Ryan was working in his office, his secretary and his bodyguard by his side as usual.
Shoukaku was sitting at her own desk, preparing the next batch of documents for him to go over, while South Dakota was standing beside his desk, her arms crossed over her chest, her frown never leaving the Elite Siren sprawled over the couch.
Purifier's presence had become a constant in the routine of the joint base. That is, a constant source of headaches for the Commander and the shipgirls. She had a big mouth, which often got her in trouble with some of the girls; keeping her in his office most of the time was the only way to prevent her from getting shot for talking too much shit. Of course, it meant that South Dakota had to spend even more time guarding him, to the point that she had to put on hold both her training and her other duties.
It also meant that Ryan's patience was being tested more often than usual. Adding that to his ever-increasing, massive workload meant that the man had never been so stressed since he first took his place as commanding officer of the port.
Luckily, the other senior Kansen were there to help him, constantly checking in on him. Belfast would bring in treats, though not for his consumption, but rather to keep Purifier's mouth stuffed full of snacks so as to reduce to a minimum her obnoxious chatter. Yorktown would pass by every now and then to bring the Elite out on a stroll and take her off his shoulders. Sometimes Freedom would even take her out for a mock battle, from which the Siren would return bruised and battered but with a big grin on her face.
Ryan was starting to think she was some kind of masochist, which weirded him out more than he cared to admit, but it didn't matter. Every time she returned from one of those sessions, she plopped down on the couch and slept for hours, granting him the peace and quiet he craved so much.
But today wasn't one of those days.
"Ugh, boring! When are we going out to kick some Original Siren butt? All we do is loiter around!"
Ryan sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
"Paperwork and logistics are also important, Purifier," he replied curtly, not even lifting his gaze from his desk.
"Is that all you ever did when you weren't fighting us, Commander?" Purifier asked him in disbelief. "So inefficient… No wonder we kicked humanity's ass so many times in the other timelines."
Two more sets of eyes settled on her as Ryan and Shoukaku stopped what they were doing to glare at her.
"Purifier, it seems that your ability to read the room hasn't improved in the slightest, despite all the instances of social interaction you've had in the past few days." Coming from beside Ryan, TB's voice broke the silence. "I feel obliged to remind you that it'd be best for you to stop expressing remarks that may worsen your already precarious position on this base."
"TB, dear, the expression you are looking for is 'think before you talk,'" Shoukaku intervened.
"My thanks, Shoukaku; I'll add it to my list of human common sayings."
"At least send me out on sortie with the shipgirls!" Purifier complained, ignoring the AI. "I need some serious action! Sparring with that male Kansen gets repetitive after a while!"
"Not a chance," Ryan thought, not even acknowledging her request.
As powerful as she was, Purifier was too irresponsible to be let out on sortie with the girls. As opposed to the shipboys, who were sortieing with them when necessary, she had close to zero experience in teamwork, and the way she fought was so chaotic and unpredictable that she'd put the Kansen in danger, willingly or not. Not only didn't he trust her with the slightest bit of freedom around her subordinates, but he couldn't allow her to be seen by the world; if that happened, his superiors would kill him.
Since the "Storming of the Basilica," requests from high command and civilian commissions had increased exponentially, not only for his base but all around the world.
Siren patrol vessels were sighted more frequently, and enemy attacks on convoys and smaller bases around the globe had increased. Consequentially, escort duty and patrol schedules for both shipgirls and manned fleets had intensified, which led to skirmishes and minor engagements with mass-produced enemy vessels to become a daily occurrence, as well as the losses that came along with them.
All those vessels now bore the yellow glow typical of the Original Sirens, instead of the previous red or azure lights that used to traverse their hulls. Their behavior in battle was slightly different from before—due to the reprogramming they had been subjected to—not by a lot, but enough to catch off guard humanity's less experienced forces, resulting in a concerning increase in the number of casualties.
And yet, after their first eye-catching appearance at the Basilica, the Original Sirens had done nothing as remarkable. Weirdly enough, they were being worryingly conservative in their approach, as if they were just trying to prod humanity's response.
