IMPERIUM INSECTUM

I gently rubbed her belly as we lay in bed together.

“This is nice”, she said, digging closer into my body.

“Is it? I would have thought you would have issues being pregnant at age 18.”

“It's Fine; having your eggs isn’t too bad. They are surprisingly warm, and being preggers at 18 is fine as long as it's you.”

“Hahaha, that’s good.”

“ So…..what’s the plan now? I feel like we got distracted on our original goal here.”

“Yes, we have. I originally wanted to come here to learn about the world I am in before moving forward and getting easy access to more female hosts. Now we are involved in investigating a bomb plot and whatever the hell Andre wants us to do.

“Can you trust him..That Andre guy.”

“I don’t know. He has his own agenda, and he knows a lot more than he lets on. But he is useful. I would rather not have to fight him, but if I have to, I won't hesitate to smite him down there and then. However, we are getting ahead of ourselves right now. I need to leave DoonVatel for a few days. I need to go check on the old hive and hopefully earn some more levels to help you get stronger.”

“Oh….. When do you plan to leave?”

“As soon as possible if I can.”

“I see…” Her demeanour suddenly changed. Going from happy and content to sad.

“Apollinaris, what's wrong?”

“Nothing, it's just…. I was kinda hoping you could stay here until I..... ya know,” She gestured down to her stomach.

“but I get it. your busy, and you have-”

“Sure, I'll stay.”

“What?! You agreed so quickly; why?”

 “Its only a small delay anyway, so it won't change much. Also, Apollinaris, You don’t need to be so afraid to ask me anything. We are, for lack of a better word, a couple now. Meaning we are equals in this relationship. You don’t need to be so timid about voicing your opinion”

“I know we are equals……It just doesn’t feel like that most of the time. I mean, you got us this house. You saved my life. You-“

“May I remind you that you have saved my life as well. That you have single-handedly kept the children back at the hive fed all this time. Apollinaris, if it weren't for you, I would still be in that forest fighting for survival. Just because the things you do aren’t flashy, like this house, doesn’t make them any less important. Okay?”

“Yeah. I'm sorry. I get trapped in my head sometimes.”

I gave her a peck on the cheeks. “It’s fine,now  let's enjoy the rest of the night together.” She giggled as I cosied up closer to her.

“I do love your more tender side, Diva.”

“What about my ugly and sadistic side.”

“It's growing on me.”

I chuckled as we both settled in for the night.

The following morning…..

I woke up to the sound of soft snoring next to me. I guess she’s still tuckered out from the previous night's activities. I slowly slipped out of bed And into the main hall. My breath was taken away at how amazing this house is, and this isn't even the full extent of it.

I headed down the corridor to the main stairs. I seriously underestimated how many bedrooms this house, no mansion, has. I've counted at least 8 on this floor, and I think there are more on the Lower floors as well. Did I mention there were multiple floors? 4, in fact, 2 above ground floors and 2 more underground; however, the annoying thing is that Ashdowns didn’t have any schematics for what's down there. The previous owner was apparently quite secretive. All Mr Ashdown knew was that they passed away some years ago. It turns out they were trying to pawn it off to someone for a while, but no one was interested. If I'm being honest, it was that unknown mystery that made me Pick this house. What can I say? A part of me is still a detective; I just can't resist a mystery. I headed down the stairs and started exploring, finding all sorts of different rooms; it turns out there was a lot more here than what was mentioned. There were several game rooms, a bar, 2 kitchens, and lord knows how many store rooms. Despite all of this, there was one thing bugging me.

“How the hell do I get downstairs?!?”

I've looked everywhere, no staircase, no elevator, No nothing! I threw myself onto the library sofa.

“Maybe it's been sealed up for good?” That would make sense as to why there are no passages, but I feel like there is a way to get down there. What am I missing?

“Mother, what's wrong.”

I raised my head up. It was Sally……. wearing a maid outfit.

“Where did you get that…?”

“Oh, this.” She did a twirl. “I found it in one of the kitchen storerooms; it…. took me a while to find ones that fit me.” She gestured to her stomach. That’s right, the nurses, by my calculations she, should be due very soon.

“Well, it suits you. And you’ve cleaned up very well.”

“Thank you mother…. It took me a while.”

I can see that she looked really good. Her hair was no longer matted and filled with clumps. Her skin was much cleaner, making her freckles stand out a lot more against her rosy skin. She’s a gem plenty of people would kill for.

“Mother, you didn’t answer my question…. What bothering you.”

“Oh, nothing, it's just that this house is meant to have 2 subfloors. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get there. I've searched all of the ground floor and found nothing! Maybe the ashdowns lied to me….”

“Oh no… Have you checked the Study upstairs? Maybe the owner left a  note or something that lets us know how to get there?” Sally said, moving to sit next to me.

“No, I haven't, but it does seem unlikely. However, seeing as I don’t have many other options, I'll check it out. Thank you for the suggestion.”

“No problAHHHHHHHHHHH”, She screamed, buckling over and grabbing her stomach. “Ahhhhhhhh, MOTHER. ITS HAPPENING AGAIN!”

“HAHAHA, What impeccable timing, my children. Sally! Get on the table.”

I grabbed her arm and, as swiftly as possible, moved her to the nearby table. Finally, I'm actually going to be here to watch them be born for once!

“Spread your legs wide”

She screamed in pain whilst slowly cranking her legs open. I grabbed her maid skirt and moved it out of the way to get a better view.

