The Spider Queen
chapter-93

(Gaia International Spaceport Terminal)

"Dad!" Sophie called out joyfully as she ran forward and threw herself into the duke's waiting arms.

It had been the longest period of time that the father- daughter duo had been separated and Sophie was overwhelmed by a feeling of happiness.

Qiana had gone to another gate where her family was waiting patiently, so the girls hugged tightly and promised to hang out after the graduation ceremony.

The Royal Academy would hold a celebration for all the students who successfully passed the university entrance exam.

There were even rumors and whispers that this current year had the highest amount of university candidates in the history of the school.

"Sophie!" Rokan smiled as he felt his precious baby girl in his arms.

The moment did not last too long as the duke immediately started to pepper Sophie with question after question.

"Have you been eating okay?"

"Did anyone bully you?"

"Did any boy approach you with bad intentions?!"

Sophie patiently answered the questions one by one until her overprotective dad was somewhat satisfied.

"Welcome back young miss," Katarina stepped forward and respectfully bowed.

"I predicted a sixty percent chance of success, so your lack of failure was to be expected," Jack muttered while playing around with his tablet.

Jack spoke in a monotone voice with no traces of any other emotion but internally he was quite shocked.

The information he sent to his employers stated that Sophie was unlikely to place in the top one thousand, but she had well surpassed his calculations by reaching third place.

There were many who did not want another monstrous talent like Duke Peterlor to be outside of their control.

Rokan Peterlor was the fastest among the Earth Federation to reach the god stage in centuries and his breakthrough to the ascension realm seemed to be just a matter of time.

If his daughter even exhibited a fraction of his talent, it was enough to get several leaders of the Federation to feel slightly uneasy.

Jack frowned as he gazed at the hybrid girl and an indecipherable emotion flashed across his eyes.

"Hi Jack! Hi Katarina!" Sophie nodded at the two loyal death guards.

"I'm sorry but I didn't get chance to practice the Art of Poison during the competition, but I have been injecting myself according to the schedule," Sophie confessed to Katarina.

"It's okay miss, over the next few months I think you are ready to now learn some poison qi techniques," Katarina replied softly.

"Wait a moment!" the duke loudly interrupted the reunion.

"Why are we just hanging around the airport…. we need to celebrate!"

He turned to Katarina and Jack and whispered a series of commands to which the duo nodded and soon left in hovercars with Sophie's luggage bags.

The duke placed his hand on Sophie's shoulders and a frightening qi started to circulate around his palm.

Spatial void slash!

Sophie gasped in surprise as the surrounding space began to warp and twist as Sophie found herself at the entrance of a strange building.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Your old man thought that a meal at the finest restaurant in Gaia would make an excellent early gift," the duke boasted.

Sophie did not notice it before but the building in front of her was simply a marvel of architecture.

It appeared to be made entirely out of a crystal-like material which gleamed hypnotically as the colours shifted and morphed.

The building seemed to be carved from a single block as Sophie could not find any additions or modifications to the original material.

All this beautiful work culminated in the overall image of a magnificent palace whose height soared to the heavens.

"Shall we go inside?" the duke offered his hand as the duo walked towards the entrance.

Sophie was amazed that the interior was as impressive as the outside with the soft glow from luminous materials providing a gentle light.

[Do you have a reservation?] came a voice that echoed in Sophie's mind.

Rokan reached deep inside his pocket and took out a silvery token that was adorned with tiny jewels on its edges.

[Please go to room two on the upper floor]

The duke placed the token back into his pocket and with practised ease, he led Sophie up a spiral stairway to the upper rooms.

Surprisingly enough, inside the room was quite empty with only a long table and several chairs casually lined up.

The chairs were made out of a wooden material and seemed out of place compared to the luxury outside.

"Dad what was that voice?" Sophie asked curiously once she sat down.

"The guy who runs this place is a powerful psychic, so he tends to monitor guests remotely to prevent any trouble," the duke replied.

There was a holographic projection of a menu floating quietly above the table, but Sophie could not recognise any of the food advertised.

It proved not important as her father simply waved his hand and ordered the entire stock.

He was well aware of the bottomless hole that was his daughter when eating.

Thankfully, he was wealthy enough to afford it!

A burst of qi shot out of the duke's head and made a bubble that enveloped the room.

"Now you can tell me what actually happened in the entrance exam."

Sophie tapped her fingers casually against her leg and began to recount the full details of her experiences.

From meeting her aunt in the hidden space to battling the triple headed elemental snake and even the details about her new ability.

The duke leaned back against his chair with his eyes closed as he tried to digest this shocking new information.

His ex-lover was in seclusion?

Why did she abandon him and Sophie?

Why would Thai'lle's sister reach out to his daughter if her family hated hybrids?

Rokan had subconsciously been blocking out any thoughts of his beautiful Arachne lover as the pain from her betrayal had cut him to his very core.

'But what if there were other circumstances?' this idea kept bouncing around his head.

The duke sighed heavily and just warned his daughter to be careful. Maybe Thai'lle sister would be able to help his daughter control her new abilities.

Besides, even if her mother's family meant harm, they would need to strike deep within the core of the Earth Federation to even reach Sophie.

And the old monsters guarding the border were not simple decorations.

Sophie could tell that her father had not told her the full story between him and Thai'lle, but she did not press him on the matter.

There was a final issue that she needed to bring up.

Sophie had noticed that her father constantly preached about staying away from boys and it did not take a genius to figure out that he assumed that she was straight.

But…. she wasn't.

Sophie did not want to hold any secrets from her father, and it would be impossible to hide this fact if she developed a relationship in the future.

She bit her lip nervously before telling him one more piece of news.

"I will be meeting princess Cleo for a date in a couple of days."

"Dad… I'm interested in girls."

There was dead silence after Sophie confessed her sexuality.

The duke could not say a word as he sat in his chair as if frozen from shock.

"I…I should have told you sooner…I…" Sophie trailed off as her father raised his hand to cut her off.

"So, what you're telling me…." the duke spoke with furrowed brows.

"I need to watch out for girls as well?!"