Vivienne glanced at the complex expression on Enya’s face, then withdrew her gaze and looked down at the teacup in her hands.
“At that time… Teacher gave me a sample of blood.”
“She didn’t act on a whim when she created Estelle. The alchemy and cultivation methods all came from Antiros, and Estelle’s path was paved by Antiros’s own hands.”
Vivienne didn’t care whether she was a chess piece or the player, and she deeply respected Antiros as her teacher.
From the time she met Enya until Enya left, Antiros had handed her the book <Genesis>, which focused on life alchemy and had been sealed away for who knows how long, to Vivienne when she was still young and inexperienced.
It was a preparation Antiros had made in advance. Perhaps she had already planned it from that moment—that this would be the blueprint for creating Enya.
Such matters were quite common; anyone of sufficient rank needed to find ways to leave behind contingencies like resurrection, to guard against sudden death.
Vivienne briefly recalled the memory, then continued speaking.
“I don’t know whose blood it was. I thought about using my own, but Teacher wouldn’t allow it, so I was very upset. Especially when I had to face Estelle, who had already developed self-awareness—that upset feeling filled every inch of my body, to the point where I actively avoided contact with her.”
The corner of Enya’s mouth twitched.
It definitely wasn’t Antiros’s blood, that much was certain. There had to be some secret buried in this, just one that Antiros didn’t want to share with her.
Enya opened her mouth, wanting to press deeper with more questions, but in the end she decided against it. Antiros had already come by earlier—she couldn’t exactly make her run over again, could she?
Vivienne read the thoughts in Enya’s eyes and expression, propped her chin on both hands, and looked directly into Enya’s golden-red vertical pupils.
“Don’t worry, this topic isn’t restricted.”
“Oh, I…”
Enya nodded. Even though Vivienne had said there were no restrictions, she understood that no restrictions meant there was no information to be had. Continuing the conversation would be pointless.
But Vivienne didn’t see it that way. As the one who had personally done the work, she had observed some clues during the actual process.
“I ran a few simple tests. That blood isn’t human blood.”
“Then what race does it belong to? Does it carry some kind of power? Besides that, what else did you find?”
Enya furrowed her brow. When it came to Estelle, how could she not care?
Vivienne’s smile faded as she said:
“Don’t be impatient. It’s not that I don’t care about that child, but there’s something important I need to tell you first.”
“About Estelle?”
“Yes. I think you’ve probably already guessed it by now, haven’t you?”
“…Go on.”
Enya’s eyes darkened as she stared intently into Vivienne’s, as if trying to read the answer from her gaze in advance.
Vivienne stopped propping her chin and sat up straight.
“Estelle is your daughter, yes… but her greatest purpose is to exist as your backup.”
Enya rose directly from her chair and strode quickly toward the door.
Vivienne said nothing more. She simply sat there, watching Enya’s retreating figure, heavy with anger.
The door swung and fell against the table, landing precisely on the teacup Enya had used. She reached over, picked it up, and gently traced her thumb around the rim, murmuring softly to herself.
“Emotion is an inconvenient thing.”
After a long pause, Vivienne let out a sigh and shifted her gaze away from the doorway.
After walking out, Enya went straight to a window in the corridor and teleported clean through the smooth glass.
She unfurled her dragon wings and in an instant swept beyond the airship’s barrier.
Looking down below, the vessel was like a colossal magic whale, with nothing supporting it—as if it were swimming through the air, just like the original owner of the dragon bone that formed its keel.
Magic whales were creatures that drifted above the clouds.
They lived within the magic currents above the Sky Sea, chasing the Sun all day long. Only rarely did they dive beneath the cloud layer; the ground was as deep as the ocean floor to them.
According to one adventurer’s records, magic whales fed by filter-feeding. Their prey were spiritual beings that lived at high altitudes.
The ecosystem of the sky operated on its own system, and an eighth-order magic whale sat at the very top of the food chain.
She wasn’t just looking at the ferry, though. More than anything, she was looking back in Vivienne’s direction. She could understand what had been said, but she couldn’t accept it.
Under the night sky, Enya transformed into a dragon so vast it blotted out the heavens, but she didn’t vent her fury upon the land below. Instead, she beat her wings and flew upward into the sky.
She ascended straight into the starry night, but could not advance another inch within the magic currents.
At Enya’s current level, even transformed into a dragon, she couldn’t break through the turbulent layer and reach true outer space.
The massive dragon, half silver and half black, dove back down toward the forest below.
She descended into the Northern Mountains, into the dreamscape of that collective.
The starlight within the dream world shifted and moved as a massive school of fish shimmering with silver lights descended from above.
The silver-hearted whale Yeyue opened its enormous mouth and took bite after bite out of the dream world, eating away at it.
The dreams of magical beasts were vastly different from human dreams. To Yeyue, this dreamscape was an inescapable natural disaster—it would destroy their world.
And Yeyue’s level, to the native creatures of this dream world…
Enya didn’t stop it. She flew toward a towering peak on her own.
Near the summit was a massive cavern, inside which nine pairs of eyes opened. Just as their owner was about to step out of the cave, the dragon opened its mouth.
A powerful breath slammed into the cavern, obliterating everything above it in an instant.
Enya controlled her draconic form and landed on a plain of flowing magma.
Her golden-red vertical pupils glanced at her four limbs sinking into the molten rock. The temperature wasn’t enough to hurt her—she couldn’t even feel a hint of warmth through her claws.
She turned in a circle, then simply lay down on the pool of magma.
For a dragon, this really wasn’t hot!
After settling down, Enya closed her golden-red dragon eyes, coiled her long tail around herself, and folded her dragon wings against her back.
Yeyue didn’t stop feeding. As a dream being, its food was one dream world after another.
Dream worlds were formed from the subconscious thoughts of living creatures, carrying a trace of soul essence. Spirit beings eating spirit beings was only natural.
The journey to the Forest Elf Kingdom was long. Even riding the airship day and night would take nearly seven days.
A maid arrived at Vivienne’s door and knocked. After a moment, a soft feminine voice came from inside.
“Your Highness, your breakfast is ready.”
“Very well, Your Highness.”
“Mmm~, bring it in.”
The maid opened the door first, then turned back to push in the cart carrying two breakfasts. After arranging everything on the table, she wheeled the cart back out.
Then she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
As the door let out a faint click, Vivienne, reclining on the soft bed, looked at the silver-haired dragon princess lying beside her and let out a helpless sigh.
“Done being angry?”
Enya sat up from her side-lying position and said with her back to Vivienne:
“Do you have anything to add?”
“No.”
“Wait, I have something else to say.”
Enya was about to head out for another stroll when Vivienne grabbed hold of her tail and yanked her back onto the bed, the moment she’d barely lifted herself an inch off the mattress.
Her fair, pointed ears, peeking out from her silver hair, perked up slightly.
Enya tilted her head a little, but didn’t turn around to look at Vivienne in her sheer strap nightgown. With a hint of resentment in her voice, she said:
“So, what is it?”
“Heh…”
“Isn’t the choice still in your hands about what I wanted to say?”
“Come on, Enya~ Don’t be mad, alright?”
Vivienne wrapped her arms around Enya from behind and whispered softly by her ear:
“It’s my fault. How do you want to punish me?”
“Then… don’t touch me for a year?”
Vivienne answered without hesitation.
“Just keep being mad at me then. You look beautiful when you’re angry.”
“Two months.”
Enya said coldly.
Vivienne hesitated a little. Not touching for a whole month? Wouldn’t that make her a saint?
“I’ll need to think it over carefully.”
“Two months.”
“Fine.”
“So are you letting go or not?”