On the southern sea, a captain in a short coat stood at the bow of the ship, facing the waves and looking into the distance.

She had a slender figure and a well-proportioned body, with dark brown hair tied into a long ponytail that flowed behind a large navy hat.

That’s right, this is the famous female captain, mage councilor, alchemist, Miss Alena of the Southern Islands.

A golden long sword with tight thread patterns is pinned on the slender trousers, and the slender fingers are gently pressing on the hilt, giving people a sense of heroic spirit.

After the Berry United Kingdom ended its war with the Empire, it ushered in a rare peace. For this reason, they began to explore the routes of the Endless Sea again. Until this year, they finally found a stable navigable route among the countless chaotic whirlpools.

"Big sister, how long will we stay in March Island this time?" A sturdy sailor came from the rear deck and asked hopefully. Looking at the dodging figures behind him, it seemed that many crew members were secretly listening with concern.

Since they went out to sea last year, they haven't been home for about a year. Usually, they just rest on some small islands along the way. Although they make a lot of money, life on the ship is really boring, and many people miss home.

"How long?" Aliena continued to watch the waves rising from the bow from time to time, and bursts of cool water vapor rushed towards her face.

"Then half a year." She turned around and smiled with the corners of her mouth raised.

"oh!"

"yeah--"

The crowd eavesdropping from behind cheered happily, their expressions and appearances as if they had been released from prison after ten years.

Watching this scene, Alena continued to smile and then returned to her cabin in the ship.

Yes, I have been drifting on the sea for a long time.

After returning to the room, she opened the bedside drawer and found a precious photo inside.

Taking photos is a luxury in this world. When I was studying in Emenas, we took a photo together when we graduated. We used gems to record the scene instantly, and then asked the photo bird to draw the image while it was still usable.

This is a very troublesome thing, so generally everyone uses inheritance gems to record some things, but the only advantage of such "photos" is that ordinary people can also browse them at will.

As for the inheritance gems, they are not something that ordinary people can use, and many people cannot perceive such images.

The picture shows the scene after the Winter Festival party. Nine people are standing in front of a cozy wooden restaurant, with a birch forest next to them and the faint blue Jingyue Lake in the distance.

Among them, Ye Ling was kneeling on the ground with a pout, looking a little unhappy, her off-white twin ponytails hanging on her velvet winter skirt. Loran Hill was standing behind her, one hand on Ye Ling's shoulder and the other hand holding Katie. Letis was standing on the other side of Loran Hill, with Nia kneeling sideways under her, looking very cute and quiet.

On the other side, next to Katie was Bumansa, who was holding Lily's hand, while Lily sat in front of her, with one hand around her knees and the other hand raised to hold Bumansa's hand.

Finally, there is Alena standing next to Lettice. Except for Kafla who is kneeling under her and sitting very straight, the style of the rest of the painting is completely different from the others.

The alchemist lady was wearing a coat with a cape, a bit like the evil boss in the story. She had a golden flying fish hairpin in her hair, and was holding up a struggling and twisting orange cat in her hands, with a smile of success on her lips.

Vimiya should have been there, but unfortunately this companion did not come to school that year and was not included in the photo.

It's time to go back.

Alena sat at the head of the bed, looking at the photo, her fingers slowly brushing over the dried and solidified paint, a nostalgic touch coming from her fingertips.

——————

Imperial Titania

The atmosphere in the capital of this empire is now extremely depressing, even the street vendors have unconsciously lowered their usual high-pitched voices.

The empire's humiliating defeat in the south attracted attention from all sides.

A group of veteran nobles said bluntly in the Imperial Parliament that if they continued to lose like this, the empire's thousand-year glory would be buried in the dust and trampled underfoot.

In response, His Majesty the Regent remained indifferent and the meeting ended in a cold atmosphere.

In the following month, many nobles were found guilty of various crimes, arrested by the Red Guards, and their crimes were publicly announced in the square.

Although these nobles later paid large sums of money to offset and appease the various accusations, their reputations were ultimately ruined, and they returned to their territories in disgrace and never spoke out again.

After rectifying the opposition voices in the imperial capital, in order to deal with the increasingly noisy rebellion in the south, the regent had to bring royal representatives to discuss with the remaining three ducal families and visit several large noble families that had been inactive for a long time.

After a period of negotiation and discussion, many interests within the empire, such as official positions, knightly orders, jurisdiction of important institutions, and the quota of Emenas, were mostly ceded to these old forces in exchange for their promise to send troops.

Although this did stabilize the situation, it also disappointed many of the royal family's close ministers and newly promoted military nobles, and the royal family's majesty once again declined.

"Edron can't do that."

In the beautifully decorated lobby of the large mansion, a maid with silver-purple hair looked at the intelligence sent to her, chewing an apple while commenting on the ruler of the empire.

"If it were his brother Amank, these old guys would have been beheaded and their property confiscated long ago. That guy was a genius who dared to murder the heir to the empire at the Crown Prince's wedding. His courage and decisiveness are far beyond the reach of the timid Edren."

"As expected, Edren is only suitable for a civil service position like prime minister. He can't be the emperor or regent." The slender maid complained venomously.

"Let's look at our master, hehe." As she said this, the maid threw away the apple that she had almost eaten and walked towards the corridor next to the hall.

Soon, a cry of surprise came from a room deep in the corridor, as if it was the panic and surprise of a teenager who was woken up in a special way in the morning.

"Haha, don't run."

The door opened and Elio, dressed in pajamas, ran out, with the mischievous silver-purple maid standing behind him. There were still bursts of icy light on her hands, and faint white smoke rose in the morning light.

After a while of playing around, the two finally sat down in the restaurant, and the virtuous maid, Miss Anna, brought the freshly made coconut bread to the table and cut it into pieces.

Elio looked at the appetizing bread and said happily, "Thank you, Sister Anna."

"Hmph, why don't you thank me? It was me who found this big house." Konos was a little dissatisfied with her pride.

"Thank you, Konos. Konos is also very cute." Elio seemed to have found the pain point of the silver-purple maid. After some praise, he finally made this guy smile with satisfaction.

Although she is a witch, she is also very easy to please.