Chapter 28: Crown Me
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Early the next morning, the Little Bee Queen brought Chi Sui to a ravine.
Chi Sui was actually rather astonished by the sheer size of Cecil’s ranch. It seemed to contain every kind of terrain imaginable.
Without asking why they had come, the Little Bee Queen gazed at the hillside from which water was constantly pouring. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
“I hate this place.”
“I hate the water here. The moment it gets on my wings, they lose the strength to move, and my body grows heavier and heavier.”
“Even if I manage to get out in the end, I look terribly wretched. The scent on my body disappears completely, and I can never find my way back to the hive...”
Chi Sui found a large stone beside the stream. She examined it from every angle and, only after making sure it was not some kind of creature, dared to sit down.
Holding her cheeks in both hands, Chi Sui imitated the Little Bee Queen and lifted her head to gaze at the stream flowing endlessly down from the mountain.
“Is this the place you found after leaving the hive?”
The Little Bee Queen shook her head. Her voice was as devoid of emotion as it had been the day before.
“No. I was thrown down here from the mountain.”
Chi Sui stiffened, suddenly unsure of what to say.
The Little Bee Queen paid no attention to her reaction and continued, “The ravine isn’t very high, and there’s water below, so it isn’t dangerous. It’s simply too clean. So clean that even after I returned, none of the bees remembered me.”
“You went back in the end?”
“I did, but I was stopped at the entrance. I could no longer enter through that door.”
Chi Sui lifted the Little Bee Queen from the top of her head and held her in her palm. She stared at her for a long while, and just as the Little Bee Queen began to grow flustered, she drew her close to her cheek and rubbed against her.
The Little Bee Queen: “?!”
“What are you doing?” the Little Bee Queen asked, raising both hands to press against Chi Sui’s face.
Chi Sui blinked, then reached out and touched her antennae with one finger.
“I’m giving you the scent of a companion.” After saying that, Chi Sui asked somewhat pitifully, “Does the scent on me smell bad?”
The hands that had been resisting slowly lowered. Hesitantly, the Little Bee Queen lifted Chi Sui’s finger and pressed it against her face.
“No. It smells wonderful. I noticed it when I was in your hair earlier. It smells like roses.”
Hearing that, Chi Sui sniffed her own hair.
Hmm... she could not smell anything.
It seemed that after spending these past few days at Cecil’s ranch, she had been thoroughly steeped in the fragrance of its flowers.
“Tomorrow... tomorrow, take me somewhere else.”
“All right.”
...
On the third day, the Little Bee Queen brought Chi Sui to a place she knew very well—the place where she had spent the most time these past few days.
The kitchen of Cecil’s ranch.
Thinking that the Little Bee Queen wanted something to eat, Chi Sui was delighted.
But the Little Bee Queen shook her head once more. She spread her wings and flew from place to place around the kitchen, alighting briefly here and there, before finally landing on top of Chi Sui’s head.
“I used to be envious.”
“Envious of whom?” Chi Sui asked in confusion. She tried to look up and see the Little Bee Queen’s expression, but the queen dodged away.
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“The mistress of this ranch. In the hive, she was aloof, noble, and impossibly proud, but here, she was completely different.”
“She smiled whenever she saw that person, but she never smiled when she saw me.”
It took Chi Sui a moment to realize that the “she” the Little Bee Queen was referring to was Nini.
“After I was driven out, I came here once. At first, I was drawn by the fragrance. Then I saw her, and I was terrified. I wanted to run away.”
“But they looked so happy when they smiled—happier than anything I had ever seen since the day I was born. Watching them made me happy without my even realizing it, but at the same time, it made me sad.”
After saying this, the Little Bee Queen flew of her own accord into Chi Sui’s palm.
“The pastry you made for me the first time—was it called pudding?”
Chi Sui nodded gently.
“Could you make me another one? This time, without the syrup on top. It’s just... if I don’t eat it, will you be sad?”
Chi Sui rubbed her head and shook hers without saying anything. In silence, she picked up the ingredients and began to prepare the pudding.
The Little Bee Queen quietly settled on top of Chi Sui’s head. For a while, the only sound in the kitchen was the steady rhythm of stirring.
