CHAPTER 326: "HASN’T LYRA HAD A CRUSH ON THE YOUNG LADY FOR A LONG TIME...”

It was midsummer, and the crescent moon hung high in the sky. The cool evening breeze dispelled the heat of the day, carrying with it the fragrance of the surrounding flowers and grass, filling the lungs and lifting the spirits.

Astrid sat beside Elise, listening to the faint sound of the fire attribute crystal at work. She casually smoothed her skirt a few times, letting the silk lotus-leaf hem cover her thighs.

"Then I’ll sit here for a while too, and look at the moon beyond the Capital City."

As soon as she finished speaking, Astrid leaned back against the chair, her slender shadow cast on the ground, obscuring the silvery moonlight.

Hearing this, Elise nodded slightly, her mental energy quietly enveloping Astrid.

Feeling a faint breeze circulating on her skin, her collar fluttering, keeping the annoying mosquitoes at bay, Astrid sighed at the thoughtfulness of the head maid and slowly spoke.

"Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since Elise has been to a place like this..."

"Ever since I can remember, you’ve always been by my side, haven’t you?"

Looking through Astrid Calliste’s memories, her mother Fanya would occasionally be absent due to various affairs, and her father Hughes mostly stayed by his wife’s side, accompanying her and not having much time to spend with their daughter. The person who truly grew up with her at all times was actually the seemingly aloof head maid sitting here.

She was a key figure throughout Astrid’s twenty years of life, and what was most poignant was that she herself, just a few years ago, was no more than a young girl in the prime of her youth.

In a sense, Elise had devoted her entire youth to the empire’s princess, who had been spoiled by the emperor.

Hearing Astrid’s words, the head maid was silent for a moment, then turned her gaze back to her mistress’s face and answered calmly.

"Yes, the young lady is correct."

Thinking carefully, it had been nearly a dozen years.

Looking into those lead-black, cool eyes, Astrid blinked a few times, her fingers tapping lightly on her knees.

"It must have been hard for Elise all this time, whether it was taking care of my daily life or handling those seemingly troublesome matters..."

Cultivating trusted confidants, operating intelligence organizations, controlling the weekly publication of newspapers, Astrid couldn’t manage every detail on her own, so she chose to delegate all authority to Elise.

From the results, the other party had done an excellent job, so excellent that Astrid couldn’t even imagine what she would do if she were to lose this loyal head maid one day.

Hearing this, Elise shook her head and spoke softly.

"It is my honor to serve Miss Astrid."

The woman’s tone was calm and serious, as usual. Looking at the serious expression on the head maid’s face, Astrid’s lips slightly curved upwards.

"Should I say Elise is too rigid or too loyal? I remember saying long ago that we don’t need to be so formal in private, nor do we need to be so polite as we are now."

"I just sincerely feel that with Elise here, everything is much easier to handle."

Even though they were far from the imperial capital now, Elise would still report the previous day’s news to Astrid every morning, half a year ago, when she learned that the third princess planned to vacation in Morin Village, the head maid had extended the intelligence network towards Kost Town. Even now, in the relatively information-isolated countryside, she could still react at any time.

Hearing Astrid’s words, Elise’s eyes were as calm as an ancient well. After a while, she spoke in a low voice.

"As long as I can help the young lady."

The wind rustled the leaves, and the head maid’s delicate features became particularly three-dimensional under the moonlight. Although her words felt gentle, paired with her cool profile, she still appeared serious, faintly revealing an aura of abstinence.

Looking at Elise’s neatly arranged collar, the maid’s dress on her chest spotless, a glimmer of light appeared in Astrid’s red eyes. After half a minute, she spoke up.

"It’s rare to come out and play, it’s not bad to relax a little."

Seeing that Elise remained unmoved, Astrid added.

"What I mean is, there’s no need to always be on edge."

"Both mentally and physically."

Even though the atmosphere was extremely comfortable, Astrid could still sense Elise’s restraint, whether it was the dignified sitting posture that followed maid etiquette or the constant vigilance of her spirit.

