Let's begin
The next day, Haru, Adis, and Aquarius teleported to Lumine. Zen had gone straight to his own realm after cleaning the basement of Gehenna for the entire night.
As soon as they stepped onto the Light Tower, Haru was surprised at the liveliness of the entire realm compared to Atlantis. Several airships painted the cold sky with its exuberant colors and decorations while the high-spirited passengers were busy chatting and flaunting their wealth. Fire and wind mages could be seen from a distance, creating different magic circles to power the airships.
"Is there a festival or competition for the most splendid airship in this realm?" Haru ran towards the stone baluster of the tower while her eyes shone brightly. "Woah, so this is the Kingdom of Lumine, the dazzling Realm of Light."
Lumine definitely lived up to its name as, despite the gloomy atmosphere throughout the realms, it did not lose its brilliance and continued to illuminate its light amidst the world's crisis.
"This place was like its King, carefree and chipper. But, I thought the people here are dying due to starvation and harsh weather?" Haru creased her forehead in confusion.
"Humans, even with their feeble lives, have proven to be resilient in the face of crisis." A voice from behind caught her attention. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but this liveliness you see is just a facade created by the excessive nobles who only know how to show off their riches but too greedy to share it to the poor. The true state of this realm can be seen outside of the capital."
"Zen, you're here! Can we also ride an airship?" She asked while jumping like a kid.
The three Kings furrowed their eyebrows. It was Zen who answered her eager question. "Uh, we do have our own airship but we seldom use it. Having a dragon as our means of transportation is more convenient and efficient."
Haru suddenly squealed and her eyes gave out a blinding light. "Bloody hell! No freakin' way! This world has dragons, too? Like the gigantic and mighty dragons from fantasy books? That is so fucking cool!"
Zen and Aquarius instantly stiffened and their eyebrows rose a notch upon hearing her outburst of profanities. Then their stupid stare shifted to their big brother who looked nonchalant at his maiden's brazen behavior.
Zen helplessly scratched the back of his head as he barked his laughter. "Ah, sister-in-law, you are really something. For the record, you are the only being who threw expletives in front of the royal family and still walk out alive. Don't worry, I'll make sure to show you my own airship someday, although, you might think it's quite puny compared to big brother's."
"Sister-in-law, it's now time to part for now as we need to commence the urgent plan we discussed. We shall see you at lunch, " Aquarius said and smiled gently like always.
"Mn," Haru nodded while still looking at the airships in the sky. Her eyes flickered with different complicated expressions.
Adis sighed helplessly as he embraced her from the side. "I will ask Isaiah to bring out Zen's airship here. I would love for you to ride mine but it will take a while as it will have to travel from Umbra to Lumine."
She shook her head and looked at Adis while tugging his sleeve. "Adis, I would like to add another law. This time, it will be imposed as of today."
Zen's eyes glowed mischievously as he rubbed his palm together. "Sister-in-law, I think I will like this new rule you have in mind. Tell it to Zen and I'll be the one to slap it onto the nobles' faces. Hahaha." Even without hearing the plan yet, he already laughed triumphantly with hands on his hips.
After giving out the details of Haru's new idea, Adis talked to her seriously. "Haru, I will allow you to go out and play but you must do so with the utmost care and a chaperone. Since you wish to see the status of this world with your own eyes, I will have Drako escort you." As soon as he mentioned one of the Ignis brothers, Drako automatically materialized from the shadows. "As you already know, Drako is the one who oversees the economic affairs of Umbra. He would be a sensible company for your trip outside of the palace."
"Nice! Very well, then. I'll see you, boys, later." She waved her hand and turned around.
However, before she could take another step, her devil called her out. "Haru? Aren't you forgetting something?" He narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together.
She creased her eyebrows and contemplated for a brief moment. Then her eyes lit up and her cheeks blushed as she realized what he was talking about.
Haru giggled and walked back to her sulky devil. She stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Geez, don't scowl. Fine, your silly Haru is at fault for being forgetful." She gave him three pecks on the lips then pinched his cheeks "There! Happy?"
Adis curled his lips upward into a tempting smile as he snaked his arms around her waist. He unceremoniously claimed her lips in a long and passionate kiss, disregarding the prying eyes around them as he slid his wayward tongue inside her mouth.
Her knees instantly buckled and a pleased moan escaped from her lips at his delightful manipulation. He only released her lips when she needed some oxygen, revealing a delicious silver thread as evidence of their unbridled public display of affection.