“You're doing great! Deep breath and push!”

She screamed as I suddenly saw her pussy start to split open, revealing a healthy squirming larvae.

“There it is! Puush!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”                                                                                      

*SCHLOP*

“That’s 1, only 3 to go!”

---------------

*SCREEETCHHH*

“Yes, I know. Mama loves you two. Yes I do, yes i-“

“Diva….what are you doing?”

I snapped my head around to see Apollinaris. She was wearing a bathrobe and a pair of white slippers.

“Just playing with-“

*Screeee*

“Yes, I haven't forgotten about you as well. Aren't you the cutest thing-“

“DIVA!”

“Oh… heh…. Sorry”

She groaned as she moved to sit next to me. “So, did she finally give birth?”

“Uh-huh.”  Suddenly, they all screeched as they crawled up my arm. “Sally did a fantastic job.”

“T..thank you, mother. It was a lot easier than before.”

 If I had to guess why, it's probably due to my midwife title making giving birth a lot easier for her. I mean, after a couple of minutes of rest and something to drink, she was pretty much back to normal and cleaning up the mess she made.

“So It won't be too bad?” I looked towards Apollinaris, who had a worried expression on her face. “As long as I am there. I promise it will be fine.” Her face softened as she nodded.

“Good, do you want to hold them?” She stared at them briefly before slowly taking one of the larvae off my body.

*Squeeee*

“Hahaha…. They are so warm…” The larvae wiggled in her hands as it tried to find their way back to me.

“Can you actually understand them?”

“Roughly it less communication and more they send their general feelings to my head. Like right now, they are hungry. Sally! I’ll leave you to feed them.”

“Wait…what! I don’t even know what they eat. How can I feed them?”

“they prefer Meat, so have a look in the kitchens. I'm sure you will find something. If not, Apollinaris can make some mushrooms. Whilst you two are doing that, I'll be upstairs.”

“Wait …Where are you going?” Apollinaris asked as I placed the rest of the larvae in her arms.

“Just upstairs to the Study, I wanna check something. Take this to let them get acquainted with you. You will be seeing a lot of them in the future.”

Before they could say anything, I was out of the library and heading upstairs. I don’t have any hope of finding anything up in the Study, but it was worth a shot.

<Mother, Is it okay to leave the little brothers with them? One of them is a human. They killed our family before.>

I looked to my side and found one of my royal flies resting on my shoulder

<I understand your concern, but Sally is a special case. As for Apollinairs, she will become someone very important to this hive one day.>

<But shouldn’t we do this ourselves?>

<As much as I would love to. I can't do most of this myself. I can do many things, but I am still one person, you understand?>

<I understand. Sorry for questioning you mother.>

<It’s fine you have your little brother's health in your heart, and that’s fine. Now, come help me find this Study.>

In a short time, we were upstairs and heading towards the Study. Annoyingly, it was a bit away from anything else in the house, but eventually, we made it. Honestly, why did the owner have it so far away?

<We’re here finally.>

I wrapped my hand around the worn wooden door knob and entered the room. Instantly, I was wowed by this place's previous owner; They really knew how to decorate. The room was made out primarily of dark oak hardwood. In the centre was a large dark wooden desk larger than any I've ever seen. Behind the desk was a large leather and dark wood swivel chair. On the wall behind the desk was a large bookcase filled to the brim with books.

I walked around to the chair and took a seat immediately; my body melted as it was exposed to comfort I've never felt before.

<This is a good chair>

<Mother, aren’t we supposed to be looking for something?>

<Heh…right. Errrrr Aha!>

I Pulled open a small drawer that was under the table. The drawer was filled to the brim with multiple bottles of whiskey, not just any whiskey. This stuff looked expensive. I searched around the room, looking for any clues, but found nothing.

<This is hopeless> I said, throwing myself back onto the chair <Maybe there wasn’t an underground after all.>  I Span the chair around in a circle. Ahhhhhh! This is annoying. I feel like there is something up here, but I just can't see it! What am I missing?

I looked around the room again, scanning the walls, ceiling and floor. I looked closer to the ground for any sort of clue. There were several deep scratches on the ground by one of the bookcases behind the desk, Like it had been moved a lot.

I got up to inspect the bookcase. At first glance, it looked unassuming, normal even. I tried to pull the bookcase, but it didn’t budge. Now that is interesting. Even with my strength, I can't move this thing. I inspected the bookcase closer. All the books looked normal except 4. These 4 books were more worn than the others. It's possible that the previous owner really liked them, or these are a key of some kind.

< Let's see, we have Occult Mastery: The Secrets of Sorcery, Enigmatic Chronicles: Mastering the Mystic Arts, Penumbral Lore: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Shadows and finally Nebula of Knowledge: The Art of Enchantment.>

I pondered the bookshelf for a moment. Could it really be that simple? I took each of the books and rearranged the books according to the first letter of their title to spell the word “OPEN”. Nothing happened.. of course, it's not that easy. Just as I was about to rearrange the books again, there was a loud clunk as the sounds of mechanical gears turning echoed throughout the room. The bookcase suddenly groaned as it slowly moved out of the way to reveal a dark passage that led down into an unknown abyss.

<Well, I guess there was more to the previous owner than I thought.>

I activated my insect vision and entered the passageway. Let's see what secrets we can uncover, shall we…