I Became an Ant Lord, So I Built a Hive Full of Beauties-Chapter 213: Truth and Tension

----

After all this time. After weeks of silence. Of pain. Of holding everything together like a crumbling wall.

He was alive.

And only now, with that truth echoing in her heart, did she realize just how badly she had missed him.

At this moment she wasn’t the soldier Mia. Not the iron-blade princess Mia. But the girl who waited, and worried, and whispered his name into her pillow when no one could hear.

She buried her face into her sleeve, shaking, voice thick with tears. "You bastard... You idiot! Where have you been?!"

Kai swallowed. "I’m sorry. I escaped the predator. Take my revenge... After that..." He paused, then added. "I found a rift gate and entered it. I met the dawn blade. The Rift Gate collapsed and I got thrown to the southern forest. I awakened a new power, minutes ago. I tried to use it to reach you, because I missed you."

She didn’t focus on anything Kai said. "You vanished! I thought— I thought—" She couldn’t finish. Her voice cracked.

"I know," he said, eyes closed, letting her sorrow flood the link. "I should’ve contacted you sooner."

"I hate you," she said into her sleeve.

"I know."

"I thought you died, Kai. I thought—"

"I know."

She didn’t say anything else. Just breathed. Shivered. Squeezed the cloth like it was the only thing holding her together.

They stayed like that—connected by light and pain and the ghosts of words unsaid. His heartbeat met hers, each pulsing through the soul link in quiet waves.

He could feel her thoughts—stormy, spinning, raw. Kai whispered again, "I’m sorry."

She answered in the smallest voice he’d ever heard from her. "...Don’t disappear again."

"I won’t."

"Promise me." She demanded.

"I promise."

One Minute passed. She sniffled, wiped her face, leaned against the boulder with one hand over her heart. Her voice steadied slightly. "So you’re alive. You’re whole?"

"I’ve changed a bit. But I’m alive."

"Did you get taller?"

"...Yeah. And handsome too."

"Really, How handsome?"

"Handsome enough to make any girl fall for me."

Her breath hitched in a laugh that turned into a hiccup. She cursed softly under her breath and whispered, "...I missed you so much."

"I know."

"Don’t say ’I know.’ Say it back."

Kai chuckled, smiling despite the lump in his throat. "I missed you too. I miss you a lot. I miss you more than anything."

A warm silence settled in her chest. Kai’s sweet talks made her pain go away. And just as he was about to say more...

...Mia’s voice returned, softer now, trembling on the edge of vulnerability. "Just a moment ago you said you met the Dawn Blade inside the Rift, right?"

Kai leaned his back against the trunk behind him, letting his fingers press into the bark. He had expected this question. Maybe even dreaded it.

"It’s been so many days," she continued, "but none of them returned. Not Vexor, Flint, Needle, or Shale. Even Thea’s team didn’t come back. Do you... do you know why?"

Kai closed his eyes for a long second and took a deep breath.

"I do."

Her silence on the other end wasn’t empty. It was heavy. Expectant. He felt it like a hand pressed against his chest.

"I killed everyone from Thea’s team," Kai said finally, his voice level, but low.

The air in the link went still.

"They were trying to kill the others—Vexor, Flint, Needle, Shale. I didn’t have a choice. It was either them... or us."

Mia didn’t speak, but her thoughts twitched like stirred water.

"As for why the Dawn Blade didn’t return..." Kai paused again, then pushed through. "They joined me. I built something—my own place. Before I escaped the Rift Gate, I sent them out... They joined my lair. There’s a mountain near the edge of the desert and the forest floor on the far east . That’s where they are now. I call it Monarch Mountain."

A beat passed. Then Mia spoke, cautiously. "Monarch Mountain... I heard this name."

"You’ve heard of it?" Kai asked.

"I’ve heard rumors," she said slowly. "But... don’t tell me you’re the one who kidnapped a bunny girl, his fiance, from the Silvertail Wolf Clan’s young master?"

Kai coughed. "It’s nothing like that."

"So the rumors are true?" Mia asked him.

"I said I’ll explain later," he muttered. "Look, I don’t have time to unpack everything right now."

"Hmph." Mia sniffed but didn’t press further. Then, her tone shifted—quieter, gentler. "Alright. I’ll trust you... for now."

He smiled faintly. "Thanks."

She hesitated again. "When will you come back to me?"

Kai raised an eyebrow. "To you?"

"I mean... to the Ant Kingdom!" she snapped, flustered.

Kai chuckled. "As soon as I make it to the Eastern Forest."

"Be careful on your way," she muttered. "A lot’s changed since you vanished. Rumors, movements... and something else. I got good news for you. Have you heard about Darius?"

Kai went silent.

Mia continued, "They said he was killed. By someone with silver hair."

Kai didn’t answer immediately. He closed his eyes. "It was me."

Her breath hitched. "You—?"

"I told you," he said. "I took my revenge."

Then, softly, "You really did it."

"I had to. He hunted me, and everyone around me. It was justice."

Another long silence. But this time, no questions came. Only her soft breathing. The weight of belief behind it.

"...You’re really not the same ant I trained," she whispered.

"No. But part of me still is."

Mia didn’t argue. She didn’t need to. She knew no matter what happened Kai will always be her Kai. She clutched her cloak tighter, biting her lip. After all this time. After all the silence, grief, and fear.

He was alive. And somehow, the soul link didn’t fade. Neither of them moved to end it.

Because neither of them could. And in the quiet glow of the link between them—raw, imperfect, unspoken—one truth began to settle in both their hearts.

The soul link pulsed again—slower now, more settled. The tension between them had burned into something calmer. Still heavy, still full of emotion, but quieter. Like ashes cooling after a long night of fire.

"...Kai," she said.

"Yeah?"

"I’m glad you’re alive."

He smiled at the ground. "I’m glad you never gave up on me."

Another silence fell between them—not the cold kind that grows between strangers, nor the strained quiet of people who’ve run out of words. This one was different. It hummed with warmth. With the soft ache of things unsaid but deeply felt. A silence woven not from fear, but from the fragile threads of promise... and the quiet breath of something like love.

It lingered, long and sweet. Then Mia spoke, voice low and steady, like she’d been holding it in for hours.

"Kai," she whispered, "you can’t come back to the Ant Kingdom. Not now."

The soul link pulsed once, catching his breath.

"A lot has happened since you left," she continued, her tone shifting like the first shadow before a storm. "Especially in the last five days."

Kai frowned. "Why? You just asked me to come to you?" he asked gently. "Don’t you want to see you anymore?"

A pause... Then her answer came—not rushed, not shouted, but low and clear. Like a bell tolling in fog.

"Because you killed Darius."

The words struck like ice through the warmth they’d shared. Not blame. Not anger. Just the truth. Heavy. Unavoidable.

Kai didn’t speak at first.

Even the wind seemed to still, as if the world itself leaned in to hear what she would say next.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)novelkiss