The journey back to the Capital went off without a hitch. The one thing that was changed was that Prince Thomas, Princess Amanda, and Court-Magus Helena, now knew that Lyra was originally from another world, and that she had been summoned alongside the enemy heroes. Which naturally sparked a lot of questions:
"So you used to be a human, like us?" Amanda asked.
-"That is right. Though a human from another world, not this one." Lyra had answered.
"And you studied together with the summoned heroes? You were in the same class?" Helena asked.
-"Also true, though I did not know them all that well, all things considered." Lyra responded.
"How come you did not know your classmates all that well?" Thomas asked.
-"Because in my past life, I was very very sick, and weak. I was not able to be in school all that often." Lyra said.
"Could your parents not afford a skilled healer or priest?" Amanda asked.
-"The world I came from had no magic. There were priests, but they could not do anything except praying. As far as I know, there were no Gods either." Lyra said, though, was that really the case? The Goddess Hylia had obviously interfered and brought her over here, so maybe there was a local God on Earth too?
"WHAT? No magic!?" Helena shouted, dumbfounded.
-"Indeed. We have to rely on science and machinery, to get things done." Lyra said calmly.
"What sort of sorcery is this science?" Helena asked, leaning forward.
-"It is nothing of the sort. The magic of my world relied on understanding the fundamental mechanics of the universe. Mankind built some amazing devices, let me tell you."
"I see" Helena began, and Lyra could see that Thomas was curious to know more, but Lyra raised a hand to stop them, as she added:
-"However, that is not something I think is right for this world. This world has a right to advance on its own, after the environment here. I do not want to see trains and airplanes and computers here, no matter how convenient they may be. It would remove the charm of this world."
"Fair enough." Thomas responded, even though he understood none of those three words.
This was a decision Lyra had landed on a while back. There were many convenient things back on earth, but convenient wasn't always better. And this world was so different, and unspoiled by advanced technology. Unleashing modern technology, if she even could, would essentially change the course of this entire world, and that was just not something she wanted to do. She was in this world now, and she wanted to play by its rules. Even if her unique ability was a massive cheat, that is.
Of course, maybe some of the other heroes would try to use their earth-given knowledge to change things around, but they had after all only been 17. It is not like any of them knew how to build a computer, for example. And their time was more limited than hers. She planned to be around for thousands of years, after all. The impact she could have would be much larger.
Regardless, the trip back was quite uneventful. She was thankful that none of the three treated her any differently, even if the Knights who accompanied them back regarded her as if she was some Demi-God, but she had to just accept it for what it was. After a week of traveling by carriage, they eventually returned to the Capital, and Lyra did feel a sense of relief. Want or not, she had begun to regard the area as her home. Though she still missed her Spirit Sanctuary, and wanted to return soon for a period of rest, she was also looking forward to seeing what Sofie had done with the mansion she had received.
The carriage took them directly to the Royal Palace, and she, Thomas and Helena had a quick sit-down with the Emperor where they each summarized what had happened. Of course, The Emperor already knew from the letters he had received by bird, but hearing it from the source itself was different. He vowed to not only increase the reward from an additional 20 large gold coins, to 40 instead. He also promised Lyra a medal.
After all of that, she was free to leave, but told to come join them for dinner at the palace tomorrow. So Lyra steered her feet in the direction of her mansion. Thankfully she had the Minimap function due to the "Search" spell, which could lead her in the right direction without getting lost. When she arrived at the gates to her mansion nearly an hour later, she found it buzzing with activity. Landscapers and gardeners were out working in the garden, cleaning it up and making it presentable. Two guards were also posted at the gates, but they naturally stepped aside and bid her welcome as she approached them.
When she stepped into the main hall, Sofie was there in the middle of a crowd of other servants, sending people on tasks left and right. The mansion had really gotten a face-lift. New tapestries, new furniture, even removed the walls to make some rooms bigger, and added walls to make some smaller. As soon as Sofie spotted Lyra, she got ecstatic and tip-toed over, smiling brightly as she said: "Milady! You are finally back! Welcome home."
Lyra smiled back, and pulled Sofie in for a hug, something which made the other, newer servants gasp. The lady of a house shouldn't touch the servants, after all. Massive breach of protocol. Sofie knew this too.
"Milady, you cannot do this! I am dirty!" She said stiffly as she was still being hugged.
-"That's for me to worry about, is it not? Besides, am I not free to act as I please in my own home?" Lyra answered firmly, before releasing Sofie and ruffling her hair playfully.
"I.. suppose that is true. But is it really okay?" Sofie said, looking worried. "Others may look down on you for being too friendly with the servants." she added. Lyra however only waved her hand dismissively.
