Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 211: Competing for favor with a child...

Returning to Charlotte’s office along the same path, Lyra placed the tea on the table in front of Astrid, adjusted her breathing, and spoke at a steady pace.

"...Is there anything else, Princess Astrid?"

Astrid was looking at the rudder diagram Charlotte had drawn yesterday afternoon. Seeing the steaming tea, she gently shook her head.

"Not for now. Go and practice with Amalia."

Charlotte had been struggling with the design of the main rudder. If they used the simplest button-style, it would be difficult to achieve precise control of such a massive aerial beast, and adding a large number of buttons would also complicate the manufacturing process.

Lyra nodded slightly, seeing that Astrid wasn’t looking at her, she casually brushed a strand of pink hair to cover her small, exposed earlobe, and carried the remaining tea to the next room.

Hearing the door open, Amalia’s gaze fell on Lyra’s slightly flushed cheeks, and her curiosity, which had been slightly interrupted by her meditation, reignited.

When Lyra sat down opposite her and opened her notebook, Amalia spoke in a low voice.

"Lyra, do you want to drink some more water?"

"Huh?"

Lyra was momentarily stunned, looking up at Amalia, whose crimson eyes were calm, quietly staring at her face, her voice steady.

"Your face is very red," Amalia said.

Being pointed out by a child three or four years younger than her, Lyra felt even more ashamed, her hand gripping the paper tighter. After a while, she spoke in a soft voice.

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Amalia. I’m actually... fine..."

After reading some magic books and learning a few new spells, that strange dream should gradually fade away.

Looking at Lyra, who was sitting with her white-stockinged legs pressed together and her ears slightly red, Amalia suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable crisis.

Perhaps it was some kind of intuition, or something else that Amalia had overlooked.

She felt that this pink-haired maid was acting a bit strange towards her sister...

After half a minute, Amalia couldn’t suppress her curiosity and spoke in a low voice.

"You took a bath with Astrid last night, right?"

She wanted to know what exactly happened in the bath, and when Astrid’s scent had been transferred.

Hearing Amalia suddenly bring up this topic, the lingering memories of the dream, which had just been replaced, resurfaced.

Lyra pursed her lips, her left hand, which had been resting on the notebook, dropped to the table, grabbing the top of her stockings and gently pulling them up.

These seemingly nervous little movements, in Amalia’s eyes, became evidence of Lyra’s guilt, even though Lyra herself didn’t understand why she should feel guilty.

They definitely did something.

"We just took a bath together..."

Lyra gently pulled on her stockings, even though they were already in place, she didn’t put her hand back on the table, but instead grabbed a small section of the fabric, her fingertips gently rubbing it.

"Just helped my sister take a bath?"

"Yes."

"Didn’t do anything else?"

"..."

Why did Amalia seem so strange, as if she was very concerned about her taking a bath with Princess Astrid?

As for this black-haired girl, Lyra only had brief exchanges with her during study sessions.

Most of the time, they each did their own things. Although Lyra wanted to be friends with Amalia, the latter’s aloof personality made it difficult to get close.

The bond that connected them was Astrid. If Astrid wasn’t present, this fourth princess would be very quiet, often holding her cat without speaking.

Thinking about it carefully, all of Amalia’s emotional fluctuations seemed to be related to Astrid. She really loved her sister.

Could it be... that Amalia was jealous...

Thinking back to when her parents had asked if she wanted a younger sibling, Lyra had said yes because she liked the idea of having more family and a lively household.

But similar questions had different answers for others, just as some children worried that having another person in the family would take away the love they received from their parents and elders.

Was Amalia also worried that she would take away Princess Astrid’s attention?

After much thought, this seemed the most likely possibility. Lyra looked at the cold and aloof girl with her hair tied in a side ponytail across the table, hesitated for a moment, and chose to omit the awkward incident in the bath.

"...No," Lyra replied.

Massage was part of a personal maid’s duties, naturally included in the term "service."

Amalia silently stared at Lyra for a long time before finally looking away, deep in thought.

After a while, feeling that the topic had ended, they both opened their books and began their magic studies for the day.

Listening to the sound of pages turning, Lyra also felt a subtle emotion rising in her heart.

