Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 137: Warning From Maid

"Miss Sara, has there been any unusual activity in the castle recently?"

In a dimly lit room within the palace, two women dressed as maids sat facing each other.

One of them had her hands tightly pressed against her knees, her expression tense, clearly in a position of weakness.

The other, a tall, elegant woman with long black hair that reached her waist, had her arms crossed on the table, her deep, dark eyes calmly fixed on the maid across from her.

Elise sat quietly, exuding an intense aura of pressure.

This pressure didn't just come from her formidable strength but also from her identity as the head maid, the most trusted servant of Princess Astrid.

For the servants, Elise could, to some extent, represent Princess Astrid.

Her every move could very well be conveying the intentions of the third princess, and it was not something to be taken lightly.

If Amalia had been present, she would have recognized the trembling maid sitting across from Elise as none other than Sara, the unscrupulous maid with whom she had conducted countless gemstone transactions.

"Reporting to Miss Elise, it's the same as usual. There are signs that the room next to Princess Amalia's has been used, and there are many new foreign objects. Also, it seems she's been eating less for breakfast recently."

Sara answered Elise's questions cautiously, her eyes never daring to meet the sharp gaze of the head maid.

A few days ago, Elise had approached her, asking about Amalia's recent activities.

Sara knew that behind the head maid was Princess Astrid.

Sara was clever so she understood which side she should be on, whether to stand with a neglected illegitimate daughter or to show some goodwill to the currently most favored princess of the empire.

Without hesitation, she revealed everything she knew.

This included the recent rumors of a cat haunting the castle, the new room Amalia had opened next to her bedroom, and some of Sara's own speculations.

She felt that the eerie castle seemed to have more people living in it, and many of the traces couldn't have been left by Amalia alone.

However, these were just Sara's personal speculations. Whether it was a ghost story or someone else living there, it had nothing to do with her.

This matter was outside the scope of her duties as a maid. Sara could choose to turn a blind eye or investigate further.

But considering that delivering meals to the fourth princess was a good job, if the situation changed and others got involved, how could she continue to exchange cheap goods for Amalia's gemstones?

This was why Sara had never mentioned it to anyone or reported it to her superiors, only deciding to do so when Elise asked, as a favor to her.

Everyone in the palace knew that Astrid disliked Amalia.

When Elise came to ask her about the castle, it was clear that Princess Astrid was once again preparing to target her stepsister, adding some excitement to her otherwise dull noble life.

In fact, Elise's attitude confirmed Sara's suspicions. The former coldly instructed her not to tell anyone about this matter, or else Princess Astrid would be furious, and the consequences would be far beyond what a mere maid like her could bear.

"Princess Astrid is not pursuing the matter of you smuggling things, but please remember, Miss Sara, what you should and shouldn't do."

"If Princess Astrid wishes, this job can be given to someone else at any time."

"Don't be talkative or overthink things. If Princess Amalia does anything wrong, report it directly to me. If anyone else asks, just say you don't know."

Elise's implied message was clear: stop bringing things to Amalia and instead monitor the fourth princess for Astrid, preferably finding some solid evidence to use against her, so that Astrid could vent her frustrations on the castle whenever she was in a bad mood.

Preparing enough excuses and reasons, pretending not to know, and then slowly tormenting the other party, this was the way of the nobles of the Valeria Empire.

At least in Sara's heart, Astrid's series of warnings couldn't possibly be for Amalia's protection.

Their poor relationship was well-known in the palace. Even if Astrid were to send pastries or clothes to Amalia one day, no one would think it was out of kindness.

They would assume she had poisoned the cake or hidden a blade in the clothes.

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The relationship between Astrid and Amalia was that of fire and water.

If it weren't for fear of going too far and angering Hibbort, Astrid would have long since driven Amalia out of the palace.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Miss Sara."

Hearing the cold female voice in her ear, Sara looked up and met those serious, sharp dark eyes. She was jolted out of her thoughts, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.