-"If anyone looks down on me for that, that is their loss. I will only ever do what I myself choose to do. Others and their opinions be damned." she said in response. Sofie and the others in the room looked at Lyra with big eyes, as if she was some holy messiah. Lyra felt the need to clarify, so she continued:
-"I want everyone working at this mansion to be comfortable. Besides, I am not a noble like the humans of the kingdom. As long as you treat me with respect and work hard, you do not have to worry so much about protocol. Feel free to speak your mind to me as well, if you have issues or concerns, alright?"
The servants only got more shocked, and promptly professed their undying loyalty right then and there. "We will serve you forever, milady! You can rely on us!"
-"Yes yes. I am pleased you are willing to work for me. I will be in your care~" Lyra had responded, still a bit unused to the entire.. Employer - Employee thing. Then again, technically, everyone here would be paid by the Royal Palace for the first few years. And, more importantly, earn the same wage as if they had been servants at the Royal Palace, which made this mansion extremely attractive. Same pay, but less responsibility and less protocol to consider. A dream come true for most commoners.
Thankfully, the Empress had handled the recruitment herself, with some help from Sofie. There was now another maid which Lyra also recognized, namely Hannah, one of the maids she had cake with, together with Sofie, that one time. Hannah, the maid who had asked if Lyra showered in special elf-water in order to get her skin to stay so smooth. Still, Lyra was very happy to see her too, and vowed that she would be a very generous lady for all the servants here.
One of the things she had specifically requested for Sofie, was that a shared bath, split between men and women naturally, was prepared downstairs for the servants to use. She did not want to be the only one who got to enjoy hot water baths, and knew that the servants who toiled all day no doubt would find access to such invaluable. It wasn't quite ready just yet however, but soon there would be a nice public space for all the servants to bathe and clean themselves in. Sofie had been arguing that such a big area of hot water could not be economically feasible, as the amount of Fire Crystals required to heat so much water would costs a few gold coins a day.
Which had sparked Lyra to try her hand at creating something similar herself, and lo and behold, for just the tiny mana-cost of 8,000 mana she was able to create "Eternal Fire[1]", a flame that will never go out. Using that, this mansion would have access to hot water all the time, and didn't have to spend any money on Fire Crystals. Of course, they had to be extremely careful the fire didn't get loose and spread anywhere, especially if Lyra was not around to contain it.
The following days, Lyra spent most of her time in her mansion, helping Sofie with getting the last things in place, as well as getting to know all the servants who would be living full-time in her mansion. Since this was going to be their home as well, she was keen to get to know them and ask for feedback, to see if there were things they would also need to be more comfortable.
Thanks to their feedback, Lyra actually came up with a few improvements. The Kitchen staff wanted an herb-garden just outside the kitchen, so they could cultivate fresh herbs and have them on hand, which she was eager to accept. The maids wanted a cleaning closet on each floor, so they wouldn't have to drag heavy buckets of water up the stairs, which Lyra also happily approved. One of the grounds-keepers, a man named William, wanted a pigsty so they could get bacon, and because pigs were really cute, but that one Lyra denied much to William's disappointment. She did not want animals lose around her home. The live-in guardsmen, and there were 6 of them, asked for a covered position out by the main-gate, so even in case of rain they could stand watch and not get wet. Lyra arranged for that too.
Like that, two weeks flew by in the blink of an eye, where Lyra spent her days going between her mansion, and the Royal Palace. At the Royal Palace, she didn't actually do much except being social and getting updates from the royals themselves concerning the peace-talks. Oh and, she did get her medal, together with the 7th Knight-Order, to which she was named an honorary member of, as she had been wearing their uniform for a while. It was a neat little touch, and she quite liked that. Many nobles in the Capital City did not quite believe the reports about how she had single-handedly saved their Empire from invasion by burning thousands of enemy troops, and rather chalked it up to exaggeration. Many believed the Royal Family wanted to raise Lyra up to make her potential marriage to one of the Princes easier, and thus they were laying it on rather thick and exaggerating the details.
However, 3 knight orders had all witnessed this, and it had not taken long for their own witness reports to make it out into the public. Thus, while most nobles were rather skeptical, many of the common people of the Capital now began to regard Lyra in a positive light, even though many still took to calling her "Lyra the Calamity" in reverence. Not that she had been held in negative regard before, but people had of course been a bit wary of this elf. Now however, she was a common household name.
Then, finally, on the very day which marked her 10th year in this new world, it was time for the peace-negotiations to commence. Envoys and representatives from all of the Kingdom Alliance arrived in the Capital City along with their delegations, as did spectators and witnesses from across the Revean Empire and its vassal states.
And Lyra, well, she too had been given a seat at the table, for whatever reason...
[1] Eternal Fire: Costs 8,000 mana. The caster creates an eternal fire, a flame which will burn hot forever without the need for material or even oxygen. This flame cannot be extinguished, so take care that it does not spread.