Chapter 67
If any female insects other than the queen request a meeting, they must kneel outside the door.
Celtic and Hill locked eyes for a second, when a gentle breeze blew in from the window, ruffling Hill's long silver hair.
A glint of something almost menacing flashed in Celt's eyes. A moment later, he knelt down, his knees apart, his back straight. His well-tailored military uniform perfectly showcased every inch of his muscles. He was powerful and fierce, yet he had no choice but to kneel before him.
Celtic crawled into the bedroom on his knees, step by step, until he reached him.
Female insects are generally tall and strong, much taller than male insects. Male insects are unwilling to look up at female insects and prefer to make them kneel down to establish their authority.
The female insect knows the psychology of the male insect well. Normally, when crawling on its knees, it will naturally put down its hands, kneel on the ground, and crawl with its back bent. But Celt is different. Even when crawling on its knees, it refuses to bend over.
Despite his humble posture, his gaze remained fixed on Hill. Though in a subordinate position, he showed no sign of humiliation. In the dim environment, his star-like eyes shone with a cold brightness.
Hill watched him quietly. Time passed by, and he felt tired. Waves of weakness spread through his calves, accompanied by a stinging pain. Hill frowned slightly and his breathing quickened for a moment.
The arm that was supporting itself on the mirror slid down an inch, and it seemed like it would continue to slide down.
The male insect's straight legs trembled slightly, and a hot, powerful hand gripped his ankle in the next moment.
Celt stood up abruptly and lifted Hill up by the waist, taking over the male insect's body as it slid downwards. All the weight fell into Celt's arms, requiring no further support. From Hill's perspective, all that could be seen was Celt's clearly defined jawline.
“You can punish me later.” Celt’s steps were steady but not slow. His black bone wings suddenly unfolded, and he carried Hill out onto the balcony.
Hill was taken aback for a moment, then gave a light sneer.
The small robotic ball used for filming darted closer after detecting an insect, only to be swatted away again. It stubbornly trembled twice on the ground before finally popping out white smoke with a "splat".
It crashed.
The StarNet swarm of insects, who were left completely bewildered and hadn't seen anything, erupted into chaos.
"The Marshal is too violent!"
Is there anything we can't see?
"We want to see Prince Hilgard—"
However, their protests were doomed to failure; Celt was never swayed by any insect.
Hearing the commotion, the other female insects suddenly pushed open the windows or stepped outside, but all they could see was Marshal Celtic's rapidly departing back.
The balcony that Celtic mentioned was actually another small building in this huge estate, with hot springs surrounding both the ground floor and the roof.
Hill caught a faint, fresh scent of grass and wood, and wrinkled his nose.
Celt bent down and first tested the water temperature with his hand to make sure it was suitable for the male insect's fragile body before slowly putting Hill into the warm water.
The water temperature, which is slightly lower than usual for bathing, envelops the male insect's slightly sore body, and a soft material is used at the edge of the pool to prevent the male insect from irritating its body.
"Horses secrete a little sweat after exercise. The smell isn't very noticeable to females, but you don't like it, do you?"
So he sprayed an odor-eliminating agent beforehand, leaving a faint herbal scent.
Celtic knelt in the water, lifted one of Hill's legs and placed it on his knee, then reached out to massage his sore calf.
The female insect's palmar longus muscle bulged, and her bronze palm cupped Hill's calf, massaging it with moderate pressure.
The temperature of his palm seemed hotter than the warm tide. Hill felt a chill run down his spine, his fingertips curled up, and he pulled his legs back. He said with a cold sneer, "If it can be treated with a nutrient tank, there's no need for the Marshal to do it himself."
Celtic didn't let go; instead, he gripped even tighter and pressed down gently. Hill immediately lost his strength, leaning back against the poolside, his eyes filled with mist.
"Pressing this will help me sleep better at night."
"Before I was 12, I lived in a third-class low-level star orphanage. The female insects had to maintain a training intensity of more than 10 hours a day. We couldn't afford expensive nutrient capsules, so the orphaned insects would rub each other's bruises to open them up."
Celt came from a very poor background; he was an orphan without a male or female father. He never mentioned this, neither using it to elicit sympathy nor taking pride in it. Throughout his years in high office, he never paid any attention to his past.
His vision is always focused on the present, encompassing the future.
From his silent admiration to now, this was the first time Hill had heard Celt talk about his past, and it was only a short sentence.
"You often have trouble sleeping at night, don't you?"
Hill pursed his lips slightly. Since he couldn't break free, he might as well enjoy it. His misty eyes gazed at the sky, and his voice was faintly damp: "Peeping into the privacy of male insects, does the Marshal want to go to the approval office?"
“Because I want to know everything about you,” Celtic replied frankly.
"I want to know if Your Highness was afraid when a bug cured your illness in the Holy City when you were a child, and I want to know if you were afraid when you faced the star beasts alone before you met me on Nuka Star."
He paused for a moment, then continued, his eyes, which always seemed cold, fixed on Hill as if trying to embed him into his heart.
"I want to know what you felt when you came to me, and I also want to know what you were thinking about when you couldn't sleep at night."