"There, I'm happy," Adis smugly declared as he wiped the side of her mouth, enjoying the view of her reddened face.
Haru glared at him to hid her embarrassment and stepped on his foot as she walked away without looking at the faces of their onlookers.
When Haru completely left, Zen made a comment while leaning his elbows on Aquarius' shoulders. "I think I understand why big brother likes to bully sister-in-law. Her bashful face is quite irresistible."
Adis started to move forward. "Hmph! I'm the only one allowed to bully my wife."
Zen scoffed without thinking. "Eh? As I see it, you're the one who's being bullied most of the time and you're happy about it. Tsk! What an idiot wife slave."
"Mn," he shamelessly admitted before finally entering the tense royal court.
*******************************
On their way towards her first appointment, Haru was reading the recent economic reports that she got from Drako inside an ordinary carriage while the latter was carefully explaining some terms that she was not familiar with.
Haru requested that her relationship with Adis would remain a secret for now, to avoid unnecessary questions and meddling from the public, hence, she was using a modest carriage to be less conspicuous despite the silent objection from Adis.
"Drako, since this world has powerful fire mages and mythical creatures, why not just ask them to melt the ice?"
Drako smiled gently at her reasonable question. "As a matter of fact, my lady, that was the first thing we did when the ice became unbearable. But we soon realized that this winter came from the goddess of ice. No matter how many times we tried to melt the glaciers, it can never be undone."
Haru nodded her head in understanding and gone back to reading the files. When the carriage stopped, Drako came out first and helped her to go down the carriage like a true gentleman. He carefully draped another cloak on her shoulders and opened the door of the store.
Bell chimes tinkled as the door opened. An old man with thick glasses on his eyes and a wooden smoking pipe in his mouth glanced up at them. He had grayish-white hair and beard, crow's feet at the corner of his eyes, crooked nose and discerning blue eyes.
"Ahoy! You must be the lad that mah boy Graves was talking about, eh? Welcome to my humble store!" The old man greeted with a kind smile on his face. He looked excited as he repeatedly tapped his big belly against his overall suit. "I heard you need a glass mechanic. You are speaking to the right person. The name is Ulysses Ainsworth, the world's famous engineer, and airship artisan."
Haru liked the old man's happy demeanor, but since she was pressed for time, she skipped needless pleasantries. "Nice to meet you, Ulysses. My name is Haru and I prepared a blueprint for the kind of structure that I wish to build. I hope your genius mind would find this new idea... fascinating."
Drako walked to the work station and spread the blueprint. When Ulysses saw it, his eyes suddenly brightened in enthusiasm. "Hohoho, such fine and detailed sketch you have here, young lad. What do you call this kind of masterpiece?"
"My lover was actually the one who made this," she revealed with a voice laced with pride. "This kind of building is called a Greenhouse and it has glass walls and glass roofs. As stated on the instructions, it should be at least 12 feet high, 7 meters wide and 5 meters long. It must have six roof vents for climate control and air circulation and metal foundation as a base for stability."
"What will you use this structure for and where do you wish to build it?" Ulysses asked with zeal.
She patiently explained the objective of her plan, the way she described it to the three Kings, to ensure the expected outcome that she had in mind and to also get feedback from Ulysses on how to further maximize the building's capability.
"A greenhouse is used to grow plants and flowers. The whole point of the glass structure is to let in the light and trap the heat to keep the plants warm and growing. A greenhouse stays warm inside, even during the winter. The warmer temperature occurs because the sunlight passes through the roof and walls. As the structure is not open to the atmosphere, it traps the sun's heat, making the temperature inside the greenhouse warmer."
She continued, "In times that the Sun is hiding in the dark winter clouds, I will use Light and Air Mages to emulate a solar radiation and air circulation, while the Water Mages will take care of the water system. I plan to grow different vegetables, root crops, and flowers using different kinds of soil from the three realms. I wish to build the greenhouse on a free lot inside the Light Palace's garden. Don't worry, I already have permission for that."
Drako laid the building permit as well as the entrance permit for Ulysses and his team.
Ulysses eyes glistened in tears as his mouth slowly opened in a thunderous laugh. His body trembled at such magnificent discover. He never thought that it was impossible to build a structure that could produce life amidst this deadly weather. "Woah! Amazing! I can't believe this. How ingenious! Hahaha!"
Haru looked at the old man intently as she declared her last request. "I heard you are the best of the best. I would like to challenge you to create this milestone in architecture by finishing it in just two days. Will you take it?"