How do I start a romantic relationship with a ship girl?

Page 80

As Xu Huan was pondering this, he turned the corner at the intersection and was met with a scene that left him somewhat bewildered.

Under a streetlamp not far away, a ship girl with long ochre hair was squatting next to a cardboard box.

Inside the cardboard box were a bunch of toys that had been abandoned for various reasons, among which a somewhat worn-out plush puppy stood out the most.

The needle and thread crisscrossed the hair many times, but it still couldn't escape the erosion of time. The once shiny fur became somewhat messy and dull, and looked even more worn out under the rain.

The ship crouched beside the cardboard box, its purple eyes fixed on the plush toy.

Fine rain pattered against her face, droplets condensing and sliding down her delicate features. Her military uniform and the cap she always wore were completely soaked, and her long, ochre hair clung limply to her face.

Judging from their appearance alone, the ship girls in front of us seem more like the abandoned ones compared to the pile of toys.

"This is...the monarch? Is there something you need?"

Xu Huan, holding an umbrella, frowned as he looked at the ship girl squatting on the ground in the distance.

The monarch's current appearance was completely different from the demeanor he displayed yesterday when fighting against two Ironblood ship girls on the high seas, leaving people somewhat puzzled.

He didn't disturb her directly, but silently walked behind the ship girl.

He raised his umbrella, blocking all the raindrops falling on the monarch.

The ship girl seemed to notice that the raindrops above her head were beginning to disappear, and she gently raised her somewhat dejected eyes to look behind her.

"commander...."

She called out softly as a greeting, then lowered her head and stared silently at the discarded toys in the cardboard box in front of her.

Things didn't seem as simple as they seemed. Xu Huan hesitated for a moment, then squatted down as well.

"...Is there something difficult to handle?"

"No... Commander."

The monarch continued to look at the plush toy in front of him and shook his head.

"Then...is this yours?" Xu Huan followed the ship girl's gaze, but couldn't see anything special about the worn-out toy dog.

"No, it's not..."

The monarch buried half his face in his arms, his voice becoming muffled.

Since she didn't say anything, Xu Huan didn't ask any more questions. He just kept holding the umbrella in place, shielding the ship girl.

Looking at the toy dog ​​that had been thrown there, Xu Huan hesitated for a moment, then opened the storage device again and found a small piece of material that could be used to shield the toy box from the rain.

"Alright... now we won't get wet in the rain..."

The monarch raised his head and glanced at Xu Huan.

"how?"

"It's nothing... Commander." The monarch slowly shook his head and lowered his head again.

This time, however, she seemed more inclined to speak than before.

“They are both…abandoned children…” the monarch murmured softly, his voice barely louder than the sound of raindrops pattering on the leaves.

Xu Huan remained silent.

He had seen descriptions of monarchs in the documents.

Like Hutten, the prototype ship of the Monarch was also a design concept ship.

It was a design that only appeared on blueprints but never actually went into the water.

But it's somewhat different from Hu Teng's.

After the great wars of history, the Royal Navy preserved the last vestiges of the British Empire's dignity, but faced with the naval expansion plans of emerging naval powers such as Eagle Union and Sakura Empire, the Royal Navy was powerless to cope with such a naval arms race, and thus naval treaties came into being.

Due to the restrictions of the treaty, the Monarch design, which was superior to the KGV, had to be abandoned.

Despite being far superior, he was destined to be replaced. Faced with the once glorious but now declining Royal Navy, the monarch's heart was undoubtedly filled with complex emotions.

She was a ship that never existed in history, and she never even had the chance to be born. The place that originally belonged to her was taken away by someone else.

She desperately wanted to prove herself; the resentment of being abandoned made her constantly strive to prove that she was the best.

This resulted in the ship girls having some obsessive personalities and resentment towards the Royal Navy.

This is also why Belfast and Xu Huan previously mentioned that the monarch doesn't have a very good relationship with the other Royal Navy ship girls in the port area, and insists on taking turns to sortie alone.

Xu Huan wasn't good at comforting people, so when faced with this rather complicated situation, he didn't know what to say.

