Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 82: A Sleepless Night

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Kai just replied. "I am always here for you."

Mia closed her eyes, savoring the warmth. "Something I wish to leave this ant kingdom. But it’s...! I’m so tired of war... of politics."

Kai smiled softly. "Then rest."

[Ding! Impression point increased: +5

Current points: 25]

Kai’s heart still thundered in his chest as he held Mia close, the flickering lantern casting gentle shadows across her jade‑like skin. He felt her arms tighten around him, her warmth a balm to his weary soul.

But then...

Something hard pressed against her side, when Mia tightened her grip, and Kai froze, his antennae twitching in alarm. He looked down to see the stark truth: his ant rod, engorged and insistent, was pressing uncomfortably against Mia’s smooth skin.

At the same time, she felt something hard pressing on her body. She looked down and saw herself without any clothes and Kai’s ant rod was pressing on her body.

For a moment, neither spoke. Then Mia’s eyes snapped open wider with shock. She jerked herself free with a sudden, fierce shove, sending Kai tumbling backward across the silken cushions.

"M... my lady!" Kai cried, scrambling to his feet, confusion and shame flooding every sense.

Mia staggered back several steps, her emerald robe fluttering as she clutched it desperately around her. "You pervert!" she hissed, voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger. "How dare you... after everything...! You took advantage of my emotional state."

Kai’s mandibles clicked in frantic protest. "Princess, listen to me I..." he began, holding up his forelegs as if to ward off her words.

But Mia’s eyes blazed. "I trusted you!" she snapped. "I let you hold me, but you didn’t inform me that my bathrobe fell and you saw everything... think of perverted stuff." Her voice broke, tears flickering in the lantern light. "But this..." She gestured sharply at Kai’s ant rod. "This is the proof!"

He opened his mouth to explain. He tried to whisper, "It was instinct... I’m sorry... please... don’t misunderstand me."

But Mia would hear none of it. She shook her head vehemently. "Don’t you dare, come closer."

She picked up the bathrobe from the ground. Then she clutched the robe tightly, she turned and ran, bare ant‑feet slipping on the cool stone floor as she fled into the night‑shaded corridor beyond the bath chamber.

"Mia! Wait!" he called, voice cracking with regret. He darted after her, but the chamber doors clicked shut behind her.

Kai pounded on the door, spearing the wood with his forelegs. "Princess Mia... please... let me explain."

But only the hollow echo of his plea answered him. He sank to his knees, spear clattering to the floor, ant‑heart pounding: equal parts shame, heartbreak, and burning desire to make things right.

Alone in the lantern’s fading glow, Kai pressed a foreleg to his chest. His mind raced: how could he undo this? How could he regain his honor... after such a misunderstanding?

The night outside carried only the soft rustle of willow fronds. His single thought carried louder than any cry: "Mia, I will make this right. Even if it costs me everything."

Long after Princess Mia’s hurried footfalls faded down the marble corridor, Kai sat beside the guttering lantern and stared at the silk-strewn floor. His Ant rod, once so rigid with instinct, had long since shriveled with shame, yet the heat of embarrassment still glowed in every joint. He replayed the moment again and again inside his mind, her startled eyes, the hurt in her voice, the robe clutched to trembling shoulders.

A thousand times he muttered an apology to the empty chamber. A thousand times silence answered.

When the lantern finally died, he rose and paced. The corridor outside was dark as well water; only pearl fireflies drifted in slow spirals near the ceiling. Kai walked until his mandibles stopped chattering, then settled beneath a curtained arch that overlooked the moonlit training yards. There he remained his shoulders against cold stone, mind circling the same four, painful thoughts:

1.I frightened her. I ruined my image.

2. I must earn her trust again.

4. Darius still walks free.

4. I need power... more than I have ever imagined to set any of this right.

That night Kai did not sleep. Or he could not sleep. Somewhere past midnight, fatigue tugged at his eyelids. Yet each time he dozed, the echo of Mia’s voice rang inside his mind, "You pervert!" That word snapped him awake.

So Kai decided to watch the stars slide across the crystal roof, listened to the hush of distant waterfalls, and waited for dawn to save him from his own thoughts.

A few hours later...

A lavender glow crept into the hallway. Honeybees began their dawn hum in hives high above the palace eaves. From below, kitchen vents exhaled the smell of root cake batter.

Kai rubbed grainy sleep from his eyes and lowered his antennae in silent thanks. Another hour and duty would wrap around him like armor, leaving no room for shame.

Footsteps clicked on polished stone. He turned to see and there was Mia.

She wore a slim traveling cloak instead of court robes, green as spring buds. Her golden hair, normally a waterfall down her shoulders, was braided tight for speed. She met Kai’s gaze, held it in a heartbeat, then she looked away. Her cheeks were faintly pink.

"Kai," she said, voice clipped and formal. "The Queen summons every citizen of the ant kingdom to the Grand Plaza. Her address begins at the second bell. Be there."

Kai bowed low, throat tight. "Yes, Princess."

She hesitated. Last night’s hurt trembled in the space between them, but she did not mention it. Instead she gave a small, brisk nod and strode past Kai. Her sandal clicks faded into the wider corridor.

Kai exhaled in relief. "No scolding," he thought. "No accusation." Just cold, careful distance. That, somehow, hurt worse than any shouted insult. Deep inside his heart he fell for Princess Mia’s beauty. Her cold looks gave him a strange pain.

He squared his shoulders, turned south, and headed for the quarter stairs to go to the central plaza. A million ants would soon gather under the morning sun. There would be no hiding from judgment there.