A Mana Airship slowly descended from the sky.
As soon as it landed, Princess Caroline... no, Duchess Caroline, who had long since assumed the position of duchess, led a group of her subordinates forward to greet it.
The Mana Airship's hatch opened, and Xu Yi stepped out.
"Hey, my dear Xu Yi, you're finally here. I've been getting impatient waiting for you." Duchess Caroline walked over and gave Xu Yi a great big hug. Then, utterly unconcerned by everyone watching, she puckered her lips and leaned toward his face.
Xu Yi hurriedly turned his head, keeping his lips out of her reach and letting her kiss his cheek instead. He then returned a kiss on her cheek, completing what was clearly a rather intimate greeting.
"Hey, Caroline, you're getting married next month. How can you still be so bold?" Xu Yi whispered in Duchess Caroline's ear.
"Bold? Am I?" Duchess Caroline giggled and let out a gentle breath that tickled Xu Yi's ear. "If you said yes to me now, I'd go back and call off the wedding immediately. How about it?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Xu Yi gently scolded her, released his embrace, and eased Duchess Caroline away. Then he cleared his throat and asked seriously, "Is everything ready?"
Duchess Caroline shrugged. "There isn't much for me to prepare. Mainly, I've just been waiting for you to send your people over."
"Mm."
Xu Yi nodded and beckoned behind him. A diverse group of people in various Xinfei Merchant Guild uniforms filed out of the Mana Airship.
"These are some of the people responsible for the preliminary surveys and mapping who came ahead with me this time. Let me introduce you. This is Gustalo, the supervisor in charge of Duoer City's system mana defense project."
A tall, middle-aged human man stepped