The young man sighed, slowly reached out, and gently placed his hand on the ship girl's soaked shoulder.

The body's mental energy began to be mobilized, and a warm aura gradually entered the monarch's body.

The chill brought by the rain gradually dissipated, and the monarch's lips moved as if he was about to say something, but he found that the young man had picked up the box in front of him without him noticing.

"Let's go home first."

Chapter 110 Exactly the Same

The monarch was drying her hair, her full and tall figure completely covered from head to toe by a bathrobe, and she was still steaming from her bath.

She walked into the living room, leaned against the door, and looked at the young man sitting on the sofa.

At this moment, Xu Huan was holding the plush toy puppy he had just picked up outside, with a needle and thread in his hand, looking somewhat at a loss.

He was quite knowledgeable about how to quickly and easily suture wounds on the battlefield, so suturing up a toy like this shouldn't be difficult.

However, the aesthetics of toys must be considered. Whenever he was halfway through sewing, the old cotton on the other side always seemed to pop out, which made him quite troubled.

A warm, fragrant aroma gradually wafted from behind, so Xu Huan put the toys back into the box.

"Have you finished washing?"

"Hmm... Commander."

The monarch is in a much better state now than when he was on the street. Although his tone is still cold, he is at least giving more responses when he speaks.

The monarch gathered up the hem of his bath towel and found a place to sit on the sofa.

"Was today... a case of being moved by something I saw?"

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Commander..."

The ship girl did not deny it, and nodded slightly.

"Um....."

Seeing the ship girl admit it so directly, Xu Huan couldn't bring himself to say any of the persuasive words he had just prepared. He could only nod thoughtfully as if to follow suit.

It's not uncommon for people in the military to experience psychological problems, but those are all addressed by professional mental health personnel, and have nothing to do with Xu Huan.

Furthermore, Xu Huan is usually the one who causes psychological problems in others.

Therefore, it would be somewhat awkward to have a young man act as a psychological counselor at this moment. So after hesitating for a while, the young man changed the subject and started talking about serious business.

“Uh… I don’t know if you’ve received any notification from Belfast… According to the procedure, even if you haven’t, it should be soon.” Xu Huan said, “It’s just that from now on… you can’t carry out your shift duties alone.”

At this point, the monarch frowned and subconsciously shook his head.

"I don't need anyone else to help me..."

“I acknowledge your strength, Your Majesty… but these are the port’s rules, rules that even I must abide by… no one is exempt, not even Elizabeth.”

Xu Huan tapped his finger lightly: "You've probably heard, right? Elizabeth recently went on a mission..."

After a long silence, the monarch looked again at the toy plush dog packed in the box before reluctantly giving in: "...Then I can't go with the KGV people."

“Okay… I can agree to this request…” Xu Huan nodded.

He never intended for both sides to be involved.

Perhaps the relationship between the two sides will ease in the future and become less tense, but at least for now...

Xu Huan felt it was best to do it himself.

"May I ask who my partner will be next time I'm on duty?" the monarch asked again.

"it's me..."

Xu Huan answered.

Upon hearing this, a distinct look of astonishment flashed across the ship girl's face.

"What's wrong? If you have a problem with me, I can arrange for someone else..."

"No... I have no problem with you, Commander."

The monarch seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief and explained, "I was just a little surprised that I would be partnered with you, Commander..."

"Not surprising, I should get used to it eventually."

Xu Huan stood up and stretched: "Alright, alright, I won't bother you anymore... Remember to contact me directly if you need anything in the future..."

"Okay... Commander, take care."

The monarch escorted Xu Huan to the door, watching the young man's figure gradually disappear into the distance. After a long while, he belatedly raised his hand and gently waved in the direction Xu Huan had left.

Realizing she was being a little too slow, the monarch chuckled self-deprecatingly and returned to the living room. Intending to go straight to her bedroom, she looked at the boxes on the sofa and coffee table and her steps unconsciously slowed down.

For some reason, the ship girl walked to the box, picked up the toy dog ​​that Xu Huan had sewn up and looked a bit messy, and weighed it in her hand.