Princess’s Struggle for Survival

Looking at the silver-haired princess in a black dress with skin as white as snow, Lyra stood still, her legs tightly together, her gaze fixed on the slightly raised corner of the other's lips.

Murderer... Such words were too harsh...

If Princess Astrid and Prince Lucas were the same kind of people, she would never have needed to inspect the Jones Farm in the first place, nor would she have put herself in danger.

"Princess Astrid... wouldn't do such a thing..." After a while, Lyra whispered in response.

Although these two matters were fundamentally different and the ultimate beneficiaries were not the same, Lyra still chose to believe that Astrid was the kind-hearted messenger who simply wasn't used to expressing herself.

Feeling that holding her finger up for so long was tiring, Astrid changed her posture. Her snow-white hand slid across Lyra's cheek, landing on the smooth pink hair at the corner of the girl's eye. She gently brushed it aside and then rested her hand on Lyra's forehead without moving.

"I would do it," Astrid said softly, as if discussing the most ordinary matter.

"If it ever came to a point where sacrificing her was necessary to protect Amalia, I wouldn't hesitate to have Elise kill her."

"I won't make excuses for myself either. It's true that I would do it for Amalia, but ultimately, it would still be for my own selfish desires."

There is no hierarchy in human life, but there are distinctions in emotions. In a dire situation, Astrid would abandon Sara to ensure the survival of Amalia, who was closer to her and crucial to the unfolding of the story.

After hearing Astrid's words, Lyra unconsciously bit her lip. Her sky-blue eyes gradually lowered, and it felt as if something in her heart had shattered.

Princess Astrid...

Perhaps she had set her expectations of Astrid too high, which was why hearing such words from her now was hard to accept.

Seeing the conflicted expression on Lyra's face, Astrid quickly understood what the other was thinking. She sighed inwardly, realizing that the destined heroine was still that naive and innocent eighteen-year-old girl who viewed everything too purely.

They would have plenty of time to spend together in the future, and Lyra would eventually come to know the real her. Rather than letting her struggle to accept it later, it was better to subtly change her perception now.

She was the villainous princess, not as noble and righteous as the knight-like lady.

"Of course, what I said was a bit too extreme. Things usually wouldn't escalate to that point," Astrid gently held Lyra's face, her tone slightly cold.

"If there aren't any serious issues, I wouldn't be so cold-blooded as to kill someone casually."

As someone who had received a modern education, Astrid didn't want to have blood on her hands.

For Sara, who had bullied Amalia, her current punishment was already gentle enough.

Without paying any price, Sara could escape this luxurious palace that brought misfortune to commoners. As long as she didn't speak out of turn, the year's salary would be enough for her to settle down in the future.

Compared to the unlucky souls who had been purged by the paranoid blonde tyrant in the original story, the ending Astrid had given Sara was a smooth path. Not only did it cleverly avoid the route of death, but it also gave her a high probability of living a peaceful life in the future. It was the utmost kindness.

After Astrid finished speaking, the bedroom fell into a brief silence. Lyra felt the warmth of the woman's palm and smelled the faint scent of roses that lingered in the air, her thoughts growing even more chaotic.

"Then..."

She opened her mouth, uttering a single word before not knowing what to say next. It felt as if the thread of her thoughts had snapped at that moment.

Although Astrid was talking about Sara and Amalia, Lyra wasn't her and couldn't truly understand Astrid's feelings toward the fourth princess.

But if she shifted her perspective and applied the situation to people she knew, what decision would she make if it were between a stranger and the parents who had raised her for years?

This wasn't the same as choosing who would live between two people. Passive choice and active harm were fundamentally two different things.

Would she, for the sake of her parents, subjectively harm another person who didn't deserve to die?

Having never faced such a dilemma, Lyra's heart was in turmoil. The scales of justice and emotion in her mind kept tilting back and forth.

After a while, Lyra still hadn't found an answer to the question. Perhaps only when she truly faced such a situation would she know what she would do.

"...What if Miss Sara was forced to reveal the truth?" Lyra released her tightly bitten lip, her voice low.

