“You can’t catch me, Mommy!” Little Ally hollered back at me, her pudgy, still-soft back legs scrambling between mounds of mineral stalagmites. The water dripping down on them formed a curtain between us.

  That child within took over. I chased after her, giggling uncontrollably. The sound of my laughter echoed clearly, like glass shards ringing against the hanging stalactites above.

  She wasn’t a balloon-like larva anymore. Her front half had developed a more human-like upper torso, and her head had a semblance of a face, her purple eyes turning from bubbly round lenses to large, expressive ovals of violet. A button nose popped up in the center, and the beginnings of soft blue hair were sprouting from her scalp.

  Her lower body remained undeniably ant-like, but her curves and lines held hints of being human, just like me.

  She was soft, translucent, and ABSOLUTELY adorable!

  The instant I had appeared in the ‘Throne Room’, she had scuttled over to me with her nurse ants frantically chasing after her.

  I scooped her up into my arms. She opened her mouth, which was now lined with two cute, little pincer fangs.

  I didn't hesitate. Placing my finger between her fangs, I pressed, letting the skin break. She latched on, drinking all she wanted. Tributaries of my dark red blood spread outwards under her translucent skin.

  “Sorry, Mommy’s been away for a long time,” I cooed down at her.

  She closed her violet eyes and drifted to sleep after she had her fill. The nurse ants directed me to a large oval chamber that was apparently the Queen’s cell. There, we lay down on a mound of thick, gelatinous material. It was cool to the touch and yielded under my weight like soft foam, contouring perfectly to my body.

  My girls back home had changed me into a simple nightshirt, so I was comfortable. Plus, no one would see me except my ants, so it was proper. The jewelry, pins, and ties had been pulled out of my hair, so now it spilled loose like a blue river around the two of us—neither Mama nor the maids had allowed anyone to cut it.

  Ally was happy rolling the glistening strands around herself, burying her face in them.

  So cute. So innocent. So unlike the other Ally who had stared so coldly into my eyes just hours before.

  Would she sacrifice me if she knew who I was? Knowing her, she might… or she’d tear up this world to save me.

  Little Ally nuzzled against me, her warmth pushing back the ache within my chest. Her vampiric pincers clicked softly, just inches from my skin.

  They both want things out of me. I know. It’s just so much easier giving in here.

  It’s less complicated. Less painful.

  After a breakfast of red nectar, Ally and I played tag among the stalagmites until she tired herself out.

  Now, she was suckling on my finger again, her eyes closed, lines of my blood flowing under her see-through skin. The worker ants had built me a chair and table of hardened mud, and a clay mug filled to the brim with dark red sat atop it.

  The Valkyrie stepped up to the table, and lowered her thorax to me.

  Her voice spoke in my mind. “Your Majesty. My apologies for not giving you a proper welcome on your return.”

  “Not a problem. I have left this one alone for too long.”

  I wiggled my finger in Ally’s mouth, and her tiny fingers clenched around a bundle of the blue hair flowing around her.

  She was a lot like Cecilia, always crying for me whenever I drew near and never letting me go.

  I looked over the Valkyrie. Her compound eyes now held a purple sheen, mirroring my own. Her antennae were tinged with blue, and similar-colored buds were sprouting over the top of her head.

  “Are you… getting some of my blood through her?” I asked, feeling intrigued.

  “We are all connected through the Heart Stone. Through it, she passes the essence of you to us.”

  I glanced over to the dark red gem sitting in the middle of a ring of packed earth. It still pulsed with the mana I had poured into it. I remembered the trails of wet, dripping veins that had appeared when the Valkyrie had lifted it off the ground.

  “And that’s how I hear your thoughts as well?”

  The Valkyrie dipped her large, triangular head, which was also starting to look more human-like.

  Ally wasn’t speaking a language at all when I teleported in, but she picked Avatinian up almost immediately after I cooed at her a few times.

  I had thought it was because she was a genius. But it could be that we are tied together by the Heart Stone.

  Or perhaps that was just how Vampire Changelings worked. I didn’t remember much about their specific mechanics in The Hundred Years War.

  The only thing I recalled was that we had to wipe entire villages that were infested, because the creatures were so devious at copying and worming into the hearts of their hosts. Sometimes, villagers would even give up their own children to protect the changelings.

  I tapped Ally's cheek after she’d finished drinking and smiled down at her content face.

  Do you have your own version of [Seduce] that you’re actively using? Or is it something passive?

  Whatever it was, it calmed the ache within.

  My gaze settled back to the dark gem.

  Another question arose: is the Heart Stone from the Vampire Changeling side of the hybrid, or the Centaur Ant side?

  It was hard to tell.

  I looked over the Valkyrie. It was doubtful they knew.

  “I have brought gifts, just in case you’re out of supplies.”

