Reborn as a Hated Noble Family, We Start an Industrial Revolution

​The pitch-black sedan pulled up smoothly right in front of the faded white wooden fence. Vwuum... Its mana-engine purred softly, leaving almost no sound besides the friction of tires against asphalt.

​Raphael opened the door and stepped out of the car.

​The small wooden house stood peacefully, bathed in the morning sunlight.

​And right in the middle of the front yard... Elodie was busy watering her plants with a copper watering can. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy bun. The girl was wearing nothing but a simple, slightly oversized home shirt.

​Hearing the sound of the car door, Elodie reflexively looked up.

​Instantly, her round eyes bulged wide. Slip! The watering can nearly slipped from her grasp and crashed to the ground.

​”R-Raphael?!”

​”Morning,” Raphael greeted awkwardly. He stopped right outside the fence, shoving both hands deep into his trouser pockets. ”Are you busy?”

​Elodie stared at the young man with a comical expression—a blend of shock, confusion, and a hint of suspicion. ”It’s... it’s still early in the morning. Why did you suddenly show up at my house? Besides—”

​”School is off today.”

​”Yes, I know it’s a holiday, so why are you here?”

​Raphael took a step closer to the fence. ”I came to pick you up because there’s something I really want to show you.”

​Elodie slowly lowered her watering can onto the grass. ”Something? Something like what?”

​”You’ll understand once you come along.” Raphael looked straight into her brown eyes. ”The point is... I want you to come with me.”

​Elodie’s face scrunched up in confusion. ”To see what this early in the morning?”

​”Just come with me.”

​”Haaah... alright, alright, you pushy prince!” Elodie rolled her eyes in resignation, though the corners of her lips fought back a smile. The girl half-turned toward her front door. ”Wait a second, let me go change my clothes fir—”

​”No need.”

​Elodie’s steps froze in mid-air. She glanced over her shoulder. ”Eh?”

​Raphael gave a light shrug, a faint, entirely honest smirk carving its way onto his lips. ”You... already look beautiful as you are.”

​Silence.

​A suffocatingly thick silence suddenly embraced the front yard. Even the chirping of the morning crickets sounded like screaming in the quiet.

​Elodie’s eyes widened to their absolute limits. A furious blush detonated instantly, creeping up from her neck and setting both her cheeks ablaze like boiled crabs.

​On the other side of the fence, Raphael’s body abruptly froze stiff, as if he had just been drenched by ice magic. His brain had just processed the mortifying words that had bypassed his filter and tumbled freely from his own mouth.

​Gulp. Raphael swallowed hard.

​”T-That... I mean... no... it’s not like that—” Raphael began to stammer terribly, pulling a hand from his pocket to wave awkwardly in the air.

​Elodie bowed her head deeply. Her fingers tightly gripped the hem of her oversized shirt. ”I-I... I know what you meant... you don’t have to explain...”

​”I-I just meant... you don’t have to bother changing clothes... because... because we’re in a hurry, El! Yes, purely because we are in a rush!” Raphael argued in a panic, eagerly digging his own grave.

​”By the Goddess, El, I really didn’t mean to be insolent—”

​”Raphael.”

​”Y-Yes?!”

​”Please. Stop talking right now.”

​Raphael instantly clamped his jaw shut, locking his lips. His ears now felt boiling hot.

​The two of them stood paralyzed, separated by the wooden fence in an extraordinarily awkward silence. Five seconds passed, feeling more like five hours.

​Elodie kept her head down, hiding her ripe, blushing face, while Raphael looked away, staring intensely at a bare tree branch above him as if it were the most fascinating object in the world.

​”I-I... I’ll go ask my mom for permission first,” Elodie finally broke the quiet, her voice squeaking so softly it was barely audible. ”Wait a second.”

​The girl hurriedly spun on her heels and half-ran, fleeing into the house. Bam. The door shut.

​The moment Elodie’s figure vanished, Raphael instantly let out the miserable, agonizing exhale he had been holding in. Haaah... The young man rubbed his face roughly with his palms, desperately wishing he could bash his head against the asphalt.

​”You absolute idiot,” he cursed under his breath, lamenting his own stupidity. ”Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

​A few minutes later, the door creaked open again. Elodie stepped out. The blush on her cheeks hadn’t fully faded, but she looked far more capable of breathing normally now.