Of course, that was a matter of concern. Based on the shipboys' experience, the Original Sirens had always been all but discreet in their approach. According to TB, either they were aware that the time-leap protocol had been erased from the seed and didn't feel like taking pointless risks without it, or they were biding their time to replenish their ranks with the bounty they had acquired from the Basilica.
Whatever the case, all of that was happening while the factions were still in the middle of prep work. It was a literal race against the clock; the first side to be ready would get the initiative and all the advantages that came with it.
Needless to say, all of that translated to a lot of pressure and a lot more work for the Commander and the shipgirls of Azur Lane. He certainly wasn't going to risk drawing more attention to them just to indulge Purifier's whims.
"C'mooon, Com-man-der! I want to blow up stuuuff!" Purifier complained, kicking her legs and waving her arms around like a spoiled child.
Seeing as though South Dakota was about to burst a vein and figuring this time there was no redirecting the Siren's attention, Ryan opted for the quickest and safest solution.
"Fine! I'll send you out, happy?"
"Yay!" Purifier raised a fist in the air in excitement.
"But Freedom will come with you, and I won't accept any objection."
"Ugh, fine, I can live with that..."
"Okay, that'll shut her up for a while…" Ryan sighed internally as he returned his attention to his work.
Unfortunately, his peace was disturbed again when someone slammed open the door, shouting, "Commander!"
Ryan jumped in his seat as Cleveland stormed in.
"Jesus, Cleve! You scared the shit out of me..."
"Sorry about that, but we just received a radio call. The search team is back; they'll be here in a few minutes, and they've got the METAs with them."
Ryan, who was preparing himself for the worst, let out a huge sigh of relief. He had been dying to get news from Enterprise and the others, and now that they were finally back, it was time to take things to the next step.
"Good, let's go, everyone- Not you, Purifier. You wait here; I don't want to imagine how the METAs will react when they see you."
With that said, he left for the docks.
The arrival of the Cinders took everyone by surprise, not because it was sudden but because most of the search fleet was missing.
As the Howe entered the bay and approached the docks, everyone jumped off the hull to allow the shipgirl to recall her vessel. It was at that moment that Ryan noticed that there were only Alabama and Howe herself escorting their guests. With them were a bunch of META Kansen, all of whom he knew their counterparts in some way or form—some of them personally, others he had met briefly, others he knew only by name.
"Howe, Alabama, welcome back." Ryan, Shoukaku, and South Dakota greeted the two battleships as the group reached the docks and approached them. Accompanying them was a shipgirl with familiar blue hair and red eyes.
"Greetings, Commander; we finally meet in person," Kindle said, shaking the hand he offered her. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Only good things, I hope... Helena?" He tentatively asked her.
"But of course, and you can call me Kindle; I'm in charge of our group, at least until our actual leader is back with my counterpart and the others," Kindle said, introducing herself.
Ryan let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that they were indeed coming back was good, but that didn't alleviate his concern.
"About that, where are they?"
"Let's just say that they took a small detour. I think we should talk about this in private," Kindle said, glancing behind him.
Ryan turned to follow her gaze. A growing crowd of Kansen was slowly gathering around them. Curious looks met distrustful gazes as the two sides observed each other like two groups of kids from different schools meeting for the first time. Despite the lack of malice from the shipgirls of Azur Lane, the METAs didn't seem comfortable with all the eyes peering at them, so they huddled together, as if trying to hide from them.
"Howe, do you mind?" He asked the Royal battleship.
"Leave it to me, Commander," Howe chirped before turning to address their guests. "Everyone, come with me; I'll show you around!"
As South Dakota and Alabama dispersed the other Kansen, Howe guided the METAs toward their lodgings, and Ryan addressed Kindle again.
"Let's go to the meeting room; we'll talk there," he said to the only remaining META, then he addressed the other shipgirls. "Alabama, come with us; we are going to need your report for this. Shoukaku, please inform the representatives; I'm sure they'll want to hear this."
"Right, Commander." "Yes, Shikikan."
