Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 210: Lyra’s Unusual Dream

In the bedroom, Astrid and Amalia quickly fell asleep. Meanwhile, in the room just across the hall, separated by a single door, Lyra was far from calm.

Returning to her room, Lyra first lay on the bed to calm down. Once her ears weren’t so hot, she changed out of her maid uniform into a light nightgown and got into bed, thinking she would fall asleep peacefully.

But as soon as she closed her eyes, the scene from earlier in the bathhouse, where she had been massaging Princess Astrid, came flooding back.

The steamy air, the floating petals, the slender, graceful waist, and the snow-white, smooth back, all of it swirled in her mind, gradually taking on a somewhat suggestive tone.

She recalled how she had grasped Princess Astrid’s rounded shoulders, pressing her fingers firmly, and heard the sweet, cat-like moan from the woman in front of her.

She also remembered how her legs had brushed against Astrid’s waist underwater, creating faint ripples.

In the quiet room, Lyra could hear her heartbeat overlapping with the ticking of the clock, each beat distinct and clear.

At that time... how could she have been so careless...

In the last ten minutes of the massage, Lyra’s fair calf, submerged in the water, had accidentally brushed against Princess Astrid’s slim waist, and she had even instinctively squeezed it.

Realizing what had happened, the pink-haired maid’s face flushed crimson, and she quickly covered her cheeks with her hands.

Without any fabric in the way, the natural skin-to-skin contact felt entirely different.

Am I really just a foolish maid?

Patting her cheeks to try and shake these embarrassing and shy scenes out of her mind, Lyra followed the meditation technique Elise had taught her, striving to calm her emotions and empty her mind.

"..."

No, no... I still can’t sleep...

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that Lyra finally managed to fall asleep.

At seven the next morning, the groggy girl got up, washed her face, changed back into her maid uniform, and walked toward Princess Astrid’s room with a flushed face.

The early-rising silver-haired princess was already dressed, wearing a black lace-trimmed dress that hugged her delicate figure, paired with her usual black stockings and high heels.

"Let’s go have breakfast. I’ve already prepared everything."

"Yes, Princess Astrid."

Seeing Princess Astrid’s smooth, black-stockinged feet peeking out from her high heels, Lyra’s cheeks turned even redder, her hands clenching tightly, her knuckles turning white.

That dream last night... was way too strange...

In the dream, Princess Astrid had looked at her with an intrigued gaze.

And then... she had used her foot to gently lift Lyra’s chin...

Quickly averting her gaze from Astrid’s feet, Lyra took a deep breath and walked ahead to lead the way.

In the northwest corner of the Countess’ estate, several months ago, the Arcanist level mage Charlotte used earth elemental magic to construct simple walls and a roof.

With the help of craftsmen, she completed this makeshift workshop for building a mana-powered airship.

"Professor Elandor, how did the experiment go this time?"

Seeing the silver-haired girl in a black dress walking gracefully towards him, Elandor put down the engineering ruler in his hand, took off his square-framed glasses, and the wrinkles on his face slightly twisted with a smile.

"Reporting to Princess Astrid, the lift provided by the heating of the fire attribute crystal seems sufficient for now. The scaled-down miniature airship has successfully taken flight during the test."

To verify feasibility, apart from the initial palm-sized hot air balloon, Elandor also created related models during the process of refining the plan and conducted experiments.

"In fact, after these model experiments, I believe that some parts of the final mana-powered airship can use less expensive materials. Replacing them with fabric would be equally reasonable."

"However, using the original materials would be the most convenient, as we wouldn’t have to worry about the thrust generated by the wind attribute crystal causing ordinary materials to disintegrate or deform."

After listening to the man’s words, Astrid nodded and spoke softly.

"The batch of sabertooth wolf hides I ordered earlier should be sufficient. We don’t need other materials as fillers."

"Professor Elandor, the construction cost of this airship is not important. Please feel free to make any requests. What we need is for it to achieve its intended goal without fail."

If not for the limited funds and the low production of mana materials more suitable for the airbag than Sabertooth wolf leather, Astrid would have wanted to raise the specifications of this first mana-powered airship even further.

As long as the finished product is eye-catching enough, the nobles will naturally provide investment and support.

The initial costs are insignificant, and improvements can be made later to gradually reduce the cost.

Moreover, Astrid has reason to suspect that in the eyes of some high-ranking nobles, a high price tag is not necessarily a disadvantage.

They might not see the potential commercial transportation and military value of this mana-powered device, treating it merely as a sightseeing vehicle.

Perhaps those people would even complain that Astrid didn’t inlay the passenger cabin with gems or pave it with tiles, not matching their high-end and noble status.

Hearing this, Elandor glanced at Astrid a few more times, then pulled out a quill and wrote two lines on a piece of parchment, handing it to her.

"Since Princess Astrid says so, I can rest assured."

"These are the magical materials needed to reinforce the hull, as well as a special tree sap that ensures the Sabertooth wolf leather won’t be ignited by the fire attribute crystal."

Astrid reached out to take it, examined it carefully for a while, and then put it in her bag.