  Besides convincing Father not to divulge the Consort as the source of the attack to Royals, I also asked for Karnsar the Demon’s corpse, along with all the other monster troops he had brought over.

  Surprisingly, neither Father nor any of the men refused me. Captain Soren even asked the knights to gather the corpses for me.

  “For the Saint to cleanse,” he told them.

  I had never even said anything of the sort, nor had I ever claimed to be a Saint.

  Thinking back, it usually took the troops experiencing it a few times to get used to the effects of [Voice of the Maiden]. Some would be rather traumatized by their first exposure, and would just lie dazed on the ground.

  Many of the corpses were too big to fit into inventory slots, so I had to section them down. A few soldiers, including Hans and Forn, tried to help, but I could tell they were getting queasy just from the sight of the hacked up bodies, so I bade them to leave it to me. I had enough experience butchering on the farm, and was inured to the sight of corpses after so many battlefields.

  Back at the Queen’s cell, I tried to deposit Ally with a nurse, but she wasn’t having it and clung to my arm. Seeing as there was no way around it, I mentally retrieved Karnsar’s torso from my inventory, along with a chest plate, letting them plop and clang to the ground beside me.

  “I have a few more corpses, plus weapons and armor. Would these help?”

  “These would contribute greatly, Your Majesty. We have a few Masticators left over from the previous Queen that can process these.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Masticators?”

  The Valkyrie hooked her fingers, and I rose with Ally in my arms to follow. A couple of worker ants picked up the torso and axe, moving up in our wake.

  We arrived in a long chamber lined with open stalls on either side. Occupying a few of the compartments were giant ants the size of wagons, with massive mandibles and heads to match.

  “These are our Masticators, Great Queen. They are ants specialized in breaking down materials into more palatable forms, like the nectar we gave you.”

  The torso and armor were dropped in large troughs before two of the giant ants, and they went to work. The mandibles of the one facing the torso tore into flesh and bone, while the other shredded and crushed metal. The crunch of bone and groan of metal filled the air.

  “Do you extract blood from the bodies so that you can take on their characteristics?”

  I was curious if aspects of the Vampire Changeling were at play here in conjunction with the Centaur Ant.

  “Of course, we extract all that’s important. Most especially the blood.”

  The ant slurped up the last bits of Karnsar’s mid-section.

  I wondered what that boastful demon would have made of this.

  To be consumed by bugs in an underground cave…

  Though, being turned to dust by holy light might not be much better. That was what the saints supposedly did to demons.

  The other Masticator finished chomping through the armor. Then, both the giant ants’ abdomens throbbed, undulating between ballooning outwards and being sucked back in, accompanied by a wet squelch and pulsating lights.

  When the motion finally ceased, a group of workers went behind the large abdomens and retrieved several tear-shaped nodules in their arms. They were melon-sized with a translucent, clear surface. Each had a different color and some, especially the red ones, were glowing.

  “These are Resin Pearls, which contain the purified elements of what we need. Here is the demon blood, demon bone meal, and demon skin extract.”

  Her fingers tapped on a red nodule, a white one, and a yellow in turn.

  “And we have the pearls from the armor as well.”

  She pointed out several iridescent, silvery teardrops.

  I picked up a red and turned the pearl in my hand. Its surface felt slick like glass. The light shining through it bathed Ally’s face in a crimson glow. “Did you turn these into that nectar you fed me?”

  “A Synthicator will formulate an appropriate mixture for each caste. For example, we Valkyries need metals for our armor.”

  She tapped her cast iron carapace.

  Clink!

  A solid metallic ring echoed down the length of the chamber.

  “I see, then I have more for you.” I emptied my inventory of corpse sections, pieces of armor and weapons onto a pile on the ground.

  “So, demon blood. Would you be able to gain this one’s fire abilities?” I asked, nudging Karnsar’s horned, lifeless head with my toe.

  It was one of the main reasons I had brought it. I wanted to see what the ants were capable of.

  “I will request it from the Synthicators. This is the first time we had access to demon blood. As for gaining its fire ability…” Her voice in my mind faltered. She sank her thorax toward me again. “Your Majesty, would it offend you for us to consume the blood of your own kind?”

  “Offend me?”

  I glanced about. It felt like everyone was more attentive this time around. Their compound eyes were all stuck on me the moment I stepped into view. At first, I had thought it was because I was holding Ally, but now, I was sure their gazes were on me.

  The spice in the guard’s souls was even more intense, a burning pride.

  The Valkyrie, she had switched from calling me ‘Your Highness’ to ‘Your Majesty.’

  “So, you know what I am.”

  “We didn’t realize until after tasting the essence that the princess had passed down to us.” She gestured for the others around us, and they all sank in unison, a wave of chitin clattering against stone. “Exalted one, we are truly honored to be the subjects of a being of such power.”