Queen Elizabeth META's eyes fluttered open.
The first thing she felt was the throbbing pain in the back of her head, followed by the cold steel tightly wrapped around her form, keeping her arms behind her back.
"You are finally awake," a man's voice spoke out, one she had learned to loathe with all her being.
She turned to the speaker, shifting around on the bed. Leaning with his back over the wall of the ship's med bay, regarding her with an unimpressed look, was Emperor, his arms crossed over his chest.
As soon as her eyes settled on him, Elizabeth felt anger rousing from within.
"You wretched dastard! This isn't how you treat royalty! Untie me this instant, you hear me?!"
"Your Majesty…"
Another familiar voice snapped her out of her outburst. This time, it was Sheffield. The META maid was sitting up on the bed next to hers, with only her wrists shackled in front of her. She seemed at ease, despite the situation.
"Sheffield! Thank goodness you are all right!" Elizabeth said, relief washing over her at the sight of the maid. "D-did that bastard do anything to you… to us while we were unconscious?" She asked her as she shifted toward her as best as her bindings allowed her.
"Hey, where did that come from?" Emperor interjected, offended by the assumption. "I'm not some kind of sexual predator!"
The META queen narrowed her eyes at him, giving him the dirtiest look she could muster.
"Okay, let me make something clear. I don't like you, Your Majesty; I have no qualms admitting it. But I certainly wouldn't stoop that low just to spite you. I'm not that kind of man," he stated, then a more devilish smirk appeared on his face as he added, "Besides, I prefer more buxom women, and you are as skinny as a toothpick; your body could never entice me anyway."
Predictably, his words elicited the expected reaction. Elizabeth's face flushed red in indignation, and she began screeching a series of unspeakable profanities at him. As she went on with her outburst, she began pushing on her shackles with all her strength; she also tried to call out her rigging, but she paused in shock when she realized she was unable to.
"W-what's happening? What have you done to me?!"
"Me? Nothing much. It's just that my brother's chains can prevent any Kansen from calling out their rigging by resonating with their Cubes. I put those on you as a precaution, and right now, you are only proving to me that I did the right thing. Of course, that could change depending on how you behave from now on," he said with a hint of jeer in his tone.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth as she seethed in anger. Before she could retort, Sheffield leaned into her to speak. "He is telling the truth, Your Majesty. I saw Hiryuu earlier; she came to check on us. It seems they are letting her walk around freely, even if under escort."
Luckily, her words seemed to assuage the META queen's rage.
"What about everyone else? What did they do with them?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Algérie and La Gallissonnière are sleeping on the other beds," Sheffield said, prompting Elizabeth to turn toward the privacy curtains preventing her from seeing the two Vichya METAs laying on the other bunks. "They are still recovering from their injuries and are also in shackles like us. About Ember, I don't know where she is…"
"That Ember gal shut herself inside her cabin and hasn't come out yet." Emperor informed them, barely containing the venom in his voice; if the shipgirls noticed, they didn't show it.
His hostility was justified, even if a bit uncalled for, and he knew it. He knew he shouldn't blame someone for fighting back in a battle to the death, but even if Ember didn't do it out of pure malice, she was the one who had reduced Leviathan to that sorry state; the only reason Emperor was able to contain himself from snapping at her was because everything turned out all right in the end. Now, his brother was still unconscious, sleeping in a separate cabin, with Admiral Graf Spee and Hermione attending to him, but still... The less he saw the META battlecruiser, the better he felt.
"I see… What about Ash?" Elizabeth dropped the dreaded question.
When only silence answered her, she switched her gaze between him and Sheffield with a questioning look. When she noticed the man averting his eyes and the maid hanging her head with a troubled look on her face, she put two and two together.
"She didn't make it... did she?"
"She lost her duel with Enterprise and was absorbed by her," Emperor confirmed her concern with a grave tone. "She's no longer with us."
Another silence fell over the room as Queen Elizabeth tried to process his words. Her expression darkened as she balled her fists under her shackles.
"Get out…"
"Excuse me?"