She wasn’t as important as Amalia thought.

But it would be nice if Princess Astrid would actually pay attention to her.

Thinking this, Lyra suddenly realized, her fingertips slightly sinking into the soft flesh of her thigh.

Why was she thinking this...

Competing for favor with a child... wasn’t that a bit too childish?

-------

The first thing Charlotte did upon returning to the manor was to ask where Astrid had gone.

Upon learning that the latter had spent the entire morning in her office and hardly came out, the Countess thought for two or three seconds, gave up her plan to go to the workshop, and headed straight for the room the maids had mentioned.

The sound of high heels clicking on the floor tiles echoed as she pushed open the door.

The light white floral curtains swayed gently in the breeze, and the soft sunlight fell on the brown wooden desk, illuminating the smooth, waist-length silver hair.

Astrid was not sitting quietly as Charlotte had imagined. Instead, she was lying on the wooden desk with her arms wrapped around her cheeks.

Her smooth, delicate arms peeked out from the scattered silver hair, bathed in a few beams of light, exuding a jade-like glow.

Is she... asleep?

Seeing this, Charlotte softened her footsteps and quietly sat down opposite Astrid, her mental energy continuously spreading out, enveloping the other’s spirit.

Feeling that Astrid’s mental energy was indeed almost used up, but still far from being exhausted, Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, her gaze lingering on the pure black lace hairband on the girl’s head.

Mental energy is like a second life for mages and knights. If too much is used at once, one’s mental state will become listless, with the most obvious manifestation being drowsiness and a lack of motivation to do anything.

Her eyes moved downward and caught sight of the parchment pressed under Astrid’s fingers.

From the exposed part, it seemed to be a design drawing for the helm.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then carefully pulled the paper out from under the other’s fingertips, starting to read carefully from the first line.

The joystick control console, similar to the leg joint structure of a sickle-clawed leopard, can achieve seamless free sliding by utilizing its joint cavity and internal connective tissue.

At the same time, special magic patterns that can control wind attribute crystals in all directions are distributed within the cavity, ensuring the most precise directional adjustments.

Charlotte looked at the structural diagram below. Astrid had drawn a circle with a marked sliding range, corresponding exactly to the various navigation directions of the airship.

As long as the joystick was moved to the appropriate position, free control could be achieved.

Turning to the back, there was another design, a simple control console responsible for regulating the intensity of wind attribute crystal delivery.

They had discussed this yesterday, and Charlotte hadn’t expected Astrid to have already drawn it today.

There was also the amount of crystals the joystick’s contact surface could touch at once, which could also be microscopically regulated here.

Charlotte clenched her snow-white chin, carefully reading these design drafts. After more than ten minutes, she put down the drawings and continued to quietly gaze at Astrid.

Having used up so much mental energy, she must have been experimenting with the magic circles related to the drawings.

The woman’s gaze gradually softened, and she wanted to reach out and touch Astrid’s head.

Her delicate hand lifted halfway, but fearing she might disturb the other’s rest, she could only put it back down.

The tea on the table was half-drunk and had already cooled.

Charlotte saw her own reflection in the liquid surface, recalling the figure sitting by the bed alone, drinking wine during the New Year, looking haggard and lonely. Her tea-colored eyes narrowed slightly, then quickly relaxed naturally.

Little Astr is no longer the ignorant child she used to be...

She has her own ideas, her own judgments, and can, to a certain extent, become her support.

Leaning back in her seat, feeling the support of the solid wood, Charlotte closed her eyes, a slight smile forming at the corners of her lips.

Perhaps saying "to a certain extent" isn’t entirely accurate. If it weren’t for Astrid helping her find direction, probing the emperor’s intentions and improving the nobles’ impressions, she might still be at a loss for what to do.

Moreover... even the development of the helm, which should have been entirely left to her, Astrid had unhesitatingly joined in, even proposing many constructive ideas...

Opening her eyes, looking at the silver-haired princess who had exhausted too much energy on the design drafts and could only sleep on the desk, a strange emotion welled up in Charlotte’s eyes.

Little Astr used to not even be able to sleep on a hard bed, but now, to help her, she was sleeping soundly on the desk.

She really has been wronged.