"I do indeed intend to establish the airship storage base outside Losterling City as a future aviation trade port, connecting the Imperial Capital with Losterling City."

At the banquet, hearing the city lord’s repeated hints, combined with his recent efforts to please the royal family and his meticulous hospitality toward the Regent, Amalia continued along his line of thought.

"Losterling City itself is an extremely important trading hub in the northern empire. During wartime, supplies flew through this transportation nexus to the front lines without end. Its significance is immense. Adding an aerial transport route would undoubtedly expand its trading influence even further."

Setting aside energy consumption and construction costs, the speed and efficiency of mana-powered airships far surpasses any conventional transport method currently available in the empire. The city lord clearly saw its latent value. It was only naturally he hoped the Empress would voice her support for this commercial city, thus securing more development opportunities.

Since practical commercial use of mana-powered airships was still some time away, and Amalia did indeed plan to build a docking port in Losterling City, she might as well grant this favor now, draw him a few grand pictures, and at the same time, win over a neutral noble.

Watching the faint joy flicker in the man’s eyes, Amalia took a sip from her wine glass. Her blue eyes remain cool and dignified, her tone carrying both trust and the natural authority an Empress held over her subjects.

"Of course, the most important reason for my decision is that I have seen your loyalty to the royal family, as clear as the sun and moon."

The sweet-bitter liquid swirled over her tongue, touching Amalia’s taste buds.

"Your Majesty’s grace is deeply appreciated. I will forever remain grateful."

After hearing the man’s flattery, Amalia gently crossed her legs and looked toward the spot where Astrid and Lyra had left. She spoke softly.

"There’s another matter I need you to handle."

"Send servants to guard the back entrance of the banquet hall. If any guests wish to leave, direct them to the front exit. Ensure no unauthorized personnel enter the rear garden, not even housemaids."

"I may stroll around later, enjoy the evening breeze, and sober up a bit."

For the Empress herself to personally announce she would stroll and admire flowers within his estate was an honor of the highest degree. The city lord naturally wouldn’t refuse, bowing respectfully.

"To have Your Majesty’s appreciation makes my humble garden shine with glory."

Thus, both the Regent and the Empress had responded favorably to his overtures. It could be foreseen that Losterling City would likely experience a second spring, favored by various newly enacted or enhanced imperial decrees.

Meanwhile, in the city mansion’s rear garden, unaware that Amalia had already arranged for all guests to stay away, Astrid and Lyra had just finished their kiss.

Lyra’s cheeks were flushed pink against her pale skin, her eyes glistening with unmistakable moisture. Astrid, wearing black silk gloves, gently cupped the girl’s face before lowering her hand as she softly pressed her lips together.

"Now... can Lyra finally tell me what’s making you unhappy?"

Fingertips lightly pinched the pink-haired girl’s cheek, then patted her head as if soothing a puppy. Astrid leaning back, her smooth black stockings particularly alluring under the moonlight, the pointed toes of her satin high heels resting against the stone pavement.

"Or...should I kiss you again?"

Before the words had fully settled, Astrid leaned forward once more, but at the last moment veered sideways, planting a kiss on the girl’s cheek instead.

Continuing to kiss would be too exhausting. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Both Amalia and Lyra were the passionate type who couldn’t stop once they started. After one session, not only will they struggle to catch their breath, but their tongues will ache terribly.

Feeling Astrid’s lips graze her skin like a dragonfly skimming water, her cool, fragrant silver hair sweeping over her shoulders, Lyra slowly relaxed the hand she’d been clutching between her legs, no longer slightly twisting the soft flesh of her silk-covered thigh.

"It’s... enough now..."

She completely understood. Astrid’s feelings for her.

If she didn’t care, Astrid wouldn’t have cared for her so many times, wouldn’t have stayed overnight every night just because she missed her, wouldn’t have held her close as they slept, and certainly wouldn’t have comforted her in ways that long surpass extraordinary friendship.

Astrid Calliste undoubtedly loved her too.

That had never needed doubting since the beginning.

Withdrawing the hand from between her white-stockinged legs, Lyra raised her arm and, for the first time, boldly traced upward along Astrid’s hemline. Her fingers passed over the ruby pendant and the silk-covered expanse of snowy fullness, finally coming to rest on the delicate collarbone of the silver-haired beauty.

"Astrid..."

"What exactly is your relationship with Amalia?"

No evidence, no explanation from Amalia, nothing in Lyra’s heart weighed as heavily as a single word from Astrid.

Hearing Lyra’s question, Astrid gazed at her silently. A brief struggle flickered in her heart, then gave way to a sense of release she’d never known before.

So Lyra... really did know something...

The wind rustled the treetops, creaking softly. Unlike the Capital City’s autumn, there were no chirping insects here, only the sound of flowing water, the wind, and their own gentle breathing.

Astrid looked at Lyra, her pink lips parting.

"Amalia is my younger sister, and the Empress I am sworn to serve..."

"Beyond that, she is my... lover..."

Hearing Astrid’s clear answer, despite all her mental preparation, Lyra’s fingers still trembled slightly. Her pale fingertips slide across Astrid’s collarbone, leaving faint, milk-like indentations on the white skin.

After a moment, Lyra spoke softly.

"So... does Astrid love her?"

The answer she wanted wasn’t simply "yes" or "no," but why things had come to this.

All along, Lyra had avoided thinking of Astrid and Amalia in that way, not just because she didn’t want to, but largely because from Lyra’s perspective, Astrid treated Amalia purely like an elder sister would be a younger one.

That tenderness and care feels like an older sister’s attentive protection of a younger sibling. Although the expression of emotion might resemble that of some couples, it was far from reaching that level.

Hearing Lyra’s question, Astrid fell silent for half a minute before answering.

