Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 61: "Of course, I miss Lady Charlotte."

Noticing Lyra's flushed cheeks and the disheveled sheets behind her, Astrid might have wondered if the girl had been up to something strange, if she hadn't known that the protagonist was, at her core, a pure and innocent girl.

As it was, Astrid couldn't help but feel she had interrupted something.

"Are you going to take a shower?" Astrid asked.

Lyra blinked, caught off guard, and quickly nodded.

"Y-yes... I'll wash up in a little while..."

The girl silently prayed that Astrid wouldn't notice the quilt.

In the end, Lyra's prayers still had a certain effect.

Astrid didn't seem to care about the other party's somewhat messy bed and simply said lightly, "Come with me," before leading Lyra to the next room.

Upon entering the bedroom, Lyra noticed Elise was already there.

Astrid slowly sat down at the desk, picked up a potion given to her by Tristan, and placed a handbook filled with notes to her right.

Twenty minutes earlier, Astrid had checked the effects of the potions one by one.

In addition to the intermediate potions for head-on fighting and quick healing, Elowen had also prepared some special potions.

For instance, the light green potion, Astrid now held in her hand.

According to the instructions, it was an intermediate-level potion refined with illusion mushrooms and Forgetfulness Grass as its core ingredients.

It could grant the drinker a temporary effect similar to invisibility.

However, this so-called disguise didn't directly alter the drinker's appearance.

Instead, while keeping the original appearance intact, it made the drinker appear differently to others, somewhat like psychological hypnosis.

Others would perceive the drinker as the most ideal version of themselves in their eyes.

After reading this part of the description, Astrid immediately thought of Amalia.

Since Astrid, the so-called Imperial Lady, seemed to incite the latter's hostility so effortlessly, she decided it might be wiser to alter her appearance and identity each time they encountered each other.

"Lyra, Elise, after I drink this potion, tell me what I look like in your eyes,"

She removed the cork and prepared to test the potion's effects before meeting Amalia, wanting to ensure it worked as intended.

Elise responded with a quick "Understood" and focused her gaze on Astrid.

Lyra, momentarily lost in thought, hesitated for a split second but quickly agreed as well.

"Understood, Your Highness Astrid."

As Astrid tilted her head back, her smooth, delicate neck exposed, she brought the glass bottle to her cherry-pink lips and slowly drank the light green liquid.

Lyra's eyelashes fluttered a few times, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

That letter... Could it really have been sent by Her Highness Astrid...?

Unaware of Lyra's inner turmoil, Astrid frowned slightly after swallowing the potion.

The taste was oddly bitter, with a sour undertone of something spoiled, hardly appetizing.

After half a minute, the effects of the one-way transformation potion began to take hold.

Elise refrained from using her mental powers to see through the illusion, observing Astrid only with her naked eye.

The woman before her was no longer the cold, charming figure in black.

Instead, she had transformed into a petite figure wearing a white, breathable tulle dress.

Her hair was now silver-white, reaching just past her shoulders, and she wore a blue-and-white top hat.

Her entire demeanor had shifted to that of a young girl, no older than eleven or twelve, with bright, agile red eyes.

Elise's gaze flickered for a moment, as if recalling something, but she quickly regained her composure, her inky-black pupils steady and unwavering.

This was Astrid as she had been in her childhood, before she had become the arrogant and willful person she was now.

Back then, she still retained a trace of innocence and the kindness Lady Fanya had instilled in her through her gentle teachings.

Noticing the slight contraction of Elise's pupils, Astrid narrowed her eyes and asked softly, "Well? Has there been a change?"

Even her voice had become crisp and lively, light and youthful, just as it had been in her childhood.

Elise channeled her mental energy, and the figure before her reverted to the black dress and black stockings, the cold, charming beauty with a snow-white complexion, no trace of her earlier youthful appearance remained.

"Your appearance, outfit, and voice have changed,"

"What have I become?" Astrid pressed.

Hearing the question, Elise hesitated for a moment, then met Astrid's red eyes and answered truthfully, "You've become younger..."

