Right now…… right now me…… me!
‘How dare he call me a fly!’
He couldn’t believe it. It had been hundreds of years since he’d been treated as a precious spirit. This was the first time he’d heard such an insulting remark. He wanted to shout so the human child would remember even in his dreams that he was a being loved by Kaine and a precious spirit, but the only movement Rou could manage was pushing the teacup hard with his round forehead.
The child who had been sitting, perhaps having thought Rou was dead, flinched. Soon, perhaps curious about the overturned teacup, the child lightly flipped it over, and inside, just as Rou expected, was a sugar cube. The pure white sugar, safe from attacks by ants or other insects, maintained its perfect cube shape.
The sweet fragrance became even stronger. Rou’s empty stomach tightened and then ached.
Rou looked at the sugar cube with desperate eyes and ended up looking at the child’s face. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who was hungry and exhausted. The child was looking at the sparkling lump of sugar with eyes full of hunger and destitution. As if the dirt on it was no problem at all, he grabbed it eagerly.
Though Rou felt wronged that the only food he’d been looking for was disappearing before his eyes, at the same time he thought it was the right thing. It made more sense for a human who had just been born to survive than a bumblebee like himself who had lived through the fall of dozens of kingdoms.
Watching the child lick the sugar cube with his small tongue, Rou finally squeezed his eyes shut. An even richer sweet scent wafted from the wet sugar, and seeing the sugar disappear made hunger wash over him. The emptiness he felt after so long was too painful. Rou curled up his body, hoping the ember of life would just go out.
‘Be happy. You impudent human child.’
Rou wished for the child’s happiness. He believed that if Goddess Kaine heard what he had done, she would be greatly pleased.
Just when Rou was about to give up both the sugar cube and life, the child brought out a wide saucer and set it down in front of Rou’s face. Rou didn’t know what the child was doing, so he just rolled his round eyes and watched.
The child took out a bottle from his pocket and poured a little water, then broke the sugar cube in half and sprinkled its powder over the rippling water. The sugar dissolved instantly. Rou’s gaze wavered here and there at the sugar water visible before his eyes.
“Since you found it, you have the right to eat it too.”
Rou was so happy he wanted to kiss the child’s forehead. But instead of doing so, he crawled with his belly pressed to the ground like a caterpillar and stuck his nose into the sugar water. As soon as he swallowed a mouthful of the sweet water, vitality spread through his entire body.
Rou emptied all the sugar water the child had made for him. The child seemed a bit surprised, but he seemed to be enjoying a brief sweet rest, putting his share of the sugar cube in his mouth and rolling it around gently. Rou, whose belly was now taut as if it would burst, lay his body down on the saucer that still gave off a deep sweet scent.
He hadn’t known that satiety could be this happy when he’d always been full. Rou once again felt grateful to the Goddess who had taken him in.
Regaining his strength, Rou flew up and landed on the back of the child’s hand. Dust flew up like it was soaring, hazy smoke rose, and Rou’s proud black and yellow stripes were revealed. Only then did the child seem to realize Rou was a bee, and sent a more favorable look than before.
The child carefully touched Rou’s fluffy body. It was a careful and clumsy but affectionate touch. Rou rubbed his head against the finger to show his gratitude. Rou thought about saying thank you to the child, but when he suddenly spoke, most children would cry or run away. It was better to hold back.
Rou pondered for a long time whether there was a way to express his gratitude, but in winter when the Goddess’s power was weak, he couldn’t find even a single flower to gift. The child had saved Rou’s life, but Rou had no way to repay that kindness.
Rou didn’t know what to do, mixed with both apology and gratitude. The child must have come all the way to this remote place alone, hungry, wondering if there might be something to eat. He had shared his precious provisions with Rou, provisions that wouldn’t be enough even if he ate them alone.
Rou wanted to grant anything the child wanted. Whether he wanted white bread or a warm place to sleep, if Rou just said a word to the Goddess, she would easily grant it. If the child wished, he could receive protection in the Goddess’s temple until he became an adult, and could continue to stay there and work as a priest.
Since most of the warm southern kingdoms worshipped the Goddess, there were many, many places that would take in this one small child.
While Rou was circling around the child, pondering whether to ask about his wish or not, the child’s complexion suddenly darkened. Rou flew up following the child’s gaze, and at the same time, he felt signs of people in the distance.
Three men were striding toward them from the far end of the forest. Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Rou hastily flew up to give a warning. But as soon as the child spotted the rustling leaves, he ran in the opposite direction.
Rou couldn’t even ask the child’s wish and could only watch him disappear into the forest.
The men came up to the greenhouse, flung open the door, and began ransacking every part of the greenhouse. The humans were holding sharp metal objects. Rou knew the purpose of those dangerous things humans sometimes used. They were things used to hurt each other.
