Prince Albert awkwardly let go, but Victoria glared at him. She didn't like her eldest son. He was already eight, yet he still couldn't recognize all twenty-six letters of the English alphabet—not even as well as his five-year-old younger brother.
What she hated most was that the little brat spouted nonsense, and she had no idea where he'd learned it.
"Have you finished your homework?"
"I-I have!"
Edward said stubbornly.
"Hmph."
Victoria let out a cold laugh, no longer looking like a little bird nestled in Albert's arms.
"Miss Mary."
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Check his homework. For every mistake, make him write it ten times. For every blank, twenty times."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Edward panicked.
"You old hag! When I'm king, I'll give you homework every day!"
"Not unless I'm dead! A hundred times! Miss Mary, if he doesn't finish, don't let him leave his room."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Feeling the warmth of family, Prince Albert finally relaxed his taut nerves. Lately, he had been busy with the World's Fair. The Austrian Empire's military technology had made a profound impression on the British.
The airships in particular had become the British people's nightmare. The British Navy was invincible at sea, but it could do nothing about what loomed overhead.
To deal with this Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, the British needed airships of their own.
For this purpose, Prince Albert had summoned Britain's finest engineers and craftsmen, and offered a public reward for anyone who could develop the art of airship construction.
Airship technology wasn't all that complicated, but neither could it be mastered overnight. Though great rewards were sure to bring forth brave men, reckless meddling was another name for courting death.
Spurred on by money and fame, someone was dying in an