Oral's words were harsh and disrespectful, insulting both Celitia and her mother, which explained Luna's awful expression.
However, these words had zero impact on Celitia, not bothering her in the slightest as she didn't take them to heart.
There's no need to communicate with dogs.
But her current strength was insufficient; rashly hitting a dog would only result in being bitten, so she'd let him bark for now.
Celitia completely ignored Oral and turned to Luna: "Luna, I'm going back first."
With that, Celitia walked around Oral and headed back.
"Stop right there!"
Seeing himself ignored, Oral was very displeased and again blocked Celitia's path.
Celitia tried to go around him, but Oral was determined to cause trouble. No matter which direction she went, he firmly blocked her way.
"Is there something you need, Oral?"
Celitia finally lost her patience and spoke gravely.
Oral found this unacceptable.
Before, no matter how harshly Oral treated his sister, Celitia would only smile weakly, speaking to him in a pleasing tone, humbly begging for the rare occasions when he showed her a pleasant face.
Today, she dared to ignore him?
"Is your illness better?"
Oral raised his chin haughtily, deliberately emphasizing his words. "Next time, be careful not to accidentally 'slip' and fall into the pond again."
A few days ago, Oral had used similarly offensive words to insult the girl's mother.
The girl, momentarily angered, had pushed Oral, but was then thrown into the cold pond by the furious Oral, falling seriously ill.
Oral had lied to Viscount Herbert and his wife, claiming that his sister had slipped and fallen into the pond by herself.
The two couldn't bear to punish their precious son, not only accepting Oral's excuse but also severely scolding the girl.
In her grief, the girl's illness worsened, and had Sercis not merged with her by chance, that tiny flame of life would have been extinguished.
"Much better now."
Celitia smiled slightly. "Speaking of which, I should thank you, Oral."
Oral was stunned, thinking he had misheard: "Thank me?"
"Yes, falling into the water made me think through many things."
Before Oral could react, Celitia lightly raised her hand, extending one finger, and provocatively tapped her own head.
"Would you like to try it? Perhaps soaking in water for half an hour could grow some brains in that empty head of yours. Not much, but at least better than now, don't you think, my dear brother?"
Oral was momentarily stunned before understanding the meaning in his typically fragile sister's words.
"Celitia!!"
Recognizing the mockery, Oral instantly flew into a rage.
He rushed toward Celitia, veins bulging on his hands as he reached for her.
They were right by the pond. If Oral grabbed her, Celitia would certainly be thrown into the water again.
Despite having no battle energy or magic power within her, Celitia wasn't afraid at all.
She knew exactly how incompetent her hot-tempered brother was.
Before Oral could grab her, Celitia nimbly stepped back, twisting her body to avoid his arms, and moved to Oral's side and behind him.
The person before him suddenly disappeared. Before Oral could figure out what happened, he felt a numbness in his back as if someone had bumped into him. His forward momentum couldn't be stopped, and he involuntarily rushed forward several more steps.
"Ahh-!!"
His foot stepped on a stone near the pond. The moss was slippery, causing him to immediately lose balance and tumble into the cold water.
With a loud "splash," Oral's panicked cries for help also rang out:
"Help! Help me!!"
He couldn't swim!!
"Oh my... my leg hurts a bit."
Celitia bent down, pinching her sore calf.
Most of what she had used were techniques of redirecting force, requiring little effort.
Only when dodging Oral did Celitia use some real skill.
With this untrained girl's body, she had indeed strained her leg muscles.
Luna stood beside her, dumbfounded, her mouth hanging open, even forgetting to call for help.
Celitia tilted her head cutely, giving Luna a fragile smile:
"I'm going back, Luna."
With that, she used the broom in her hand as a crutch, limping back, completely ignoring Oral who was still splashing in the pond, as if she had forgotten his existence.
Because of Oral's fall into the water, the entire Herbert household was in chaos, almost raising the roof.
Oral wasn't seriously hurt; he fell into the pond, swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, and was quickly rescued by passing servants.
"Achoo!"
Due to the cooling weather and the sudden shock of cold water, even the physically strong Oral caught a bit of a cold.
"Mother, it's all Celitia's fault that I ended up like this. You absolutely cannot let her get away with it!!"
In the hall, Oral had changed his clothes and taken a sip of hot soup prepared by the servants, but didn't forget to tattle to Lady Herbert.
"My precious darling, how can that woman be so vicious, to do this to her own brother?"
Lady Herbert was so distressed that tears fell from her eyes.
This son was her only child, normally held in the palm of her hand for fear he might melt away. How could she tolerate anyone bullying him?
"Charles, that's your daughter! I've been tolerant of her because she lost her mother! Now she's done such a thing to Oral, and if you don't discipline her, should I do it for you?!"
Lady Herbert pressured Viscount Herbert, her hysterical, sharp voice giving him a headache.
Viscount Herbert had always understood his daughter, knowing her to be timid in character and weak in body.
This time, Celitia being able to push the typically strong Oral into the water was truly beyond his expectation.
"Someone, where is Celitia? Call her here now!!"
Viscount Herbert sent servants who found her in her attic room.
Celitia had been lying down for less than half an hour, and the pain in her calf had just begun to ease when she was forced to follow the servant to the hall.
Upon entering, Celitia saw those three people.
Her smug brother, her gloomy stepmother, and her irritated father.
All waiting for her.
Celitia laughed coldly inside but walked over obediently on the surface, bowing to the three:
"Father, Mother, Oral, good morning. What did you call me for?"
Seeing her innocent expression as if she knew nothing, Viscount Herbert's face darkened as he shouted sternly at Celitia:
"Kneel down!"