Chapter 422: Ji Ming, how did you end up with her!?

As a man who's always had personal charm, been pursued by all kinds of people countless times, yet never actually been successfully won over, he really does have plenty of relevant experience.

Ji Ming didn't even need to wait for Fiya to speak; he could already tell what she was waiting here for.

Unfortunately, reality isn't a coy romantic comedy; since there's no way to avoid it, Ji Ming politely greeted her and then continued on his way as if nothing had happened.

But after turning around, he was still counting silently in his heart.

One.

Two.

Three.

"Um, Divine Chosen, please wait a moment!"

Oh no, she hesitated for a full three seconds—she might actually be serious!

But since she's already spoken, I can't just pretend to be deaf and dumb, so Ji Ming had to stop again.

"May I ask what you need?"

Fiya didn't rush to speak; instead, she seized the good moment when his gaze was fixed on her, taking two steps in the light blue dress she had specially changed into.

As she slowly approached, she neither clearly stated her true intention nor foolishly fidgeted with her hands.

Instead, she pulled out the prepared "irrelevant question" and spoke softly.

"Ji Ming, Divine Chosen, what do you think of the airship you rode today?"

……

!!!

【Ah? The password is correct! Savior, you...】

"Hmm, not bad!"

If Fiya had asked about something else, Ji Ming would definitely have brushed it off as before, but since she asked this, he's not sleepy at all!

He even involuntarily adjusted his steps, turning his whole body, which had been about to walk away, completely back.

【Finished!】

"No wonder it's made by dwarves—its appearance is truly novel, the mechanical design is quite clever, and I think if we keep developing it, it will definitely amount to something."

"Really?!"

Fiya's breathing instantly quickened a bit.

——I actually guessed right! He really is interested in this!

So she hurried to strike while the iron was hot.

"Well, regarding the magical airship, His Highness also wants to develop it as a long-term industry, and maybe someday it'll be ours…"

Perhaps she was a bit too excited, because her first sentence came out a little garbled, almost saying something she shouldn't have.

But after thinking it over, she still blushed, having thrown caution to the wind.

"Actually, there's nothing much—it's just an open secret, so I'll just say it outright!"

Pause.

"Our mother is from the Arc Light Family, so the airship might end up being an important business for our house."

Arc Light… isn't that the finance minister who controls the kingdom's purse strings?

Ji Ming's face stayed calm as he nodded, but inside he exclaimed, "Damn, in-laws!"

But this really isn't worth making a fuss over—after all, it's essentially a job competing in raising gu.

Although they share the same father, princes and princesses who don't share the same mother must definitely cling to their maternal clan's thigh to rise in rank.

But he was thinking about the division of rights there, while Fiya assumed the newly arrived Divine Chosen had been frightened stiff by this, so she took the chance to speed up her speech.

"My brother dotes on me, so even though I haven't passed the assessment, I actually do have a little bit of money! He let me buy a share, and now I'm a minor shareholder."

"Since I'm already a shareholder, I definitely ought to think of ways to chip in."

"That's why we've only just built this prototype airship—only a few people have tried it, and you're one of them."

"I just want to ask you, do you have any suggestions for improving it?"

Suggestions……

Recalling that disastrous riding experience, Ji Ming's expression was complex.

"Well, I could go on and on about that……"

Fiya: Good!

"No problem! Take your time."

"Alright, I'll start with the noise issue."

One hour later……

By rights, succeeding on one's first proactive move and having the pursued party eagerly chat for an hour should count as a tremendous success.

If it were those more impatient players, they'd probably have already decided where to book the future banquet.

Yet at this moment, Fiya may still wear a polite smile, but her eyes reveal a hint of despair and fatigue.

Hell, I'm using the airship thing to bait you, and you're actually just chatting with me about the airship!

Although she's already used every trick she has to steer the topic away from the airship, to chat about herself and about Ji Ming.

