The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Gaia)

(Peterlor Estate- Duke's Private Study Office)

"Excellent… my daughter is truly like her old man," Duke Peterlor whispered proudly as he read the report on his communicator.

Sophie had gotten first place in the battle ranking exam and the news was beginning to spread around some noble circles.

Power was always respected, and several forces were revaluating their relationship with House Peterlor.

Duke Peterlor's daughter had the potential to become a powerhouse just like her father which meant that whether or not she was a hybrid was slowly becoming irrelevant.

The duke stretched out his hand and picked up a cup of coffee on his table that was still gently steaming.

He raised up the cup and took a small sip as he continued to read through the report.

Sophie's abilities were vastly above her peers and in fact she was probably at the level of third year students.

Duke Peterlor smiled as he saw a picture of his daughter standing proudly on a podium and accepting a trophy from the principal.

Principal Malik was smiling with a wolfish grin as he presented the trophy and posed for a picture with a thumbs up.

That old man… he was always so surprisingly childish…

Knock! Knock!

Two soft tapping noises came from the other side of the door and then it opened to reveal an elderly man dressed in a simple black suit.

"Pardon my intrusion master," Butler Gerald politely spoke as he walked towards the duke and gave a short bow.

"Gerald… there is no need for the formalities when it's just the two of us…" Duke Peterlor admonished his old friend.

"Of course, sir," Butler Gerald replied with a light smile.

He glanced at the image displayed on the duke's communicator screen and a happy expression flashed across his face.

He had known Sophie ever since she was a little baby, and it was reassuring to know that the girl who used to cry quite a bit had now grown up.

"So, tell me… what is the urgent news?" Duke Peterlor asked curiously as he tapped his fingers against the top of his desk.

"Well, I must inform you of two important developments…." Butler Gerald put away his lighthearted expression and spoke seriously.

"You have received a dozen more invitations from various princes and princesses hoping for your support in the upcoming fight for the throne."

"And there is a rumor that the noble families who are part of the Human Supremacy faction have thrown their support behind the crown prince."

Duke Peterlor leaned back against his chair and slowly digested the information that he had just been given.

The fight between the Human Supremacy faction and his group of likeminded nobles who supported hybrid rights was currently in a bit of a stalemate.

The death of the emperor had essentially reset the board and neither side knew what position the next head of state would take in regard to hybrid and alien rights in the Federation.

Currently both sides taking different approaches to the fight for succession with Duke Peterlor's group taking a more passive approach.

One could never tell what was going to happen in a life and death fight, so it was risky to throw your support behind a candidate.

In the worst-case situation, you could end up offending the future emperor and empress and that would be suicide for your political career.

That is why the last bit of information was extremely shocking.

Why would the Human Supremacy faction show their hand so early?

It made no sense from a logical point of view and Duke Peterlor could not understand what the reasoning behind their decision was.

However, now was not the time to make rash moves in response but rather to plan carefully and seize this opportunity to investigate the current situation.

Duke Peterlor looked at his loyal butler directly and gave out a series of orders in a firm tone,

"Thank you for informing me… send a message to the heads of house Abazin, Braveheart, Blackait, Pitfax, Davenyer and Corgit to schedule an emergency meeting,"

"This will be a small private meeting and then in a few weeks time once more information has surfaced then I will reach out to the other noble families."

"In addition, tell Katarina that she will be given one billion Enas to pay the black-market information networks… I want all their data on the crown prince and the Grand Tutor."

Butler Gerald nodded solemnly and placed one hand over his chest before walking out of the room.

He closed the door behind him with a quiet thump and soon the study room fell into complete silence.

"The crown prince? But why? There are other candidates with opinions more in line with the Human Supremacy doctrine," Duke Peterlor muttered to himself quietly.

The crown prince was one of the favourites to become the next emperor, but Duke Peterlor was not particularly fond of his character.

He was incredibly weak willed and seemed to change his positions based on who he was talking to.

That made it incredibly difficult to figure out what his true thoughts were on certain matters.

The only advantage that he had was a powerful mother who was a member of a large financial group with wealth that matched high noble families.

Still…

Duke Peterlor furrowed his brows and quickly opened up his communicator to search the private Virtual net.

Prince Theseus had been making a few shocking moves recently.

He had formed an alliance with House Martin and Drkane and rumors spread that he offered them mining colonies in exchange for their loyalty.

But the strange thing was that even though the crown prince was offering rights that he was not authorized to give… House Martin and House Drkane still accepted his offer.

The fight for succession was both dangerous and murky. It was part of the reason why Duke Peterlor was staying clear of it.

Greater noble families than his had vanished into the annals of history after supporting the wrong side in the war.

It was for this reason why the duke had never entertained any of the princes or princesses who came to contact him.

Princess Cleo was an exception, but no one thought that the duke planned to support her to fight for the throne.

Still her relationship with Sophie might make her a target…

The other members of the royal family might see Cleo as a way to gain a connection with Sophie and by extent… himself.

Duke Peterlor paused for a moment and then began to type out a private message to Cleo telling her about his suspicions.

He would protect both girls with all his strength and they should be safe as long as they did not get involved in the succession war.