"No, not enchanted. It is not magical at all, it is made of paper with a candle inside it." He gestures to demonstrate the general shape and size of it. "The candle makes the air hot, and hot air is lighter than cold air. So the air trapped inside the lantern makes the lantern go up."

"... Huh," she says, blinking. Flying lanterns without any magic? Made out of paper and candles? But - "But wouldn't the flame catch the paper alight?"

"The paper is held in its shape by thin wires so that the fire does not touch it, but it is also a very easily flammable type of paper that burns up completely very fast, so if the wind or something else causes the flame to touch it, it is consumed in seconds, and then the candle is extinguished by the fall before it hits the ground."

"Huh," she repeats, feeling very inane. "That still seems like it has a risk of runaway fire, especially if they were released in a city, but.... I suppose you are not telling me the story of how this empire burned itself to the ground, so."

The she smiles brightly. "I shall have to test it myself! At some point. But first, your story."

"We are not," he agrees, laughing. "These lanterns have caused fires, but not many. They have been used as part of festivities in the Empire for centuries, and they are very beautiful. 

"What We saw that night was one such lantern about half as big as Our natural form, flying up from the mountain."

She considers this. It would certainly be large enough to fit a person inside, which seems altogether too large of a light to be practical for anything?

"... what?? That's. Astonishing. Though I... am rather confused as to why one would want a lantern so large??? Was it just to be the biggest flying lantern in the land????"

"We were just as confused. It was not during a festival, and there were no other lanterns nearby to compete with it. And just as We had flown overhead, the wind blew it in Our direction, though We were by then too far for the humans on the ground to see this. The lantern collided against Us and collapsed.

"After that happened, We disguised Ourselves as a bird and returned to find out more, but by then all We could discern was that it was the Prince who had built and set off the lantern. He and his entourage had found and were investigating the crash site and discussing why it had not flown as far as they had hoped, but made no mention of why they had built it in the first place.

"So then We decided We would meet the Prince to learn more."

"Reasonable and understandable! I'm curious now, too."

"After looking into it, We discovered the Prince was very fond of music, as well as aforementioned predilection for men. So We disguised Ourselves as a travelling musician, one who was open to the possibility of acquiring a patron. We played something the Prince had never heard before, in a festival to honour the lunar new year, and he was intrigued. We were brought before him, and by the end of it all he thought it was his own idea, to sponsor Us."

This earns a little giggle.

"I see! So you seduced him."

"Indeed. We had also picked a form that We believed would be pleasing on the eyes of the Prince, based on what he seemed to like for his concubines, so as to tip the odds in Our favour."

"Shapeshifting to be naturally attractive is indeed an advantage in seduction humans do not have," she agrees, nodding. Is that why he's hot, is she getting seduced right now? Not thinking about that!!!

"So when did he find out you were a dragon, and why the giant flying lantern?"

"Oh, We didn't tell him until the day We parted. He found out sooner, but it became play. We dropped hints, over time, slowly. We believe he started to suspect it, hmm, two years after we'd met, and was certain of it ten years after that, but We were a lot more careful about not letting it show than earlier today.

"And the giant flying lantern was because he wanted to fly."

Okay, a long flirtation game between a prince and a dragon over whether or not the dragon is a dragon does admittedly sound very charming. (And like it'd be kind of fun.)

She is also briefly confronted with the idea of trying to fly in a giant paper lantern, that sounds ludicrously dangerous. But then, she now knows what flying is actually like, and. ... Admittedly it's really excellent. So. Reasonable explanation for a crazy thing, she supposes. It seems like he was being methodical and safe about it? She can't really... blame him for dreaming big, can she.

"Did he manage it?" Grin. "And did you take him flying the day you parted as a cute present?"

"He did not. His experiments led him to conclude that it was too dangerous to attempt. But by a while into our time together, We were working with him on designing a saddle for riding a dragon, in case he ever had the opportunity to meet one. That was after he had convinced himself of Our identity.

"And yes, We permitted them to ride Us on that saddle the day we parted."

Cute.

"Oh, good. I'm glad he got to fly. Even if it wasn't though his own.... admittedly highly dubious flying lantern contraption."

"He believed that it should be possible, but would require better control of the hot air, either magical or with some other mechanism, and also some way to direct the motion of the lantern. He also thought that probably for transport it would not be desirable for the paper to burn up fast, since then the passengers would plummet to their deaths. A living passenger who can fall controllably would be able to deal with the potential danger of a fire so the reason for the quick combustion of a regular unmanned lantern is mitigated."

"Right. That all makes sense. ... Cloth would be better than paper, if it were light enough. Less flammable, more flexible."

"That is what he eventually concluded. Although by then he was more interested in the aerodynamics of dragons, for reasons We could not begin to guess."

This earns another of her giggles!

"Surely not. Completely mysterious to you, the dragon in his harem playfully flirting with him about your pedigree for decades," she agrees.

"... Did he get to fly more than the once?"

"We took him on a trip around the country and to many places he wanted to see, but he was older and frailer by then, and could not do that much more. It was the last time we saw each other."

She nods, somberly. "I understand. It just... seems sad, to spend your whole life wanting to fly, and then only getting to do it once? Even if the once was really special. But I suppose better than never flying at all, so. Thank you, on his behalf."

What must it have been like, to have gone on a dragon flight around the country, and then gone home after? Returned to an ordinary life after having seen the tops of clouds? Said goodbye to the magical dragon that upended their whole life, and then gone back to normal?

... Maybe these thoughts are not about the prince anymore.

"Yeah. It does. If only—" He stops himself and shakes his head.