If there was a problem, why didn't you raise it then?"

Shanie nodded repeatedly as if having found a savior:

"Exactly, exactly, what Lily said is right! You clearly checked it yourself before the authentication!"

Sophia's gaze fell on Celitia and Shanie. Somehow, a trace of displeasure gradually arose in her heart:

Celitia avoided her, a princess, as if she were the plague, yet she was quite good to that pink-haired commoner, protecting her at every turn.

What did that pink-hair call her? "Lily"?

How long had they known each other to use such an intimate nickname...

At this crucial moment, the princess's mind wandered overseas, her thoughts flying to some distant place.

"How do I know you didn't create an identical counterfeit deliberately to deceive me?"

Charlotte raised her chin, looking toward the shop owner across from her. "Right, owner? You think so too, don't you?"

"Ah? This..."

The jewelry store owner's face alternated between green and white. From Charlotte's words, he suddenly found a possibility.

If he went along with her words and pushed everything onto this impoverished commoner, perhaps he wouldn't have to bear so much loss.

More crucially, it could save face for the princess and the Williams family.

Is this what the princess wants?

The store owner was sweating profusely, couldn't help but secretly raise his head to observe Sophia.

Unfortunately, Sophia was still lost in thought, completely unaware of the owner's gaze.

Celitia couldn't help but laugh: "Miss Charlotte, do you perhaps think Shanie and I are messengers sent by the goddess?"

Charlotte was taken aback, frowning in confusion: "What do you mean? What does this have to do with the goddess?"

"Knowing in advance that you would be selecting a gemstone, knowing in advance which one you would choose, and even creating a counterfeit in advance that you couldn't distinguish from the real thing..."

Celitia smiled faintly, her tone filled with undisguised mockery. "To accomplish these things, aside from being favored by the goddess, I truly can't imagine any other possibility."

"You!"

Charlotte's face instantly turned bright red, yet she had no way to refute, and could only glare at the owner, hoping he would come forward to testify.

The owner continued to cautiously look at Sophia, waiting for the princess's instructions.

If Sophia gave an order, he would have to give this false testimony no matter what.

Although it might sacrifice his credibility, the royal family and the Williams family should not treat him unfairly...

Celitia saw all this, and her expression gradually turned cold.

As a former knight commander and regent minister, Celitia was very clear about the thoughts of these privileged classes.

The truth never mattered; what mattered were only those people's face, reputation, and purposes.

It was laughable that she had previously thought perhaps Sophia was different from those people.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind. Before Sophia could express her position, Celitia turned to look at Meilan:

"Master Meilan, you've been observing this bead for quite some time. Have you reached any conclusion? Is it consistent with the authentication device's results?"

During the time when the others were arguing, Meilan had been holding the gemstone, repeatedly examining it against the device, entering a state of self-absorption.

Only when Celitia suddenly called out to him did Meilan raise his head, reaching up to remove the glasses from the bridge of his nose.

"Very interesting. If I hadn't seen the traces you left in the formula, I might have been deceived by it as well. To be able to modify an ordinary glass bead, infusing and containing magic power within it to deceive magical verification—I wonder what kind of genius the creator is? However, I still more hope that this genius would use their skills on the right path."

Celitia thought to herself: To return to the right path, first Florence would need to quit drinking... but that's impossible.

She coughed lightly: "In any case, Master Meilan believes that an ordinary person shouldn't be able to forge such a gemstone, right?"

"Correct. Before seeing the actual item, I could not have imagined such a modification approach."

Meilan nodded.

"Although this is just a glass bead, it can be considered an ingeniously designed treasure."

"I completely agree with Master Meilan's words."

Celitia spread her hands, looking very innocent.

"So, how could insignificant figures like Shanie and me forge something so convincingly deceptive?"

Charlotte hadn't initially understood what Celitia and Meilan were trying to prove after circling around for so long, but now she finally realized and was momentarily speechless.

With Meilan backing her up, it wasn't so easy to cast this blame.

Seeing Charlotte speechless, Celitia turned her head to look at Sophia, narrowing her eyes slightly, and asked softly: "What does Your Highness think?"

"Huh? What?"

Suddenly addressed by Celitia, Sophia snapped back to attention, momentarily unable to react to what they were discussing.

But the disappointment and detachment revealed in those purple-gray eyes staring at her could not be mistaken by Sophia.

She recalled for a moment in confusion before roughly understanding what had just happened.

Could it be that Celitia thought she had instructed Charlotte to shift the blame onto Shanie?!

After understanding, Sophia felt a lump in her chest that wouldn't go away.

Just as she was about to clarify, the jewelry store owner, believing he had received instructions, spoke before Sophia could, taking all the blame upon himself:

"It-it was all me! I forged and replaced the gemstone. It has nothing to do with Princess Sophia and Miss Charlotte!!"

Unfortunately, the owner's self-proclaimed loyal statement didn't have any positive effect; instead, it made things even worse.

"Enough!" Sophia finally found an opportunity to speak, growing increasingly exasperated. "All of you, enough!!"

With the princess in a thunderous rage, even Charlotte, who had been persistently unwilling to give in, could only honestly close her mouth.

"Charlotte! If you made a mistake, you made a mistake. I won't blame you, but since you made a bet with Celitia, you must accept the consequences!!"

With these words, Charlotte's face instantly became extremely unpleasant.