The Spider Queen

Chapter 169: An Insectoid?

There was a tense silence.

Sophie could feel her newfound courage gradually slipping away as Cleo’s mouth slowly opened to say something and then closed before the words could come out.

The princess was just shell shocked and frozen in disbelief.

An Insectoid?

The war between the Earth Federation and the Insectoid Empire had been going on for generations with no end in sight.

There was an enormous blood debt between both sides that would not be resolved until one was annihilated completely.

Cleo had only been six years old when she saw the memorial broadcast on the virtual net that mourned the victims of an Insectoid attack.

The image of those ugly hideous bug-like monsters who killed indiscriminately was planted deeply within her mind.

She saw as those creatures slaughtered men, women, and children alike with no remorse.

As one of the leading candidates to the throne, Princess Cleo was expected to take a firm pro war stance as public opinion was firmly on the side of the military.

The Imperial Army would not rest until the threats to the Federation both internal and external were eliminated swiftly. 

Cleo’s hand shook slightly as she raised her head and stared deeply into Sophie’s eyes. 

Gold met green as an unknown emotion surfaced in Cleo’s heart.

Her girlfriend…… was an enemy?

If this matter were to be exposed to the public, it would be the biggest scandal in the history of the noble society.

The former commander of the Imperial Army had a hybrid offspring with an Insectoid and then named her as heir to his dukedom.

Cleo was no stranger to the inner darkness of the royal court, and she knew exactly what the fate of her girlfriend would be.

The Ascension pillars would kill Sophie and then the duke himself to make an example out of them.

“Wow…. err…yeah….” Cleo managed to mutter out a few words, but it did little to calm down the anxious looking hybrid girl on the bed.

“So, what do you think?” Sophie asked nervously.

“I mean…. your dad and an Insectoid? The same man who fought tooth and nail against the Empire for years at the border?” Cleo could not help but ask again to confirm.

“Yeah… the details aren’t that important, but they met and fell in love during the years he went missing,” Sophie replied.

“It turns out that the wormhole had sent him into the heart of the Insectoid Empire, and he had to survive there all on his own.”

“He met my mom on a small exoplanet, and they bonded during the months spent together.”

The mystery of where the duke had gone after he had been sucked into the wormhole had remained unsolved as the man was very tight lipped about the matter.

Cleo did not expect to find out the answer from Sophie and it seems that her girlfriend was hiding some of the details or her father did not tell her everything.

It was no simple matter to survive by yourself in the middle of enemy territory. Even a god stage cultivator would have difficulties escaping if he were surrounded by an entire army.

But Sophie’s mother….

Cleo frowned and the shadows beneath her feet started to twist and squirm.

Her veins and arteries began to widen as a purple gas now flowed through her blood.

The dark symbiote inside her body opened its purplish eyes with horror as it had heard fragments of the conversation.

From its genetic inheritance memory, it knew that certain Insectoid races specialized in hunting down those of his kind to consume them as food.

Bam! Bam!

Cleo winced as she felt a small pain coming from her chest, but this sensation soon passed. 

She had no idea that the symbiote was frantically attempting to invade her heart but kept getting repelled by the pink barrier created by the mark.

Bam! Bam!

Its creepy tendrils wrapped tightly around her organs and tried to enter inside to gain control of her body, but it was futile.

Eventually the symbiote tired itself out and had to return to its state of hibernation. 

Cleo’s veins returned to normal and it was like nothing ever happened.

Cleo could not help but wonder where exactly Sophie’s mother was.

Although the relationship between Cleo and Concubine Sisrelis was now extremely rocky, she was lucky enough to experience a great deal of maternal love during her early childhood.

Was Sophie’s mother hidden away somewhere in the Federation?

Or did she stay in the Insectoid empire.

“I…I’m sorry if this is too personal but what happened to your mom?” Cleo asked hesitantly.

“She is still alive, but my dad never told me why they separated and how come he returned to the Earth Federation with me alone,” Sophie smiled as she tried to lighten up the mood.

“These strange new states and powers come from the Arachnais side of my bloodline and are granted by their goddess.”

“But as you can tell…. I’m not very good at using them yet.” 

“This is crazy… I’m sorry but…. this is actually unbelievable,” Cleo stammered as she was still trying to process these revelations.

“I’m dating an Insectoid.”

“Well you also got fucked by an Insectoid,” Sophie joked with a playful wink.

“Can you take this seriously?” Cleo snapped back with anger.

“Have you forgotten the nomad genocide of planet V-930 at the border? Or the Zertina Wars that led to the Federation scorching ten planets in Empire controlled territory?”

“Humans hate Insectoids and I’m sure that they must hate us as well!”

“Do you have any idea what would happen if your secret gets exposed?!” 

“The Federation government would either lock you up in some secret laboratory facility or just execute you as a warning!”

Cleo’s voice continued to rise, and Sophie looked on in shock as the princess finally lost control of herself,

“I CAN’T LOSE YOU!”

Cleo broke down in a sob as tears flowed freely from the corners of her eyes. 

All the panic, shock and disbelief seemed to all come crashing down at once.

From Sophie nearly killing her while being in an enraged state to learning that her girlfriend was an Insectoid…. 

Cleo could no longer properly handle these events that occurred in rapid succession.

She loved Sophie and the mere fact that her existence would be seen as an abomination by the noble class was enough to upset her greatly.

And the fact that her life could be in constant danger was also making Cleo feel to throw up as she was filled with fear.

“I’m sorry for making you worry,” Sophie whispered as she felt her heart shatter at the sight of her crying lover.

Cleo continued to sob but one warm pair of arms wrapped tightly around her body as Sophie drew her closer in for a hug.

Sophie rubbed Cleo’s back lovingly and whispered soft words of comfort as her girlfriend silently cried out all of her pent-up emotions.

Minutes passed by and the two girls seemed to be frozen in time until Cleo suddenly pressed her head against Sophie’s chest and finally started to calm down.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Cleo muttered in a quiet voice.

“You won’t,” came Sophie’s firm reply.

“I will never leave you.”