More specifically, she had become the way she was when they had first met.

Upon hearing this, Astrid fell into thought and quickly understood the reason.

It seemed that the best image of the original Astrid in the head maid's memory was from her childhood, and the more she grew up, the less likable she became.

At a young age, without her parents and lacking proper guidance, living among the so-called elite circles, and with Lucas, the eldest prince who was as useless as mud, it was no surprise that Astrid had fallen into the vices of those extravagant and morally bankrupt nobles.

After asking Elise for her opinion, Astrid turned her head to look at Lyra and whispered, "What do I look like to you?"

Her deep voice reached Lyra's ears. Lyra stared at Astrid carefully for a few moments, then shook her head in reply. "...I don't seem to see any change in Her Highness Astrid."

Before and after taking the potion, Astrid remained the same in Lyra's eyes.

"Don't use mental power," Astrid reminded her coldly.

Lyra shook her head. "I didn't use mental power."

Like Elise, she had only observed with her naked eye.

This situation surprised Astrid. She remembered that the instructions had stated that others would see the best version of the drinker in their eyes, a version that wasn't necessarily the drinker's actual appearance but could also be a virtual image.

Astrid had assumed that after drinking the potion, her image in Lyra's eyes would become gentler, at least with less coldness in her eyes and tone.

'Could it be that this little girl has been completely corrupted by me... Or is she born with some masochistic tendencies?'

After repeatedly confirming that Lyra hadn't made a mistake, Astrid waved her hand and dismissed the two maids, instructing them to rest.

Tomorrow afternoon, she would personally visit the Elizabeth Academy of Magic and ask Elowen what was going on.

Having been given the order to rest, Lyra was excused.

After bidding Astrid goodnight, she returned to her room, hid the envelope under her pillow, and lay down under the covers after taking a shower.

By the moonlight, she examined the letter again.

Not many people in her village were literate, and Lyra had never seen many people write with quills.

She wondered if it was possible for two different people to have exactly the same handwriting.

But if it wasn't Her Highness Astrid, who could have sent this letter?

Feeling increasingly confused, Lyra forced herself to stop reading the letter and go to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, she followed Princess Astrid to the alchemy lab.

Having guessed the truth in advance, Lyra took a closer look at the potion vial and confirmed that the handwriting on the label matched the handwriting in the envelope.

"What are you doing?"

The doubts in Lyra's heart continued to grow, but after seeing Astrid's indifferent expression, she hesitated.

If the letter hadn't been written by Astrid, exposing it might harm the kind person who had sent it. In the end, she didn't dare to ask.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness Astrid, I was distracted,"

However, once the seed of doubt was planted, it took root. The letter gave Lyra a glimmer of hope, one she knew she shouldn't cling to.

Maybe Her Highness Astrid is a very nice person... She just isn't very expressive…

The next afternoon, Astrid went to visit Elowen at the Elizabeth Academy of Magic.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

Before leaving, she thought that since Lyra had become her personal maid, she had not had much rest except for serving and studying.

So, she decided to give both Lyra and Elise half a day off, and they did not have to accompany her.

After getting out of the carriage, she arrived at the office building where they had been last time.

This time, however, Elowen was out for class, and Charlotte was studying in her office. When Charlotte saw Astrid, her beautiful eyes lit up.

"Little Astr, what brings you here today?"

Looking at the mature older Lady with a gentle smile and a tone as soft as water,

Astrid twirled her skirt and replied in a crisp voice, "Of course, I miss Lady Charlotte."

Although her main purpose was to discuss the one-way conjugation potion with Elowen, she insisted that she had no ulterior motives regarding Charlotte.

In fact, she genuinely cared for her.

Aside from her unwavering loyalty to the head black maid, Astrid's second greatest trust was in Charlotte, who was like both a Lady and a mother to her.

She could sense a maternal warmth from Charlotte, an almost unconditional love and care.

Hearing Astrid's response, Charlotte's smile deepened.

She set aside the half-engraved magic circle she had been working on, crossed her slender legs under the desk, and began chatting with Astrid.