"I said, GET OUT!" Elizabeth snapped. She glared up at him, her face flushed red, her eyes welling up with tears, and her shoulders trembling as the first sobs began shaking her body. "I don't want you here! You've done nothing but insult me since the first moment we met! I won't give you another chance to mock me by letting you watch while I mourn the passing of another comrade! Leave us alone! You can do this much, can't you?!"
Their eyes locked for a long second as the shipboy tried to scan hers in search of any ulterior motive.
He genuinely felt bad for the Royal METAs. Their only reason to embark on this folly of a journey was the prospect of eventually getting to the Original Timeline and achieving their goal. Unfortunately for them, their only insurance was Ash herself. When the META carrier was defeated by Enterprise, their dream went up in smoke along with her, and they were stripped of the only reason they had to keep going.
Seeing how things turned out, he began to regret his previous outburst even more.
The only reason he had gone so hard on Elizabeth during their confrontation was because he was trying to get to her head. Sure, when he had reproached her about her motivation, he did end up going a bit too far; he had no qualms admitting it, but he couldn't help it. Her acting so nonchalantly about the whole timeline situation had genuinely pissed him off. When he realized there was no taking back his own words, he decided to double down on the provocation and see how far he could push it, even at the cost of sounding like a complete asshole.
Of course, knowing Queen Elizabeth, it had worked wonders, maybe even too well. Both Royal METAs now hated his guts, and for good reason since he was partially responsible for what happened.
"I'll call Hermione; she'll take care of everything you need. Just don't try anything funny with her," Emperor conceded, pushing himself off the wall and heading for the exit.
Before he could reach for the handle, he stopped in his tracks, turning back toward the two of them and regarding Elizabeth with a telling gaze.
"Also, a word of advice, coming from personal experience. Before you start weeping about everything you've lost again, why don't you try focusing on what you have left?" He said with an even tone of voice. "The other METAs must have reached Azur Lane by now; they were all worried sick about you, especially Fortune."
At the mention of the META destroyer's name, the two Royals perked up.
"You heard that right. She begged us to convince you to go back if we actually found you," he added with a more reproachful tone. "As things stand, there's plenty of deserving Kansen looking for a worthy leader figure. That girl in particular; she is worth more than an entire kingdom by herself. The question is, will you be up to the task or not?"
Elizabeth couldn't resist his piercing gaze and averted her gaze, hanging her head in shame as she bit her lips and fought back tears.
Thinking back to the rest of their META comrades, to when they still traveled together before the split, always filled her with regret. They were the closest thing to a family she had found, and it was all thanks to Cinder. Despite that, when the opportunity had presented itself, she had abandoned them, blinded by greed at the prospect of having more. For a while, she even thought of them as traitors for not going with her. Thinking back to it now, they must have been too frightened to follow her in such an endeavor, Fortune in particular. She figured she was lucky that at least Sheffield had decided to stay by her side...
Sensing her trouble, Emperor let out a tired sigh.
"Take some time to think about it," he said as he opened the door and left the room, leaving the two METAs alone with their thoughts.
Emperor closed the door behind him, letting out a tired breath... which immediately died in his throat as Hermione's figure appeared in front of him, making him jump.
"Jeez, Hermione, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He said, bringing a hand to his chest, overreacting on purpose.
The maid bowed to him in apology. "Forgive me, Master. I felt a disturbance in my hull and came to check; I imagine Her Ma- Queen Elizabeth is awake."
"That's right; I think they could use some assistance in there, though I'd wait a while before going in. The atmosphere is a bit heavy," he informed her, passing his hand through his hair before putting his hat back on.
Hermione hummed in acknowledgement. Deciding to follow his advice, she took advantage of the moment to address him properly.
"Master, is everything all right? You look troubled," she asked him with concern in her voice.
"But of course, my dear~" Emperor replied. "I'm totally fine, especially now that I've seen your lovely smile. It never fails to make my heart flutter~"
In another situation, Hermione would have blushed at his teasing, or at least she'd have gone along with it. But in this case, she didn't miss how his sunken eyes blinked after she questioned him, as if a switch had gone off in his head and he was reminded that he was letting something show through the cracks of his mask.
