The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Meri'an)

(Secret Location- Private Estate Of The Crown Prince)

"House Balrone are too unpredictable! They always switch sides the moment that something goes wrong!"

"Remind me sister... how many nobles have joined our faction thanks to your efforts? Zero? Then you should shut up or provide an alternative solution."

"Mind your manners boy... you are two hundred years too early to be talking to me in that tone."

Prince Theseus frowned as he quietly observed his quarrelling siblings. He was getting a headache from all the noise.

Being the crown prince was stressful enough and these meetings did nothing but raise his blood pressure.

Unfortunately, it was a necessary evil.

Despite their spoilt appearances, every prince and princess in the room was connected to a major family.

Prince Theseus had personally extended an invitation to them in order to strength his influence in the political sphere ahead of the selection ceremony.

The next leader would be chosen at that time but already having a base of support would be the difference between a good ruler and an effective one.

If only they could get along... or at least pretend to...

Prince Theseus let out a light sigh that went undetected amidst the noise in the room. Not for the first time he wondered whether it was worth it.

That thought was fleeting, and the crown prince quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. It was a bit too late now for any regrets.

This was the path that was chosen for him.

From the day he was born with a grade S cultivation talent, it was an inevitability that he would be involved in the struggles for the throne.

"Okay that's enough," Prince Theseus finally spoke.

"It doesn't matter if a few opportunistic nobles join our faction. Once a large number of nobles join our side it will be easy to get the rest to fall in line."

"In the meantime, our additional goal should be to focus on the high-ranking families. The presence of a duke will be quite influential."

"But none of the dukes or duchess have responded to our invitations," one of the princesses spoke.

"Then clearly we have not provided enough resources to get them interested," Prince Theseus coldly replied.

He placed his communicator on the table and pressed a button on the side of the metalloid device.

A holographic projection appeared in the middle of the room. It was an enormous list with thousands of names.

Most of the names were glowing red which indicated that attempts to win them over had failed.

Prince Theseus clicked on one of the names that was still blue, and the list was replaced by a picture of the current head of House Peterlor.

"Why has no one bothered to contact Duke Peterlor?" Prince Theseus questioned seriously.

There was a brief moment of silence as no one could answer the prince's simple question.

Prince Theseus placed his hands on the table and waited for someone to speak.

Finally, after some time, there were some who were willing to talk.

"Well, he hasn't shown any interest in the fight for the throne..."

"Yeah... I mean... it wasn't likely that he was going to join us..."

"I don't have any connections with House Peterlor, so it was difficult to reach out..."

Princes Theseus felt his headache intensify as he heard excuse after excuse from his royal siblings in the room.

Did they truly believe that he was stupid? Clearly something else was going on to make them so reluctant to even try.

Eventually one of the princes in the room answered with the real reason, "There are several nobles who have joined our side that believe in the Human Supremacy doctrine."

"We are likely to lose their support if word got out that we visited Duke Peterlor and frankly do we want the help of someone crazy enough to make a hybrid a successor?"

"Everyone knows that the hybrids are merely lesser creatures who dirty the purity of the human race."

There was a scattered applause after his words and several royal children nodded along in a show of support.

Prince Theseus felt sick to his stomach as he saw the gleeful smirks on his siblings' faces as they mocked and jeered at the very notion of hybrids getting involved in politics.

But what was more telling was the silence from those who did not go along with the mocking.

And why would they speak up?

Prince Theseus himself did not say a word of complaint so naturally everyone in the room assumed that it meant he approved.

This was getting out of hand...

Prince Theseus opened his mouth to say a few words of rebuke but eventually he said nothing in the end.

Another necessary evil. This was just another necessary evil. When he became the next emperor, he would change the laws and a better man than his father.

A necessary evil...

Prince Theseus did not have the mood to continue the meeting and spent the rest of the afternoon in a haze of self-loathing.

Naturally he maintained his poker face and cold appearance so none of the princes or princesses in the room realised that something was amiss with their leader.

The senses of a void stage cultivator were incredibly sharp so even though crown prince was barely paying attention, he was still absorbing the critical information from the reports.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the meeting finally ended, and the crown prince stood up to address the crowd.

"Thank you for coming here today. Your loyalty to the cause will not be forgotten," Prince Theseus spoke politely.

"Don't forget that we will be holding another meeting in three months' time."

The crown prince thumped his arm against his chest and shouted, "Glory to the Federation!"

After the last guest had left the room, Prince Theseus leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes.

"Are you going to come out or do I have to drag you out myself?" the crown prince whispered softly.

The air behind him shimmered and a mysterious man walked out from behind the veil.

This person bore an eerily striking resemblance to the late emperor and possessed a charm and beauty that seemed unnatural.

"I must say brother... the rumors of your sharp instincts are quite justified," the man chuckled merrily.

Prince Theseus kept his eyes closed but extended his senses to get a mental picture of the mysterious visitor.

It was strange.

The qi fluctuations in the man's dantian were around the same as those usually seen in cultivators of the qi body stage and yet that had to be impossible.

There was no way a mere qi body cultivator could break into his mansion without alerting the guards.

"Which family are you from?" Prince Theseus asked curiously as he secretly grabbed the dagger hidden in his pocket.

"Does it matter?" the man replied with an easy-going smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ruby-like gem that gleamed hypnotically under the light.

Prince Theseus opened his eyes and stared at the gem.

He made no attempt to touch the Kry'en crystal and instead focused on looking at the stranger's face.

The crown prince mentally reviewed every member of the royal family that he had seen before but still could not determine who this was.

"Please accept this humble gift from my employer. He is a nobleman with great expectations for the awe-inspiring crown prince," the man spoke politely.

He stretched out his hand and the ruby-like gem continued to glow. The crown prince appeared transfixed by the object and slowly got up from his chair.

"This is just a small token of apprecia..." the man didn't have time to finish his sentence as a black knife cleanly sliced his head off.

Blood splattered on the floor as the crown prince stood over the corpse with a cautious attitude.

He waited several minutes for any signs of life, but the body remained still. Prince Theseus tentatively poked the corpse a few times with his foot and finally let down his guard.

He knelt down next to the body and grabbed the crystal. Prince Theseus could not help but laugh as he found the entire affair ridiculous.

Did that mysterious man hope to bribe him with one tiny Kry'en crystal?

The prince played with the crystal in his palm as his attention shifted to the employer who had sent one of his brothers to bribe him.

Which family was it? The Prenaon? The MacIvors?

Still at least he was now a rare crystal richer. Prince Theseus opened his storage ring to put the gem inside, but a sudden burning sensation made him pause his movements.

The crystal in his palm had somehow melted and the reddish liquid was now being absorbed by his skin.

Prince Theseus hurriedly grabbed his knife to chop off his right arm, but the knife froze mere inches away from his skin.

The crown prince's eyes briefly turned completely white before returning back to normal.

The headless corpse in the room had now disappeared and the only trace of the mysterious intruder were the bloodstains on the floor.