The airship was massive in size. Enya felt it was almost comparable to the whale that belonged to Yeyue.
Its overall design combined white and solid wood, but there were also plenty of places where colorful magical light shimmered and flowed. Such a ship flying through the sky was quite a beautiful sight.
On both sides of this airship, in the positions where oars would be on an ordinary ferry, were rows of semi-transparent membrane wings.
They weren’t particularly large individually, but they made up for it in sheer numbers.
Combined with their wave-like rhythm, they looked like a single unified skirt hem, though there were also three pairs of longer, larger wings among them.
These semi-transparent membrane wings shimmered with an azure-white magical glow. In her perception, Enya could also detect faint traces of water-element energy. This was, without a doubt, a magic whale from the deep sea.
Enya wasn’t surprised by this thing. Making a ship fly through the sky wasn’t impossible if one used certain extraordinary abilities.
What was difficult, however, was making something that could safely carry people and cargo for extended periods.
Consumption was one reason. Another was that ordinary ferries couldn’t withstand extraordinary power for long periods—if not controlled properly, they would easily shatter apart. So flying ferries had always remained an empty field.
Meanwhile, Yeyue continued to dwell in that other layer of the world visible within Enya’s eyes, with those semi-transparent little flying fish accompanying it.
Enya withdrew her perception and shifted her attention back to Vivienne.
Vivienne smiled and asked, “What do you think?”
“It’s quite impressive. With something like this, cargo transport aside, it can also drive the flow of people. This will create many job opportunities and allow more young, capable minds to converge, gradually integrating scattered productivity.”
“Indeed. It’s like injecting new vitality into a heart that’s gradually stopping, letting that blood flow rapidly again.”
“A very good analogy… or perhaps metaphor?”
Enya knew that although the Northland States had maintained stable succession for nearly nine hundred years, internally they had long since rotted and stagnated in growth. The Zephyr Empire was much the same.
“Vivienne, you all didn’t actually go and kill a magic whale, did you?”
“Hehe.” Vivienne covered her mouth and chuckled, then continued, “Of course not. Teacher was the one who provided it. The dragon keels for the other ferries were also all materials provided by her alone. She truly does have a magical pocket like you said—she has everything in there.”
“Mm…”
Enya gave an awkward laugh. Hearing what Vivienne said afterward made her quite embarrassed.
She had frequently complained to Vivienne about Antiros, saying all sorts of things about how Antiros was this or that—only to find out that Vivienne was one of Antiros’s unofficial students.
As for where the magic whale spine came from, Enya could roughly guess. It was most likely stored in that Bone World.
Back when she was training there, she had once encountered an enormous magic whale skeleton flying through the sky.
At that time, she hadn’t been strong enough to challenge it and had run far away the moment she sensed its presence.
She had never encountered it again after that. Presumably, Antiros had captured it and turned it into this airship, hadn’t she?
Tsk tsk~
Enya sighed in admiration, then quickly gathered her thoughts before asking Vivienne again, “So what are your plans for the future?”
Vivienne paused in thought for a moment, then shared her vision for the future.
“Well… for the magical airship field, let’s first secure a firm foothold. Once we take the time to fully develop the large airships, we’ll open up the technology for smaller ones, gradually freeing people from the constraints of rivers and mountains.”
Many times, the reason people couldn’t leave their hometowns wasn’t that they particularly loved the place, but rather that they didn’t know where to go. The road ahead was simply too far, so they could only linger around their homes.
After understanding this, Enya silently nodded.
Vivienne’s idea was simply to get people moving, to converge more labor, and thereby stack up higher levels of productivity.
Once basic productivity improved, people’s minds could be liberated from mere survival, allowing the entire collective to grow further.
She also thought about how Vivienne still had a war to fight in the future—her opponent would be her elder brother.
At this very moment, very few siblings stood on the side of the so-called “heretical” Princess Vivienne.
The overwhelming majority had gathered around the West Wind Crown Prince’s camp, after all, since he was the one upholding tradition.
