Chapter 352: Night's Tenderness

Although it is already past 2 a. m., Qin Ge's room light has not dimmed; he remains hunched over his desk, writing furiously.

Suddenly the door opened and Belfast walked in holding a cup of hot tea. She glanced at Qin Ge, still bent over his writing, and involuntarily shook her head.

She gently closed the door, Belfast walked to Qin Ge's desk and placed the freshly brewed hot tea beside him.

"Ah, it's you, Belfast—why aren't you asleep yet? Didn't I say earlier that you don't need to attend to me tonight? Let you get some rest, after all we have a mission tomorrow." Qin Ge looked up, saw Belfast, and spoke with some doubt and reproach.

"As you, my master, haven't rested, how can I, your maid, rest?" Belfast smiled faintly.

"You always take things too seriously. Don't worry—I won't stay up late tonight; I'll just finish this combat report and then rest." Qin Ge said with a smile, pointing at the document he was writing.

The combat report is something Guanghui mentioned before; submitting it to the Maritime Affairs Bureau will yield some reward supplies. Now the Star Sea Grand Fleet is in a period of development, so such supplies are especially important for the grand fleet's growth.

Holding to this idea, Qin Ge naturally would not waste this opportunity. For him it's merely a little later rest, but for the Star Sea Grand Fleet it could mean combat supplies to equip one or two shipgirls.

"I wonder how much you've written, Master, and how much longer it will take to finish?" Belfast leaned over to Qin Ge's side and glanced at the papers on his desk.

"We came back after eating around 12:30, and from about 1 o'clock I've been writing nonstop until now; I've finished most of it, and the rest should be done before 3 o'clock." Qin Ge replied to Belfast.

Because Belfast was standing close to Qin Ge at that moment, he caught a faint fragrance from her. So after Qin Ge finished speaking to Belfast, he unconsciously touched his own nose.

"Can it be finished before three o'clock?" Belfast nodded slightly, then smiled and said to Qin Ge, "Then please continue writing, Master; I'll stay here with you."

"Isn't that unnecessary? It's already this late, and you've also gone through a battle today—you should rest early." Qin Ge said to Belfast.

"It's not late; for us shipgirls, going days without rest is completely normal, so you don't need to worry about me." Belfast smiled, "And instead of spending this time talking to me like this, you'd better use it to write a bit more—then when you finish early, I can also rest early, right?"

Qin Ge startled, then chuckled, "You... alright, then I'll sincerely finish writing these. But if you feel tired, just sit on the bed—you don't have to keep standing by my side."

"Yes, maid." Belfast replied with a light smile, but whether she would actually sit on the bed as Qin Ge said, rather than stand behind him, only she herself knew.

Seeing that Belfast had answered, Qin Ge stopped speaking, merely shook his head with a smile, refocused his mind, and turned his attention back to the document before him.

The sound of the pen tip scraping against paper rose again; although there were two people in the room at that moment, this sound was heard very clearly.

As Qin Ge had said, after less than twenty minutes he put down his pen again, picked up the teacup beside him, took a light sip, and then began to check his written report.

"Master, have you finished writing?" At that moment, Belfast, standing behind Qin Ge, asked with a smile.

"Yes, it's finished. But I still need to check it once more to avoid any small mistakes." Qin Ge kept his head down, his eyes fixed on the combat report before him.

After checking it once and finding no problems, Qin Ge finally let out a relieved sigh, "Well, now it's done."

"Then Master, please rest now; while there's still some time left, I'll come wake you promptly at 7:00 a. m. tomorrow." Belfast said to Qin Ge.

"Well, indeed, I've remained in a highly tense state all day, and I really feel some fatigue now." Qin Ge said, stood up, set aside the combat report in front of him, and his eyes fell on the bottle on the desk.

A rose was inserted in the bottle, but now it has withered somewhat.

"Er, I didn't even notice the rose had withered…" Qin Ge said, looking at the bottle.

"This rose must have been given to you by Miss Ou ruo la, right?" Belfast said, looking at the wilted rose.

"Yes, when I went to the Rose Garden with Chong qing earlier, she picked it herself. Although it was very vivid a few days ago, once it leaves its stem it withers quickly." Qin Ge said.

"It's fine; tomorrow I'll look for Miss Ou ruo la and get you another rose." Belfast smiled.

"That's not what I meant; actually, roses are fine growing in the garden—whether I put one here or not makes no difference." Qin Ge hastily waved his hand.

"I understand, Master." Belfast gave a faint smile, "Then let me attend to you as you undress and wash up."

Qin Ge nodded, "All right, thank you for the trouble, Belfast."

"No problem." Belfast smiled.

Immediately, she walked to Qin Ge's side and gently helped him take off his outer garment and clothes.

Watching this, Qin Ge suddenly felt moved. He reached out, took Belfast's hand, brought it to his lips, and lightly kissed it, saying, "It's wonderful to have you here."

"Being able to earn your praise is Belfast's greatest happiness." Belfast, looking at Qin Ge showing genuine emotion, said, and she also felt very sweet inside.

Although she usually enjoys seeing her master embarrassed, what Belfast truly wants to see is Qin Ge's tenderness toward her.

After all, many shipgirls in Qin Ge's fleet have feelings for him, but few receive his reciprocation. Faced with this affection, Belfast is naturally very pleased.

In soft whispers, Belfast attended to Qin Ge, removing his clothes, then after he finished washing up, she watched him lie down on the bed and drift off to sleep before she smiled and left his room.

Walking down the dimly lit corridor, although the surroundings were already silent, Belfast's mood was exceptionally joyful…