Reborn After Betrayal: The Frail True Princess Decides to Give Up-Chapter 43 : Do You Hate Me?

After finalizing their next accommodation, Sophia returned to the dormitory upstairs.
The crowd of onlookers in the hallway had dispersed. Celitia was sitting cross-legged on the bed with her back against the wall, her eyes half-open, half-closed, drowsy.
Sophia's gaze fell on the girl's chest, noticing her disheveled neckline, partially exposed. Compared to her usual cold, austere appearance, she now had an indescribable quality.
Her heart skipped a beat for no reason, and she quickly walked to the bedside, pulling up the spread-out blanket and wrapping it around Celitia.
As the blanket was pulled from underneath her, Celitia involuntarily slid forward, instantly awakening from her daze.
"All settled?" she asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Sophia nodded, half reproachful and half cautionary, "With your poor health, you should be careful to stay warm. What if you fall ill again?"
Not even wearing her clothes properly, just sitting like that in a doorless dormitory. Thankfully this building was all girls, otherwise...
No, even with all girls, one couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be someone with ill intentions.
Thinking of this, suddenly recalling her momentary inappropriate thoughts earlier, Sophia's face instantly turned blazing red.
Celitia didn't notice Sophia's sudden loss of composure. She exhaled very slowly, her voice tinged with fatigue:
"I'm just a bit tired."
The struggle with Kassy had drained most of Celitia's energy. When her anger peaked earlier, she seemed to have involuntarily triggered the curse.
For some reason, there was still a faint connection between the two of them through their contract.
But the curse didn't affect Celitia herself; instead, it attacked Kassy according to her thoughts.
Celitia couldn't understand what caused this sudden change, and her physical strength was completely exhausted in the turmoil. She had unknowingly fallen asleep leaning against the wall.
She didn't refuse Sophia's kindness, accepting the blanket and wrapping herself into a round cocoon, looking unexpectedly docile and adorable.
Sophia had intended to lecture her a bit more, but seeing Celitia like this, her heart immediately softened, and she swallowed whatever words she had planned to say.
She thought to herself, if only this girl could always be this obedient, docile, and endearing.
But anyone could tell that was impossible.
"Since it's all settled," Celitia murmured, "can I rest now?"
As she spoke, she tilted to one side, wrapped in the blanket, about to collapse onto the bed.
"Wait!"
Afraid she might hit her head on the edge of the bed again, Sophia hurriedly lunged forward, catching Celitia along with the blanket.
Celitia's head fell onto Sophia's shoulder, her seaweed-like curly hair cascading over Sophia's cheeks.
The girl's clean fragrance instantly occupied all of Sophia's senses.
Like an extremely delicate lily scent, mixed with a hint of cool, icy freshness, making her inadvertently think of an endless sea of flowers under the autumn night sky.
Sophia couldn't help but take a deep breath. The fragrance became more distinct, sinking into her lungs, merging with her breath, becoming inseparable.
"Um, well," Sophia said after a delayed moment, "The dormitory door is shattered, and the wall is damaged. It can't be fixed quickly, so we need to temporarily move somewhere else."
Celitia keenly caught the key word in her sentence: "'We'?"
"Yes, the dormitory really doesn't have any extra rooms, unless you want to stay on the boys' side..."
Afraid she would refuse, Sophia hurriedly explained:
"Colton has arranged another place for us within the academy. We'll move there tonight and stay temporarily."
There was one thing Sophia didn't say—actually, if Celitia was willing, she wouldn't mind having her as a roommate permanently.
"The boys' side?"
Celitia seriously considered for a second.
Her expression revealed a hint of oddity, and she chuckled with a sigh, "Even if I wanted to, that wouldn't be possible, would it?"
"Of course not!" Sophia's voice rose a notch.
Sophia had never considered this option. She had only mentioned it to give Celitia a worse alternative, so she would choose the other option.
"Your Highness."
After a long silence, Celitia finally spoke slowly by Sophia's ear.
"Didn't you say you would never meddle in my affairs again?"
Now it was Sophia's turn to fall silent.
After a while, she muttered awkwardly: "Just consider it something said in anger."
Sophia had been furious at the time, turning and leaving in a huff, returning to the dormitory alone.
She had initially wanted to throw all of Celitia's belongings out, making her sleep on the corridor floor, but with her own miscellaneous items scattered throughout the room, to avoid mistakes, Sophia had to start tidying up.
As she organized things, her initial rage gradually cooled down.
Sophia realized that when she questioned Celitia about being behind the rumors, her reaction had been too calm.
Celitia had only been stunned for a moment before unhesitatingly taking the blame.
If she were truly someone with ulterior motives, trying to use Sophia's status to rise in station, she wouldn't have admitted it so easily in that situation.
Celitia had obviously just gone along with Sophia's words, finding an excuse to push her away once more.
Like a brilliant star that was about to fall into her palm, yet deftly changing direction to fly back into the boundless night sky, becoming unreachable once again.
Sophia admitted that she simply couldn't understand what Celitia was thinking.
But Sophia knew that she still couldn't leave her alone.
Even if Celitia accused her of "meddling" again, she would just have to accept it.
"I know you said that deliberately, just to keep me from getting close to you."
Sophia bit her lip, a hint of desolation appearing in her deep blue eyes.
"Do you... hate me that much?"
After waiting a while without receiving an answer from Celitia, Sophia's already tense heart rose even higher.
"I understand," she said, almost resignedly, "I'm proud by nature, difficult to get along with. Many people dislike me, it's not surprising—"
Before Sophia could finish, Celitia interrupted her, her voice low but exceptionally firm:
"No."
"...Huh?"
The rest of her words suddenly caught in her throat. Sophia widened her eyes, watching as the girl slowly straightened up from her embrace. They were almost forehead to forehead, nose to nose.
"I don't dislike you," Celitia repeated.
Sophia's face turned an awkward red, all the way to her ears. She didn't know why she cared so much about Celitia's opinion, or why she wanted to explain herself to her.
Under Sophia's gaze, Celitia gradually lowered her head.
Since they'd known each other, except for that time when Sophia was furious and drove her out of the dormitory, she had never wronged her.
It was all Celitia's own problem.
Such a... rotten self.
"I'm sorry," Celitia finally spoke hoarsely, "for saying those harsh things to you earlier."
"Eh?" Sophia's eyes widened.
She was actually apologizing to her?
The last bit of resentment in her heart dissipated like smoke with these words.
"It's—it's alright, I'm not angry."
Sophia stuttered, her tongue getting tied from nervousness.
"Th-th-then... shall we go to the new dormitory together?"
Sophia saw those misty smoky purple eyes fixed on her unblinkingly, like a completely burned, barren wilderness, so lonely and desolate it could drive one mad.
Her heart instantly cooled halfway, and Sophia prepared herself for rejection.
However, the girl's lips trembled very slightly, and after a moment, she slowly uttered a word from her throat:
"...Okay."
Her voice was clear and gentle, with a touch of hoarseness. The ending note seemed to contain some indescribable emotion that instantly dissipated into the air.
What Sophia didn't know was what that casually uttered "okay" truly meant.