Chapter 42 Part 2

His silver hair flowed down like a moonlit waterfall, draping onto the red-haired female insect’s bandaged chest.

An itch spread across his chest. Their distance closed to infinity, in this humiliating pose again. Ludwig, neck gripped, breathed raggedly, chest rising and falling sharply. He scowled, glaring viciously at the male insect’s porcelain-cold neck.

Just a little closer, and he could bite it clean off.

A bit closer.

A bit closer.

Suddenly, a strand of silver hair clipped by the male insect’s ear broke free, landing on the female insect’s dry, chapped pale lips.

Ludwig’s dark red, swamp-like pupils contracted sharply.

A faint rose petal scent wafted into his nostrils—like a forgotten bouquet adrift in the ocean, soaked for years, finally carried back by the currents.

Most unbelievably, this faint trace of pheromone, once inhaled into his lungs, miraculously eased his spirit pain!

Ludwig felt no joy whatsoever from this. Once a female insect’s spirit sea opened to a male insect because of this greedy aura, it was no different from handing one’s vital point over to another.

Twenty-five years ago, his female sire, the former glorious leader of the Silver Lion Alliance and the empire’s iron-blooded imperial marshal Eres, had been killed in his own back garden by a male insect spy from an enemy nation.

The beautiful male insect, who appeared harmless to humans and animals, took advantage of the moment when this revered glorious marshal briefly fell into the pleasure of his spirit sea. He viciously plunged a dagger coated in queen insect pulp into the female insect’s heart beneath his chest cavity. The dagger twisted, shredding several chunks of heart flesh inside his body.

As Eres’s sole son, Ludwig had inherited the marshal’s abilities while displaying astonishing talent of his own. He was even considered by the Fasser Royal Family to be the female insect most likely to break through to SSS Grade.

So even without relying on a male insect, Ludwig could slowly repair his spirit sea on his own. But the problem was that his spirit sea was now under restriction, no different from that of a B-Grade female insect. No matter how arrogant he was, he wasn’t so conceited as to dare underestimate his instincts.

Ludwig recalled the pathetic states of those female insects who had made fools of themselves after being lured by male insect pheromones. His hands, locked in chains, clenched into fists, the bones creaking audibly.

He had faintly smelled a male insect’s pheromones yesterday too, but at the time, there had been no relief in his symptoms—unless—

Ludwig snarled,

“What did you do?”

The male insect closing in on him had pale lashes like a branch of snow. He stared into the female insect’s burning eyes and didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”

With his movement, the silver strands that had fallen onto Ludwig’s lips slid down onto the female insect’s honey-colored arm, where veins bulged.

Ludwig: “Why the hell should I tell you?”

Shen Yu smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “You’re just a female insect, and you’re so hung up on your own name?”

In the ancient, long history of the insect race, a name represented everything.

A name was a connection, a name was meaning, a name was a promise.

To know a name, to exchange names, was to exchange one’s entire life.

But with the changes in society, the blending of cultures, the loss of ceremonial education in the insect race, and the imbalance in the male-female ratio, this ritual closely tied to the ancient insect race’s reproduction and birthing lost its original social and material foundation. It was gradually replaced by new rituals.

Like rings, or weddings.

The only thing preserved might have been the male insects’ names, whose meaning had completely changed. A male insect’s name was the rights and obligations granted to them by the empire. Once a female insect learned a male insect’s name, it meant the male insect was willing to accept the female insect and couldn’t refuse their pursuit in future interactions.

It was just a name—Ludwig didn’t care about any of that.

The proud and fierce female insect lifted his chin, his narrow eyes looking down scornfully. He bared his teeth and couldn’t help but think maliciously: If the male insect in front of him knew who he was, would he be scared shitless? Would he still dare to so irreverently touch his neck with his hand?

Harboring the empire’s top wanted criminal was a serious crime, even for a privileged male insect.

More likely, he’d be reported to the Military Department—his bounty was enough to buy an entire galactic star system.

Since the male insect thought he cared about his name, let him think that. Only male insects cared about such ethereal nonsense.

But evidently, not answering the question and failing to satisfy Shen Yu would only lead to suffering for himself.

A distinctive scent unique to male insects began to permeate the air—pheromones.

The air converter above let out a “ding,” immediately detecting that it was the villa owner’s aura. The fan blades stopped rotating and shut off automatically.

The male insect’s hand on his neck tightened again, five fingers sinking into the flesh of his neck until it was practically a cradle for those digits.

Ludwig’s muscles tensed up instantly all over his body. His teeth clamped down hard on the flesh inside his mouth, his nostrils flaring as sweat beaded on his skin.

Fuck—

If what he’d smelled earlier was the fragrance of flowers in ocean currents,

Then now, that ocean had frozen solid.

He couldn’t resist the male insect’s pheromones at all right now.

Ludwig’s face flushed red, his teeth chattering. He held his breath, lips pressed tight, his mouth full of the taste of blood. His whole body felt sealed in a thick layer of ice, that terrifying hard ice slicing through his throat and skin like a knife, bluntly forcing its way down into his organs.

Or as if it were surging straight upward, chiseling open his skull and stabbing into his aching spirit sea.

What kind of bizarre cold was this?

Ludwig’s mind even glitched, deluding him into thinking that block of ice was so cold it burned hot.