At least it needs to be more interesting, more private, more capable of sparking interest!

Hey, guess what? No use!

The Divine Chosen really does cling to the airship topic, wildly chatting about stuff she can't even understand, making it hard for her to squeeze out even two complete words of agreement.

All she can do is keep using filler words like "uh-huh, I'm listening, haha" and then tell herself over and over in her heart.

"Think of the bright side, Fiya—at least what he's chatting with you about is proper business you can talk about elsewhere, not trying to drag you into poker after less than three sentences."

As for Ji Ming, who sits unmoving on Airship Mountain… he's obviously just pretending to be stupid.

He could see that Fiya wanted to use this topic to talk about what she wanted to say, so he insisted on keeping the discussion on this matter, using "my ignorance" to make the other party back down.

This is also his usual trick, polite yet elegant; after all, since they came with goodwill and sincerity, he didn't want their ending to be too bleak.

Unfortunately, Fiya has an exceptionally excellent older brother, and as a result she has become accustomed to holding herself to a higher standard, pouring more energy into her career.

So the reason she came to flirt with Ji Ming was not only because the Chosen is indeed handsome.

More importantly, she thought back and forth and felt she would never find a better partner than this.

Therefore, she burst out with extraordinary patience, stubbornly pulling and tugging with Ji Ming for a full hour.

However…

In the end, she still surrendered because she was exhausted, and besides, this dress and high heels were really unsuitable for prolonged combat; after using all her tricks, she announced her surrender.

Of course, her excuse for surrendering was definitely more inclined to shift the blame onto herself.

And when he noticed Fiya quietly lifting a foot to relax, Ji Ming likewise seized the moment to cut off the conversation.

"Sorry, I got too carried away chatting and didn't notice your feelings."

"Uh, no! It's just that these shoes don't fit me well."

However, Fiya had no intention of ending it like that; she proactively said she would definitely stay here tonight, anyway it's just a few steps away, so let me see you off.

"Sure, that works."

Actually she was thinking that since it's just these last few steps, the initiative would surely be in her hands.

Who would have thought the Chosen didn't even wait for her to speak, but smoothly asked about her brother.

"I see the Prince seems to have many friends in the Royal Capital; wasn't he also studying here before?"

……

Forget it, let's think of something better; at least he's started caring about my family—what if next time it's me?

But as I said before, this is at least my first proactive move.

She felt she ought to gain something from this, but actually she hesitated for a while.

She pondered whether to sacrifice her heel, be bold, and throw herself into the Chosen's arms!

But in the end she still gave it up—no need to rush, there's plenty of time; with her abilities she can definitely win him over.

After all.

"Bye-bye, I'll definitely let you know when the next airship test flight happens!"

"Yeah, sure."

There'll be another chance next time!

"Tsk."

After parting with the obviously ulterior-motivated Fiya, the physically and mentally exhausted Ji Ming walked a few steps down the road aimlessly and couldn't help but sigh.

He was about to lament that mingling in noble circles is truly exhausting, and that he'd better retreat to ShanShang to teach and dispel doubts, when a voice suddenly came from the side.

"What are you regretting?"

!!!

Ji Ming was so startled he almost transformed into a helicopter and flew away at light speed, because he suddenly realized something very important.

"Ailinuo, you……"

He forced down the words "How are you still here?" and switched to something more emotionally intelligent.

"Are you waiting for me?"

Having been left outside for nearly two hours, afraid of being discovered by the street patrol of the noble district and feeling embarrassed, Ailinuo, who had been hiding here and there, replied: "Yes."

"Ah……"

Although she indeed had her difficulties, leaving a young girl alone outside all night is really inexcusable.

Ji Ming was about to sincerely apologize when he saw her extend her arm, pointing toward the iron gate, where a blue figure was already fading into the distance at the end of the road.

"How did you come out with her? And you were chatting so happily!"

"Uh……"

"Don't overthink it, I didn't mean to question you!"