  So, do ants simply respect power? Or is this the Vampire Changeling side of them?

  In the other game, Vampire Changelings latch on to one host at a time and take on their likeness and abilities. But here, they were all beginning to look like me. As I glanced between the various ants, a realization sank in…

  The entire hive is all one, large organism.

  So am I their one host?

  “Are you devious as well, little Ally?”

  I poked at Ally’s soft cheek.

  “The previous Queen… who did she feed on?”

  A few ants shook. I sensed a tinge of sweetness rising. It tasted different.

  Despair? Or is this specific sweetness the taste of fear?

  The Valkyrie cautiously raised herself. She hesitated, her compound eyes flickering over my human face. “A human, an ‘Adventurer' as they call them.”

  Her antennae twitched when she noticed my reaction to her words. She hurried to clarify. “He should have no relation with the Adventurers you came with. They did not smell similar.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut for a long moment, and then looked back down at half-me, half-ant baby in my arms.

  “And what happened to him?”

  “He had been cocooned, and was disposed of along with the imprinted younglings when you took over.”

  I shouldn’t lie to myself, I knew what they were. [Virtuous] tore at my insides the moment I got here, but I didn’t act because… to a part of me this also felt like home.

  It wasn’t their fault. The past Queen did this…

  They only did what’s in their nature…

  I’m not human anymore.

  “Were you thinking of doing the same thing to me?”

  “No, you’re much too powerful to be kept.”

  “But if I wasn’t… then…”

  I remembered the first thing she had me do when she presented the larva to me.

  “Oh, that’s why you had me [Seduce] her.”

  Deep down, I knew it was strange. It was unnatural how cute I found this alien larva; even the child within was captivated. But Vampire Changelings were known to worm their way into their host’s hearts. Ally must have had her own passive version of [Seduce] active the whole time.

  “Clever…”

  The Valkyrie dipped low to me once more.

  Because I had used [Seduce] on the Valkyrie, she had guided me to use it on the larva. So that we would worm our way into each other’s hearts, becoming mutually bonded.

  Both of her Mistresses were now emotionally chained together. And she wasn’t technically betraying either of us.

  Very clever indeed.

  “Since there are others of your class here, let’s give you a name. How about Valorie?”

  “It is an honor, Great Queen.”

  I turned my attention back to Ally, and the limbs of everyone around us loosened. That sweetness faded from their souls.

  We were walking back toward the throne room when I recalled the sight of the previous Queen. “Valorie, I don’t want Ally to become like the previous Queen. I don’t want her to have to drag around a giant bloated stomach like that all the time. It looked… torturous."

  “It is our way, Your Majesty. We each must take the form needed by the hive. I am a Valkyrie. The workers, nurses, Masticators, all must become their part.”

  She gestured behind her, to the chamber where those giant oversized ants were imprisoned in their stalls. They must be still chewing through corpses and armor right now. But that was their entire life: just chewing and digesting. It didn’t even look like their small legs could lift their bulky bodies.

  “I don’t want that for Ally.”

  “The hive needs to replenish itself. We are already running low at several positions. She needs to take on her part and start producing eggs. It is her fate.”

  Ally nuzzled her cheek against my hand. I didn’t want her to be stuck in a lifetime of laying eggs with a massive, grotesque body. The original Ally had fought off her fate, but this one…

  “She is too young,” I said, my voice firm.

  “Our Synthicators can formulate nectars to accelerate her growth so that her body can handle it.”

  “Her mind can’t. I want her to make the decision when she understands. Not before. A choice… a real one.”

  “Then our hive is doomed.”

  I closed my eyes, searching for a solution.

  “You mentioned wiping out the imprinted younglings when I took over. Were there other unimprinted ones? Like her?”

  Valorie’s head twitched from side to side. “There are still a few unhatched eggs. And barely hatched younglings.”

  “Can’t I imprint them, and…” The words dried up in my mouth. The idea that formed in my mind was both utterly horrifying and repulsive to me. I would be a complete hypocrite. My conscience and [Virtuous] sealed my lips, refusing to let even a thought escape lest it taint me.

  I looked down at Ally’s innocent face.

  I don’t want to let her go through that.

  I looked at Valorie and my entourage.

  I don’t want to let the hive die.

  [Virtuous] tore harder at my insides as I tried to force the words out. Pain wracked my body and I nearly dropped Ally.

  Finally, I stopped fighting it. I reached into the depths of me and unsheathed myself. As usual, the heat of my emotions including the guilt, slid away.

  All the ants skittered a few steps back, recoiling from me. Ally’s eyes popped open.

  “So pointlessly melodramatic,” I mused, cupping Ally’s cheek. She tilted her head curiously at me. “The answer is simple. We just need a few dedicated birthing pods.”