This had gotten ridiculous.
"So, Commander! I shall grant you a noble title! How about becoming a duke? No, wait—what's a duke? How about a Grand Duke!?"
Duke.
A royal title, one rank below the king.
In the medieval era, it was a title reserved for nobles powerful enough to threaten neighboring countries. Even in the British fleet, the predecessor of the Royal Navy, there had been ships bearing the title of duke.
One of them was the Duke of York. In essence, she possessed power just below that of Queen Elizabeth. That was why I considered it one of the most honorable titles in the Royal Navy—a distinction never granted to just anyone.
So why were they giving it to me?
"I shall explain, my honorable master."
As I pondered, the light cruiser Sirius stepped to my side. With her short silver hair, ruby-red eyes, and a figure so curvaceous it seemed impossible for a real person to possess—yes, that was the Sirius I knew.
She always addressed the Commander with that "honorable" prefix, though she was utterly hopeless at maid work. Still, according to Belfast, she was top-tier in combat among the maid corps.
And why was Sirius here with me, you ask?
Because I had pulled Sirius on the Japanese server before returning to the Long server.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
"Ah, my honorable master... At last, I have the chance to behold your noble face. Sirius feels boundless glory! I thank you for descending upon us, my honorable master."
Blushing and twisting her body shyly, Sirius made her enormous chest look even more alluring. I gave a light cough to reset the mood; she snapped back to her senses and returned to her usual composure before explaining further.
When I heard the explanation, I was honestly dumbfounded.
According to Sirius:
1. With the Commander gone, the Royal Navy had fallen into utter despair. Monarch and Belfast, whom the master had favored, had come close to scuttling themselves.
2. Now that the Commander had returned, the Royal Navy was overjoyed—until it split cleanly in two, led by Monarch.
3. One side wanted to serve the Commander, and the other wanted to serve Queen Elizabeth.
4. Therefore, Queen Elizabeth would bestow the title of Duke upon the Commander, making him a noble of the Royal Navy and its true commander.
5. ???
6. Profit!
After hearing Sirius’s explanation, my head started to throb. I’d been away for so long that the Royal Navy was on the verge of a schism. Just who were the shipgirls who wanted to serve me?
"Then who exactly are the ones who want to serve me?"
At that, quite a few hands went up. No, more than a few. Starting with Monarch, then Belfast, Warspite, Neptune, Centaur, Sirius, Unicorn, King George V, Aurora, Newcastle, and Javelin—and even Sirius herself, who had just finished explaining.
Apparently, a third of the Royal Navy’s strength—specifically those I had favored—wanted to serve me. That was practically enough power to constitute an entire force; if it came to that, the Royal Navy really would split apart. So that was why Queen Elizabeth had proposed this. I sighed and gave my agreement.
"Understood. Then what exactly am I supposed to do?"
The shipgirls who had pledged their loyalty brightened up. They must have been nervous too. If I had refused the title, they would likely have chased me forever—perhaps even leaving the Royal Navy to form a private fleet just to serve me.
I wanted no part of that kind of chaos. I wanted everyone to get along if possible.
Belfast, who had been attending to me, smiled happily. "At last, I can serve my master. I would have no regrets even if I were to die this instant!"
Seeing her that happy made the intensity of her love—enough to abandon her queen for me—feel a little broken. Still smiling, Belfast gave a cute little cough and began the explanation.
"Ahem! First, your noble investiture will be held later. But before that, it is necessary to inform everyone that you have been properly named the Grand Duke of the Royal Navy. In other words, this is to announce that you have become one of us. And the method is..."
"The method is...?"
I swallowed hard, an instinctive sense of dread washing over me.
"Since ancient times, there has been a way to solidify one's position. Marriage."
What? I had worried for nothing. It was just some kind of oath ceremony, right?
"Not the kind of oath we usually take, but a real marriage. The kind where you spend your entire lives together as partners."
Are you telling me to cheat on my wife?
I was speechless. I already had a proper wife in Yui, and they were telling me to enter into this kind of marriage? I didn't even know if Yui had agreed to this. As if reading my mind, Belfast calmly continued.
"Of course, Enterprise-sama has also approved this. She doesn’t particularly care about the matter herself, but she agreed because she would be sad if the fleet you love were to split apart."
???
She approved it?
"Really?"
