Lucas doubt on current behaviour

Lyra, who was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, naturally couldn't have imagined that Astrid had fired the maids to deceive Lucas.

But now she knew that Princess Astrid's heart wasn't as domineering as it had seemed at the time.

Astrid had claimed to be furious, even threatening to deduct two months' wages.

Yet, when the maids were packing their bags and preparing to leave, Astrid remembered how they had cared for her before.

Her heart softened, though she was too ashamed to keep them.

Instead, she expressed her apologies by increasing their severance pay.

She was gentle at heart, but her introverted nature made her reluctant to show it.

If Astrid were by Lyra's side now, unaware of the elaborate romantic narrative the girl had constructed in her mind, she might have suspected that she wasn't playing the role of a cold-hearted villain but rather a delicate, tsundere heroine.