Rythica tried her best to tune out the annoying minion's noises. She really did. But there was only so much that could be done when the woman insisted on sitting directly next to the small food room and spouting a cacophony of nonsense sounds.

  Sure, the unmatched, intellectual, genius princess was slowly picking up that some of these words had actual meaning. Like "food", or "treat." Apparently, she was "Rythica," whatever that meant. And her disobedient drone was called a "Julia." But also not the other drone, for some reason? She learned the words for some of her toys; "block" and "ball". And she had even learned some of these sounds were warnings, like "bath", or "spray".

  She still had no idea why this upstart minion thought it could even get away with threatening her, but there was little she could do about it, given the difference in size... and the walls. Punishing the drone would have to come later.

  But even if some of these sounds held meaning, there was simply no possible way of these sounds did. The human had been speaking a constant stream of noises at Rythica for what she had come to believe was several entire lifetimes. (What most humans might refer to as "two months.") Ever since Rythica made the mistake of encouraging the wayward servant to play its game in exchange for treats. The vex had loved the small game at first. Make a weird sound, get a treat. Easy-peasy.

  Then, the human started getting into the game, trying to get the busy vex girl to play it at every opportunity. And then, this human had the to try to start demanding her to say multiple sounds per treat. Then she raised the difficulty again, making her say a sound based on what the "Julia" was pointing at. Why make it so needlessly difficult?!

  It didn't stop there, of course.

  At that moment, while Rythica was trying to enjoy a nice meal, this "Julia" had picked up one of those weird, colorful, rectangle things, apparently called a "book", and had started making a constant deluge of meaningless babble while staring at said "book." The first few times she did it, the gracious hive queen had been enraptured with the pretty pictures in the "book," but meal time was still meal time.

  So, it wasn't her fault that she started hissing at the stupid drone. It wasn't, honest! The "Julia" just needed to pick her timing better! So why was the sprayer being raised?

  The human had absolutely no reason to raise that weapon against her.

  If that strange, invisible wall wasn't blocking her path, the vex would have bitten the fingers off the "Julia." She bared her teeth. She was slowly getting real sick and tired of being threatened.

  ""

  Words weren't the only thing Rythica had learned. That invisible wall went both ways. If she couldn't attack the human, that meant the human couldn't attack her, either. Her mandibles clicked in warning, and her wings started to buzz, slightly.

  And, as expected of the pecking order, if a bit out of character for the delinquent minion, the "Julia" sighed in defeat. The human closed the "book" and stood up before spouting more gibberish alongside the important sounds.

  "Fine, fine. I'll let you finish your food first. Spoiled brat." She shook her head.

  Oh! "Brat." Rythica had learned that word was also her name. Her other name? She wasn't sure why some things had multiple names, but Rythica figured if anyone deserved multiple names, it was definitely her.

  The princess nodded as the human left her alone, as was right. The vex happily finished her meal in blissful silence. Oh, how much she was starting to love the sound of silence.

  Within short order, the bowl was empty and licked clean. Rythica also took some time to lick her face, hands, arms, and dress clean from all the blood, leaving none of the delicious fluids behind. She had gotten a speck of blood in one of her eyes as well, but her tongue was plenty long enough to clean off the extremely sensitive orb.

  See? She was perfectly capable of getting clean without needing... . She shivered in disgust. This was far more natural.

  When she was done, the impatient princess turned to the "Julia" expectantly.

  "Nu... Foo..."

  The "Julia" looked at her and critically judged her cleanliness. Rythica knew full well that the drone wouldn't let her back into the big room if she was still dirty. But the girl was confident she had cleaned herself properly. And, as expected, the human begrudgingly approved, making that up-and-down head motion that somehow meant "yes."

  "Wow, you're starting to get a bit better at not making a complete mess, huh?" The human glanced at the plethora of blood smears along the floor around Rythica. "Well, somewhat."

  "Nu!... ..."

  The "Julia" rolled her eyes. "Not yet."

  The "Julia" picked up the "book" again, and plopped down on the floor next to Rythica.

  "Oof, this floor is not the most comfortable place to sit." She rubbed her thighs and adjusted her position, attempting to make herself more comfortable. Finally, she cracked the "book" back open to her previous position and prepared to start spouting random drivel again.

  Rythica stared at her incredulously.

  "Ahem, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me-"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Nu!..."

  The drone ignored its queen.

  "Nu!... U-la!..."

  Rythica banged on the door for emphasis.

  "Calm down, already. Just look at these pictures. See this?" She pointed at a picture of a small fluffy, brown thing. "Mouse. Can you say mouse?"

  Rythica just glared... until her favorite servant pulled out a treat.

  "Mouse." The drone tapped on the paper.

  "ou...?" Rythica tried.

  "Mouse. Mmmooouuussseee," she repeated, slower, drawing the sounds out.

  "mmo... se..."

  The "Julia" didn't look nearly as impressed as she should have. Nonetheless, she opened one of the smaller side windows and dropped the stick of jerky inside. As soon as the taste hit her tongue, Rythica instantly swore she would make the misguided drone's punishment less severe. Maybe she'd only eat three of the drone's fingers. She was a generous queen, truly.

  Rythica huffed and joined Julia, sitting on the floor, and promptly getting blood stains all over her dress without realizing it. She absently started pulling at a loose piece of flaky skin on her arm. She was getting ready to shed again, soon, and some parts of her chitin had already started peeling. The young vex was not looking forward to it. It was an extremely uncomfortable experience all the way through. And incredibly itchy. She scratched an idle prickling on her stomach, dislodging another loose bit of skin. She ate it.