"Are you sure there isn't anything I can do for you, Master?" She insisted. "I can lend you an ear if you wish to talk…"
Emperor's heart fluttered at how eager to help him Hermione was. Usually, when depression hit him like that, it was either Leviathan's or Kurama's turn to cheer him up. The former would use more level-headed words of comfort, while the latter would be a bit rougher but still caring with his approach.
Unfortunately, Kurama wasn't there, and Leviathan was indisposed. Maybe it was pride, maybe it was shame, but as much as he felt closer to Hermione after all the time they had spent together, he wasn't ready to share his burdens with her yet.
Pushing back the lump that was forming in his throat, he tried to come up with a way to turn her down without hurting her feelings, but before he could finish, she interjected.
"Master, please. You've been acting weird even before we met the Ashes, but ever since we left the ruins, it has gotten much worse. You haven't slept or eaten anything, and when asked about it, you try to deflect the question by playing it down," she begged. "You are my master; as a Royal maid, I'm supposed to take care of you, especially when you are pushing yourself too hard. Regrettably, I still have a lot to learn, and I'm far from being a perfect maid... I'm not as smart and perceptive as Miss Belfast; there's only so much I can discern by simply observing. So, please, Master, talk to me; I want to help you, not just because it's my duty as a maid, but because I want to stay by your side…"
Emperor stood there, dumbfounded, as he listened to her speech.
"Hermione…" She perked up when he spoke her name. "Were you eavesdropping?" He asked, faking an accusation in his tone as he raised a questioning eyebrow.
A dark shade of red came to adorn her cheeks. Why was it that every time she tried to be sneaky with her approach, he was always one step ahead? She was a disgrace as a member of the Royal Maid Corps…
"Don't worry, I'm not angry; I just love the look on your face when you are flustered," he said, letting out a chuckle under his nose.
Her blush darkened as she squirmed in embarrassment. "M-master, please…"
When he was done laughing at her expenses, his expression turned into a frown.
"Hermione, I wanted to ask you a question," he said, his serious tone catching her attention. "Tell me, if the Sirens were about to win, and I told you to come with me to my world while Elizabeth—your Elizabeth—decided to stay behind to cover for us... What would you do?"
His words left her speechless. Why would he come out and ask something like that?
"I... M-master, that question's unfair..."
"I know. Believe me when I say I'd never put you in such a position, but it's important that you answer me," he said, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
Hermione peered into his eyes, trying to gauge his true intentions, but she couldn't find anything. A bunch of questions flooded her mind. Was he trying to question her loyalty? Was he testing her? Had she misjudged his character for all this time?
Regardless of the reasons, that wasn't even a question. Her loyalty lies with her queen, now and forevermore. She decided to answer truthfully.
"I… Forgive me, Master, but I'd stay loyal to Her Majesty," Hermione declared, bringing a hand up to her chest. "You are very important to me, but I could never leave her behind like that."
She tried to peek at his reaction after she said that, and much to her surprise, Emperor hummed to himself. He didn't seem disappointed; on the contrary, he seemed relieved by her words.
"Mm-hmm, yeah, I figured that'd be the case... I'll have to talk about this with Elizabeth when I see her," he mused.
Hermione was left speechless. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting.
"Master, why bring this up all of a sudden? What's this all about?" She inquired, genuinely confused.
"Mmh… That's supposed to be a secret between me and Elizabeth… But since we are going to confront her about it anyway, might as well tell you," he said, his attitude only aggravating her confusion.
Hermione listened carefully as he explained what Queen Elizabeth had told him during the tea party right before their departure—to run away with her subjects if things with the Original Sirens got too dire.
Her heart was filled with joy at knowing that her queen had her subject's wellbeing so close to her heart; she already knew it, of course, but showing it was another thing entirely. Demonstrations like that one from their queen's part never failed to make her and her fellow maids giddy.