"Princess Astrid, would you... deal with all the people she holds dear, as you said earlier?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Astrid gave her answer: "Of course..."

As she expected, when she uttered this word, a deep sense of disappointment flashed in Lyra's eyes, and her lips were bitten even tighter than before.

Perhaps it was because she had been playing the role of the villain for too long and had grown accustomed to it, or perhaps it was an instinctive reaction of this body.

Astrid felt that she always carried a hint of teasing when she was with Lyra, as if bullying this obedient pink-haired maid brought her a sense of pleasure she couldn't usually experience.

"Of course... I wouldn't."

"Since things have already reached an irreparable point, what good would it do to deal with her relatives and friends? Just to vent my anger?"

The informant must pay a price, but whether it was necessary to kill to establish authority would depend on the specific situation.

"I was just scaring her. Relying solely on rewards isn't enough to deter her, and threats alone can easily provoke resistance. To make someone obedient, you need a balance of kindness and severity."

To be honest, if it ever reached the point where someone specifically sought out Sara to understand the situation, Amalia's disguise would already be mostly exposed, and further concealment would be futile.

Rather than forcefully covering up after suspicion arises, the key was to ensure that people didn't associate Livia with Amalia from the very beginning.

Hearing this, Lyra blinked a few times, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked up at Astrid. The latter's face was calm, her delicate appearance even more defined and beautiful under the morning light.

Although Astrid wasn't as kind-hearted as Lyra had originally imagined, at least this answer gave her some peace of mind.

Princess Astrid wasn't like Prince Lucas... That was already good enough...

Thinking deeper, she didn't have the status or the right to demand how Astrid should act, nor did she have the ability to help prevent such situations from occurring.

Rather than asking Princess Astrid to change, what Lyra wanted now was to become stronger herself, to avoid putting Astrid and herself in similar dilemmas.

Lyra stared at Astrid in a daze, while the latter was also looking at her. Feeling the smoothness of Lyra's skin under her palm and gazing at the pair of sparkling, sapphire-like sky-blue eyes beside her fingers, Astrid narrowed her eyes slightly.

In the original story, Astrid's dislike for Lyra wasn't just because of Earl Tristian, but also because she was jealous of Lyra's pair of flawless, clear blue eyes.

Looking at them up close, this pink-haired maid's eyes were indeed so beautiful that it was easy to feel jealous. Her little sister, while setting up hardships for Lyra, had also given her the stunning looks befitting a destined heroine.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Lyra noticed that Astrid had been staring at her, her hand still resting on her cheek. Her eyes immediately sparkled with a hint of light.

"Lyra, has anyone ever told you that your eyes are especially beautiful?" Astrid asked.

Recalling the night they first met, Lyra had been bullied to the point where her eyes were wet, like a frightened fawn.

Suddenly shifting from a heavy topic to the beauty of her eyes, Lyra was momentarily stunned. She quickly realized what Astrid had said and stammered in response.

"I, she, that, no..."

Thanks to Elise's maid training, Lyra took a deep breath and quickly organized her words, though her voice was almost inaudible.

"...My mother said so."

Astrid nodded slightly, her pink lips parting. "Among the people I've met, Lyra's eyes are the most beautiful."

At least in her previous life, she had never seen such beautiful eyes.

Being suddenly complimented by Astrid, Lyra's inner turmoil dissipated a bit more, and her ears turned slightly warm. "Princess Astrid... is also very beautiful..."

Not just her eyes, everything about her was beautiful.

Astrid didn't continue on this topic. Instead, she released her hand from Lyra's cheek and spoke softly.

"Isn't it time for breakfast?"

"Ah? I'm sorry, Princess Astrid, I've delayed you."

With that, Lyra bent down and placed the prepared high heels next to the carpet.

Astrid gently slipped her feet into the shoes, then touched the ankles of her stockings where wrinkles were most likely to form. She then stood up and left the room with Lyra.

Passing by Amalia's bedroom, Astrid hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't knock. Instead, she walked straight down the hallway.

