Blaine’s reckless provocation had a far greater impact than he’d anticipated.
Ironically, it was partly because he happened to be completely naked right now. When Goldeny caught sight of Blaine’s unusually majestic cock—something no one would expect from a honeybee—his face flushed red and blue, unable to hide his flustered state.
“Y-You bastard! How dare a worthless little insect like you challenge me, an arthropod?!”
“Uh… arthropod…?”
Why the hell is that something to brag about…?
“You son of a bitch… running your filthy mouth like that…! Fine! I won’t let you die easy! I’ll make sure you get a taste of this too!”
“W-Wait, huh? How did we even get here?!”
“Just you wait. I’ll turn you into a crying mess, begging for my cock!”
“You… f-fucking lunatic…”
The revolting line, enough to make him want to scrub his ears clean, struck Blaine speechless, rendering even his relatively free tongue tied in place. All he could do was stare, slack-jawed and stunned, as Goldeny advanced on him with a deranged gleam in his eyes.
He didn’t want to end up as nourishment for a goddamn maniac.
That conviction helped Blaine steel his resolve.
As Goldeny charged with murderous abandon, eyes crazed, Blaine swallowed hard and clenched his eyes shut, praying with all his might.
Please, please let that lunatic step on the spot Hurel crushed earlier…!
“AARGH!”
He didn’t even have time to relish the grotesque shriek before him. Blaine raised his stinger high, aiming it at Goldeny as the bastard slipped on a broken branch.
***
“Wh… where…”
Blaine parted his dry, cracked lips and forced out a hoarse voice as he struggled to open his eyes. His body wouldn’t move the way he wanted, so he rolled his gaze around, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar surroundings.
“Blaine, you’re awake?”
A voice called his name—somehow familiar.
A ceiling he’d never seen before. Simple yet luxurious furniture.
Turning his head toward the sound, he caught sight of white hair, soft and scattered like threads of silk.
“That guy… Goldeny…”
“Ah…”
That was his first thought upon waking.
As he groggily propped himself up, the high-quality blanket covering him slid down.
That’s when Blaine realized—he was completely naked.
A pale hand brushed against his exposed shoulder and gently pushed him back down. The spider applied the slightest pressure as he laid Blaine down again.
“I dealt with him. Thanks to you, Blaine.”
“Dealt with, as in…?”
“You saved my life. I don’t even know how to begin repaying you…”
Two long, pale hands enveloped Blaine’s large one. The voice quivered slightly, almost on the verge of tears—and then, a snow-white tangle of hair brushed over his forehead.
Those silver-gray eyes brimmed with tears so full they looked nearly white. Blaine gasped.
Half-lidded, wet eyes shimmered like radiant silver pearls. Dew clung to the long, slightly curled lashes that seemed like they could rustle with the slightest movement. Small pearly teeth bit into soft red lips, and though his skin was as pale as his hair, it carried a rosy flush, like a few drops of flower nectar had been dripped over it.
He was breathtakingly beautiful. So much so that Blaine forgot how to breathe.
“Uh… I-I mean, it wasn’t a big deal…”
It was a big deal. A huge one. He’d nearly died.
But seeing that face, feeling his hand being held so gently before he even had time to gather his thoughts—those words slipped out on their own.
“Blaine, thank you. Truly.”
Of course he was grateful, but… Did he really have to say it in such a wet, velvety voice?
Blaine’s hand trembled in the spider’s grasp as he swallowed nervously.
“N-No, really, it’s fine—wait, why are you getting so close—too close—!”
“Honestly, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me without you… I was so scared…”
His face inched closer. The silver eyes widened in his vision, and suddenly a wave of scent rushed over Blaine—damp wood mingled with a faint sweetness, like ripened fruit.
Where was it coming from?
From the spider’s blinking lashes? His soft, snow-white hair? Or… from those tender, red lips, like wild strawberries soaked in honey?
Blaine’s heart pounded like it would explode.
“No, I, uh, I didn’t really… uh, are you feeling okay…?”
“Thanks to you, yes. I feel perfectly fine.”
“O-Oh. Good. You’re… fine.”
Fine? He looked more than just fine.
The spider practically glowed. His pale skin had a healthy flush and a radiant sheen. His hair shimmered, silky and smooth. He looked nothing like the near-death creature from earlier.
SLAP—
“Blaine…?”
Blaine hastily slapped the spider’s hand away. Forcing his creaky body upright, he startled the spider, who quickly tried to steady him.
Earlier, Blaine’s heart had fluttered whenever the spider’s hand so much as brushed his skin. But now… it was pounding for a different reason.
No matter how soft and beautiful he looked, the spider was still a predator. There was only one reason Whitey—who’d passed out from hunger earlier—looked so revitalized now.
That’s how spiders were. Ruthless. Carnivorous. Even eating their own kind.
Blaine’s whole body trembled as fear spread like ice through his veins.
“You don’t look well. Are you okay?”
“Ugh… d-don’t touch me…”
“I guess the stinger breaking really took a toll on you…”
“Stop… touching… wait—what?”
Blaine couldn’t believe his ears. Did he just say…
“What did you just say? M-My stinger… what?!”
“When you stabbed your stinger into Goldeny, something must’ve gone wrong when he moved. It snapped off.”
“…What…?”
For a few long seconds, Blaine couldn’t move. He sat there, slack-jawed, then suddenly tossed aside the blanket covering his lower half. Without even registering that someone else was beside him, he spread his legs wide and looked down.
Boing. Pfft.
From Blaine’s honey-colored hair—made of something between sap and bark—fluffy antennae popped out, and small wings sprouted from his back.
He paid no attention to the spider, who watched him with glittering eyes, fascinated by the cottony antennae. Blaine bent forward in an awkward position and stared down.
Silence fell once again.
“N-No… this can’t be…”
Despite being splayed out in an embarrassingly wide-legged pose, Blaine didn’t have the slightest mental capacity to care.
Where his thin, sharp stinger should’ve been, there was nothing but a brutally snapped stub.
To honeybees, the stinger was just as vital as their wings—something they treasured even more than their own lives. Losing it was more than just a physical injury. It was an existential blow, like being robbed of one’s very identity.
The spider cautiously watched Blaine, who sat there completely dazed and hollow.
“Are you okay, Blaine? Is it hurting that much…?”
“No… no way… it can’t be…”
Like a ghost, Blaine muttered those same two lines over and over, face drained of all color. The spider tilted his beautiful head slightly.
“You should lie down for now. You’re shaking so much… and your face is pale…”
“No… no…”
His body collapsed helplessly onto the bedding.
Staring blankly at the ornate patterns on the high ceiling, Blaine shook his head slowly, as if to deny reality.
This couldn’t be real.
It had to be a dream. A terrible, cruel nightmare.
As he lay there drenched in cold sweat like rain, the spider watching him furrowed his brow—he seemed to realize something.