She was like a piece of hardened iron.

Not that it was wrong to do so; as a maid and bodyguard, Elise’s constant vigilance was a reflection of her dedication. However, as a flesh-and-blood person, staying in a state of tension for a long time was not good.

"I understand, Miss Astrid," Elise replied.

Whether she really understood or was simply obeying orders, Astrid saw Elise’s straight back slightly bend, and her sitting posture noticeably relaxed.

"That’s more like it..."

Reaching out to touch the bow on the woman’s skirt, her nimble fingers probed into the knot and gently untied it.

With Astrid’s movements, Elise’s collar quickly opened, revealing a small patch of snow-white skin. The sudden coolness made the woman somewhat uncomfortable.

Looking at the slightly disordered collar, Astrid suddenly felt that the head maid’s cold aura had diminished, and she herself had become more lively.

"Elise, are you used to living here?" Astrid asked.

Elise replied, "Reporting to the young lady, everything is fine."

"What about the food? How does it feel?"

"The cooking skills of the two elders are very good, I personally like it very much."

After chatting for a while, Astrid stretched her legs and gently exhaled, her deep red pupils reflecting the firewood piled up in the courtyard.

Elise’s gaze lingered on Astrid’s face. After a while, she spoke up.

"Miss Astrid..."

"Yes?"

"Miss Lyra’s parents must like you very much."

Suddenly hearing Elise’s out-of-the-blue remark, a trace of doubt flashed in Astrid’s eyes, and her pink lips parted.

"Why do you say that suddenly?"

This didn’t need Elise’s reminder, Astrid could feel it herself.

Presumably, Lyra must have embellished her, the supposed villainess, quite a bit in her letters home.

Hearing this, Elise’s gaze did not waver, but calmly met Astrid’s eyes. When she caught the trace of doubt in the other’s pupils, her eyes also narrowed slightly.

"Then I must have been mistaken..."

"I thought the main purpose of the young lady’s trip was to let Miss Lyra’s parents get to know you."

As soon as Elise finished speaking, Astrid slightly furrowed her brow, increasingly puzzled.

"I do have that intention... but, what do you mean, Elise..."

After spending so much time together, Astrid considered herself and Elise to be quite in sync. Often, with just a glance from her, the latter knew how to handle things.

But this time, she didn’t quite understand the underlying meaning of Elise’s words.

Seeing the faint frown on Astrid’s brow, Elise spoke calmly.

"Young lady... didn’t you accompany Lyra home because you like her?"

Like?

Hearing this, Astrid’s eyelid twitched, feeling that Elise’s idea was somewhat absurd.

She likes Lyra? Where did that come from?

"Where did you get the idea that I like Lyra?"

Hearing the doubt in Astrid’s words, Elise answered truthfully.

"The young lady has only shown obvious interest in her, and has taken care of her in many matters..."

The Astrid of the past was definitely not a long-term person. Only in treating Lyra did she go all out, even without any reason, which was quite abnormal in the eyes of the head maid who knew Astrid’s character.

Even if a person changes a lot, they should still follow the most basic behavioral logic. The only explanation Elise could think of was that Astrid had developed real feelings for Lyra during the long-term giving and taking.

The Valeria Empire was not without precedents. In long-term physical relationships, some nobles developed emotional attachments to their maids or servants. Although they couldn’t openly marry due to status, they could secretly keep them as mistresses.

Elise didn’t know the extent of Astrid’s feelings for Lyra, whether she was a secret lover or someone she wanted to publicly acknowledge. The only thing she knew was that her mistress held a high degree of trust in Lyra, a trust that might be slightly less than her own, who had grown up with her, but had already surpassed the realm of friendship.

"Anything else?" Hearing Elise’s words, Astrid raised an eyebrow and continued to ask.

"The young lady rarely keeps secrets from her, even though she had only known Miss Lyra for a few months at the time."

From a rational perspective, a presence like Delphise was not suitable for more people to know about, yet Astrid had never hidden anything from Lyra, even explicitly revealing the other’s identity.

