"He left... just like that?"

Tyler stood there, stunned, staring at the empty space where Gailo had vanished moments ago. There was No ripple on space, no lingering presence or anything. One moment, a spider from another era had been speaking calmly about curses, reincarnation, and decades-long journeys. The next, he was simply gone.

Tyler rubbed the back of his neck.

"...Seriously," he muttered.

A sudden sharp movement snapped him out of his thoughts.

Right in front of him, a ridiculous scene was unfolding.

The orange cat and the cat-head-sized white spider were in the middle of a full-blown brawl— both desperately trying to claim the same spot on Tyler’s shoulder. Serena hissed, tail puffed up, while Dia responded by shooting tiny strands of sticky web at her rival. Serena dodged one and countered with a surprisingly clean spin kick.

Tyler sighed.

Before either of them could escalate further, he reached out and grabbed them both, one in each hand, lifting them off his shoulders and separating them mid-air.

"Enough," Tyler said flatly.

They froze.

"Hmmm... well," Tyler continued, looking from one to the other, "be good to each other. You’re both Cube Holders after all."

He smiled faintly as he said it.

The smile lasted exactly one second.

A sticky web slapped directly onto his face.

At the same time—

"MEOW!"

Serena landed a solid kick against his jaw.

"Ouch!"

Tyler staggered back, tearing the web off his face.

"That’s it! Both of you—out!" he shouted. "Go play outside!"

He pointed toward the entrance.

"And Serena," he added, rubbing his cheek, "let Kris out."

Serena snorted, clearly offended, but still tapped her pearl with her paw.

Light shimmered.

Kristina appeared instantly, standing where there had been empty space a moment ago.

"Mother!"

The moment she saw her mom, she ran forward without hesitation. There was worried expression on her facs.

The spider, Dia, paused mid-step and stared at the pearl in Serena’s paw, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

Serena noticed.

She puffed up proudly and made a smug little gesture with her tail.

The two exchanged a brief glare.

Then, without another word, both dashed outside to continue their unresolved rivalry.

Tyler watched them go and shook his head.

"...Aren’t they both supposed to be 200+ year old Adults?."

He turned back to Kristina and gently gestured toward Chole, who was still unconscious nearby.

"Don’t worry," Tyler said calmly. "She’s just sleeping. Let her rest."

Kristina nodded, holding her mother close.

"You can rest here too," Tyler added. "I’ll go look around this place."

Kristina hesitated.

"Where... are we?"

Tyler looked around the web-covered space, then toward the open exit beyond the flowers.

"This," he said quietly, a faint shine appearing in his eyes, "is our place now."

He turned and walked outside, leaving the mother and daughter behind.

Kristina watched him leave.

Then she looked down at her mother.

There were faint white sticky strands clinging to her clothes and hair— residual spider webbing that hadn’t fully dissolved yet.

The daughter blinked, then glanced left and Right.

She made sure no one was watching.

Carefully, she lifted one finger and touched the sticky web, stretching it slightly. A clear, viscous thread formed between her finger and her body.

With flushed face, she brought it closer to her face. She was about to lick it. But she suddenly stopped.

She sniffed it.

"...It doesn’t smell like Mr. Tyler’s – , moe..." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Her shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment.

Outside, Tyler stepped into the flower field, completely ignoring the distant sounds of hissing, meowing, and tiny web shots flying through the air.

The tall flowers swayed gently as he walked, brushing against his shoulders. The light filtering through the petals gave the entire field a soft, dreamlike glow.

He stopped and looked around.

The flower field was larger than he expected.

Not by much, but enough that it stood out. He walked deeper inside, scanning the surroundings carefully.

Flowers and Only flowers. There are also some tall grasses here and there.

The entire field was surrounded by trees, their trunks thick and old, forming a natural boundary. Beyond those trees, he could see more flowers stretching endlessly, but there was a clear separation, an invisible line dividing territories.

A sudden shadow passed overhead.

Tyler looked up.

A giant butterfly drifted above the field, its wings shimmering with brilliant colors. Then another followed. Then another.

Soon, dozens of massive butterflies—each the size of a child—rose gently from the flowers, their wings beating slowly, gracefully.

Tyler leaned against a tree and watched silently.

It was beautiful.

Then—

A low buzzing sound reached his ears.

Tyler turned his head and spotted a massive honeycomb hanging from one of the trees nearby. The hexagonal structure was enormous, layered thickly with golden honey.

Bees moved in and out of it.

Each one was the size of his palm.

"...Those are big," Tyler murmured.

One bee drifted away from the hive and flew downward. Its back was turned to Tyler as it hovered near the flowers, focused entirely on gathering nectar.

Tyler slowly stepped back.

Carefully.

Then—

Crack.

A small branch snapped under his foot. The bee stopped mid-air. It turned around and buzzed.

Tyler froze.

The stinger was long, Sharp and Far sharper than any normal bee’s. It was focused on Tyler.

Tyler was ready to dodge. But the bee didn’t attack.

It didn’t even move toward him.

Instead, it turned away again, as if losing interest, and flew back toward the flowers to continue collecting honey.

Tyler frowned.

"Hm?"

He scanned the area more carefully.

Then he noticed something strange.

Unlike the flowers deeper in the field, the flowers on this side, closer to where he stood, had no insects at all. There were No bees, No beetles Nor any crawling life.

Even the butterflies flying above seemed to avoid dipping down into this section.

"They don’t want to enter the spider’s territory..." Tyler muttered.

The realization settled in slowly.

Even now, after Gailo had left, the ecosystem still respected the boundary he had created.

"Nope, more like they didn’t know he left." Tyler looked back toward the web-covered area.

Now that the spider is gone... will they invade?

The thought lingered for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

"No way," Tyler said quietly. "There’s no way Gailo would leave his daughter in a place that dangerous."

With that thought reassuring him, Tyler turned around and headed back toward the house.

Behind him, the flowers swayed gently, untouched.

As he walked back toward the old house, Tyler noticed how crude it looked, as if it were about to fall apart at any moment. It felt less like a real home and more like something the spider had made simply to lure intruders. Thick spiderwebs acted as adhesive, binding the structure together and keeping it from collapsing.

"I need to build a new house... I wonder if Dia can make adhesive like this," Tyler muttered.

He exhaled and straightened his shoulders.

"Alright. Time to build a house," he said quietly. "This time, a good one."