She understood why her queen had entrusted this to Emperor of all people, and she agreed to bring this up to her at the earliest opportunity. Knowing that Elizabeth was willing to remain behind to cover for their escape in the eventuality of the worst-case scenario filled her with elation, but the idea didn't sit well with her, and neither did with the shipboy.
"Now I see... I'm sorry for doubting you, Master," she said, bowing her head to him, relief washing over her.
"No, I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that," he said, his expression softening. "Also, I was serious earlier; your presence alone is enough to make me feel at peace, so thank you for putting up with me."
Hermione held back another blush, internally chastising herself. She knew that his words were sincere, but she had to stop swooning every time he teased her like that. She needed to stay focused and bring the conversation back on track. Sure, the whole matter with Queen Elizabeth was a surprise as it came out of nowhere, but she knew that it wasn't the only thing weighing on his mind. She immediately figured out that he was trying to change the subject, but she wasn't so easily deterred.
"Master, that's not everything, right? There is something else you are fretting over."
Emperor winced and looked away in shame as Hermione hit the bullseye. His reaction was enough of an answer for her.
"Who's supposed to be less observant than Belfast again?" He thought.
"Master, is this about what happened with Temperance?" She tentatively asked him, having an inkling of what was going through his head. "Are you… blaming yourself for what happened there?"
Emperor let out a long breath in resignation, his shoulders sagging. As his expression darkened, he felt an itch coming from his wrist.
During the entire journey back from the city in ruins, he had spent most of the time brooding over the events that took place there, thinking about how it all would have turned out if they had done things differently. And of course, he ended up putting the blame on himself.
"Don't say it like it's not my fault, Hermione. If I'd noticed sooner that Temperance was up to something… if I'd taken some more precautions… everything would have gone for the better. Cinder and Ash would be still alive, and we wouldn't have a bunch of uncooperative prisoners on board. Everything went to shit because of that single mistake." He let out a breath, clenching his fists in anger. The only thing preventing him from punching a hole in the wall was knowing that this was Hermione's ship.
If he had taken Leviathan's place, he could have at least attempted to save Cinder, negotiations wouldn't have broken down, and there wouldn't have been the need to fight in the first place. Instead, Lenin got injured, Leviathan got beaten to an inch of his life, Le Malin and Zuikaku were forced to fight their friends' counterparts, and Enterprise came out traumatized from the whole ordeal.
"You are being too hard on yourself, Master," Hermione intervened. "You can't just take all the blame."
Emperor shook his head mournfully. "I'm the leader, Hermione. With Enterprise missing, the responsibility fell on me, but I failed to make the right call, and I endangered us all."
"That's not true!" She insisted.
Emperor froze in place; hearing the maid raise her voice for the first time, even if slightly, left him stunned.
Hermione took a long breath as she carefully considered what to say. To her mind came a certain conversation between Emperor and Leviathan she had eavesdropped on a long time ago.
"Master, no one could have predicted everything that happened there; not even Helena could sense what the Arbiter was up to. Based on that mindset, all of it should be our fault as much as it's yours. I know you are used to taking responsibility when things go south, but you need to understand that blaming yourself for something that was out of your control won't do you any good," Hermione said, hanging her head as she brought a hand to her chest. "If you insist on wallowing in self-deprecation, then you have to let me in as well; after all, I was the one who promised Enterprise we'd keep an eye on Temperance. It's also my fault if she was able to act undisturbed..."
"Hermione, don't say that. You were the one who took down the Arbiter. If it weren't for you-"
"Because you sent me after her along with Miss Helena and Miss Graf Spee. We need to give credit where it's due, Master; if it weren't for you, things would have gone a lot worse," she retorted, taking his words out of his mouth.
Emperor took off his hat, nervously passing a hand through his short, dirty-blonde locks. Then he let out another breath before a small smile appeared on his lips.
"You know, you are sounding a lot like Belfast right now."
His statement took her off guard, and she realized she had been going on a bit of a rant.
"R-really? Oh no, I didn't mean to mock my senior like that." Hermione brought her hands up to her cheek, squirming in both joy and embarrassment. Being compared to Belfast of all people was too flattering for her to handle.