The Crown Prince’s stance had always been: the Emperor is the Emperor, ministers are ministers, nobles are nobles, and commoners will forever remain commoners.
Thus it has been for ten thousand years, and thus it shall remain for another ten thousand.
Following him meant that the noble classes they held so dear remained insurmountable, and they themselves wouldn’t fall into the classes below. But following Vivienne—that was an entirely different matter.
As for Vivienne’s evaluation of her elder brother, it was that he carried the stench of a feudal middle-aged man stuck in his ways—old, rotten, and decrepit to the bone without even realizing it.
A coward who only sought to make no mistakes in everything he did. A relic who should have been eliminated by the times long ago.
As for the other old relic, he was currently lying in the imperial palace being changed and cleaned by maids.
She truly showed no mercy in her judgment of her brother and father!
Just because they shared blood didn’t mean their relationship could be close.
The fact that she had been assigned to Tessria Empress City—the city formerly known as White Frost—was evidence enough that the father-daughter relationship was far from good.
However, Enya knew the main reason was Vivienne’s mother.
The West Wind Emperor was over eighty years old. The Crown Prince had endured to nearly sixty. Yet Vivienne, the Third Princess, was only twenty-five. She even had a younger sister who was still at the age of schooling.
After younger sister Susia, there were still many, many more siblings.
Vivienne held no good feelings whatsoever toward the current West Wind Emperor.
In this regard, Enya and Vivienne seemed to share something in common…
Vivienne seemed to recall something. Her gaze gradually grew deep as she rose and walked to the window. Enya followed along, and the two sat down on the ledge of the low window sill.
Vivienne leaned her back against the window frame, pressing one hand against the transparent glass, gazing down at the city that was gradually shrinking below.
She was silent for a while, then looked up toward Enya sitting beside her.
“Just like yours, this is also a small revenge of mine.”
With those words, Vivienne broke into a radiant smile.
Then she crawled over toward Enya, planting both hands on either side of Enya’s head, gazing directly into her eyes.
Enya pressed her lips together, and finally closed her eyes.
Vivienne leaned down, and two soft, moist, cherry-colored lips touched. Enya felt as if her lips had been struck by static electricity—tingling and numb—teased by that softness until her heart itched with longing.
She wrapped her arms around her own full, voluptuous chest, forcing down the chain reaction.
But this time, Vivienne didn’t intend for it to be such a brief kiss. One arm wrapped around Enya’s waist, while her other hand found its way to Enya’s thigh.
Enya hastily turned her head away, a rosy flush spreading across her delicate, exquisite face. She gasped softly, avoiding Vivienne’s gaze.
In a low, whispery voice, extremely soft and tender, she spoke within Vivienne’s embrace.
“This… this is too hasty…”
“But we’ve known each other for so long. When else should it be?”
“Let me at least prepare a little…”
“Fine. But the side that proposes a truce agreement must cede territory and pay reparations.”
Vivienne’s gaze was less than friendly. Having her mood forcibly interrupted made her quite displeased, especially after whatever Antiros had apparently done to Enya earlier…
She intended to reclaim her standing through Enya.
Still, Vivienne respected Enya’s wishes and didn’t force anything. In truth, Enya was half-resisting, half-consenting right now—if she applied a little force, Vivienne would easily claim her prize. But she still chose to respect her beloved’s will.
Enya’s gaze still darted away evasively. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “What do you want me to do?”
“I want to ride a dragon.”
“So in your heart, I’m only worth that much?”
“Isn’t that… fine? My Princess, letting you ride is more than enough.”
Enya sighed and agreed to Vivienne’s mounting request. But just as she was about to transform into a great dragon, Vivienne suddenly grabbed hold of her and said:
“What about your dragon scales, dragon horns, dragon claws, dragon wings, and dragon tail? Let me take a good look.”
“Oh.”
Enya could see from Vivienne’s eyes that she was very curious about her body. After hesitating for a moment, she turned her back to Vivienne and undid her skirt, revealing the expanse of snow-white skin beneath.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.