​”My mom said it’s fine. She just said... be careful on the road,” Elodie reported.

​”Of course. Absolutely.” Raphael gave a rapid, jerky nod. ”Get in.”

​The two of them walked awkwardly toward the black sedan parked outside the fence. Raphael opened the rear passenger door for Elodie.

​The girl peered inside with extreme hesitation—this luxurious vehicle was an expensive commodity she had never touched in her entire life. Her fingers brushed the smooth black leather seats with high-level caution.

​Then... her eyes reflexively darted toward whoever was sitting in the driver’s seat.

​Thump!

​Elodie instantly froze stiff in the backseat. Her posture, which had relaxed slightly, suddenly snapped bolt upright, as stiff as an ironing board.

​Grand General Riven Sudrath. The legendary war hero of Northreach. The Supreme Commander. Raphael’s eldest brother... was sitting casually behind the steering wheel!

​Elodie’s palms immediately clamped together and rested on her thighs in a display of absolute, flawless politeness. She stared dead straight at the dashboard, not even daring to blink.

​”G-Good morning... General,” she greeted, her voice trembling like a leaf in the wind.

​Through the rearview mirror, Riven’s gray eyes glanced at the girl. The corner of the General’s lips lifted into a faint, warm smile. ”Morning to you too. Please don’t be so tense. Just pretend I’m your hired chauffeur for today.”

​Raphael climbed in after her, sitting beside Elodie, and pulled the door shut. Blam. ”Brother, I am warning you, please don’t start,” Raphael hissed quickly.

​”Start what? I haven’t even opened my mouth to start anything,” Riven replied casually. His hand shifted the gear lever. The black sedan began to glide smoothly down the street.

​The first ten seconds were filled with a nerve-wracking cabin silence. And then—

​”So, you must be Elodie.”

​Elodie swallowed hard again. ”T-That is correct, General.”

​”I’ve heard quite a few stories about you.”

​Elodie’s round eyes instantly blew wide. The girl snapped her head toward Raphael with a look of pure horror, demanding an explanation: ’WHAT DOES HE MEAN?! WHAT DID YOU TELL YOUR FAMILY?!’ Raphael looked away out the window, one hand covering his face, which was once again turning red from embarrassment.

​”I heard it straight from Raveena,” Riven continued smoothly, keeping his eyes on the asphalt. ”She said you’re a brilliant student in her Applied Magic class.”

​”L-Lady Raveena exaggerates her praises too much...” Elodie looked down modestly.

​”And I also heard it from my Mother,” Riven turned the steering wheel, taking the intersection with an incredibly smooth maneuver. ”She said you are a young lady with remarkably polite manners.”

​”H-Her Majesty the Queen is far too generous in her judgment of me...”

​Riven checked the rearview mirror again—but this time, his gaze locked onto Raphael. The General let out a soft snort. ”Hmm. No wonder.”

​Raphael instantly shifted into high-alert mode. ”What?!”

​”No wonder my youngest brother suddenly decided to take a thorough, sweet-smelling shower this early in the morning.”

​”I ALWAYS SMELL GOOD EVERY MORNING!!” Raphael snapped, stepping on the gas.

​”Oh, is that so?” Riven shot him another teasing glance through the mirror. ”In that case, no wonder a certain boy was fighting tooth and nail to neatly comb his hair, which usually looks like a bird’s nest.”

​”I ALWAYS COMB MY HAIR, BROTHER!!”

​Elodie hurriedly clamped both hands over her mouth. Her shoulders began to shake violently up and down—the girl was fighting for her life to hold back the laughter threatening to explode at the sight of this prince getting utterly roasted by his older brother.

​Seeing the girl beside him shaking with suppressed laughter, Raphael’s dignity shattered even further. His face was now the color of tomato sauce.

​”Brother Riven, are you a Grand General of War or the palace court jester?!” Raphael cursed in frustration.

​”I am merely stating facts from my field observations,” Riven answered with an incredibly flat, deadpan tone. ”You don’t need to be so defensive, little brother.”

​”I AM NOT BEING DEFENSIVE AT ALL!!”

​The car continued to cruise through the streets of Iron Hearth. And in that exact second, Elodie’s defenses finally crumbled. A crisp, uninhibited giggle burst from the girl’s lips. Pfft... hahaha!