Rou, hiding his body under a dirty rag hanging on the window frame, desperately hoped and hoped again that the child had hidden himself somewhere safe.
Soon the fierce humans left with curses and the greenhouse became quiet again. Rou wiped the hazy glass and looked outside. Seeing that the fierce humans’ mouths had become even rougher, it seemed the child had still hidden himself somewhere safe.
Rou looked outside for a long while, but there was no sign of the child returning. Well, even if he didn’t know the circumstances, if he had once felt danger in a place, he wouldn’t want to go back there again. Rou watched whitish snow falling from the sky and felt cold and sleepy.
Rou rolled up the rag into a round shape to make a small cave and burrowed inside. Since his belly was full, sleep naturally poured out. Rou fell back into hibernation in that warm place.
‘I must tell the Goddess. That there was a child who saved me. That I want to grant that child’s wish……’
He heard the sound of snow piling up thickly.
And when he opened his eyes again, spring was in full bloom everywhere. Rou felt warm wind tickling his nose. The winter buds on every branch had all burst open, putting out light green leaves, and flower buds were opening their doors toward the sky without exception.
Rou was overjoyed at the Goddess’s energy filling the earth. As soon as he flew out of the greenhouse and landed on the earth, he heard the Goddess’s voice overflowing with vitality.
《Rou!》
“Goddess!”
The Goddess carefully cupped Rou in her palm and took him to her cave. Rou was happy to return to the Goddess’s side, so he rubbed his body against her face and spun round and round in her palm for a long while. The Goddess, seeming as happy as Rou, kissed his round body over and over.
《Rou. Do you know how worried I was.》
“Goddess! I’m sorry for worrying you. I woke early from hibernation and went outside the cave for a bit, then got lost.”
《I should have fed you enough honey in autumn. I must have done that by giving you only the sugar you like.》
The Goddess earnestly urged him to eat everything without being picky starting next year. Even that worried scolding from the Goddess felt dear to Rou, so he rubbed his body against the Goddess’s palm again. The Goddess said Rou was small and thin, and had a beverage brought out with plenty of sugar and honey.
Rou savored the beverage on the Goddess’s cushion. The sugar was intense, and the honey remained in his mouth for a long time, leaving an aftertaste. And as soon as he swallowed that sweet water down his throat, a memory struck Rou’s small head.
“Ah……!”
That child. He wanted to know what had become of the child who had saved his life.
“Goddess, Goddess. There was a child who saved me.”
As if the Goddess wanted to hear Rou’s words from closer, she extended one hand. Rou flew softly onto the Goddess’s palm.
“A child who shared a sugar cube with me when he himself was starving, I want to grant that child’s wish.”
The Goddess asked Rou about the circumstances, and Rou explained every detail of the situation. From being swept up in a gust of wind and falling to an unfamiliar place he didn’t know where, to nearly dying because he couldn’t eat the sugar cube under the covered teacup. And he told her everything up to how the child made sugar water for him.
The Goddess looked quite moved.
《To think there’s such a kind-hearted human child. Did he have a kind-looking face too?》
Rou couldn’t really distinguish human appearances. They all had two eyes, one nose, and one mouth, and didn’t appeal much to Rou. Rou thought that the more eyes and mouths they had, the stronger and more attractive they would be enough to want to make offspring together. However, Rou knew very well what kind of face the Goddess called kind.
The Goddess enjoyed calling to her temple youths with striking and splendid features who caught the eye, or boys with round eyes and round faces, saying they were kind and admirable. Because of this, the Goddess’s temple was full of beautiful boys and youths with eye-catching appearances.
Rou traced his memory and tried to recall the boy’s face. Although other things had faded due to deep hibernation, he clearly remembered the boy’s unusually red eyes. Seeing the eyes that had sparkled in the middle of his face dirtied with soot, when the boy grew up, he would surely have a kind face as the Goddess described.
“Yes. He was a kind-hearted boy with particularly beautiful red eyes.”
The Goddess, who had been smiling gently, suddenly stiffened her face. The Goddess asked Rou again as if it was hard to believe.
《Red eyes, you say? Didn’t you see wrong? Perhaps they were brown but looked red in the light.》
“No! He definitely had red eyes. They were deeper in color and more beautiful than roses bathed in sunlight, so I still remember them!”
Rou protested strongly. The more strongly Rou insisted, the more the Goddess’s face hardened. The Goddess gently picked up Rou and placed him on the cushion that was his bed, chair, and where he spent most of his daytime hours.
“Goddess?”
The Goddess spoke as if admonishing Rou.
《Rou. Forget all those memories.》
