I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

The next morning, I woke up in the hotel bed and immediately turned my gaze to the source of warmth snuggled up close to me.

「Suuu… hmm?」

Noticing my slight movement, Serena, who had been showing a calm sleeping face, also woke up. Our eyes met—her sleepy, red ones locking perfectly with mine. Why is it that someone who usually looks so sharp and cool can be so adorable when they show such a defenseless expression?

「Good morning…」

「Good morning. You can sleep a bit longer if you want.」

I had checked the clock when I woke up, and we still had plenty of time. There was still some time to leave the room so she could sleep a little longer if she wanted.

「Mmm…」

Serena rubbed her cheek against my shoulder, seemingly not hearing my words. Are you a cat or something? Ouch, don’t bite. Don’t start gnawing on me.

「What are you doing? What on earth?」

「I’m thinking of leaving a mark… mm.」

「Stop sucking, stop sucking. Don’t keep crawling up from my shoulder. You’re going to leave a mark. Well, I guess that’s the point… fine, Do what you want.」

「…Aren’t you going to put your mark on me?」

Still clinging to my chest, Serena looked up at me with a pleading gaze.

「Provoking me this early in the morning, are you…?」

Let’s take our time showing her exactly what happens when she provokes me on the bed.

☆★☆

「Haa…」

「You know, when you sigh deeply after sleeping together, it makes me feel like I did badly… Are you tired?」

I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile as I sat in front of the breakfast prepared by the room’s maidroid. After that, we had a nice time right after waking up, took a shower together, and asked the maidroid to prepare breakfast. But ever since we finished the shower, Serena’s mood had noticeably dropped.

「No, I’m not that tired… I’m just a little sad after realizing we won’t see each other for a while…」

「Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ll miss you too.」

When I said that, Serena glared at me with a pouty expression.

「When you return to your ship, you’ll have plenty of other girls around, won’t you? You won’t even have time to feel lonely, will you?」

「Sorry, you might be right about that. But I’m genuinely feeling lonely right now.」

I decided to apologize honestly without trying to dodge the point. Of course, it’s not like I would completely forget about Serena, but thinking about her when I’m with other girls would be disrespectful both to Serena and the other girls.

「…Well, it’s fine. I knew what I was getting into when I got in a relationship with you. I’m prepared to accept it. However, the next time we meet, my body might not be mine alone anymore, so you might want to start preparing mentally for it.」

At her unexpected statement delivered with a calm expression, I nearly spat out the milk I was drinking. Serena, amused by my reaction, smirked as she held her teacup in one hand.

「That surprised me, but are you really sure about this? Well, I knew the possibility was there since we have done the deed multiple times, but won’t be a problem before the marriage?」

「It was my mothers’s idea. My father won’t be happy about it, but he can’t stand up to them. But, it’s not a sure thing, you know? It was all so sudden that we couldn’t get the necessary medicine in time. So, it really depends on luck.」

「Medicine…?」

What is she talking about? Is there some sort of medicine that guarantees a hundred percent success rate once taken? Well, considering the technology level of this universe where a simple injection can heal fractures or internal injuries, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a pill you could take before doing it that ensured a 100% pregnancy rate.

「A person like you needs a weight as heavy as a child to keep you from wandering off somewhere, don’t you think?」

「No, that’s not true… I think.」

Considering how much I’ve moved from star system to star system since I woke up in the Termaine star system, it’s hard to make that sound convincing.

「But you are always wandering around and somehow you always end up ahead of me wherever I go.」

「It’s the other way around. It’s always you who shows up after us wherever we go. We’ve actually been talking about how persistent you were.」

A shocking revelation. Serena wasn’t always chasing after us; she just happened to appear where we were! Well, I know the reason really, it must have been thanks to the influence of my fate-manipulation ability that I supposedly use without realizing.

「Hmm. So that’s what you were thinking about me. I’m getting a bit annoyed.」

「Hey, calm down. Let’s just relax and enjoy breakfast. Look, I’m not quite sure what this is, but it’s delicious. Here, open up.」

I took a piece of the breakfast I was eating, something made of yogurt or cheese—it was hard to tell, but it tasted like a rich dairy pie—and held it up to Serena’s mouth. Despite her sour expression, she took a bite and started chewing slowly.

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「…Ahnn.」

「Yeah, yeah.」

I silently fed Serena, bringing her breakfast bit by bit to her mouth. Is she some kind of baby bird or something? Well, I can’t say I mind pampering a beautiful woman like Serena.

As I continued to feed her, I got the feeling that the maidroid in the room was staring at us intently. Is it just my imagination? Whenever I glanced over, our eyes never met, after all.

☆★☆

After finishing breakfast, it was about time to head back to the ship. Serena and I got into the flying limousine that would take us straight to the Imperial Capital’s main port facility.

By the way, I was wearing the same outfit I had on when I left the ship yesterday, but Serena had changed out of the evening dress she wore to the restaurant. Instead, she was in a casually elegant outfit: a tastefully colored skirt and a warm, soft-looking sweater-like top. Her usual military uniform is sharp and impressive, but seeing her in normal clothes like this makes her seem much softer and simply adorable. To be honest, I prefer this look over the evening dress.

「……」

「……」

We were both silent, but Serena was clinging to me completely—more than ever before. She wrapped her arms around my right arm, resting her cheek on my shoulder and nuzzling against me. The soft sensation pressed against my arm, even through her sweater, was unmistakable. Truly wonderful.

「Please don’t go.」

「Don’t say something impossible… What happened to the earlier Serena who accepted the situation maturely?」

Serena’s cute plea made me cover my face with my left hand and look up at the sky. Unfortunately, the limousine’s ceiling didn’t offer any solutions to my dilemma.

「Then I’ll just go with you.」

「That’s not okay either… I get that you’re lonely, but abandoning our responsibilities and positions for such reckless actions isn’t good.」

「…So your work and the other girls are more important to you than I am.」

「Wow, you really are troublesome. Troublesome, but cute.」

Serena’s cheeks puffed up like a pufferfish. When I stroked her cheek with my left hand, her puffed-up cheeks deflated with a soft ‘whoosh’ sound. Her breath tickled my ear and cheek.

While we were having this playful back-and-forth, with Serena clinging to me, the air limousine finally reached our destination.

「Come on, let’s get out.」

「Nooo…」

「Come on, don’t say that with a voice that sounds like you’re about to cry. It really tugs at my heart.」

I somehow managed to pull the reluctant Serena out of the limousine and over to the boarding ramp of the Black Lotus.

Now, I need to find a way to soothe this clingy girl. What should I do?