"I can't help it! I'm hungry! I don't have the strength to work!" Northern Princess stared at Illustrious, and that look clearly meant she wanted Illustrious to treat her to a meal.
Illustrious blocked the gaze Northern Princess cast at her with her hands. "Don't look at me with those puppy-dog eyes. Come to think of it, you're the one who wants to assassinate me! How could I let you have the strength to kill me after you're full?"
"Stupid Ship Girl, I'm not asking you to treat me to a meal! But if you insist on treating me, it's not impossible."
"Oh! So that's how it is! Well, goodbye, I'm going to eat now." Illustrious turned and left, but just as she was about to walk away, she found someone pulling on her skirt!
"Wait! Don't go! Can you bear to watch me starve to death here?" Northern Princess said with tears in her eyes.
"Of course I can bear it. Come to think of it, this is my room, get out." Illustrious pushed Northern Princess out of the room.
Hearing the door being patted a few times before going silent, Illustrious thought Northern Princess had left.
Seeing that she had sent away a trouble, Illustrious heaved a sigh of relief. "Seriously, although I'm not a demon, I'm not nice enough to feed someone who wants to assassinate me."
Illustrious picked up a cup of black tea and drank it, but suddenly heard someone knocking on the door outside again. Illustrious pretended not to hear it. "This is my illusion; I didn't hear any knocking."
The Northern Princess outside the door saw that Illustrious didn't open it. Her eyes darted around, then she grinned maliciously, and finally, she suddenly burst into tears. "Mommy! I know I was wrong, I won't dare to do it again, please don't kick me out of the room."
Hearing the child's cries, the guests of the Hot Spring Inn immediately gathered outside Illustrious's door.
"What a pitiful child! To be kicked out of the room by her mother."
"Sigh! Even if the child did something wrong, she shouldn't be treated like this!"
"Isn't that right? Young people nowadays have no sense of responsibility."
Inside the room, Illustrious comforted herself. "Why am I hearing noise again? It must be an illusion. Sigh! Looks like I need to find time to see the Otology Department."
Illustrious still wouldn't open the door, so the Northern Princess increased her efforts. She knocked while saying: "Mommy! I'm so hungry! Please open the door! I promise I'll never again tell you not to drink."
The Northern Princess put on a dramatic performance, shedding real tears; it wouldn't be excessive to give her an Oscar Statuette.
Upon hearing that the fault wasn't the child's but Illustrious's, the onlookers immediately started discussing amongst themselves.
"So it's the parent's fault! The child was advising the parent not to drink excessively—that's true filial piety! What a shame! She met a blind mother."
"This mother is too outrageous. The child kindly offered advice only to be treated like this."
"This child clearly hasn't eaten for a long time. This is already abuse! Isn't the parent afraid of being arrested by the police?"
Illustrious couldn't take it anymore. She felt that if she didn't stop this soon, those people might actually call the police to arrest her!
To avoid being arrested, Illustrious immediately opened the door, quickly grabbed the Northern Princess, and smiled at the surrounding crowd, saying: "I'm sorry! I was wrong, and I will correct myself in the future."
"Remember to treat your child well. If we find you abusing your child again, be careful or we'll call the police to arrest you." Seeing Illustrious admit her mistake, the crowd immediately dispersed and went back to their own business.
"Yes, I will turn over a new leaf and never make this mistake again." Once everyone had scattered, Illustrious's smile vanished, replaced by a look of fury.
She picked up the Northern Princess and placed her on the sofa. "You little menace! Do you want me to be ruined?"
Sitting on the sofa, the Northern Princess pouted and turned her head. "Who told you to ignore me?"
Illustrious slumped her shoulders. "Sigh! Honestly. Fine! I'll take you out to eat."
"Yay! That's great!" The Northern Princess cheered up, but upon catching Illustrious's gaze, she pretended to be reluctant: "Actually, I didn't want to go at all. It's just that you insisted on taking me. Don't misunderstand!"
"Yes, yes, yes! It was me who insisted on taking you out to eat, is that better?" Unable to deal with the Northern Princess, Illustrious could only comply with her wishes.
Walking over to Shokaku, Illustrious turned her head to the Northern Princess and said, "Before we eat, shouldn't you first release the Consciousness Control on my Ship Girl?"
"How willful! It took me a lot of effort to exert Consciousness Control over this Ship Girl." The Northern Princess placed her index and middle fingers together on Shokaku's head. "But just for your sake, I'll help you this once. You should be grateful to me."
"It was your fault to begin with, so releasing it is what you should do, yet you want me to be eternally grateful?" Illustrious was stunned. She had never met anyone as shameless as the Northern Princess.
A black light shone from the Northern Princess's fingers, and after three seconds, she removed her fingers from Shokaku's forehead. "There, she'll wake up soon."
"That's it? Are you sure? Don't leave me with any lingering problems!" Illustrious asked suspiciously.
"No problem! I, the magnificent Tenth Calamity, said it's released, so it's released. Do you think I would lie to you?" The Northern Princess put her hands on her hips, annoyed.
Illustrious stared at the Northern Princess and thought internally: "Right! It would be strange if a simpleton like you knew how to scheme!"
The Northern Princess seemed to read something in Illustrious's eyes, and she frowned. "Is it my imagination? Why do I feel like you're calling me an idiot in your mind?"
Illustrious's heart skipped a beat, but she calmly said on the surface: "That's your imagination. I definitely didn't say that internally. Are you too hungry? So hungry that you're having hallucinations?"
"Okay then! Maybe it really is my imagination." The Northern Princess rubbed her temples with both hands, suspecting that she might really be too hungry, causing her Sixth Sense to malfunction.
Illustrious breathed a sigh of relief after managing to fool the Northern Princess. She truly was the Abyssal Tenth Calamity—so sensitive. It seemed she needed to be more careful in the future.
"Admiral! Where is this?" Shokaku opened her eyes, looking confused.
"This is my room! How do you feel? Is there anything uncomfortable about your body?" Sitting on the bed, Illustrious asked Shokaku with concern.
"Now that you mention it, you remind me. For some reason, my neck hurts a lot." Shokaku touched her neck.
Cold sweat streamed down Illustrious's face as she thought internally: "Sorry, I hit you too hard."
Shokaku grabbed Illustrious's hand. "That's not important, Admiral! Why am I in your room, and why am I lying on your bed? Don't tell me you've already done something to me?"
Illustrious flicked Shokaku's forehead. "What are you thinking? I haven't done anything to you."
Shokaku looked disappointed. "What? I thought, Admiral! You knocked me out and wanted to combine with me!"
Your imagination is truly rich, young lady. Illustrious complained internally, then asked curiously, "Looking at you, do you not remember what happened after you fainted?"
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