Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 268: Use of Brooch

Since the day Astrid returned from the library, Lyra noticed that she seemed busier than before.

The third princess, who used to return to the dormitory to rest after class, now frequently shuttled between the library and occasionally left the academy during free time to return to the palace with Elise to meet His Majesty.

As a contributor to the Empire Weekly and a freshman at the Elizabeth Academy of Magic, Astrid’s busy schedule was within Lyra’s expectations.

As Astrid’s workload increased, their time together drastically decreased. Sometimes, apart from attending classes, meals, and bedtime routines, they hardly saw each other.

Although Lyra felt a bit down about the reduced communication with Astrid, her purpose for coming to the academy wasn’t for romance. Academics naturally took precedence.

After a brief period of uncertainty, Lyra adjusted her mindset and continued her rigorous training.

Classes, reading, note-taking, and evening meditation in the training tower occupied most of Lyra’s daily time.

Her dedication was so intense that even Astrid, who had experienced the single-plank bridge exam, couldn’t help but admire her.

As for Amalia, her focus wasn’t on magic learning but on cultivating logical thinking and political insight.

With the network established through the Empire Weekly, Astrid could uncover many secrets of the imperial nobles and their intricate interests.

This allowed Amalia to receive relevant training before her ascension. Although it was still theoretical, it would eventually be applied in reality.

A qualified emperor must not only understand the workings of the state machinery but also be down-to-earth and integrate knowledge with action.

Meanwhile, unaware that his sister had quietly changed her vote, Lucas received a letter from the capital.

After quickly reading it, he confirmed that Astrid had been targeted by his younger brother Alistair, and his frown deepened.

In just one year, Astrid had grown to such an extent. As her elder brother, Lucas felt the pressure and sensed the throne drawing closer.

Although Astrid didn’t align with him on many aspects, such as magical devices and the treatment of reformist nobles, she was ultimately just an adopted daughter without royal blood or a royal surname. Hibbort couldn’t pass the throne to her. The battle for the throne had only two participants from the start.

Him and the second prince, Alistair. The crown prince would be chosen from between them.

Now that Alistair was targeting Astrid, it was clear that her allegiance was firm.

The political resources she held were what Lucas coveted most recently.

Whether it was the potential of the Empire Weekly or the repeated goodwill of the Velmont family, he hoped to bring them under his control.

As long as Astrid cooperated, once he became emperor, her figure and appearance would almost certainly make her the most favored one.

Thinking this, Lucas’s eyes showed a hint of malice, and he waved for a servant to approach.

"Prepare the carriage. I’m going to the Earl Kels’ residence."

Alistair was currently negotiating a grain deal. If successful, it would likely earn him the Earl Kels’ approval.

Although the earl wouldn’t directly take sides, it would at least lean slightly in his favor on the issue of succession.

Originally, the Earl Kels wasn’t Lucas’s main focus, but considering Alistair’s recent maneuvers, Lucas felt it was time to give him a warning.

Otherwise, people might think the eldest prince was timid, always yielding to his impetuous younger brother.

After giving the necessary instructions, the servant quickly left the room.

Lucas looked at the slightly tipsy sunset on the horizon and casually lamented the thinness of sibling relationships. Then he began to ponder which noble lady’s house he would stay at tonight.

...

Imperial Capital, Elizabeth Academy of Magic, student dormitory area.

"Livia, shall we go to the cafeteria for dinner?"

After finishing her study notes and glancing at the darkening sky outside, Lyra stretched her arms and naturally extended her smooth, delicate legs in white stockings under the table.

It had been two weeks since the duel. After fulfilling her promise, Reneth quickly became reclusive, not only becoming taciturn but also rarely leaving the dormitory.

Upon learning this, Lyra felt a mix of emotions. However, after her conversation with Astrid that day, she knew the matter was settled, and there was nothing she could change at the moment.

Instead of wallowing in negative emotions, striving to become stronger was the best way to avoid most disputes.

Amalia put down the book "Political Changes of History" and softly agreed.

"Okay."

It seemed her sister still wouldn’t be back for dinner tonight.

The two packed their things and headed to the door. Lyra took out two matte leather shoes from the shoe cabinet and put them on, while Amalia sat by the carpet and changed into a pair of silver low-heeled shoes with cross straps.

The cute design perfectly fit the young girl, with pink bows adorning the shoe tips and a cut-out design revealing her fair, soft white-stockinged foot and just the right arch.

Watching the dark-haired girl fasten her shoes, Lyra picked up the keys and gently pushed the door open.

After a long time together, she had grown to share a room with this petite, aloof girl.

Lyra sometimes even habitually thought of her as Livia, a little sister Astrid had picked up, rather than the royal-blooded, golden-haired, blue-eyed Princess Amalia Valeria.

But then again, if that were the case, wouldn’t she be sharing a dorm with the future empress of the Valeria Empire?

It felt somewhat surreal...

From a commoner’s rational perspective, Lyra thought Amalia’s ascension would be fraught with difficulties. But when Princess Astrid actually took action, Lyra suddenly felt it was a sure thing.

Princess Astrid was so capable. If she thought it was possible, then it must be.

In some aspects, Lyra would unconditionally trust Astrid, as if she were omnipotent and could do anything.

Perhaps this was what they called "love makes you lose your mind"?

After queuing up for meals, Lyra ordered a plate of fried fish, a stew, baked pasta with cheese sauce as the main course, and tiramisu for dessert.

She then sat at the same table with Amalia, who, upon seeing the mandarin fish on her plate, slightly frowned but quickly returned to normal.