Do you blame me, hate me, or want to kill me?
Hill abruptly closed his eyes, only his prominent Adam's apple bobbing rapidly. A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes, his eye sockets flushed slightly red from the hot spring water. His tone was cold.
"This is something only my future queen needs to know."
It has nothing to do with you.
My pain, my joy, my past and my future will all belong to my beloved female insect. She may have been you in the past, but she will never be you again.
The hand gripping his knee tightened suddenly. In an instant, Celt abruptly stood up from the water, his chest heaving violently, water falling like raindrops, his voice hoarse: "I'll go prepare robes and food for you."
His steps were steady, but seemed a little faster than before.
Hill watched coldly as his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor. After calming himself down, a smile spread across his lips. He suddenly spoke up: "Major General Eric, are you just going to leave quietly like this?"
A large number of trees were planted next to the small building for privacy. A moment after Hill finished speaking, very light footsteps were heard, and the young Major General Eric led a fine horse out of the mist.
"Your Highness, good afternoon." He settled the horses aside and walked forward alone. Because he dared not look directly at the male insect, he could only lower his head and look extremely apologetic. "I did not mean to spy on you. I just came here to relax."
"Oh? Why are you taking a walk? Are you in a bad mood?" The handsome male insect leaned against the edge of the pool, one knee slightly bent, his slender leg bone faintly visible under his soaked robe.
Eric looked away somewhat embarrassedly, pursed his lips, and after a moment became dejected, he actually knelt down.
"Your Highness, although I have been fortunate enough to be selected as your empress, I..."
"What's wrong?" Hill looked at him with interest.
Eric suddenly gritted his teeth and spoke incoherently: "Actually, I once met a male insect sir. I saw him briefly once on a warship, no, twice. I fell in love with him at first sight, but then I lost track of him."
“Then I met you,” he hesitated, organizing his thoughts, “you look a lot like him, no, actually you don’t look alike at all, but just…”
But it just feels like an insect.
"Oh? Is there anything similar?" Hill asked in a gentle voice, seemingly very interested. "You may come and identify me. I am also very interested to see if there are any insects that resemble me."
Eric was somewhat flattered. He forgot that he could stand up and crawled to the edge of the pool, but dared not raise his head.
Hill rested his chin on his hand, a slight smile creeping onto his face. "Is the Major General going to try and figure it out by looking at the ground?"
No, it's not...
That's so stupid, how could someone do something so foolish?
Eric hurriedly looked up and was caught off guard by Princess Hildegard's beauty.
The rising steam from the warm water made the male insect look like a figure in a painting, with every inch of its features exquisite and handsome, only its skin was too pale, like fragile glass.
For a moment, he even forgot to breathe.
It took him a while to remember what he was supposed to do. He raised his hand uncontrollably, as if he wanted to touch the face so close to his.
"Your eyes are not quite the same as his. His eyes are emerald green, while yours are blue. Your noses are similar, both being straight, but the contours are slightly different. His face seems to be a bit rounder..."
Eric traced the male insect's features through the air with his hand. Gradually, the male insect in his memory seemed to overlap with the current Hilgard. His hand got closer and closer, and soon it was about to touch Hilgard's features.
The male insect, which had been indulging his unbridled behavior, suddenly stepped back, causing his touch to miss.
"So, do you prefer the male insect you remember or me? Hmm?" The male insect teased Eric with a slight smile.
Perhaps it was due to the evaporation of the warm spring water that His Highness Hilgard's faint pheromones were released. The pheromones of the S-class male insect made the female insect feel an indescribable joy just by getting close.
Eric pondered for a moment, then regained his resolve: "You."
The past is gone and cannot be retrieved; he never saw that male insect again, while Prince Hilgard was right before his eyes.
He didn't realize that Hill's eyes suddenly turned cold after he uttered that word, but fortunately the fog concealed it from Eric.
“I like you, that’s why I’m participating in the selection,” he confirmed his answer, suppressing the turmoil in his heart caused by the S-grade pheromones, and solemnly replied, “I’m willing to give everything for you.”
"Is that so?" Hill asked softly. The male insect leaned against the edge of the pool, reaching out his fingertips as if to stroke Major General Eric's face, or as if to respond to his earlier description, but the description lingered in the air.
"Would you be willing to do something for me?"
Those deep blue eyes were like a whirlpool in the deep sea, drawing insects in, making it impossible for them to escape.
Eric, just as unable to refuse, replied, "I do."
"I'm willing to do anything for you."
Celtic pushed a tube of cold liquid into his arm, and a drop of cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
His body was switching back and forth between ice and fire. Hill's pheromones excited him and made him nostalgic, but deep inside his body, a pain that seemed to pierce his bones was rising.
The veins on the female insect's arm bulged as he raised his hand and swiftly injected the second dose.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead, but it brought his reason back. Celtic looked out the window, his pupils suddenly contracting.
In the brief moment he was gone, a female insect seized the opportunity and stroked Hill's cheek with her hand—
Author's Note:
Marshal: You tried to steal my boyfriend after I was gone for just two minutes! [Angry][Angry][Angry]
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