Chapter 518: Bad Person!

Christina didn’t remember falling asleep, but it was hardly surprising she had after everything that happened over the past day or so.

Still, perhaps because she knew she was still on the battlefield, even unconscious her senses remained sharp.

As such, the moment she heard the sound of rustling sheets and felt movement nearby, Christina’s eyes shot open and she immediately fixed her gaze on the little girl who also seemed to just be waking up.

At first, the little girl seemed to be confused, probably wondering where she was and unable to see well in the dark room, but when Christina turned on the nearby Spirit Lamp, the girl’s reaction was instantaneous.

"NO!!!"

With a piercing scream, the little girl scrambled back across the bed, trying to put any distance she could between her and Christina, simultaneously trying to protect herself while also balling up her fists and glaring fiercely, as if warning her not to come any closer.

Of course, even though this was Christina’s private cabin on the ship, a privilege only granted to Captain-rank officers and above, space aboard such a vessel was still quite limited. The bed barely fit a full-sized adult in it, so even squished up against the hull, the little girl was easily within arm’s reach.

It would have made for a cute picture, had it not been so horrifyingly tragic.

Christina knew that the situation was incredibly delicate, and that she couldn’t rush things here, so instead of immediately trying to get closer, she instead got up off her chair and knelt down next to the bed, so she could put herself on eye-level with the little girl and not frighten her any further.

Smiling as kindly as she could, Christina did her best to offer some reassurances, "I know you’re scared, but you don’t have to be. You’re safe here. I won’t hurt you, I promise."

"No! You’re a bad person!" The girl shouted, seemingly convinced that Christina was an enemy.

"Why do you think I’m a bad person?" Christina asked, trying to open some kind of dialogue with the girl.

"You’re all bad people! Everyone is bad!" The girl shrieked.

Hearing this, and seeing the look of pure terror and panic covering the girl’s face, Christina felt incredibly sorrowful, knowing that she had probably been extremely traumatized by the events of last night, which honestly wasn’t that surprising.

Christina herself still shuddered every time she recalled the sight of that pile of charred corpses, and she hadn’t even known any of those people.

On the other hand, this little girl’s family, friends, and neighbours were probably all part of that disturbing display.

In all likelihood, nothing Christina said right now was going to get this girl to trust her or to lower her guard, so she had to find another way to coax her into believing her.

Fortunately, the little girl herself provided her with a possible solution when her tummy released a different kind of cry, one of protest at not having eaten in almost 24 hours.

"Are you hungry?" Christina asked gently.

The little girl was caught between shame and embarrassment, and didn’t dare to nod despite the fact that her stomach was practically screaming at her to eat.

She and her papa had always been poor, so she wasn’t unfamiliar with going hungry, but it seemed particular bad today, probably because of all the running she had done and the stress she had endured.

Of course, Christina wasn’t going to make fun of this girl, so she simply nodded, "You must be starving. Would you like me to get you some dinner?"

The little girl still refused to answer, but the faint glimmer in her eyes at the mention of food still gave her inner thoughts away.

Standing up and walking to the door, Christina opened it to, as expected, find one of her subordinates there on standby. She then quietly asked the older soldier to fetch something light from the ship’s mess.

Christina would have gone herself, but she felt it would be best not to leave this little girl alone right now, even if the latter was still very wary of her.

Returning to the bedside, but making sure to maintain some distance, Christina sat down again and reached into her Space Bag, pulling out a small paper-wrapped cube.

Placing the cube on the bed, just beyond the little girl’s reach, Christina motioned to her, "Dinner will be here soon, but until then, you can try this. It’s very sweet, so I’m sure you’ll like it."

The word ’sweet’ got more of a reaction from the little girl than anything Christina had said up until now, but she still didn’t move away from the wall right away.

If anything, the little girl was now glancing between Christina’s face and the piece of candy quite suspiciously.

Understanding what the girl was worried about, Christina smiled, unwrapped the small piece of caramel, one of her cooking lab’s recent inventions, and broke off a piece before stuffing it into her own mouth.

The burst of sweetness was immediate and overwhelming, as was the small rush of World Qi that flooded her stomach. It was far too little to make a material difference to Christina’s cultivation, but it was delicious and refreshing all-the-same.

Whether it was Christina proving the caramel wasn’t poisoned, or whether the little girl was just too hungry, she eventually reached out and hesitantly snatched the remaining piece of candy, sniffing it a few times, then licking it once before stuffing it into her mouth and chewing.

The little girl’s eyes lit up the instant the caramel hit her tongue as she had never eaten anything so sweet and yummy in her life, making her temporarily relax both mentally and physically; however, she soon tensed up again, obviously still very much on guard.

Christina wasn’t discouraged, however, knowing that this was going to be a long process.

She wanted to reach into her Space Bag and pull out another caramel, but they were unfortunately still an experimental product, so she had only brought a handful along with her, and the one she brought out just now was the last one.

Instead, the young princess decided that it was time to formally introduce herself, "My name is Christina, I’m from..."