"Alright, Professor Elandor, I’ll prepare them as soon as possible."

Her most capable and trusted head maid has been busy recently, handling the release of the newspaper and collecting dividends from the Velmont family to purchase materials.

She has been shuttling between the estate and the royal city every day, so it’s not possible to inform her immediately about new tasks.

After leaving Elandor’s workshop, Astrid went to inspect the work of the craftsmen.

The large airbag needed for the airship was 20% complete, and the passenger cabin officially started construction yesterday. The entire project should take about six months, as Elandor estimated.

Ironically, due to the lukewarm development of mana-powered devices, even the graduation exams of the Elizabeth Academy of Magic didn’t include topics related to this subject.

Most students treated it as an interest expansion and didn’t take it seriously. As a result, Elandor, a professor of magic devices, didn’t have many classes each week and naturally had plenty of time to participate in the construction of the airship.

Thinking that Charlotte had classes this morning and wasn’t at the estate, Astrid went to her office. This was where they usually discussed magic and where Charlotte conducted her research on mana-powered devices.

"Lyra, go and pour us some tea."

As soon as she sat down, Astrid softly instructed Lyra, who nodded in response, her pink lips parting slightly.

"Alright, I’ll go right away, Princess Astrid."

Amalia, who was sitting nearby, noticed the pink-haired maid turning to leave, her crimson eyes slightly shifting.

She felt that Lyra was acting a bit strange today. During meals, she kept stealing glances at Astrid out of the corner of her eye, and her ears were slightly red.

A few times, Amalia noticed Lyra’s gaze lingering on Astrid’s high heels for two or three seconds, with a flash of shyness and evasion in her blue eyes.

However, Amalia, who had been closely observing Lyra since waking up this morning, caught it all.

What exactly happened between her sister and Lyra in the bath last night?

It felt like a cat’s paw was scratching at her heart, an unusually itchy sensation. Amalia walked into the study room reserved for her and Lyra, her hard-soled shoes clicking against the floor tiles.

Meanwhile, Lyra, walking down the corridor, was also feeling uneasy. The dream she had last night was so bizarre that she still remembered every detail clearly.

In the dream, Princess Astrid was more coquettish than the elegant silver-haired princess she remembered, and her personality was slightly more "mischievous" than usual.

She couldn’t help but think of Astrid in her seat, crossing her slender legs in sheer black stockings, her jeweled heels dangling from her toes, swaying with a slow, teasing rhythm.

"Lyra, why did you forget to prepare my afternoon tea today? You also put too much milk in the morning tea, it’s a bit too rich."

Astrid had one arm crossed over her chest, the other elbow resting on her wrist, a slender finger tracing her lips and landing on the center of her soft, moist red lips.

"You’re becoming more and more absent-minded... And why are you standing so far away? Come closer..."

The woman’s tone carried a hint of laziness, her crimson eyes slightly narrowed.

Lyra obediently complied, stepping up to the stairs of Astrid’s bedroom, her head lowered, her watery eyes not daring to meet Astrid’s gaze.

Since it was a dream, even though Lyra didn’t look up at Astrid, she could still see the woman’s amused gaze on her, as well as the pure black high heels dangling from her toes, seemingly capable of captivating one’s soul.

"Are you afraid of me?" Astrid asked softly.

Lyra shook her head and whispered, "No, I’m not."

"Oh?"

Receiving this answer, Astrid seemed dissatisfied, the silk fabric on her thighs making a pleasant rustling sound as she moved.

After an unknown amount of time, Astrid’s lips curled into a playful smile, and then Lyra heard a soft thud as something fell to the ground.

The next second, the perspective shifted from first-person to third-person, and Lyra felt her chin gently pressed by something warm and soft, accompanied by a sweet, rose-like fragrance.

Astrid lifted her leg, still about two people’s distance away, her exquisitely crafted high heels falling to the floor, the laces loose.

She opened her mouth, about to say something.

At that moment, a clear female voice sounded in Lyra’s ear, instantly interrupting her thoughts.

"Miss Lyra, are you here to prepare tea for Princess Astrid?"

Lyra looked around and realized she had already arrived at the estate’s tea room, where a maid dressed similarly to her was speaking to her.

"Yes, good morning."

"Good morning."

After exchanging greetings, Lyra followed the usual procedure to mix milk and tea, listening to the sound of the tea pouring into the cup, her heart rate, which had just calmed down, becoming erratic again.

When she first became a personal maid, Elise had taught her many noble etiquettes of the Valeria Empire, one of which was for the person performing the gesture to kneel on one knee, gently holding the other person’s hand, and kissing it with devotion.

This gesture usually appeared between nobles who were particularly close, and it had been a long time since anyone used it. At least, Lyra had never seen Astrid perform or receive such a noble gesture.

But in the dream... she actually...

Lyra unconsciously bit her lip, holding the tray with her hands, her fair cheeks flushing red again.

She had only heard of the so-called hand-kissing gesture... but a foot-kissing gesture?

Moreover, the hand-kissing gesture required removing gloves, but Princess Astrid didn’t remove hers...

No, no, there’s no need to keep thinking about this!