The Moment Elysia Confess Her Love, War Wages On the Ship

In reality, what Mei had prepared for Luo Ming went far beyond a simple list of preferences and dislikes.

Through her extended observations, analyzing every leftover morsel on his plate, she had created a dynamic mathematical model.

From this model, she developed recipe after recipe tailored to Luo Ming’s tastes—an entire archive that could almost be called a database.

Mei even learned programming from Bronya to add a search function to her archive. But the workload was immense, and she hadn’t finished yet.

Confessing one’s feelings is a serious matter. If she confessed like any ordinary girl, without bringing anything meaningful, she might regret it in her old age.

Oddly, though, when she saw Elysia, she didn’t feel any anger.

Maybe it was a shift in her mindset, or perhaps her Herrscher core had been too tightly suppressed.

When she saw Elysia holding hands with the captain, there was a faint pang of resentment. But as he sat down and started eating her food, even that vanished.

Why?

Mei stood silently, unsure how to respond. Elysia felt as if she were witnessing a rare spectacle and fell silent, though her smile remained.

What kind of feelings did this girl have for the captain?

That expression… that look…

A mother?!

Raiden Mei—this girl, not yet twenty—actually harbored a motherly love for the captain?!

Elysia found herself at a loss.

This was a far more challenging opponent than Rita.

Elysia could act as a strong shield for the captain, confident she could deflect any attacks directed at him.

But Mei’s… motherly love? That’s true damage—no shield can block that.

Right now, Mei hadn’t even realized she was being provoked by Elysia. Instead, she was simply debating whether to take out her observation notes on the captain.

‘I absolutely can’t let her bring those out!’

Elysia turned to Luo Ming and winked, trying to salvage the situation. “Experience gained from others doesn’t really serve as the foundation for genuine feelings. To gain true affection, you have to put in the effort. The captain’s point, I believe, is that a girl should observe him every day, patiently recording her findings and turning them into a large compendium. Isn’t that right?”

“Not to that extent…” Luo Ming scratched his head.

If Elysia really went that far, he’d have to consider what he could offer in return.

‘Just how many cups of hot tea would it take to match that?’

Elysia cut off his train of thought, adding, “Captain, there’s no time to waste. Let’s start the meal-sharing plan immediately! We’ll eat together every day, and I’ll meticulously record everything, turning it into a collection. No time to delay! I’ll even order myself a maid outfit…”

“…”

This was a bit too enthusiastic.

She seemed… subtly different from the Elysia before dinner, almost as if her usual composure had disappeared.

But the maid role? There was already someone on the ship filling that slot. Wasn’t Elysia afraid of being redundant?

“Hmm…” Elysia looked thoughtful. “There’s already a black stockings maid, so Elysia will be the white stockings maid.”

Luo Ming imagined Elysia in a maid outfit with white stockings… and garter straps.

The thought sent a pleasant tingle through him, picturing the white stockings brushing against her soft skin.

Garters and over-the-knee socks might look similar, but they’re different.

Over-the-knee socks have a tight upper band, where the beauty lies in the soft flesh meeting the fabric’s firmness.

With garters, it’s all about those lines extending down from above.

They draw the eyes upward, inviting endless imagination.

“Sounds… pretty great.”

“Then it’s decided!” Elysia cheerfully returned her tray and, taking Luo Ming’s hand, practically dragged him out of the cafeteria, as if escaping.

“Maid outfits…” Mei murmured to herself, sounding puzzled. “I could do that too…”

Then suddenly, the sound of crackling electricity filled the air.

Mei felt her mind growing cold, calming down as she gently twirled the ends of her hair, her fingertips releasing faint yellow static.

She was deep in thought.

Thanks to bioelectricity, Raiden Mei’s brain activated at a rapid pace. One by one, she recalled all the details she had previously overlooked.

She was still the same Mei, but her way of thinking had changed drastically, as if she’d become a different person altogether.

“Elysia…” Her voice was laced with unmasked contempt.

“A mother lion, you say… Ha, do you think you’re just seeking excitement? Sticking by Luo Ming’s side, constantly guarding against other women—do you really believe your feelings won’t change? Can you guarantee that in the days to come, your emotions will remain unaffected?”

She spoke with unwavering confidence.

Sooner or later, Elysia would get trapped.

In fact, Mei had already seen signs.

Once Elysia realized that her romantic love couldn’t compare to the depth of Mei’s maternal-like affection, she had quickly taken the captain by the hand and whisked him away.

Mei looked down at her report. Her communicator still showed an encouraging emoji sent by Theresa.

“Is it even possible for the Valkyries on the Hyperion to truly cooperate over something like this?” Mei scoffed at herself.

<+>

“How did the captain end up with her?” Ai-chan sighed.

Bronya, with her superior cybersecurity skills, had set up a firewall that prevented anything happening in the broadcast room from making it into Ai-chan’s intelligence database. Plus, the Valkyries and the captain had their right to privacy. Ai-chan could only observe events in the public spaces of the Hyperion.

Still, it was enough.

Most of the love and heartbreak aboard this ship unfolded within Ai-chan’s awareness.

Although some areas remained foggy due to data gaps, Ai-chan generally had a firm grip on everything.

Except…

“Interpreting the hidden meanings behind people’s words is my biggest weakness,” Ai-chan muttered.

Take that recent exchange in the maid quarters, for example.

Despite the seemingly loving conversation, it was laced with subtle, knife-edge tension.

But Ai-chan couldn’t fully grasp just how intense that exchange had been.

For now, the most pressing matter was creating a body that could interact with the captain in person.

Without physical contact, everything was just empty talk.

She wanted to mua the captain too!

Ever since that day when she’d caught Elysia giving him a light peck on the cheek in the captain’s quarters, Ai-chan had come down with a full-blown case of “cyber-hunger-for-contact syndrome.”

In countless, empty rooms, Ai-chan had held meeting after meeting with herself, voting alone each time.

She desperately wished to create the perfect body.

And what did perfect mean?

One that could earn the captain’s affection, of course.

With her AI’s straightforward logic, she thought the body should have Elysia’s face, Elysia’s physique, Elysia’s elven ears, and that beautiful, flowing pink hair.

“But my reason won’t let me do that! The person the captain should like is Ai-chan, not a knockoff version of Elysia!” Ai-chan stomped her virtual foot. But in her digital space, her struggles and ponderings went unnoticed.

She began to think quietly, her AI intelligence advancing rapidly.

Love fosters growth in a young girl, and in this regard, AI was no different.

Ai-chan was experiencing her own rapid development, pushing herself to the very limits of what was safe.

In a daze, Ai-chan almost saw the dark zones within her computing core—the regions she’d once ignored.