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

Page 166

"Yes, Commander..."

Elbin nodded.

This is such a simple thing, I shouldn't have any problems with it...

Holding Xu Huan's cup, Elbin poured in the instant coffee powder, then added hot water...

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but just as Elbin brought over the hot coffee on a tray, the ship girl slipped again.

"well--?!"

The scalding hot coffee rushed directly towards Xu Huan's arm.

Chapter 230 Too Sweet

Xu Huan reacted quickly, pulling his arm back to avoid the spilled coffee, which was a piece of cake for his current physical condition.

But after a moment's hesitation, the young man chose not to dodge.

He wanted to see how Elbin would react to burning his arm.

The hot coffee arced through the air and landed directly on the young man's arm, instantly turning his once-white T-shirt a grayish-brown color.

For Xu Huan, who was already familiar with the feeling of pain, this so-called burn was not an unbearable pain. However, in order to cooperate with the idea in his mind, he still frowned and showed a painful expression.

"hiss--"

Elbin remained rooted to the spot once more.

She looked at the young man's brow furrowed in pain, then at the cup that had fallen onto the tray, and her mind went blank for a moment.

What have I done...?

Oh no, did I mess it up again?

Elbin hurriedly put the tray aside and rushed to Xu Huan's side, his usual introverted personality completely disappearing at this moment.

She gently lifted Xu Huan's 'scalded' arm, looked at the red and hot marks caused by the hot liquid, her heterochromatic red and blue eyes welled up with tears, and she almost burst into tears.

“Commander…Commander…” Elbin pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and hurriedly wiped the remaining liquid off the young man’s arm.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Elbin messed up again... It was such a small thing, how could Elbin make a mistake..."

As she spoke, she would occasionally look up to secretly observe Xu Huan's reaction.

As the young man remained silent for longer, Elbin began to feel increasingly anxious. The unease he already felt from making a mistake was amplified at this moment.

Her hand trembled slightly as she wiped the young man's arm, and her lips began to turn pale.

That's it... I'm going to be abandoned, such a useless person...

At this moment, the ship girl looked exactly like a frightened rabbit.

Xu Huan sighed and said nothing. Only after the ship girl had wiped all the coffee off her hands, seemingly unsure what to do and simply standing obediently to the side, did he finally ask:

“Elbin...”

"I'm here... Commander..."

The frightened little rabbit pitifully raised its head and looked at the young man.

"You said... if you do something wrong, what should you do first?"

"First of all...firstly, shouldn't they be punished?"

"Well....?"

Xu Huan originally wanted to say that if you do something wrong, you should try your best to make amends, but he didn't expect that Elbin's words, "you should accept punishment first," would leave him somewhat speechless.

But it seems to make sense?

No, no... I can't let her lead me astray...

Gently shaking his head, Xu Huan said, "No, when you make a mistake, you should first think about how to make amends..."

"But...but the coffee has already been spilled, Commander..."

“...I didn’t mean for you to take back the spilled coffee.” Xu Huan sighed and rubbed his forehead, then continued, “Elbin accidentally spilled coffee on my hand, right?”

"That's right... Elbin has always had bad luck, so he needs to stay away from the Commander, otherwise it will affect the Commander..."

After muttering to himself, Elbin looked up again:

"Commander... looks down on someone as useless as me..."

“That’s not the point right now… Elbin,” Xu Huan replied. “Everyone makes mistakes, and so do I…”

"But the commander is very useful, the commander will heal us... I'm very useless... unlike the commander."

"What if I don't know how to treat it? Does that mean I'm useless?"

Elbin shook his head, instinctively wanting to refute the young man's words, but not knowing what to say.

Seeing this, Xu Huan continued, "When you make a mistake, you should first think about how to fix it. For example, Elbin, did you accidentally spill your coffee just now?"

"Don't say anything unnecessary, just answer yes or no, and then do as I say."

“That…yes…Commander.”

