Lyra's Pov

"Miss Lyra, I'm done washing; you can go in."

Elise walked out of the bathroom, towel in hand, slowly drying her hair.

In the room, Lyra sat on the bed and heard the other woman speak softly.

"Okay."

Due to the kind invitation of Countess Charlotte, Astrid decided to stay overnight at the manor.

Elise and Lyra, being maids, naturally accompanied her and were thus arranged to share a bedroom by the servant.

Pushing open the door, the air was filled with a light moisture. Lyra took out a clean sprig of mint for cleaning her mouth from the washstand, placed it in her mouth, and chewed it carefully.

She then removed her maid uniform, placing the skirt and stockings she had worn on the side of the shelf, and gently pressed the fire attribute crystals above her head.

Upon receiving the pressure, the internal magic circle of the fire attribute crystals began to operate, transferring heat to the water attribute crystals directly behind them.

When the temperature reached a certain threshold, a large amount of water was secreted from the surface of the crystals, pouring out along the iron pipe.

Feeling the slightly cool liquid glide over her head and flow down her hair to her skin, Lyra closed her eyes and sent mental power to the fire attribute crystals, slightly raising the temperature of the water.

There was no such handy magic device in her hometown.

If she wanted to take a bath, she had to fetch water from the well, heat it with firewood, and pour it into the tub.

The sound of water dripping on the ground rang out in her ears.

Lyra opened her eyes; her soft eyelashes were wet with liquid, and the scene in front of her seemed to be covered with a curtain of water, hazy and unreal.

"Don't approach Prince Lucas; his heart is worse than it seems. Princess Astrid is dangerous, and she's definitely trying to do something wrong by keeping you around."

Lina's words before leaving rang softly in the girl's ears, mixed with the sound of ticking water, knocking at Lyra's heart one by one.

Miss Lina's fears were justified, Astrid was the main culprit for her inability to enroll and indeed showed a very clear hostility towards her.

In fact, if Astrid really wanted her to never see the Earl Velmont for the rest of her life, there was a simpler and more crude way: to find a random reason to put Lyra in prison and lock her in forever.

But Astrid didn't do this and even gave her a chance to re-enter the Elizabeth Academy of Magic.

This was the strangest thing about Lyra and the main reason why Lina suspected that the other party had other plans.

But she was a lowest ranked knight with mediocre talent. What about her that deserved Princess Astrid's attention?

Warm water slid down her cheeks, down the furrows to her lower abdomen, and finally dripped down her graceful legs onto the tiles.

Lyra pursed her cherry-pink lips and gently wiped her body with her palms.

She thought of the day Astrid ordered the maid to be punished, and the arrogant and willful appearance that did not care about the feelings of innocent people at all.

It was exactly the same attitude as when she had been forced to...

Maybe Princess Astrid hasn't changed from beginning to end... Keeping her by her side is just a temporary fancy...

Just like Emperor Hibbort likes to raise birds and even divides areas in the palace for birds to eat and rest, she is estimated to be no different from those pets in Princess Astrid's heart.

If you are happy, you can praise it a lot, but if you are sad, you can ignore it and look at it too much.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was a big possibility.

Lyra felt like she was being weighed down by a heavy object and was a little faintly out of breath.

She's been getting weird lately, and there's always a sense of inexplicable loss that can't find the source.

After washing her body, Lyra changed into a white nightdress, slipped on her sandals, and left the bathroom.

In the bedroom, Elise lay on the bed, palms facing inward at her sides, breathing steadily as if she had already fallen asleep.

Lyra glanced at the untouched quilt on the other bed, worried that any movement might wake Elise.

She tiptoed to the window, allowing the wind to dry her hair, before quietly turning and slipping into her own bed.

"Miss Lyra," Elise suddenly spoke.

Lyra was startled, letting out a soft "eh" in surprise.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Elise apologized.

Lyra quickly recovered, shaking her head. "...No."

She had assumed Elise was already asleep.

Hearing Lyra's response, Elise continued, "Tomorrow we'll need to get up early. Countess Charlotte is leaving for the academy at half-past six, and Her Royal Highness Astrid will be departing with her."

This meant they would need to wake by half past five, half an hour earlier than usual.

"Okay,

After this exchange, the room fell silent once more.

Elise remained in her original position, and it was hard to tell whether she was still awake or had drifted back to sleep.

Lyra closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep, but after a quarter of an hour, she found herself still wide awake.

It wasn't that she was unaccustomed to sharing a room, it was the thought of Astrid and Charlotte sleeping in the same room tonight that kept her mind racing.

Her thoughts were unusually clear, and sleep seemed impossible.

She recalled the dance Astrid and Charlotte had shared at the ball.

That memory, far from fading as the evening had ended, only grew sharper with each recollection.

Every movement of Astrid's body, every detail of her dress, became clearer and more vivid in Lyra's mind.

After some time, Lyra whispered, "Miss Elise, are you asleep?"

The next second, Elise replied, "No."

"Aren't you sleepy?" Lyra asked again.

"Not sleepy," Elise said.

Then came a heavy silence. Lyra, accustomed to Elise's frequent reticence, thought for a moment and ventured a question that she hoped wouldn't be too personal.

"Miss Elise... Did Her Highness Astrid and Countess Charlotte know each other before...?"

She had noticed that the intimacy between the two seemed quite natural, and their dance had been filled with an unspoken understanding.

After listening to Lyra's question, Elise remained silent for half a minute before giving a concise answer. "Acquaintance."

They had known each other since childhood, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Charlotte had taken care of Astrid.

Lyra had guessed correctly.

Hearing this, she waited for Elise to elaborate, but no further explanation came.

Gradually, Lyra realized that Elise didn't have much desire to continue the conversation.

Aside from giving instructions or orders, Elise rarely spoke to anyone other than Astrid, even to Lyra.

Seeing the dark-haired beauty beside her close her eyes like an ascetic, clearly unwilling to speak further, Lyra felt too embarrassed to disturb her again.

Instead, she turned her gaze to the ceiling above, her eyes wandering as she silently drifted into thought.

In her third week away from home, Lyra was beginning to feel a little homesick.