  "And what is this a picture of?"

  Rythica didn't respond, obviously, having not understood the question.

  Apparently realizing the issue, Julia just tapped on the picture while staring expectantly at Rythica.

  "...ca...?"

  "Yes! Cat! Good job!"

  Suddenly, the main door to the observation room opened, and the "not-Julia" human walked in. The older man had an exhausted look to him, but there was an excited light in his gaze if somewhat buried behind the growing bags under his eyes. He carried his usual notebook with him. He was pulling something behind him; a large wooden box with circular things on the bottom.

  Rythica glanced at him before quickly dismissing the useless drone. At least the "Julia" drone brought her food. The lazy one never seemed to do anything productive.

  "Good afternoon, Miss Julia."

  She quickly stood and bowed. "Hello, Master Randell."

  Rythica, sensing that she was no longer the subject of attention, banged on the door to her main enclosure once again. If she wasn't going to be getting treats anymore, then she might as well leave. Sitting in the food room was boring once all the food was gone.

  Both drones ignored her.

  Randell glanced between the two, taking note of the book in Julia's hand. "I can see I'm interrupting."

  Julia waved him off. "Oh, no, not at all. We were just playing some word games."

  He raised an eyebrow. "I see. I remember reading some of your daily reports on that. But... I hope you'll forgive me for remaining a bit skeptical of your earlier claims. Setting aside the dubious claims of the hive queen's sapience, as I've mentioned previously, the vex aren't a verbal species."

  Julia stammered. "I know you've said that, but I've heard her speak!" She held up the book and grinned. "She can point out objects and knows the names! I've been teaching her! It's been a work in progress, yes, but I fully believe she is capable of holding a conversation. Here, look!"

  Julia instantly flipped open the book to a random page and pointed at it, staring at Rythica intensely. "Rythica, what is this?"

  When the vex didn't immediately respond, Julia quickly pulled out another treat, eager to show off the girl's budding vocabulary skills.

  Rythica's eyes locked on the dangling strip of honeyed jerky and perked up, making a few happy noises. Glancing at the image on the page, the young vex girl garbled out a sound that could only tenuously be interpreted as "mouse."

  "See?!"

  Randell's expression shifted slightly. He took on a tone as if trying to explain something simple to a particularly dense student. "Yes, yes. I do believe that you've made your point. But echoing vague sounds is a very big step away from holding a sensible conversation."

  She stared at him, uncomprehending. "But she said the correct name."

  "She's parroting a vague sound. The vex aren't capable of speech. They don't have the mouth structure, or vocal cords capable of supporting true words. Vex queens communicate with their drones and juvenile queens telepathically, not audibly. And even then, it's questionable if the subspecies is intelligent enough for actual communication through that method, or just vague directions. The sapience of vex queens is a heavily debated topic. Most scholars tend to believe they are merely on the level of primates. Sure, learning some sound associations might be possible. But actual speech?" He made a complicated expression.

  She understood what he wasn't saying.

  Julia's shoulders sagged. "I know she's more than you're making her out to be. She's not just some beast or monster. She's a person. I it. I refuse to believe they are all bloodthirsty killers."

  Randell just nodded. "I am aware. Despite my personal bias, I am a researcher. I know what I I know, but nothing exists if I can't prove it with my own hands. I bought this specimen to study, and I fully intend to do as such. To that end, your impromptu speech lessons for Rythica will continue as part of your standard job duties."

  The nanny blinked, taken aback.

  "And while I desperately hope I'm right, I cannot, in good faith, dismiss the possibility that the girl is indeed sapient. She's low enough level that her natural magics will not meaningfully skew the test results. If she is successfully capable of learning a non-standard method of communication, for her species, and is capable of holding a conversation, well, the results would be fairly conclusive."

  He sighed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small ring, clearly enchanted.

  "As for overcoming the issues with her mouth structure, here."

  Julia took the ring with interest and confusion. "What is this?"

  "Translation ring, specifically designed to be one-sided. It won't help her learn to speak, of course, but it will help project her understanding of the word she's attempting to make. This should make it easier for you to understand her vague sounds. It won't affect her understanding of words she has no concept of, and it won't work on anything that isn't a direct attempt at verbal communication. I believe this will help smooth the learning process without compromising the test results."

  Julia looked closely at the ring, taking in the intricate and detailed lines of metal and gemstone woven through the thin band. This little piece of jewelry must have cost a small fortune! And it was a custom-made version specifically to be one-sided? She didn't even want to know how much this had cost. She shivered internally.

  "Oh, and the cost of that ring will be coming out of your budget. Between those toys, dresses, and far too much honeyed jerky, you're already pushing what's reasonable." He made a pointed look at all the children's books lined up on the small bookshelf, and the small enchanted water sprayer.

  She scowled at him for a moment, before quickly remembering he was her employer, and wisely returned to a neutral expression. "Of course, Master Randell."

  In the background, Rythica had started to screech in annoyance at still being locked in the smaller food enclosure while the two humans talked. She had been quickly approaching the end of her patience and was seconds away from going absolutely ballistic.

  "Agh, fine, hold on, brat." the defeated nanny sighed. She turned back to the smaller enclosure and made to open the door.

  "Please, wait. The ring wasn't my only reason for visiting today." He gave a wide smile. "After moving around some paperwork, and offloading some extra homework onto my apprentice, I somehow finally managed a day off."

  He looked directly at Rythica. "That means, it's time for some real tests." He tapped the empty transport box.

  "Let's go, little one."