Emperor chuckled at her predicament, a warm, bubbly feeling spreading through his chest.
Almost on instinct, he closed in on her and brought his hands up to cup her cheeks, making her pause in surprise. Time seemed to slow down for a second as her beautiful, caring eyes, full of affection and resolve, met his gaze. He leaned in with a deliberately slow motion, giving her all the time to back away if she wanted. Hermione's heart skipped a beat when she realized what he was doing. Instead of resisting, she simply closed her eyes and let it happen.
His lips touched hers in a long, soft kiss, their breaths mingling as she reveled in his touch. Her heart fluttered, filling her with joy and elation. She had been longing for this moment, and it was finally happening.
Somewhere along the way, she had fallen for him; she didn't know when exactly, but she had been looking for a chance to validate her feelings for a while now. Unfortunately, she could never be the one to make the first move. As a maid, engaging in any kind of romantic relationship with her master would be inappropriate and against protocol… if she were the one initiating it.
It should be noted that the Royal maids weren't bound by a vow of chastity or anything of the sort; quite the opposite, in fact... Few people knew about it, but officially, sexual service actually fell within their range of services, and their master had the right to request it at any time. Such a practice was commonplace when the corps was founded, decades before the Sirens and the Kansen even appeared; of course, it was considered outdated like any other law of old, but more importantly, it was very much frowned upon in present times. In the case of someone pulling it on their unwilling maid, they'd be swiftly and discreetly dealt with by the rest of the corps.
Her inability to take the initiative, as frustrating as it was, was another tradition of the past, one of the many that the Royal Navy had so much trouble getting rid of. As long as there was consent between both parties, a romantic relationship was allowed, but the protocol dictated that the master was the one who was supposed to initiate.
Of course, Emperor didn't know anything about all that. He was just following his heart—his guilt-stricken, self-deprecating, full of regrets heart—which couldn't contain its feelings after listening to Hermione's heartfelt appeal.
After a few seconds, they separated. He let out a short breath, trying to bring his heart back under control, his hands still cupping her face as he caressed her cheeks with his fingers.
"Thank you, Hermione. I really needed to hear all that. I'm so glad to have you by my side," he said, letting go of her face, but not before delicately brushing her hair with his hand.
While he still hadn't completely reconciled with his feelings, a huge load had been lifted off his shoulder, all thanks to her.
"I-it was my pleasure, Master. N-now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's about time I go check on our guests," she stammered as another deep blush crept to her face.
"Of course. I'll leave you to your duties, but I'll be around; let me know if they prove to be too much to handle. I'll come running."
"Gladly, Master."
With her heart hammering in her chest and an elated smile on her face, she scurried away, too embarrassed to even look at his face.
AN: Let's end the fourth arc of the story with some fluff, shall we?
Also, here's the current state of all the META Kansen, those who have appeared, those who have only been mentioned, and those who have received more screentime; just a reference to keep track of them all.
Dead: Souryuu (off screen), Fusou, Repulse, Cinder, Ash.
With the rest of the search fleet: Ember, Queen Elizabeth, Sheffield, Algérie, La Gallissonnière, Hiryuu.
Just arrived at Azur Lane: Kindle, Fortune, Renown, Hiyou, Junyou, Yamashiro, Vestal, Arizona, Memphis.
Also, a side note: remember when I said, in chapter 42, that those weren't all the METAs with Cinder's group? That there were more of them on their way back? It's okay if you don't, maybe even better. Well, I've changed my mind.
My initial train of thought was, "There's not so many METAs in the game; it'd be nice to have them all in the story. Even if they won't do much, at least they'll be there."
But then I realized how dumb I was. Why would I enlarge a group of characters only to focus on a few of them and leave the others as blank slates in the background? That's the dumbest thing I could have done, and it still boggles me how it even crossed my mind.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that since it has absolutely zero repercussions on the story, I went back a few chapters and readapted a couple lines that mentioned their existence, nothing important.
All those who haven't been mentioned in this list simply aren't present in the story.
Next Chapter: A Terrible Day for Rain