A Li Ke first met Kang Sitan Si when he was twelve, on the capital planet of the Holy Temple.
Like all top-tier male insects, from the moment he was born there had been countless female insects for him to choose from, all waiting for him to come of age so they could marry him. He had looked them over and, with some difficulty, managed to find a few who were somewhat pleasing to the eye.
The Empire's finest female insects knelt below him. Suppressing their excitement and nerves, they gazed up at him and did their best to present themselves perfectly. On the imperial capital planet, where the ratio of males to females was so lopsided it seemed hopeless, this might be their only chance in their entire lives to get so close to a noble male insect.
Kang Sitan Si was the least noticeable among them.
A mid-ranking military female, and no prodigy. The only thing that caught A Li Ke's eye was his blond hair. Well, he was the only blond among this group of female insects.
The young male insect propped his chin on one hand and surveyed them languidly.
Kang Sitan Si met his gaze and hurriedly lowered his head. After a moment, as though he'd remembered something, he looked up and put on the same adoring expression as all the other female insects.
So fake.
A Li Ke jumped down from his throne and pressed the luminous pearl on the end of his cane against Kang Sitan Si's chin.
As the other female insects mourned their rejection and looked at Kang Sitan Si with envy, he raised his hand
Smack!
He slapped Kang Sitan Si hard across the face, knocking his head to the side.
The attendant insects rushed forward at once. One kicked the back of Kang Sitan Si's knee, forcing him to kneel. Another covered his mouth to keep him from crying out in pain and offending A Li Ke. They pressed down on the back of his head and slammed it against the ground. Blood dripped from his forehead onto the floor of the Holy Temple.
The caretaker hurriedly cradled A Li Ke's reddened palm, then gathered him into his arms and inspected it anxiously.
Not a single insect asked why he had done it.
In any case, offending a male insect and angering one were serious crimes.
Especially since A Li Ke had hurt his hand because of it.
Many years later, as A Li Ke stared into those unfocused eyes, he still couldn't bring himself to ask, "If you didn't want this... why didn't you say so sooner?"
"Why did you come to be chosen as my consort?"
"Why did you ask me to marry you?"
Kang Sitan Si.
Even now, A Li Ke's tongue rolled the name over and over.
He was the only stain on A Li Ke's otherwise flawless life as a male insect.
His former primary consort, now his enslaved consort.
A bloodstained whip pressed against Kang Sitan Si's chin, forcing him to look up.
The military female's body was covered in horrifying wounds. The control collar around his neck kept releasing electric shocks. After being tormented day and night, his eyes had lost focus, staring at A Li Ke without a spark of life.
A Li Ke had never imagined that this consort, who had always seemed so meek as to be cowardly, would be among the rebels.
It wasn't until the knife that should have been protecting him plunged into his abdomen that A Li Ke understood how dissatisfied Kang Sitan Si had been with him.
Tsk.
Foolish.
A Li Ke dropped the whip and walked out of the dim dungeon, thick with the stench of blood.
He had no intention of letting him die.
But he would never let him live in peace, either.
[Reader Guide]
Arrogant, beautiful, unhinged male insect top x Long-suffering, beautiful, tragic enslaved female insect bottom
One-on-one / Scummy top and masochistic bottom / Coercive possession / The bottom submits for the sake of their child / Endures humiliation to win affection / Love and hate intertwined / A love mired in hate / Endless entanglement / The top pursues the bottom, then suffers for it (but doesn't quite succeed)
Dark, twisted literature for those of us with nothing to read. I suddenly wanted something intense, so here we are (whispering).
Theme: Power inevitably turns against those who wield it, and true love grows from equality.
