Chapter 20 — Between Trust and Fear
The ops deck felt unusually alive today.
Not just with the sound of machines —
but with laughter.
Lady Seraphina stood near a side console. Her armor was slightly loosened, sleeves rolled up. Around her were a few soldiers — engineers, gunners, young recruits. Everyone looked relaxed, as if they had found a rare moment to breathe in the middle of war.
“Ma’am,” a young soldier laughed, “the hack you pulled in the server room last night… we really thought the alarm would go off.”
Seraphina smiled easily.
“That’s why I disabled the safety loop first,” she said casually. “If the alarm had gone off, you all wouldn’t even have had time to finish your coffee.”
Laughter echoed again.
Another soldier added, “Honestly, ma’am… ever since you joined, it feels like the ship is more alive.”
Seraphina shrugged lightly.
“A ship is alive when its crew is alive,” she said. “And the crew stays alive when they take care of each other.”
Ransoku — the part of her that sensed the ship — felt calm.
People were talking. Laughing.
A small, normal moment inside chaos.
This, she thought, was what being alive meant.
From the upper level of the ops deck, Marshal Ronan watched everything.
From a distance.
His eyes stayed fixed on Seraphina.
She was laughing.
Talking freely with the soldiers.
Comfortable among them.
And the soldiers?
They stood around her as if she belonged there.
As if she had always been part of them.
Something tightened in Ronan’s chest.
So quickly?
So easily?
His mind tried to give a rational answer.
She’s capable. That’s why they respect her.
But another voice rose — sharp, quiet, poisonous.
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Or this is part of the plan.
Images flashed through his mind:
psychological operations, morale manipulation, trust infiltration.
A honey-trap isn’t meant for one man alone.
It’s meant for the whole unit.
And then —
Her smile.
Ronan clenched his fist.
This can’t be natural.
No one is that perfect.
“Call all commanders to the ops hall,” Ronan ordered.
His tone was flat.
But the air grew heavy.
Minutes later, the command staff assembled.
Chief Engineer. Tactical Lead. Weapons Officer. Everyone was present.
One seat was empty.
Seraphina.
Ronan glanced at the clock.
Then at the empty place.
His jaw tightened.
“Lady Seraphina?” he asked coldly.
“Reason for being late?”
A junior officer started to speak.
“Sir — ”
“Wait,” Ronan said, raising a hand.
“I want to hear it from her.”
A few seconds later, Seraphina entered.
A datapad in her hand.
Grease marks on her boots.
Scratches on her armor.
She stopped.
Read the room.
“Sorry, Marshal,” she said calmly.
“Recalibration was running in both the server bay and weapons grid. It was a priority issue.”
Ronan’s eyes locked onto her.
“Priority… or choice?”
His voice was calm — but something else lived beneath it.
Tension spread through the hall.
The Chief Engineer spoke up immediately.
“Sir, if Lady Seraphina hadn’t intervened, weapons sync would have failed. She went in herself — I was just about to send someone, but — ”
The Weapons Officer added,
“She rerouted systems manually inside the blast zone. That wasn’t even her responsibility… but she did it.”
Another commander stepped forward.
“Honestly, sir — we weren’t late because of her. She covered for us. She went in instead of us.”
Voices followed, one after another.
Praise.
Support.
Respect.
And Ronan —
He heard every word.
But to him, each one felt like another cut.
All for her?
All because of her?
Not for him.
Not for his command.
Against him.
Ronan took a deep breath.
Then spoke.
“Enough.”
Silence fell instantly.
“This is a command briefing,” Ronan said.
“Not a fan club meeting.”
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Ronan stepped forward.
“Discipline does not mean ignoring rules for someone who looks impressive.”
His gaze stayed on Seraphina.
“Arriving late. Making independent decisions. Bypassing the chain of command — none of this is acceptable.”
The hall became completely still.
Ransoku noticed it.
This isn’t just anger, she thought.
This feels personal.
Seraphina calmly extended the datapad.
“Marshal,” she said, “I didn’t break any rules. I acted under emergency protocol. The logs are on this datapad.”
Ronan looked at it.
Everything was clean.
No error.
No violation.
And that irritated him even more.
He placed the datapad down.
“Fine,” he said.
“Meeting dismissed.”
Then he paused and added —
“Discipline still matters. And I think some people are forgetting that.”
His gaze moved across the entire command staff.
“For this behavior, corrective duties will be assigned.”
The soldiers looked stunned.
Seraphina said nothing.
But a quiet question formed in her mind —
Why is he angry?
Or… suspicious?
Ransoku slowly began to understand.
Maybe this isn’t just a commander speaking.
Maybe this man is feeling something else.
Ronan turned and left the hall without another word.
Slowly, sound returned to the ops deck.
People looked at Seraphina —
with admiration.
And Seraphina?
She stayed quiet.
Thinking only one thing —
Maybe Marshal Ronan doesn’t trust me.
Above, in the dark corridor, Ronan walked alone.
One thought circled his mind again and again —
If she truly is what she seems…
then I might be wrong.
But if she isn’t —
Then I could lose everything.
