Early in the morning, Noah boarded the starship back to the Holy Land.
Of course, it was not a case of running away from home.
To celebrate his recovery, his teacher, Savile Evans, had proposed holding a small banquet for the Peers three days prior. The purpose was twofold: first, to signal to all the high-ranking male insects in the Holy Land that His Excellency was safe and sound, and second, to provide an opportunity for the amnesiac Excellency to re-acquaint himself with the other insects.
In the washroom.
Noah splashed cold water on his face.
Icy, refreshing droplets hung between his long, dense eyelashes, misting over his cold, misanthropic face.
He looked unapproachable.
He closed his eyes.
The male insect in the mirror closed his eyes as well, his expression indifferent and unmoved. Like a glacier amidst a snowstorm, it seemed that no matter what traces the outside world tried to leave upon him, they would eventually be buried by the vast, unending snow.
His Excellency stood before the mirror, momentarily lost in thought.
It seemed to have been this way for a very long time.
His father said that nobles must be dignified, so Noah learned to endure.
His father said that male insects should not rely too heavily on female insects, even if that female insect is your own mother.
His father said that your talent dictates you will become a hunting target for countless high-ranking privileged species; therefore, you must not act spoiled, you must not be willful, you must not give female insects any opportunity to take advantage, and you must never, like a small animal, roll over and expose your soft underbelly to outsiders.
Over the years, he had hidden the little Noah in his heart very well.
Naturally, there should be no exceptions moving forward.
Noah analyzed it rationally: after all, his marriage to Igris was a political alliance. Peeling away the veneer of pretense, he, being rational as he was, had no reason, nor should he, demand more companionship or emotional value from the other party. By the same token, Igris had no reason to coax him like a small insect pup as he had in the hospital; that would actually be a desecration and a lack of respect for their equal alliance.
He could not possibly buy a microwave and then demand that it function as a refrigerator.
Having finished his internal adjustment, he successfully coaxed himself into a state of calm, and consequently, he stopped throwing a tantrum at his female spouse. Instead, facing the mirror, he readjusted his facial expression to a level that was cold but not indifferent. Only then did he put on his wind-resistant coat, turn around, and prepare to attend the tea party for the male insects.
The second he stepped off the starship, His Excellency suddenly remembered something.
The tradition of high-ranking male insects and female insects sleeping in separate rooms after marriage was not just out of consideration for each other’s privacy, but also because, as high-ranking privileged species, they usually had other female concubines or lovers in addition to their marital partner.
It seemed their alliance agreement did not explicitly forbid this.
Noah: “…”
His Excellency remained silent for three seconds, attempting a rational analysis, earnestly trying to reason with the little Noah in his heart.
It was unsuccessful.
He personally did not care, but the little Noah seemed very unhappy. He had not been involved with any other female insects, so how could his female spouse dare to bring outside lovers home to sleep? On what grounds?
His Excellency patiently tried to coax himself.
The results were minimal.
Forget it, Noah thought.
An angry little Noah was always hard to coax. Fortunately, while the little guy was angry, the actual negative impact he could cause was extremely limited. Seeing the banquet right before his eyes and the laughter of the young male insects drawing closer, His Excellency calmly suppressed the tantrum-throwing little insect pup and walked into the banquet hall with an expressionless face.
At the tea party.
Lassie Evans was restless.
As a high-ranking male insect, his seat should have been closest to His Excellency, a fact he had once taken pride in. Although he was unproductive and currently unmarried, his actual status was far lower than those male insects who had long since settled down with real power and property, but so what?
The only one who could sit by His Excellency’s side had always been him, the one who grew up with Noah.
After all, wasn’t his father His Excellency’s teacher?
As long as I am alive, you lot shall remain servants.
Feeling there was nothing wrong with competing for favor with a bunch of male insects in front of His Excellency, Lassie hummed with satisfaction. However, when his gaze accidentally fell upon the Excellency sitting beside him, he hung his head, heart fluttering with panic.
Help!
Noah’s expression today looked so dangerous! He should not have done anything to offend him recently, right?
Surely not?
Lassie thought timidly, glancing around unobtrusively.
Male insects were always sensitive to perception, but ever since His Excellency entered the social circle, he had worn a cold face that made everyone look like trash. Consequently, apart from Lassie Evans, who was sitting right next to him and had grown up with him, no one else noticed that anything was amiss.
There was no help for it.
He comforted himself inwardly: the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Matters having reached this point, only Lassie, the smartest and most perceptive Lord in the entire Holy Land, could personally step up to take on the heavy burden of coaxing His Excellency into a good mood.
Thinking it, he did it.
Considering that Noah was mostly unwilling to discuss troublesome matters, and thinking of a certain piece of gossip currently circulating in the Federation, Lassie had a flash of inspiration. He decided to pick a topic that would absolutely make the other party happy.
He asked a question he already knew the answer to: “I heard that the Councilman has been tamed by you to be especially obedient. You say one thing, and he does not dare say another. You tell him to go east, and he does not dare go west.”
His Excellency raised his eyes and gave him a cold look.
There was a reaction!
He pressed on: “Teach me how you do it. The Councilman looks quite unapproachable, yet you managed to handle him. How did you do it?”
Handle him? Nonsense, it was all acting.
Noah remained expressionless.
