Antiros rolled her neck, turning her ink-black pupils toward Vivienne.
Vivienne froze for a moment, then lowered her head.
Enya sensed trouble and was about to speak when Antiros blinked, and in that instant, the space around the two of them shifted.
From Vivienne’s perspective, Enya—who had been holding Antiros—abruptly vanished from her sight. Even her presence disappeared, leaving behind only a faint trace of fragrance.
She let out a sigh and smiled helplessly.
Vivienne turned around, walked back to the vanity, and sat down, combing her own hair.
She had originally planned to keep her makeup simple, but remembering that Enya was here, she hesitated for a moment before deciding to dress herself up properly.
After the Imperial Princess finished her makeup, she put on the skirt the maid had prepared in advance. She stepped up to the floor mirror, gazing at her fully adorned reflection, and couldn’t help but lift her chin.
When it came to her own beauty, she had absolute confidence.
Nobles bred carefully from generation to generation—to put it bluntly, their bloodline was indeed superior to that of commoners who endured sun and wind, had children haphazardly, and made do with whatever came.
This superiority also showed itself in appearance. That was the real and cruel truth.
Vivienne braced her hand against the mirror, studying the flawless woman reflected within.
She let out another sigh, and was just about to swish her skirt in front of the mirror when—unexpectedly—Antiros, who had taken Enya away, returned.
Antiros had brought Enya back with her as well, though her expression was slightly different this time—a lingering flush of red remained on her face compared to before.
Clearly, something had happened between them during that trip out and back.
Vivienne narrowed her eyes. Her reverence for Antiros as her teacher kept her from daring to shoot Antiros a look, so she could only turn her gaze toward Enya instead.
Enya sensed the stare, and recalling being dragged into the small dark room by Antiros, and having her hand smacked hard by Antiros’s small palm… her ears flushed crimson, and she kept avoiding Vivienne’s gaze.
The blows weren’t heavy—it was merely a scolding for leaving her two daughters at home and running off to play alone. As Enya’s elder, Antiros had chided her for being a mother and still so reckless.
Enya had no comeback, so she could only accept the punishment. After all, when the Witch Lady’s small hand landed on her, it was like a ball of cotton hitting her—she couldn’t feel any pain at all.
It was just that the place where she’d been struck was a little embarrassing, which was why she kept dodging Vivienne’s gaze, as if she’d done something wrong.
Vivienne didn’t press deeper into that topic. Instead, she asked Antiros.
“Teacher, I’d like Enya to keep me company for a while.”
“Mm.”
Antiros gave a slight nod, then looked toward Enya beside her.
“Ya Ya, keep Vivienne company.”
“Ah?”
“You heard me?”
“But… you said before that I should take good care of those two children, and that I wasn’t allowed to leave until they could stand on their own.”
Enya blinked her eyes. She really didn’t want to stay by Vivienne’s side—Vivienne would drag her around everywhere!
Ever since they first met, back when Enya was still a trainee maid beside Vivienne, Vivienne had loved taking her out.
Whenever she got the chance, she’d bring Enya to meet all kinds of people, then show her off proudly, displaying her in front of everyone.
Antiros was petite in stature, with large, bright eyes, yet she carried an undeniable aura of authority.
Enya glanced at Antiros, then at Vivienne, whose eyes revealed clear determination. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and finally agreed.
“Alright, alright. What do you two take me for, anyway?”
“Hehe~”
Vivienne laughed triumphantly, walking over to Enya with light, cheerful steps and directly looping her arm through Enya’s.
Enya suddenly remembered that in the West Wind Empire, she was supposed to be dead. If she appeared alongside Vivienne now, wouldn’t that be formally announcing to the outside world that she’d risen from the grave?
Vivienne had already thought of that too. She pulled Enya over to the wardrobe, rummaged around for a moment, and pulled out a semi-transparent black veil headscarf.
Then Vivienne gathered Enya’s hair up, styled it into a mature look, and draped the black veil headscarf over her. She looped her arm through Enya’s again and led her outside.
Teslia Empress City, south side, Silver Airship Station.
The airship platform, which had been open for nearly half a year now, was packed with people.
But not all of them were there to board the airship—the vast majority had come to watch the departure ceremony and pick up the eggs the Princess was handing out.
Under such generous welfare, even the streets outside the Silver Station were crammed with ordinary commoners from the Empress City who had come to watch the excitement.
This unprecedented spectacle hadn’t been seen since the ribbon-cutting ceremony half a year ago when the Silver Station first opened.
And now, almost half a year had passed. Many of the staff operating this airship station were filled with mixed emotions—though the Station Chief of the Silver Station was not among them.
A woman dressed in an androgynous style stood pacing at the side entrance. Still no sign of her. The scouts she’d sent out all reported that the Imperial Princess was already putting on her makeup.
After all, the single most important person for this departure ceremony still hadn’t arrived.
She looked at the restless crowd in the distance, barely able to hide the anxiety on her face.
“Why isn’t she here yet? How long does it take to put on clothes?”
The woman wanted to curse, but the moment she remembered who she was dealing with—Vivienne—she could only hang her head in helplessness.
The people around her didn’t dare touch her sore spot, afraid her anger would be vented on them.
The departure ceremony had been delayed for an entire hour. Finally, the willful Imperial Princess Vivienne arrived by carriage, with her Enya in tow.
Enya was pulled out of the carriage, her arm reluctantly looped through.
A headscarf plus a veil—wasn’t that just burying one’s head in the sand?
Sigh…
She let out a silent sigh and helplessly matched Vivienne’s pace.
For the rest of the journey, Enya was like an ornament hanging off Vivienne—not saying a word, just standing there, ignoring whatever glances were cast at her as the Imperial Princess’s companion.
It wasn’t until she boarded the airship and entered the luxury suite that Enya finally snapped out of the sea of gazes.
She realized that she and Vivienne were now sitting at a table, drinking tea.
Enya had just lifted her cup and taken a shallow sip when she heard Vivienne, seated across from her, speak with a teasing tone:
“Enya~ would you say Teacher is, well… our mom?”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!”
Enya choked on the warm tea, coughing violently.
What “our mom”?
Who’s “our mom” with you?
I only said I felt a faint maternal aura in her petite body—I never once called Antiros “Mom” out loud!
Vivienne blinked her eyes, finding Enya’s coughing and hand-covering-her-mouth antics amusing. She rested her chin on both hands, savoring Enya’s flustered state.
Just then, a low humming sound came from outside.