Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 229: "Who do you like?"

At 9:20 in the evening, Astrid heard someone knocking on the door, thinking that Amalia had come early, the little girl was busy painting recently, and came later than usual every day, she said softly.

"Come in."

The door opened, Lyra in a maid’s uniform walked into the bedroom, holding a brown tray with a teacup on it.

"Princess Astrid, it’s best to drink a cup of tea before going to bed after eating greasy food at night."

Astrid put down the quill, slightly stretched her waist, her chocolate-like black silk feet found the slippers and put them on, turned her head to look at Lyra.

"Thank you."

Hearing Astrid’s voice, Lyra politely replied that it was her duty, and after making sure that Amalia was not there, she put down the teacup and stood aside.

"What’s wrong, Lyra?" Astrid took a sip of tea, it was still the familiar tea fragrance, the temperature was just right, it warmed the stomach but would not burn the tongue.

"..."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Lyra slowly spoke.

"Princess Astrid... I want to ask you a few questions..."

"Hmm?"

"It might be a bit... abrupt."

Astrid raised her eyebrows slightly, a little surprised to look at Lyra.

"What questions?"

She was quite curious about what abrupt words Lyra could say with her shy personality in the early stage.

Seeing Princess Astrid’s delicate appearance softened in the steam of the tea, Lyra gathered her courage, her lips slightly opened.

"I want to know why you refused Earl Tristian’s proposal?"

Facing the pink-haired maid’s rare straightforwardness, Astrid held the tea, her left leg elegantly crossed over her right knee, thought for a few seconds and replied.

"Because I don’t want to accept it."

As soon as the woman finished speaking, Lyra was stunned.

Is this an answer? It feels like a waste of words.

"Then... there must be a reason for not wanting to accept it..."

Listening to Lyra’s voice getting smaller and smaller, Astrid didn’t intend to continue teasing her, took another sip of tea, and said lightly.

"Because I don’t have any plans to get married for the time being, and I don’t intend to achieve my goals by selling myself."

Perhaps it was too harsh to say that, but in Astrid’s opinion, the essence of a marriage alliance is to sell a person’s future in exchange for higher interests.

She doesn’t like it, and she doesn’t accept it.

"But, Princess Astrid, don’t you always like Earl Tristian very much?"

Becoming the bride of the person you love, it’s hard to refuse no matter how you think about it.

Astrid looked at Lyra a few more times, her long eyelashes slightly trembling.

"I thought a certain eavesdropping maid had already understood."

"The conversation at the table made it clear, I haven’t liked him for a long time, is it strange?"

Although she never said it explicitly, as the heroine’s favorability was getting higher and higher, Lyra even took the initiative to propose to be friends with her, Astrid no longer maintained the persona of a secret admirer.

If you think about it carefully, the fact that she and Tristian had dinner together and brought Lyra instead of Elise, in addition to the reason for taking care of Amalia, there was also a point to show that she was not avoiding the two of them.

It’s just that a certain pink-haired maid was too concerned and fell into the preconceived thinking trap.

"Really?" Lyra asked cautiously, her tender white fingers nervously twisted together.

Astrid leaned back in her chair and said in a low voice, "Do I have any reason to lie to you?"

As soon as the words came out, the last heavy stone in Lyra’s heart finally fell, and every cell in her body seemed to be cheering.

It was different from what she thought, Princess Astrid really didn’t like Earl Tristian anymore.

"Is that what you came to ask?" Astrid asked in a low voice.

Lyra quickly came back from the joy, her voice slightly raised.

"Well... mainly to ask this..."

There was no doubt that when she heard Princess Astrid’s answer, she felt the emotion called joy in her heart.

She would be happy for Astrid to refuse Tristian’s proposal, and she would be excited for her to admit that she didn’t like him.

This feeling is not wrong... although she has never heard of anything like this...

But she really likes Astrid Calliste, even though the latter is a girl like her, she still likes her.

The hot current lingered in her chest, Lyra, who had clarified her thoughts, felt her heart was about to jump out.

"Princess Astrid..."

At this time, another knock on the door, Amalia in a plain white walked into the bedroom, saw the pink-haired maid standing next to her sister, her red eyes subconsciously narrowed.