Listening to the crisp sound of high heels gradually fading away, Amalia, who had been standing at the door holding her cat, returned to her seat and silently sat at the unfamiliar desk.

Astrid's footsteps were different from the other servants. The maid uniforms here came with thick-heeled, hard-soled shoes that made a dull sound when stepping on the tiles, quite different from the sharp sound of stilettos. Amalia didn't need to listen carefully to distinguish the difference.

Gently stroking the orange cat in her arms, she felt the sunlight outside the window gradually becoming more intense. After sitting for a while, Amalia got up and closed the curtains. With the loss of light, the entire room instantly became dim.

Leaving the familiar castle and arriving at the unfamiliar palace, everything here made Amalia feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Especially during the idle time when Livia, or Astrid, wasn't around, time seemed to pass even more slowly than before.

After flipping through the parchment for who knows how long, carefully understanding each point, Auri, who had been dozing beside her, suddenly got up and trotted to the door.

Amalia immediately realized something, perked up her ears, and put down the book in her hand.

"Tap tap..."

A rhythmic knocking sound came from the door. Amalia reflexively straightened her back, her white-stockinged feet instinctively stepping into her slippers.

After a few seconds, she realized she was overreacting. She pursed her lips and walked to the door, gently pressing the handle.

In the hallway stood a pink-haired maid pushing a food cart, and beside her was a silver-haired woman of noble bearing.

Astrid personally took the plates from the cart and instructed Lyra to bring in the soup and tablecloth. After everything was done, Lyra left the room, leaving only the two sisters inside.

"Amalia, I can't take you to the dining hall for meals just yet."

Handing the fork and knife to the black-haired girl in front of her, Astrid looked into Amalia's red eyes, identical to her own, and spoke softly.

"I need to wait until you're completely familiar with your identity and won't reveal any flaws before I can accompany you freely."

It was impossible to hide someone in such a large palace. Amalia's existence would eventually be discovered. Although Astrid had the idea of exposing her to the public eye, the current fourth princess wasn't mature enough to handle the external pressures and challenges.

Taking the utensils, Amalia sat at the desk and looked at Astrid, who was standing beside her, before speaking slowly.

"I understand what you mean..."

"Right now, I don't look like a beggar girl who survived on the streets."

Even with her hair dyed black and her eyes changed to red, after years of solitude in the castle, Amalia simply sitting quietly exuded a cold and serene noble air.

Of course, compared to the overwhelming noble aura emanating from Astrid, Amalia was much more subdued, mixed with an artist's temperament from her immersion in painting.

In short, she was far from the identity Astrid had given her.

"Not just that, I'm also worried that you might not remember all the details on that paper. After all, I wrote quite a lot," Astrid said.

Watching Astrid sit on her bed with her legs crossed, Amalia didn't stop her. Instead, she took small bites of her breakfast.

"...I understand."

"I'll work hard."

Astrid had paid a great price and expended much effort to bring her out of the castle. As the beneficiary, Amalia would naturally work twice as hard to ensure Astrid didn't have to worry any further.

Hearing the girl's sensible response, Astrid's lips curved slightly. She suddenly recalled how Amalia had called her by her real name when she woke up this morning.

Last night, when she held her to sleep, she was still "sister," but today, she had become "Astrid."

"Astrid..." While lost in thought, Astrid heard Amalia speak again.

"Back in the castle, did you have that maid prepare meals according to my taste?"

The dishes on the plate were similar to what she had eaten every morning before. Amalia naturally thought of the possibility she had always suspected but never confirmed.

"I did write a list for her. You don't like fish and prefer sweet flavors, so I had her prepare more apple pudding."

But in practice, Astrid had instructed Elise to tell Sara that these were the things Amalia disliked, so she should prepare more of them.

"Why? Do you want to try some new dishes for lunch?" Astrid asked.

Amalia swallowed and looked at the reflection in the mirror. The elegant silver-haired princess sat on the bed, resembling a noble swan.

"No... I just wanted to say..."

"Thank you."