"I... I'm listening."

What had the head maid just said? She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard a word...

Seeing that Sara was distracted, Elise repeated coldly.

"Don't interact too much with Princess Amalia."

Now that Amalia had Livia as a bridge to the outside world, she no longer needed to trade precious gemstones with Sara.

Consequently, the latter might not be so willing to let things go.

Although Elise had warned Sara several times before, she hadn't been entirely explicit. To prevent any unnecessary incidents, she needed to emphasize it once more.

"Alright! I understand, Miss Elise."

"Good. That's all for today."

"Um... Goodbye, Miss Elise."

Watching Sara practically flee, Elise stood up, the oppressive aura around her gradually dissipating, replaced by her usual efficient and composed demeanor as the head maid by Astrid's side.

She looked at the gemstones neatly arranged on the table, picked them up, and slowly placed them into her bag.

The sound of jewels clinking softly, Elise walked to the door of the room. Hearing that someone was looking for her, she turned to see a member of the maid team.

"Miss Elise, the item you were looking for has been purchased."

With that, the maid handed Elise a beautifully crafted small box. Elise opened it to find a dark green agate inside.

"Well done."

Elise praised softly, then pushed the door open and entered the room, placing the agate alongside the gemstones Sara had given her earlier.

Fortunately, with the assistance of the royal family's intelligence network, finding this green agate, which had been sold outside the capital, didn't take much time or effort.

Otherwise, the result might not have been so satisfactory.

Thinking about the information channels and the new task Astrid had assigned her, Elise quickly washed her face and left the bedroom.

She greeted Lyra, who was standing guard in front of the princess's chambers, and then walked out of the palace at a leisurely pace.

For the head maid, every day was the busiest day, and this was just another insignificant afternoon in her maid career.

At least the weather was nice today, so it wouldn't be too hot walking outside.

.....

At night, Livia took Amalia to sit on a stone step on the castle's rooftop, slowly unwrapping a package to reveal some frozen food.

Amalia looked at the skewers of vegetables and meat, as well as a piece of hollowed-out metal that resembled chainmail, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly as she asked curiously.

"Sister, is this for grilling on a rack?"

She had read in the Valeria Empire encyclopedia that some delicacies were indeed fixed on metal rods and grilled over fire, and the taste was said to be quite good.

However, such finely skewered metal rods with sharp ends were beyond her knowledge.

Livia nodded, speaking softly, "You've definitely never tried this before."

It wasn't that Amalia's understanding of the outside world was limited, but rather that the world of books didn't have similar delicacies.

At least, when Astrid had asked Elise to handle this, the latter hadn't gone to a kitchenware shop but instead had a blacksmith make the skewers according to her specifications.

Livia placed a fire attribute crystal into the small stone stove they had set up, and a faint red glow suddenly lit up in the darkness.

Since the castle was quite tall, it was impossible to see the rooftop from below.

Additionally, the fire attribute crystal heated without producing smoke, so Livia didn't have to worry about being discovered by others.

As for the elemental fluctuations... The entire palace was filled with countless magical devices in use, so this faint energy fluctuation blended right in...

Livia softly chanted a spell, guiding the fire element particles in the air to thaw the frozen food.

Seeing Livia performing some action she didn't understand, Amalia took the initiative to pour some grape juice and arranged the condiments and oil brush they might need later.

After a few minutes, the food had thawed. Livia reached out to test the stone stove; the wire mesh was hot enough to start grilling.

She placed the prepared skewers on the rack, controlling the temperature of the crystal by adjusting the amount of mental energy she channeled.

Amalia sat directly across from her, holding a bottle of freshly opened grape juice.

Her white princess dress swayed in the breeze, revealing a glimpse of her smooth, delicate legs clad in white stockings.

Amalia watched Livia's focused expression, gently opening another bottle of grape juice and placing it aside.

She tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear, which had been tousled by the wind.