Chapter 679: Bathed in Light
Hearing Astrid’s gentle voice from so close, Lyra noticed that it lacked both the playful, teasing laziness she usually used in private and the polished elegance she carried in public, with its subtle air of authority and distance. Instead, the soft whisper against Lyra’s forehead was warm and tender, like honey gently melting into her heart.
"It’s a bit hot... but I still want to hold you..."
Beneath the covers, smooth legs unadorned by stocking lightly overlapped.
Skin pressed to skin, they continuously passed their warmth to each other. The mellow afterglow of intimacy and the faint fragrance naturally exuded by their supple bodies flowing together through the room.
At this scene, Lyra suddenly recalled the path back at Elizabeth Academy of Magic, those nights when she and Astrid would leave the training tower together and walk back to the dorms.
The midsummer night breeze had been cool and soothing, brushing away the heat clinging to them. Leaves around the square rustled softly, like a tide about to rise.
Back then, they would share a bottle of fruit juice bought from the dessert shop as they walked, and they would hold each other’s hands, unwilling to let go even when their palms grew sweaty.
So this is probably what liking someone is.
Thinking back on the years they’d spent together, and realizing that perhaps she and Astrid had long since crossed the line of "just friends," Lyra’s lips curved slightly.
Beneath the covers, the pale, delicate arch of her foot pressed against the other’s soft calf.
Although her snow-white face rested against Astrid’s big breasts, not the slightest indecent thought arose, she simply listened quietly to the other’s heartbeat, letting her own breath lightly brush the collar, brewing drowsiness together.
Come to think of it, Astrid had shown how much she cared for her very, very early on, only, because their personalities and experiences were different, she expressed it in such a restrained way.
Cradling that happiness, Lyra said no more. Her breathing gradually slowed down, and together with Astrid, she sank into sleep.
Coldwind City had fallen. Next in their way were towns with extremely weak defenses, unable to stop the iron hooves of the Empire’s expeditionary army.
Tonight, they ought to relax properly.
..................
The next day, thanks to Lyra’s speech at the city gate last night, the soldiers’ resistance toward distributing essential living supplies to Coldwind City’s residents eased a little.
Although most still feel awkward, thinking they had clearly won, yet still had to bow their heads and provide food to these "enemies" who had nothing to do with them.
Limited by their era and outlook, the common people under the Valeria Empire couldn’t empathize with independent individuals who shared none of their experiences; guiding and dissolving hatred required an immensely long time.
From what Lyra understood so far, most soldiers still hated these lower-class residents, people who lived under the Kingdom of Velys, perpetually squeezed by the king and nobles, and didn’t believe that those who had lost family were also victims of the war.
The true culprits was the Velys King high above, who treated human lives like weeds; the noble class that, for its own benefit, did not hesitate to incite and launch an aggressive war; and the Pope of Light who, blindly believing dream oracles, insisted on sending the Church’s knightly order on an eastern crusade.
Lyra had said these words countless times, hoping only that they might serve as seeds for understanding.
But before that, beyond speeches, she still had to do something to steady morale, such as distributing food together with the logistics troops.
After breakfast, once she had handled some urgent matters, Lyra, wearing the Holy Light Armor, went to the Church of Light and personally distributed supplies to Coldwind City’s freezing, starving residents.
During the previous siege, the Church of Light clergy inside Coldwind City had not joined the battle.
Once the expeditionary army breached the city, they immediately surrendered. After learning the situation, Lyra merely confiscated their weapons and equipment, allowing them to participate in the logistics work of distributing food.
These believers of the Church of Light had disaster-relief experience and were locals of Coldwind City, familiar with the residents.
Having them as a lubricant would also help the Imperial expeditionary army take over the city.
And most important: back at Liya Tower Fortress, Lyra had connected a holy relic through the Sword of Light and communicated with Monica Angelis, the Saintess of Light.
She learned that most believers within the Church of Light came from the kingdom’s lower strata and had no intention of plundering through the crusade. Facing these knights who stayed on their homeland to protect the city’s people, Lyra still holds a measure of goodwill.
"Hold it properly, don’t spill."