The concept of a 'yandere' as I knew it suddenly felt very wrong. Then, Belfast’s face twisted into something demonic. She gritted her teeth and spat out, "The Commander’s marriage partner is... Monarch-sama... I thought I would be second... I, Belfast, have spent the most time with the Commander... Tch!"
In stark contrast to Belfast’s expression, Monarch looked absolutely ecstatic. She was happy in her own way. After all, the Commander had saved her from being nothing more than a paper plan, taken her into every battlefield, ensured her victory without fail, and declared her the Royal Navy’s strongest ship.
Naturally, any shipgirl who received the Commander’s absolute trust would eventually fall for him. Monarch, influenced by the weight of her own complexes, had simply fallen faster.
He had relied on her, utilized her the most, and told her she was needed. Falling in love with the Commander was only a matter of time. Monarch had been waiting for this moment more than anyone.
Monarch declared her love to the Commander—fierce, like her personality, with a voice fit for an emperor.
"Commander, I love you. Only you saved me. You freed me from my complexes, and thus I have transcended. I wish to offer you my eternal, undying love. Please... will you accept it...?"
With tears welling in her eyes, she smiled beautifully and shouted her love as she asked for his hand. It sounded like a line I should be saying, but Monarch somehow felt more masculine than I did. Still, was Belfast okay? She definitely looked like she wanted an oath with me too.
"Is Belle all right?"
Her expression hadn’t softened, but she gave her consent.
"For the sake of your precious master, I can endure even this pain..."
It looks like my next oath should be with Belfast. Otherwise, I have a feeling she might actually explode someday. No choice, then. I had to accept. Just as I opened my mouth to agree—
"Oh my, big sister objects to this marriage."
Whose voice was that?
Thud!
"My apologies, Commander. Please sleep for a moment."
My consciousness sank into the abyss from the shock.
====
"Of course... big sister absolutely objects to this marriage, hehehe..."
With a dark smile, the one gently hugging the Commander and stroking his hair was Atago, and the one who had knocked him out was Takao. The heavy cruiser sisters looked almost identical, save for their hairstyles. Their personalities differed, but their goal was one and the same: to stop this absurd marriage. And beyond them...
"My, look at all these pests trying to seduce the Commander? How dare you even think of laying a hand on him? Are you all dreaming impossible dreams?"
"Survival of the fittest is the law of this world. Scatter like cherry blossoms under the power the Commander bestowed upon us."
"Akagi, Kaga, please restrain yourselves. Otherwise, the Commander will be sad, you know?"
With the appearance of those nine-tailed foxes who had been showered with the Commander’s love—Akagi, Kaga, and Amagi—
"Mm! I cannot accept this marriage! This declaration represents the unanimous will of the entire Sakura Empire under Nagato!"
"Ah, I’ve been looking forward to meeting the Commander! But what are these pests...? Please wait a moment, Commander. I’ll clean up these pests first, then I’ll shower you with all my love, Commander~♥"
Led by those words, every Sakura Empire shipgirl who had been idling around the Commander gathered in the Royal Navy’s garden, each wielding their own weaponry. The Royal Navy shipgirls, who would never simply stand by and watch, deployed their main guns and aircraft in response.
And the shipgirl most furious of all? Monarch, of course.
She had finally met the Commander in person, imagining she would pour out her love and live happily ever after, only for this ridiculous animal kingdom of shipgirls to threaten to steal him away.
"Unforgivable... you bitches..."
Shadows fell over her eyes as Monarch radiated murderous intent, deploying her main guns and aiming them squarely at the Sakura Empire girls.
Unforgivable. Why can't I be happy? The precious chance to finally be happy has come at last, so why are they getting in the way? I'm a shipgirl too. I want to love someone too.
Ah, that's right.
If I just chew you all up and swallow you whole, then the Commander will say to me what he couldn't say before, and he will accept me.
Only the Commander stands beside the emperor.
No one else is needed. No one else needs to understand. Only the Commander matters.
Ah, Commander, please bear witness. Witness the [Strongest Battleship] you raised from the abyss, nurtured, and redefined—Monarch—smashing these stray cats to pieces.
Commander, I shall play a hymn of love for you.
"Commander, I shall offer you my love!"
"You Royal bitches think I'd hand my god over to you? Go ahead and fall in glorious fashion, like the setting sun!"
The battle had begun.
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