“Clang—”

His hand, shackled to the wall by chains, suddenly yanked forward violently.

Shen Yu watched his struggle and distress. He slightly loosened his grip, giving the female insect a chance to breathe. His face darkened, his voice extremely cold. “I was really pissed off just now.”

Ludwig’s eyes widened in a flash, nearly laughing from sheer rage at this ignorant male insect before him. It was the first time in his life anyone had dared say something like that to his face, and from a male insect no less. For a moment, everything felt utterly absurd.

“Because I don’t like dogs that keep bleeding.”

Shen Yu’s icy gaze slid over Ludwig’s taut body.

The female insect’s mountain-like build clearly had nothing to do with the word “small” no matter how you looked at it. He wrinkled his nose and changed his wording. “Oh, big dog.”

Ludwig: “…You’re asking to die?”

“Master, breakfast is ready—”

The butler robot’s cheerful voice suddenly rang out from nearby. Upon seeing the scene before it, Number Two’s round body jolted. Distorted lines churned in its mechanical eyes, soon tangling into a black mess.

As a butler robot specialized for male insect service, Number Two had accompanied the male cub from Vidonien’s birth onward. At first, it had been more nanny-like, only evolving into a full butler robot after Vidonien moved from the Sadro Main House to Azure Sparrow Hill.

The Sadro Family was wealthy and spared no expense to preserve all of Number Two’s records on Vidonien. The robot quickly realized what the scene before it meant—

So after his male sire’s death, his master was finally willing to interact with female insects in a normal way?

The tangled lines in the robot butler’s mechanical eyes spun outward and straightened into a single line. Number Two felt both gratified and disappointed—this was probably complicated emotions. Its gaze swept over, and it silently placed the breakfast tray on the dining table.

“Master, eat it while it’s hot. Call Number Two if you need anything~”

Truth be told, though Number Two’s original form was a nanny robot, there might have been a glitch before its upgrade to butler. It was fine with things like roasted milk or soups, but its cooking skills were truly lacking.

Shen Yu heard the noise and slid his ice-blue pupils toward the corner of his eye, responding, “Mm.”

With no invitation to stay from his master, Number Two’s dreams shattered. It left the hall step by reluctant step, glancing back every few paces. It changed into gardener clothes and rolled away on its gears to tend the courtyard flowers.

This interlude slightly eased the tense atmosphere between the two. Watching the butler robot’s retreating back, Shen Yu withdrew his gaze, released Ludwig’s neck, and let his pale fingers trail down the female insect’s neck to the bandaged chest.

The male insect’s pheromones wafted, and amid this freezing cold sea, there was unexpectedly a sweet floral fragrance.

Ludwig’s mind went into chaos. Under the pheromones’ inducement, a terrifying surge of desire roared through his body. Killing intent, outrage at the violation, and raw lust intertwined. His eyes bulged, breaths coming in gasps, the edges of his eye sockets nearly cracking.

Fuck fuck fuck—

Fuck fuck fuck—

The bandages were a mix of cotton and gauze. The gauze’s texture rubbed against his fingertips like a layer of thin snowflakes, bringing a slight friction.

Beneath the gauze, the chest heaved violently with ragged breaths. The surging heat seeped through the fabric onto the male insect’s fingertips.

Shen Yu pressed down with his fingers, and blood seeped through the gauze.

He withdrew his hand, palm facing himself. Blood stained his fingertips.

The silver-haired male insect tilted his head, crooked his fingers, and fixed his ice-blue pupils on that spot of red. After a moment, he realized what it was and sneered in disgust.

“Though I don’t like it, you’ve brought me plenty of pleasant surprises, so I’ve changed my mind temporarily.”

“I’ll heal you.”

“I’ve heard male insect pheromones have some therapeutic effects. How about we add a bit more?”

Sweat-soaked red hair clung to his temples, beads of sweat the size of beans oozing from the female insect’s full forehead. His mind was in turmoil. To resist the male insect’s pheromones, his already damaged spirit sea turned into a thick sludge, dragging down his unyielding proud head.

The mental torment dulled his senses, the pheromones weakened his will. He tried to clear his head, but he was quickly overwhelmed by the male insect’s pheromones. Ludwig finally realized his carelessness and paid the price for it.

This was a cunning male insect, even more treacherous than Watson.

He could barely hear what the silver-haired male insect in front of him was saying, only seeing those full red lips opening and closing.

This male insect was so cold—cold hair, cold pupils, cold body temperature, even cold pheromones—yet his lip color was vividly alluring, like a rose petal.

Red, red, red—

Dark crimson churned in Ludwig’s eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed, heat raging madly through his bound limbs. He stared deathly at Shen Yu’s lips, and in the brief gap where reason burned alongside desire—

Ludwig finally decided on his final form of revenge.

He would play this male insect to death—

“Huh?”

Shen Yu suddenly frowned as if something had happened. “You’re going into heat?”

The male insect stood up from the floor, his silver hair cascading down like moonlight, gleaming with icy luster.

“Not all that impressive after all.”

The male insect said,

“Today’s treatment is over.”

“Tap, tap, tap.”

Footsteps going upstairs.

The male insect left.

Ludwig leaned silently against the wall.

The female insect’s hand clenched into a fist, tightening inch by inch.