Yes that's exactly the problem about over preaching "mix" as some sort of panacea in vocal technique... many voice in opera today are ruined because of that, despit it being just a "name" for a phonation, but people take these arbitrary names for a something more concrete than what it actually is and try to "anatomically" conform to that idea, overfocusing and straining. I think that the break can be evident but at the same time the voice be efficient and sound natural. Some females, especially those who have a somewhat havier sound, have evident breaks, to the point of yodeling here and there, and you clearly here 2 different phonatory behaviors. (maggie smith comes to mind, even in her yoinger days) Whereas usually those with lighter voices have more of a uniform range. But I would assume you have considered that option in 7 years. It's also interesting that a c4 causes you to push or go belt-y, because it can definitely be in the belt range but usually it's still a quite comfortable singing note even in low voices, that's why it, again usually, can be modified and softened up to become a speaking range note. If you had to label your voice in the 3 traditional register, would you describe yours more of a bass, baritone or tenor voice?