She ladled a spoonful of thick soup mixed with sawdust and black-bread crumbs from a wooden barrel, pouring it into the coarse wooden bowl a resident had brought. Her tone was gentle; her movements exceptionally careful.
"Children are growing, nutrition can’t be neglected."
The portion she served was meant for one person, yet Lyra quietly added an extra one or two pieces of bread you can actually see and recognize, showing a little more care for children without breaking rules.
The child who received the soup sensibly said, "Thank you, big sister," then left the food line and headed for home in the distance, quickly disappearing from Lyra’s view.
More people emerged from their houses, moving toward the church.
The pink-haired girl in holy armor kept hold of the ladle, distributing thick soup to each resident who came up.
Warm sunlight fell on her bright silver lightweight shoulder guards, making her delicate, fair cheeks even more beautiful, radiant with sheen.
The shimmering silver metal was especially dazzling under the light; Paired with the mild smile always at the corner of her lips, Lyra at this moment seemed as if she were bathing in soft, pure holy radiance.
Because food was limited, the expeditionary army distributed relief soup only twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, barely maintaining the basic energy needed for life in the city.
After several hours of work, almost everyone in this area who ought to have received some had done so.
Looking at the empty barrel, Lyra let out a small sigh of relief, then heard the familiar click of high heels echoing through the air.
She raised her head. Astrid, in a luxurious black dress, approached her with measured steps.
Her bright silver hair, unbound by any ribbon, draped down her back, and together with the deep-blue brooch at her chest that glittered with points of light and the exquisite embroidery on the fabric, it further highlighted the noble aura of the Empire’s jewel.
Seeing Lyra, who had spent the entire morning bustling about distributing relief food, even her hair mussed by the morning wind, Astrid lifted a hand.
The pale, delicate fingertips inside her black silk gloves lightly touched the pink hair by the girl’s neck, carefully smoothing it out. Her fingers then slide down, even straightening the shirt beneath the armor.
Feeling Astrid’s intimate, attentive care under everyone’s gaze, Lyra’s cheeks flushed faintly. Only after Astrid withdrew her hand did she speak.
"Astrid... Your Highness Astrid, are you done?"
Hearing such a formal address, Astrid blinked. For an instant, she even thought of last night, of someone hot against her, nestled in her arms.
"Your Highness" was a form of address Lyra seemed to use only in the most public of settings, or the most private.
The dreamy stray thought disappeared in a blink. Astrid nodded, her voice low and gentle.
"Mhm. I heard Countess Lyra caring for the city’s residents, and came to the church early in the morning to personally distribute relief soup to everyone."
She said "heard," but in truth they had discussed it long ago in private.
Whether for the public purpose of soothing morale and adjusting relations between the two nations’ lower classes, or for Lyra’s private wish to do something for these people, Astrid was willing to go and do what she could herself.
"Now that I’ve seen it, Countess Lyra’s good deeds truly have many people keeping you in their hearts. Just now, from afar on the street, I saw you in holy armor, bathed in sacred light, doing works of mercy and relief. Passing by wore gratitude on their faces. I almost thought you were a divine messenger from the texts, one who spreads light and blessings."
Faced with her lover’s lavish praise, Lyra grew even more embarrassed.
Yet because this was a public setting, she managed to keep herself composed, unlike in private, where she’d flush all at once.
Maintaining the demeanor of a commander-in-chief, she replied,
"Your Highness Astrid overpraises me. I simply happened to have time, so I came to help."
A divine messenger, wasn’t that far too exaggerated?
Unlike Lyra, whose eyes held only her, Astrid at the same time also observed the few Church of Light believers standing nearby with the corner of her vision.
These knights distributing relief supplies with Lyra showed no displeasure at her use of the scripture term "divine messenger who spreads light and blessings." Rather, they seemed to tacitly accept it, quietly tidying up the table.
𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
It seems that, at least this group of believers didn’t leave behind in Coldwind City’t have a particularly hostile attitude towards them.
After chatting casually with Lyra a bit more, Astrid smoothly extended an invitation to have lunch together. Lyra hummed assent and stepped closer in her metal boots.
Leaving the crowded, watchful church behind, Lyra and Astrid went to a relatively quiet private dining room, once a place where Grant had entertained many nobles. Its privacy was fairly good.