All that “being obedient and taking a scolding,” or “the male master says go east and he dares not go west”—at the end of the day, these were nothing more than the Councilman acting out a play for the entire Federation to see, based on the “unanimous external front” clause in their pre-marital agreement. It was intended to prevent long-sighted insects from causing trouble for his political partner; it was simply his obligation and decorum as a female spouse and a high-ranking species.
It was as if he really was that obedient to him.
Noah: “Lassie Evans.”
The male insect poked his head forward: “What is it, what is it, what is it! Noah, are you finally prepared to teach me the hundred ways to handle female insects?”
His Excellency put on a cold face: “Shut up, you are loud.”
The male insect timidly shrank back.
Say what you will, when his friend was not smiling, he was truly terrifying.
So, which bastard actually provoked this ancestor?
Lassie Evans maintained an elegant and composed air, appearing as light as a breeze. He seemed to remain the butterfly fluttering around His Excellency, chatting and communicating with the other male insects coming to greet them, his professional attitude deserving a perfect score. Meanwhile, he was cursing the unknown insect who had angered His Excellency a thousand times over.
When the banquet finally ended, he took another look.
Great. How did this person’s mood seem to have worsened?
Noah’s mood at this moment could certainly not be called pleasant.
As the banquet ended, the young insects returned to their respective homes, picked up one after another by their fathers or female spouses. The venue, which had not been particularly rowdy to begin with, became increasingly quiet.
He lowered his head and glanced at the message on his optical computer.
[Female Spouse: Male Master, are you coming back for lunch?]
Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating, choke to death for all I care.
His Excellency thought coldly, but had no intention of replying. He simply changed the note for “Female Spouse” to “Dog Thing.”
Lassie blinked, vaguely realizing that the person the other party was communicating with right now was likely the culprit behind His Excellency’s foul mood. He pondered for a moment and tentatively invited: “My father is coming to pick me up. Since you are already here, why do you not come back with me? We can have a meal together before you leave?”
“No need.”
Lassie scratched his head and said, “Alright, then I will head back first.”
Noah nodded slightly as a form of farewell.
The guests dispersed one after another, and the servant insects began to clear the remains of the scene.
Noah contacted his driver and, escorted by a butler-servant, stood up to walk toward the port where the starship was docked.
Rounding the corner of the ground corridor, in the dimly lit hallway, the black-haired Councilman stood with his back to him, one long leg slightly bent in a lazy posture as he sat on the stairs. It was unclear how long he had been waiting.
Noticing the movement behind him, Igris looked up.
During the brief moment of eye contact, the Councilman paused. His gaze drifted from His Excellency to the empty space beside him, then drifted back. Meeting the male insect’s somewhat hostile, interrogative gaze, Igris pondered for a moment before cautiously speaking: “I came to pick you up to go home.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the male insect raise his eyes slightly, giving him an expressionless glance.
It was just a very plain look, yet Igris subtly sensed the male insect’s current mood—it could not be called happy, but it did not seem like he was angry either.
Had he passed the test, or had he failed?
Because of this apprehension, the Councilman remained exceptionally cautious all the way until they boarded the return starship. Apart from clearly knowing that the other party had indeed been unhappy, Igris could not even determine the reason for his anger—it could not be that he had learned of his dirty thoughts, could it?
He had not heard that male insects possessed telepathy.
Noah, of course, had no idea what the Councilman was thinking.
He lowered his eyelashes, his peripheral vision sweeping unobtrusively over the black-haired female insect not far away. He felt the other’s current expression was extremely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Noah: “…”
He remembered.
Half an hour ago, when Lassie was sitting beside him, he seemed to have had the same restless expression, appearing as if he were very “afraid” of him.
But why?
He did not eat insects.
His Excellency was puzzled inwardly, but he showed not a trace of it on his face.
Was it possible he had been too fierce to the other party before?
His Excellency reflected. Actually, thinking about it carefully, the other party was quite good. While the “henpecked” persona was a disguise deliberately crafted by the other party, it had genuinely helped him. As a distinguished Chief of the Council, having to act so submissively before him just to maintain this persona—it did not seem easy, did it?
Thinking this, he pursed his lips and said unnaturally: “There are no other insects here, you do not have to keep pretending.”
Igris: “…?”
Pretending? Pretending what?
The Councilman paused slightly, a subtle look crossing his face as he met his male master’s eyes. The latter, assuming he had not understood, lowered his eyes and explained earnestly: “I mean, since there are no outsiders here now, you do not have to act like this anymore, purposely pretending to be under my control everywhere just to back me up.”
It was as if he were truly that henpecked female spouse who grew nervous the moment his male master frowned.
Igris: “.”
He had roughly understood the other’s meaning, but the Councilman raised his eyes slightly, glancing guiltily at his male master. His expression was momentarily subtle and awkward.
How was he supposed to say this?
Should he say that he had not been pretending at all, but simply had a natural predilection for “selling swords”? As for the review paper he had stuffed into his male master’s hand that day, ever since they had married, he had written over two hundred copies for the twenty-eight-year-old Excellency, with each one averaging over 3,000 words. They were stacked three feet high in the study His Excellency used for office work.
Was that really something he could say?
If he truly confessed all these things, would he not be dragged into a divorce by a young male master who had flown into a rage from shame?