"So, Elbin, shouldn't you take care of my burns first? Is wiping them with a wet wipe enough?"

"what...."

Elbin looked as if he suddenly realized something, and hurriedly ran to the medicine box next to him to take out the ointment specifically for burns.

She returned to the young man and carefully applied the ointment she had taken out to the burn.

The cool touch covered the wound, and Xu Huan breathed a sigh of relief.

While it's possible to endure the pain, it's still better to avoid pain altogether if possible.

"And then...did the original coffee get spilled?"

"Um...."

Having received the previous instruction, Elbin immediately understood what he needed to do next without needing much guidance from Xu Huan.

To prevent herself from falling again, she deliberately slowed her pace and returned to the place where she had made coffee before. Following the same steps, she made the young man a cup of coffee.

Xu Huan finally breathed a sigh of relief when a new cup of fragrant coffee was served to the young man.

For ship girls like Elbin who lack confidence and are somewhat introverted, the best approach is to tell them directly and clearly what they want to do. With a clear plan and goal, the ship girl won't act like a headless fly, nor will she be constantly worried about whether she has done something wrong.

He turned to look at the ship girl and noticed that Elbin still had a slight tension on his face, so he spoke again to comfort her: "Look...aren't these things easy to do?"

"These... I only learned how to do it after the Commander told me. Without the Commander, I wouldn't know at all—"

"Stop, stop, stop, hold on, hold on..."

Seeing that the ship girl was about to belittle him again, Xu Huan quickly stopped her: "This kind of thing is just something you haven't experienced much of yet. Once you get used to it, you'll find it's not so bad..."

After saying that, Xu Huan used the hand that wasn't burned to pick up the coffee in front of him and took a small sip.

Then... an indescribably sweet taste went straight through his taste buds, rushing to his brain and nasal cavity.

"Cough cough cough... You put sugar in it?"

"Yes... I added just a little bit... Commander, is it because you're not used to the taste?"

"It's nothing...it's fine, it would be even better if you put less next time..."

Chapter 231 I Just Missed You

Since it was the first day and also the first time serving as the secretary ship, Xu Huan had Elbin make him coffee and explained some basic concepts of correcting mistakes. Then, he began teaching Elbin the essential skills of a secretary ship, such as document processing, report writing, mission log preparation, and scheduling coordination, among other things.

Since he couldn't access the official business of the Ironblood Harbor District for the time being, Xu Huan used some simple tasks in the medical room, such as medical consumable statistics, as examples to teach Elbin.

Although the ship girl serves as a secretary ship, Xu Huan now seems more like a teacher than a commander.

Elbin was clearly not very good at these official matters. Even after Xu Huan explained them once, he still found them quite unfamiliar and struggled to do them, occasionally looking at the young man with a questioning gaze.

It's just too...

So cute.

Even Xu Huan had to admit that when those clear, heterochromatic red and blue eyes looked at you with a hint of confusion and shyness, it was hard not to be moved.

The ship girl's thoughts were clearly revealed through her eyes. Xu Huan naturally had no intention of teasing Elbin, who was prone to overthinking and getting confused. Instead, whenever the ship girl showed signs of confusion or uncertainty, he would patiently explain it to her again.

Sometimes, when something is too difficult to explain, he will directly demonstrate it to the other person step by step.

As the teaching progressed, the ship girls and Xu Huan became much more familiar with each other than at the beginning.

"There aren't many people in the infirmary right now, but as the Sirens become more active, it'll probably get much busier, and things won't be as simple as they are now... Elbin?"

As Xu Huan spoke, the ship girl beside him seemed to be thinking about something and didn't react for a moment. It wasn't until Xu Huan called her name that she belatedly nodded.

"What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing... Commander... I just feel like the Commander is really amazing, like he can do everything."

Elbin answered softly.

"Me? I'm hardly anything special... If you have time later, I'll have the head maid of the royal family talk to you about it; she's an expert in these areas..."