After a century of silence, the Varos family has finally welcomed its rightful heir: Cang Nian.
Cang Yue is a male insect, with black hair and silver eyes, and the sole pure-blooded descendant of the Varos family. His female monarch, Shi Heng, has golden hair and eyes, comes from a distinguished family, and has guarded the frontier for many years.
Their marriage was arranged openly and properly, and they had the title to prove it, but that was all it amounted to. From the very beginning, their relationship had been clearly defined: duty, forbearance, and respect. They were always impeccably polite, treating each other like honored guests. Cang Yue thought that was enough.
Then an insect egg whose sex had been misidentified hatched. The arrival of their young, Cang Nian, threw all their carefully ordered routines into disarray.
When Shi Heng returned from the battlefield, Cang Yue saw her holding their baby for the first time and froze.
He had never seen such tenderness in those golden eyes.
Shi Heng would awkwardly hum lullabies to Cang Nian, lift the little one up to brush its soft antennae against her face, and laugh aloud when it blew a milk bubble. This was a tenderness free of restraint or formality. All those years, Cang Yue had never known Shi Heng could smile like that.
He watched the profile of Shi Heng’s face as she soothed the baby, and an inexplicable bitterness welled up in his chest.
It was jealousy.
Cang Yue thought he was utterly ridiculous. He was jealous of his own baby, jealous that this tiny insect who knew nothing had so easily received something Shi Heng had never given him.
It was at that moment that he suddenly understood: all those years, what he had called “forbearance,” “respect,” and “deference” had never been mere duty. He had hidden his feelings so deeply that he had even fooled himself.
As Cang Nian grew older, the truth finally dawned on him:
“Could it be that I’m just the indispensable link between my two insect parents, as they coyly circle each other and keep their feelings hidden?”
Give me some encouragement [top post]