Although she couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, Amalia could feel that the atmosphere in the bedroom was different from usual as she entered the room at this moment.

It didn’t seem like a normal conversation between a master and a maid... Something was off...

Seeing the tea in Astrid’s hand and Lyra beside her with her legs tightly pressed together and lips slightly parted, the black-haired girl blinked her eyes a few times. She didn’t interrupt their conversation but quietly took off her shoes, stepped onto the carpet, and sat down by the bed.

However, this small interruption cut off the words that Lyra was about to say.

She had indeed confirmed that she liked Princess Astrid... but Princess Astrid might not like her...

No, using the word "might" might not even be accurate. The probability of Princess Astrid liking her should be extremely low.

After all, they were both girls. It was already strange for her to have feelings of love for Princess Astrid; how could it be that the other party just happened to like her too?

Princess Astrid had once had a crush on Earl Tristian... It should be difficult for her to accept a girl...

Thinking this, Lyra’s emotions gradually cooled. She pursed her lips and watched as Astrid slowly finished her tea.

"Any more questions?" Astrid asked.

She had called her but then didn’t say anything. Was it because the following topic wasn’t suitable for Amalia to hear?

Astrid glanced at Amalia, who was sitting upright obediently, her delicate white feet resting by the bed, her eyes silently watching her.

Hearing Astrid speak, Lyra also snapped out of her emotional turmoil and spoke softly.

"Princess Astrid..."

Although she couldn’t directly reveal her feelings, it shouldn’t be a problem to hint at them a little.

With this thought in mind, Lyra continued.

"Then... do you have anyone else you like?"

As a maid, asking such a question was definitely overstepping, but tonight, Lyra had mustered all her courage. Before this courage dissipated, she wanted to know more about Astrid Calliste.

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Lyra but even Amalia on the bed subconsciously held her breath.

Somewhat surprised that the pink-haired maid could ask such a question, Astrid paused, dried her wet lips with a silk handkerchief, and spoke in a calm tone.

"If you mean the kind of like that Lyra just mentioned... then not for now..."

"Before everything is over, I don’t have the extra time to consider these things."

Even in her past life, she had never accepted anyone’s confession. Feelings of love were somewhat unfamiliar to Astrid.

But that didn’t stop her from writing romance novels. As the saying goes, only those who have never been in love can write the kind of love that fits readers’ fantasies.

After all, such love doesn’t need to consider real-life factors; there’s no anxiety in love because everyone knows from the start that the male and female leads in the story are each other’s most compatible souls, destined to be together.

Hearing this, Lyra’s mood became somewhat complicated. There was a secret joy that Princess Astrid currently had no one she liked, but also a slight, almost imperceptible disappointment that her faint hope had indeed been dashed.

She stood in silence for a long time, finally speaking in a very soft voice.

"Is that so... I see..."

Sensing the girl’s low spirits, Astrid frowned slightly: "Why that expression? Are you hoping I get married soon?"

Especially after hearing that she had no one she liked, Lyra’s voice had drooped along with her hair.

"Huh?" The pink-haired maid was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly replied.

"No, not at all!"

How could she hope... for Princess Astrid to enter the marriage hall with someone else...

Just thinking about it made Lyra’s heart sink, and her breathing became a little unsteady.

"I was just thinking... who could win Princess Astrid’s favor..."

Feeling Astrid’s somewhat puzzled gaze, afraid that her little thoughts might be seen through early, Lyra stuck out her moist tongue, lightly licking the wound she had bitten earlier, trying to change the subject.

"By the way, Princess Astrid, can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I want to personally make dinner before I leave and invite you, Livia, and Miss Elise to join."

Faced with this request, which wasn’t much of a request, Astrid nodded and agreed warmly.

"Alright."

After asking Astrid, since Amalia was also there, Lyra turned around and spoke softly.

"Then... what about Miss Livia?"

"I’ll go with my sister."

Hearing the expected answer, Lyra smiled, took the used tea set from Astrid, and said softly.

"I’ll try to make it delicious."

Watching the pink-haired maid leave the room, Astrid slowly withdrew her gaze and looked at Amalia by the bed.

"Sister~"