​Hearing that free, melodic laugh, every shred of Raphael’s counter-arguments died. He stopped protesting, merely leaning his head weakly against the car seat with a resigned expression, staring up at the cabin ceiling.

​The rest of the journey to the airfield was finally spent wrapped in a much, much more relaxed and warm cabin atmosphere.

​The Iron Hearth Airfield was clearly not the kind of place that had ever crossed Elodie’s wildest imagination.

​The open expanse, spreading as wide as several football fields, was fenced in by tall, heavily guarded barbed wire. Right in the center of the colossal asphalt tarmac, six Sky-Hunter combat helicopters were lined up in impeccable formation.

​The steel birds looked menacingly majestic, the massive rotor blades above them already beginning to spin slowly, slicing through the air.

​The sound of their engines wasn’t a deafening, abrasive roar like a steam engine, but rather a powerful, constant magnetic thrum. Whump... whump... whump... whump...

​At the edge of the tarmac, dozens of mechanics and aviation crew scurried about, executing pre-flight protocols. Several mechanics climbed up to check the cockpit instrument panels.

​The logistics team injected thick mana-fuel hoses into the helicopters’ hulls. Meanwhile, field commanders shouted coordinates at each other using green crystal devices strapped to their wrists.

​The moment the car stopped, Riven stepped out. The General marched rigidly toward the iron control tower, where Lieutenant Kaelen was already standing by with a clipboard in hand. The two military veterans exchanged brief salutes, then immediately began discussing rapidly—their voices entirely swallowed by the echo of the rotor blades.

​Raphael and Elodie chose to stand at a safe distance on the edge of the tarmac, right behind the glowing yellow line designating the civilian visitor area.

​”This is... truly an insane sight,” Elodie whispered unconsciously. Her brown eyes were wide with awe, staring straight at the six steel birds lined up before her. ”In my entire life, I have never seen these flying birds from this close.”

​Raphael carved a faint smile seeing the wonder plastered on the girl’s face. ”You like it?”

​”I love it, Raphael.” Elodie turned, looking at the young man with a genuine smile. ”Thank you so much for taking the time to bring me here.”

​”Save your thanks for later. The main event hasn’t even started yet.”

​VWUUUUM!

​One by one, the main rotor engines of the helicopters were throttled up. The sound of their rotation mutated drastically, from a soft hum into a heavy, concussive drone that vibrated the asphalt and shook the chest cavities of anyone listening.

​The cyclonic wind generated by the spinning blades instantly blew Elodie’s long hair wild, forcing the girl to raise a hand to hold down the unruly bangs whipping against her face.

​Whump-whump-whump-whump-WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP!

​The lead helicopter began to break free from the earth’s gravity. Slowly but powerfully, its steel chassis lifted off the asphalt. Dust clouds immediately kicked up, forming a vortex.

​The churning wind swept viciously across the tarmac. Elodie reflexively crossed her arms, holding down her shirt as it flapped violently in the artificial storm.

​The second helicopter followed suit, lifting off. Then the third. Fourth. Fifth. And finally, the sixth.

​An entire aerial combat squadron now hovered arrogantly in the morning sky of Iron Hearth. The six steel birds circled the area in a flawlessly precise V-formation, executing one low pass over the control tower—as if offering an aerial salute—before finally banking sharply and tearing through the clouds, heading toward the southern skies. Toward Luminara territory.

​Elodie stood frozen at the yellow line. Her left hand still held her messy hair against the lingering turbine wind.

​She tilted her neck back, staring at the blue sky, her unblinking eyes tracking the black dots of the helicopter squadron until they were completely swallowed by the southern horizon.

​”Raphael,” Elodie’s voice was hoarse, nearly lost in the dying wind. ”What I just saw... that was the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen in my entire life.”

​Raphael wasn’t looking at the sky.

​Ever since the first helicopter took off, the young man’s eyes had been glued entirely to the girl beside him. Staring at Elodie’s face, which radiated pure, unadulterated joy.

​Staring at her brown eyes, sparkling as they reflected the morning sun. Staring at her wide smile, which effortlessly outshined the beauty of any machine in this world. And staring at the stray strands of her hair dancing in the residual breeze of the rotor blades.

​Without realizing it, Raphael felt a strange, foreign wave of warmth flood his chest.

​”Hey, El.”

​The girl turned her head. ”Yes, Raphael?”

​”Wanna continue our walk?”