When the pudding was ready, the Little Bee Queen flew to the plate.
As the steam gradually faded, the Little Bee Queen lay sprawled across the soft pudding, her entire body sinking into it.
“It smells wonderful... even better than it did before. I’m so sleepy... I want to sleep on top of it for a little while.”
Chi Sui agreed softly and carried the plate, Little Bee Queen and all, to a spot farther away from the oven.
“When I wake up, will you still be here?”
“Of course. When you wake up, you still have to tell me where we’re going tomorrow.”
...
The fourth day...
...
The fifth day...
...
The sixth day...
Over the course of these days, the Little Bee Queen took Chi Sui nearly everywhere on the ranch. Strangely enough, despite visiting so many places, they never once encountered Cecil, the ranch’s owner.
On the seventh day, the Little Bee Queen brought Chi Sui to another familiar place.
The Pink Waterfall and the Hive Fortress.
This time, however, neither of them approached. They merely watched from a distance.
“Not going inside this time?” Chi Sui asked, looking at the Little Bee Queen flying beside her.
The Little Bee Queen did not draw near. She continued beating her wings to remain suspended in midair. This time, her antennae did not come close.
“No. That place does not belong to me.”
Chi Sui, failing to notice anything unusual, merely nodded.
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“It’s probably better not to go in.”
“Wait!” Chi Sui suddenly realized what she meant and turned sharply toward the Little Bee Queen, who was flying alone nearby.
“You don’t need to touch me with your antennae?”
The Little Bee Queen flew a little closer until they were facing each other.
“No. I’ve already learned how.”
“When?”
The Little Bee Queen tilted her head and thought for a moment.
“When I was on top of your head, while you were talking to that big beetle.”
That early? Chi Sui was puzzled.
“Then why did you still touch me with your antennae afterward? Had you simply grown used to it?”
The Little Bee Queen suddenly bent forward in a bow, then straightened.
“I’m sorry. Touching you with my antennae let me sense your emotions. At the time... I didn’t trust you.”
“I see.”
Chi Sui could accept that answer. For a moment, countless images flashed through her mind.
“Will you hate me?” the Little Bee Queen asked nervously, clutching the hem of her dress. Her eyes were filled with unease.
Chi Sui shook her head and smiled with complete openness.
“No. I’m glad that even in such desperate circumstances, you kept the necessary defenses in place. You didn’t reveal everything about yourself all at once, like someone desperately clutching at a lifeline. You’re remarkable.”
“Besides, I told you that I have received a great deal of kindness. Being able to feel that kindness is enough, no matter how you came to sense it.”
The hand clutching the hem of her dress relaxed. Tears welled in the Little Bee Queen’s eyes, only to vanish again almost at once.
“Thank you.”
“Then what did you want me to see by bringing me here?”
The Little Bee Queen turned toward the fortress, where honey was continuously flowing forth. At the center of the fortress, Nini, wearing a crown, was directing the swarm.
“What do you think is the greatest difference between me and her?”
Chi Sui thought for a moment, then pointed to the bow atop the Little Bee Queen’s head.
“What you wear on your heads is different.”
“A queen without subjects has no right to wear a crown.”
The Little Bee Queen looked at Chi Sui with an earnestness she had never shown before.
“This fortress is enormous, but the swarm numbers fewer than ten thousand. If it were me, I could do better. It’s just that the old me was confined here and had never considered trying.”
“So, Chi Sui, I hope you can take me outside. I’ve spent enough time seeing everything here. The happy memories and the painful ones can remain in this place, preserved in my heart. That is enough.”
“Just as you said, this little world has imprisoned me for too long.”
“So I hope you can...”
The bow atop the Little Bee Queen’s head rose into the air. A breeze suddenly stirred around them, lifting Chi Sui’s hair and the hem of the queen’s dress.
The bow slowly descended into Chi Sui’s palm, transforming into an exquisite crystal crown.
“Crown me.”
Carefully holding the crown in her palm, Chi Sui’s heart filled with emotion.
“I believe in you. You will become the finest queen the swarm has ever known.”
The Book of Enlightenment appeared, and a red contract connected the two of them. Yet at that moment, neither of them paid it any attention.
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