As soon as she sat down, Lyra proactively dismissed the holy armor’s coverage.
Dressed in a blue-and-white shirt, a pale pink pleated skirt, and white thigh-high stockings, the pink-haired girl, her figure slender and curvy, looked less like a knight now and more like someone’s girlfriend.
But even though her aura and outward image had changed, what Lyra wanted to discuss was still official business.
"Astrid, if we keep...handing out food like this, logistics won’t be able to guarantee it for long..."
The legacy Grant had left them was limited. Saving people for a time could barely be sustained; saving them forever was impossible.
Even now, using military provisions seized from an enemy duke to relieve residents had already stirred instability among many soldiers.
If later food runs short and funds are drawn from military expenses, forcing relief distribution by cutting army rations, then even with Astrid, the Regent, present among the expeditionary forces, she will never be able to stop overall morale from sinking.
Hearing Lyra, Astrid slightly crossed her legs. The night-sky-colored tip of her high heel glinted under the light.
The smooth arch of her foot, wrapped in thin black stockings, looked like a delicate pastry with a fine texture.
"Naturally. I never planned to rely on relief grain to stabilize public sentiment," Astrid said.
They were sending troops against the Kingdom of Velys to judge criminals and, incidentally, opened the market for magical energy machinery, not to come here specifically to provide poverty relief.
A war with no profits to gain, no matter if Amaliz could, for her sister’s sake, forcibly withstand pressure from within the imperial family, other nobles wouldn’t allow them to chase poetry and distant horizons at the expense of their own people’s bread.
"Previously, the Imperial army blocked Coldwind City, preventing caravans from traveling normally. Looking at the outcome, the direct reason these residents starved was the long standoff between the expeditionary forces and Duke Grant."
"Distributing relief grain is, on the one hand, to stabilize the situation and display our army’s benevolent righteousness. On the other, it’s to dissolve their resistance and push most of the blame for their suffering onto Duke Grant, who has already disappeared without a trace."
Explaining her thinking to Lyra in a soft voice, Astrid relaxed back into her chair. Under the table, the thin heel is hung from her half-raised, smooth toes. Her pink lips parted slightly.
"I’ve already exchanged letters with the surrounding nobles. Aside from the non-interference clause, I specifically mentioned strengthening commercial exchanges."
"Now that Coldwind City has been taken, and the northern city of Kaelrent has also entered the Empire’s territory, the large clusters of towns to the south are even better trade points."
"After the relief soup is distributed this evening, I’ll send people to post notices, reminding residents that this food will be distributed for at least three more days. After that, they’ll need to raise funds and purchase from outside on their own."
With the heavy commercial taxes Grant once imposed removed, as long as they controlled the channels and relied on the logistics corps’ strong transport capabilities, grain prices might even be lower than before.
"Using their own money to buy it?"
"Mhm. That way it won’t give anyone ammunition to label the expeditionary army as bandits. It will also stimulate commerce and greatly ease the surrounding nobles’ anxiety over an Imperial army stationed nearby."
In human history, trade between two sides often meant they wouldn’t go to war in the short term, at least, when both played by common sense.
Hearing that, Lyra nodded slightly, expressing approval.
"That’s good too. At least it can ease Coldwind City’s urgent needs."
In the short term, they could purchase large amounts of grain through commerce and redemption; In the long term, they could rely on Imperial infrastructure and development of northern farmland to meet residents’ needs, complementing each other.
After seriously discussing some details and settling the next plan of action, the two in the dining room had just finished the previous topic when the head maid pushed a food cart into the room.
It was wartime, and this was enemy territory. The Regent of the Empire’s dining standards naturally couldn’t compare to those in her private bedchamber back in Capital City.
Some pan-seared beef, a bit of vegetable thick soup, plus fried tomatoes and peas, meat and vegetables together made for a fairly decent meal.
"By the way, Astrid..."
After taking a sip of thick soup, Lyra spoke softly.
"About the victory banquet, are you ready?"
As her words fell, Astrid raised a brow. Crimson eyes rippled with light as she asked, knowingly,
"...Victory?"
"Didn’t we already celebrate for Lyra last night?"