Having been a maid for a while, the meticulous Lyra naturally noticed this.

Just as Princess Astrid was allergic to seafood, Princess Amalia didn’t like fish and preferred sweets among various flavors.

This was evident from her ordering two desserts.

Looking at Amalia’s black forest cake and sweet berry pie, Lyra felt it would be too sweet to have as a main course, further confirming that the princess was a true dessert lover.

But Miss Livia, despite not exercising much and eating mostly sweets, still didn’t gain weight.

It had been over half a year, and her figure remained petite, with no noticeable growth in height.

Thinking about how she hadn’t exercised much recently but still ate the same diet, Lyra felt a slight sense of guilt as she noticed the shallow marks on her socks from the elastic.

The baked pasta she ate brought a bit of guilt, and she finished it in small bites before leaving the cafeteria with Amalia.

Later, when Elise returned to the dormitory, Lyra felt relieved to see someone staying with Amalia and headed to the training tower with her things.

....

In the training room, Astrid looked at the deep blue brooch placed in the brocade box, her legs crossed, and her crimson eyes reflecting a cold glint.

With Hibbort’s permission, Astrid had the right to borrow this brooch. According to him, it was obtained by Hughes and was appropriate to pass on to his biological daughter.

After staring at the brooch for a long time, she no longer saw the vivid scene she had experienced the first time she saw it.

Was she looking at it wrong, or was that illusion a one-time event, disappearing after being activated once?

Activating her elemental vision, her mental power quickly spreads out. Instead of eagerly channeling energy into it, Astrid tried to sense its external structure.

Even under the elemental vision, the brooch still appeared deep blue, with a dense cold aura surrounding it, attracting ice elemental particles.

After that day, Astrid specifically went to learn about dragon language from Ivni, subtly inquiring about the meaning of "Grace." As expected, according to Evelyn, "Grace" had no clear definition in known dragon language; it was likely the name of something or someone.

This meant that in that duel, the dark dragon’s roar was probably directed at the person it wanted to kill, the figure floating in mid-air like a deity.

Grace.

Considering that the other party, although an ancient human, might have left traces after the apocalypse, Astrid visited Charlotte the next day but found no information about Grace.

Subsequent days spent in the library reading historical records also yielded no references to another Spell Creator walking the earth besides Lady Gemini.

The trail ended here. To learn more, she could only continue working on this brooch.

Her mental power enveloped the brooch, but nothing unusual happened. After a moment of hesitation, Astrid reached for the brocade box on the table.

According to Hibbort, when Hughes obtained the brooch, he also conducted a mental power examination and found no counter-spell.

Subsequent researchers also suffered no harm.

Based on this, Astrid held her breath and boldly touched the brooch’s surface.

The special metal felt cool and smooth to the touch, and holding it felt no different from other ornaments.

Astrid held one corner, carefully observing it. Although it emitted no magical fluctuations, the brooch still spontaneously attracted ice elemental particles.

Chanting a low-level ice elemental spell, Astrid’s left palm formed a transparent ice prism.

She brought the brooch close to the ice, but the metal showed no reaction, still attracting elemental particles at a specific rate.

No use?

After several attempts with no reaction, Astrid stopped channeling mental power and placed the ice prism in a wooden basin to let it melt naturally, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.

She had thought the brooch would react to these ice-based spells, but the result left her slightly disappointed.

Or perhaps... she should chant in another language...

Thinking this, Astrid tightened her grip on the brooch, and a strand of mental power tried to penetrate the brooch itself, failing after half a minute.

Only this method remained...

Softly chanting the advanced apprentice ice spike spell in English, Astrid held the brooch, continuously channeling mental power. The ice elemental particles in the air began to vibrate intensely.

Compared to previous casts, this spell’s effect was significantly stronger. Feeling her mental power channeling speed unconsciously increase, almost uncontrollably, Astrid bit her lip, trying to slow the transmission rate. But at that moment, the blue brooch in her hand suddenly glowed brightly.

Countless ice elemental particles shot out, expelling the other elemental particles that should have remained.

In an instant, the entire training room’s walls were covered in a thin layer of ice, and the ice spike floating beside Astrid’s hand also grew exponentially.

In just a few seconds, the ice spike, originally as thin as a chopstick, absorbed enough ice elemental particles to form a giant ice cone as thick as a bucket.

Pale white cold air spread over the ice, and the next moment, it shot towards the wall in front of Astrid along the pre-set trajectory.

The tremendous impact instantly hit the wall, causing ripples in the defensive circle.

Scattered ice shards burst forth, and even the few fragments that bounced back left faint white marks on the thin ice on the floor.

Just this one ice spell nearly drained all of Astrid’s mental power. She felt her head spin, her legs weak, and her high heels stumbled a few steps before she collapsed onto the table.

To prevent students from damaging the walls during magic training, the Elizabeth Academy of Magic had installed defensive circles in every training room. Any magic attack exceeding an advanced caster’s level would automatically activate the circle.

Clearly, the spell just now had triggered the defensive circle, meaning that with the brooch’s enhancement, an ice spell chanted in Elders Speech could be greatly amplified.

The downside was that it further exacerbated Astrid’s already limited mental power reserves.

Exceptional ice elemental affinity, Elders Speech chanting, and the deep blue brooch, this trinity allowed an apprentice-level spell to unleash damage beyond a Sorcerer.

Feeling her heart pounding, Astrid’s legs slightly rubbed against the table and chair, producing the unique rustling sound of silk. It took her a while to prop herself up on her arm and stand again.

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