"I……"

"I'm telling you as a friend: she! She's not a good person at all!"

After being interrupted three times in a row by Ailinuo while casting spells, Ji Ming didn't want to try a fourth time, because he had already sensed something.

After gaining a chance to speak with a brief silence, he dealt a fatal blow to the already flushed Ailinuo.

"Ailinuo, do you have some grudge against her?"

"……"

Now it was Ailinuo's turn to be silenced; she fidgeted with her hands, then gestured for Ji Ming to walk ahead with her.

After walking a considerable distance, having finally figured out what to say, she stopped in front of a shop that had long been closed.

"She and I, we were actually from the same academy……"

This is Fiya, who has a monarch of a great power as her father, a duke's daughter as her mother, and a brother who can be called a heavenly prodigy with the attributes of a perfect pentagon.

Simply put, she's got both parents alive, wealth enough to rival a nation, and a superhero older brother—she's basically a super‑perfect Batman.

This is Ailinuo, whose parents are dead, family fortune gone, future bright yet dim; looking around, only a boring but kind-hearted nun, the old succubus, is willing to help her.

Simply put, she's got nothing except Aunt Mei, not even that mutant spider has bothered her—she's basically a super‑failed Peter.

When the two of them entered the same academy and joined the same society, both vying for the presidency……

Naturally this would spark relatively sharp conflicts, and due to various unavoidable external factors, the only outcome was 【Ailinuo's crushing defeat and return】.

If that were all, it wouldn't really matter—victory and defeat are common in war; it's just a rotten club, at worst I'd just quit.

But the problem is, what kind of person is Miss Fiya, and what kind of person are you?

Isn't it just that they relied on their parents for a bit of protection? How dare they go head‑to‑head with the Arc Light family's young lady!

This is no ordinary princess; we must strike hard!

So this president contest unintentionally turned into a wolf‑pack rule, where the losing side would have the scheming members stomp their heads, using them as tools to pledge allegiance to the new king.

Moreover, although Fiya herself did not directly take part in this outrageously unfair loser‑clearing, as the new president she could not possibly have been unaware of it, yet she never voiced any opinion, virtually allowing the behavior.

Therefore…

The sweetest thing in this world is the beautiful moments of youth, and the most painful thing is the evil deeds of youth.

Even today Eleanor still vividly remembers how it felt, so seeing her walk together with Ji Ming makes her feel completely broken.

"So that's how it is…"

After hearing her halting, stammering, even somewhat incoherent narration and explanation, Ji Ming's first thought was AdaiEr.

As a noble lady whose backbone wasn't that rigid, AdaiEr actually faced similar incidents while at school, and the intensity and commentary were far higher—by a whole level.

But she was soft‑hearted yet not cowardly; faced with malice from all sides, she bluntly invoked the life principle "If you attack me, I'll attack you!"

The end result was that she, by her own hands, became the so‑called big‑sister killer, carving out a realm for herself both openly and behind the scenes.

If we're being precise, AdaiEr is two years younger than Eleanor, and Ji Ming used the junior's story to motivate her.

"Although the incident has passed, you're certainly more mature now than you were then. Recall it, think about it—do you have a better way to solve this problem now?"

"I…"

Eleanor paused, then tentatively said.

"It seems… I really didn't need to concede that much?"

"Why should I be bullied by them? Though the teacher has long retired, his influence in the church remains, and he's certainly not some aged old lady nobody cares about."

"Princess titles are indeed just promises, but they're promises everyone knows. Since the rights will eventually be obtained, even the tiniest point can be used to crush them!"

…

"Ah…"

The feeling is like rereading the script and suddenly realizing Aunt Mei's true identity is Gu Yi, and that by simply moving a little wealth‑seeking hand and changing perspective, one could use a strong magical talent to become Peter the Divine Lord.

The path does exist; I just didn't notice it back then.

(End of chapter)