"Yes."

"If you’d asked me a few months ago, I might not have answered so certainly."

"Before that incident, I truly saw Amalia Valeria as nothing more than my younger sister..."

The murmur of the fountain echoed through the garden. Moonlight from the vaulted sky shimmered on the flowing water, its clear ripples dancing with delicate light, like a starry river torn apart by the wind.

From her promise to Hibbort, to the oath bound by the Imperial Scepter, to Amalia’s confession in the castle, Astrid recounted every detail of that period to Lyra.

"Actually, from the very first moment I saw Amalia in the castle, this child in a white nightgown, small and thin, yet with eyes full of wariness, some emotion began to sprout within me. I just never realized it myself."

"I view it as an extension of a sister’s feelings. In a way, Amalia became the projection of my unspent emotions, the need to care for a younger sibling during a particular phase of my life."

"That day, when I took Amalia out of the castle and made that decision, my growing emotional side overpowered my rationality, rising to the peak of my decision-making."

"Though we’d only been together for a few months, I felt an instant connection. Her fragility, her strength, the way she lowered her spiky defenses to reveal her soft underbelly, she truly moved me."

Astrid exhaled softly, her gaze fixed on the distant fountain. The rising and falling waves mirrored her own unsettled heart.

"I really do like her. But one thing is undeniable, at first, and for a long time after, my feelings for Amalia weren’t pure. They were a one-sided offering, driven by a need to compensate and comfort."

In her past life, illness had robbed her of the time and energy to care for her younger sister. Now, reborn, that emotion naturally extended to Amalia.

"As we spent more time together, this compensatory affection gradually thinned. I began to realize that what I felt for Amalia wasn’t empty emotional projection, but genuine liking and love for her as a person."

"From staying up late talking with Amalia, to quietly watching her feed Lyne with dried fruit, to discuss the details and brushstrokes in paintings, to those moments when she’d rush into my arms like a baby bird to its mother, I realized Amalia wasn’t a fictional character accepting my emotional projection, but a living, breathing individual who loved me in return."

She was nothing like her younger sister from her past life, not in appearance, not in personality, nor in her desire to deepen their relationship.

"So... how did Astrid transform that feeling into love for a partner..."

Hearing the woman she loved expressed affection for another, Lyra couldn’t help but feel a twinge of bitterness. But she always knew how to control herself, and was exceptionally good at empathy.

If she were Astrid, she’d probably fall for such an obedient little sister too.

Astrid fluttered her eyelashes, her crimson pupils reflected moonlight.

"When Amalia revealed her feelings to me, confessing that her feelings for me, as her older sister, went beyond mere affection for a sibling."

"That image of her as the innocent younger sister shattered completely, destroying my last illusion."

Not as leftover emotions from an irretrievable past, nor as a clichéd "little sister who adores her elder sister" trope, Amalia was an independent individual. As her older sister, Astrid had long overlooked this, so much so that she only realized how intensely Amalia felt when it was almost too late.

"She held me, tears soaking the fabric over my chest, speaking in gasps, nothing like an Empress who had just ascended the throne."

"...This was the second time I’d seen Amalia cry."

The first was also in the castle, when the cruel truth that Anno was Astrid shattered this white-stockinged girl’s psychological defenses.

But that time, to avoid letting her imagined rival gloat, Amalia had choked back her tears, struggling to maintain her proud self. Later, with her dearest sister, she naturally didn’t need to hold back.

"I gently patted her back, telling her I was right here. Amalia spoke word by word, telling me everything."

Her selfishness, her possessiveness, her uncontrollable flaws.

Hearing this, Lyra, now empathizing deeply, slightly bit her lower lip and whispered.

"And then, Astrid saw the real Amalia, not the false little sister."

Before the Amalia who showed her true self, Astrid reflected on every step they’d taken to reach this point, every choice they’d made.

Not as a sister, but as a companion, Amalia.

"Finally, I made a decision I never expected myself to make."

She accepted Amalia’s plea for love, attempting to treat her with both the roles of lover and younger sister.

"At that moment, stripping away all external labels and simply speaking to Amalia, I knew I liked her too. Otherwise, I would never have agreed."

"But most of that emotion still stemmed from the habitual care of an older sister. That tiny spark buried at the very bottom, like a firefly compared to the full moon."

"So after agreeing to Amalia’s request, I kept trying to bring that feeling to the surface, rather than letting it stay at its original level."

Continuing to treat Amalia only as a little sister would wound this child who believed she could finally receive love.

"Since I’d agreed, I owed her emotional reciprocity."

The garden wind continued to blow. They’d been talking so long, yet no one had appeared. Slightly puzzled, Astrid lightly tapped her thigh with her fingers. Lyra’s hand had long since moved from the woman’s collarbone back to her own side.

After half a minute, Lyra spoke.

"So... Astrid’s feelings for Amalia aren’t just indulgence..."

She truly loved this golden-eyed girl who looked at her with such devotion.

Astrid affirmed it.

"Yes."

Having shared all her thoughts with Lyra, she felt considerably lighter herself.

"Then... those things Astrid said before..." Lyra moved her lips, her fingers quietly curling.

Telling her she also longed for Lyra Beckett, wanted to embrace her, kiss her, even share a bed with her.

"...Were meant to help me make a decision."

That series of actions was meant to make her understand, Lyra wasn’t a passive pursuer, but someone Astrid cherished. The one who truly needed to make a choice wasn’t Astrid, but her.

Although Lyra had drunk tonight, her mind hadn’t been clouded by alcohol. In almost an instant, she grasped the entire logic.

After learning of Amalia’s existence, Astrid wanted to give her a relatively equal, rejectable reason, something only someone being pursued had the right to.