Going further back, Astrid’s decision to take Lyra as her personal maid was something that Elise found quite baffling, especially since it wasn’t a fleeting interest, but a choice to continue the relationship.

All these abnormal actions could only be explained by the word "like."

Previously, in the third princess’s bedroom, Lyra, disheveled and hiding on the bed, only slightly confirmed Elise’s speculation, not a decisive piece of evidence. The main reason for the head maid’s judgment was Astrid’s long-term behavior.

"..."

"So was it some of my actions that led Elise to misunderstand?"

Discussing such an awkward topic in someone else’s home, in case Lyra’s parents overheard it, wouldn’t be good. While softly chanting the spell for a silencing barrier, Astrid spoke in a low voice.

"My relationship with Lyra is not what Elise thinks."

As for why she took such good care of Lyra, there were too many things involved, possibly even related to the operating rules of the entire world. Even to her most loyal confidant, who would never reveal her secrets, Astrid didn’t plan to explain too much.

Hearing this, Elise thoughtfully lowered her head, the gurgling sound of boiling water echoing in her ears.

After a while, the sound of water gradually subsided, and Astrid continued to ask.

"Besides these, is there anything else..."

"If it’s just this, it’s not impossible to say we’re very good friends, how did you come to think of such a thing?"

Even though Astrid had seen many of the games nobles played, she had never thought that Elise would misunderstand her relationship with Lyra like this.

Did she look like the type who would like girls, or someone who would coerce her maid to satisfy her own desires?

Hearing Astrid’s words, Elise probably realized she had misunderstood, so she didn’t hide the basis for her judgment and told Astrid about the abnormality she noticed in the bedroom that night.

Lyra, blushing and hiding on the bed... When was that...

Her thoughts raced, and after half a minute, Astrid finally found the night Elise mentioned in her memory. She had asked Lyra to help her engrave the crystal stone for the retrospection image, and incidentally tested the one-way transformation potion.

At that time, Lyra had been stripped of her armor, the highest coverage of her clothing being two thin white stockings, almost completely exposed to her. The girl tightly pressed her legs together, her cheeks as red as a ripe tomato.

The specific details had mostly slipped Astrid’s mind, but now, upon careful recollection, that scene did seem a bit more ambiguous, especially in the eyes of others.

"At that time, I was testing the newly arrived transformation potion, especially the illusions related to touch, so I had Lyra take off her clothes to observe whether the decorations detached from the body would still be affected by the magic of the potion."

The results indeed met Astrid’s expectations and became the basis for the birth of Anno Fierce.

She didn’t expect such a small misunderstanding, due to lack of proper communication, to lead to such a big mix-up.

"What exactly was Elise thinking before, I want to hear your honest answer."

Facing her mistress’s inquiry, Elise was silent for a long time, finally confessing her somewhat presumptuous speculation.

"I once thought the young lady had vented her stress on Lyra."

Although she had guessed it, hearing the head maid say this expressionlessly, Astrid couldn’t help but frown, thinking the other’s idea was too fanciful.

"No... Lyra and I are completely innocent..."

She herself might be more inclined towards same-sex relationships, but Lyra probably wasn’t, considering her good sister didn’t mention any hints of a yuri direction when writing "The Innocent Knight of the Stained Light."

According to the writing style of a strong female lead novel, by the end, probably no one could match the knight in shining armor, radiant with light.

Hearing this, Elise’s expression remained calm, her lips parting slightly.

"My apologies, I misjudged the emotional progress between the young lady and Lyra..."

"Perhaps Miss Lyra’s actions all along led me to believe you had already reached that stage."

Since that wasn’t the case, she should adjust her attitude towards Lyra appropriately, no longer viewing her as the princess’s bedmate, but as a good friend and potential admirer.

"Lyra’s actions?" Astrid’s tone was even more puzzling.

"What do you mean?"

As soon as Astrid finished speaking, Elise spoke softly.

"Hasn’t Lyra had a crush on the young lady for a long time..."