Fresh blood quickly welled from the wound, gathering into a large droplet.

Before the blood could fall, Celitia used the blood on her fingertip to rapidly draw a magic formula on the wooden table.

To cast magic using formulas, a medium was needed. Celitia had nothing on her, but she knew very well that blood itself was an excellent medium.

"This is—this is evil black magic!!"

Charlotte stood dumbfounded, momentarily forgetting how to react.

For normal magic formulas, using ash from plants containing spiritual power, mineral powders, or even gemstone solutions was within the normal range.

But when it involved fresh blood, people could only think of evil sacrificial rituals and black magic.

"Stop right now!" Meilenn shouted sternly, rising to restrain Celitia and throw her in prison.

"It's not black magic."

Colton's voice timely rescued everyone from panic. He shook his head and voluntarily approached Celitia, examining the formula intently for a long time.

"What is it? Tell us quickly!" Meilenn's patience was nearly exhausted.

"This rune arrangement seems related to time. It should be some secret art from the time system," Colton rubbed his chin, intrigued. "This is my first time seeing it. How interesting."

Marianne, who had been quietly listening to everyone's discussion, finally raised her hand, gesturing to them, her tone revealing the authority of a queen:

"Stop arguing. Everyone be quiet and wait for Celitia to finish."

Because blood was used as a medium, the people around were in chaos, and she was nearly sent to prison, but Celitia seemed completely oblivious, concentrating all her attention on meticulously and carefully drawing the magic formula in her hand.

After about a few minutes, Celitia finally completed the magic circle, turning to Marianne: "Your Majesty, may I borrow the gemstone on your hand?"

"This one?"

Marianne didn't hesitate at all, immediately removing the ring from her left ring finger and handing it to Celitia.

"It will consume a bit of the magic stored in the Paraei gemstone," Celitia explained, "but not much, it won't affect the gemstone itself. Please don't worry, Your Majesty."

With the gemstone placed in the center of the formula, the circuit activated, and the magic circle began to operate, emitting a blue-gray ethereal glow.

Celitia carefully held up her index finger, avoiding staining the paper fragments with blood from the unclotted wound, then placed all the collected paper fragments in the magic circle.

In an instant, the fragments danced like snowflakes, whirling into the air, adhering piece by piece, and finally transforming into three sheets of paper filled with writing.

Celitia reached out to receive them, briefly checking. The three sheets were mostly formed, with the ink occasionally blurred in places, but not enough to affect the overall content.

The formula drawn in a few minutes was somewhat crude, and blood was not the most compatible medium, but thanks to the short time passed and the relatively complete collection of fragments...

Celitia finally sighed in relief, returning from her state of intense concentration. Only then did she feel the throbbing pain in her finger—the wound was still bleeding, and her head also ached faintly.

Looking up, Celitia found all eyes fixed intently on her, everyone visibly relieved once they saw the magic circle cease operation.

After a brief reflection, Celitia understood what had happened.

She had been in a hurry, constantly impeded by others, and simply hadn't had time to explain the composition and function of the magic formula to each person.

Besides, among those present, probably only Colton would have understood, making any further explanation a waste of breath.

"Thank you for your help, Your Majesty."

Picking up the ring from the center of the magic circle, Celitia solemnly returned it to Marianne, expressing sincere gratitude.

From beginning to end, it was Marianne's indulgence that gave Celitia the opportunity to complete what she needed to do.

"No need to thank me. This is what I should do for you."

Marianne couldn't help but reach out and very gently pat Celitia's head, but fearing she might feel averse, she only touched her once before hurriedly withdrawing her hand.

"I can see you must be a friend who genuinely cares for Sophia's well-being. I should be thanking you on her behalf."

Celitia indeed wasn't comfortable with the touch, instinctively wanting to avoid it, but considering Marianne's recent favor, she forcibly restrained herself, allowing her to pat her head once with a stiff expression.

Upon hearing Marianne's words, Charlotte's face immediately became extremely awkward.

If Celitia was Sophia's good friend, then what did that make Charlotte, who had been trying to obstruct her? A villain deliberately causing trouble for Sophia?

Emotions of jealousy, resentment, and unwillingness surged in her heart. Charlotte could no longer control herself and blurted out in an extremely shrill voice:

"Your Majesty, you don't know that Celitia is actually an illegitimate daughter of base blood, who has been concealing her origins until now!

"She has some ulterior motive in deliberately approaching Princess Sophia, and she studies evil black magic. If we continue to allow this, who knows how she might bewitch others in the future!

"I believe she should be imprisoned immediately and thoroughly investigated by the Church!!"

As Charlotte's resentful words were spoken, the entire lounge instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Before Marianne could react, Benita, who had been quietly watching for a long time, suddenly looked up and asked in surprise: "Illegitimate daughter?"

Only then did Charlotte realize there were others present. Her expression changed drastically as she awkwardly explained: "No, Benita, I wasn't talking about you..."

The fact that Benita was an illegitimate daughter was already an open rumor in noble circles.

Her mother was Countess Meilenn.

Years ago, Meilenn had become pregnant before marriage, insisted on giving birth to Benita and raising her, but remained tight-lipped about the child's father.

Meilenn loved this daughter dearly, but she could never erase Benita's illegitimate status, which remained a thorn in the hearts of both mother and daughter.

Given Charlotte's usual demeanor, she might not have respected Benita's illegitimate background.

But Benita's mother, Countess Meilenn, was also present. She had considerable influence both at court and locally, so Charlotte didn't want to offend Meilenn.

Since accidentally hearing rumors about Celitia's origins, Charlotte had been eager to spread this secret for all to know.

However, Charlotte had forgotten that Benita was also of illegitimate birth. Speaking disparagingly in front of the mother and daughter seemed somewhat to be criticizing one person while actually targeting another.

Sure enough, Meilenn's face darkened as she rebuked Charlotte: "Charlotte, Her Majesty Marianne is still here. It's not your place to speak!"

Charlotte's face alternated between red and white. After weighing whether to continue attacking Celitia or to defy Meilenn, she finally chose to remain silent.