The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Elite Student Housing Complex- Mansion 456Y)

Cleo swiped her hand on the scanner and a green light swept her palm. The front doors swung open, and she stepped inside her mansion.

She glanced at the living room and saw Moon sleeping on the couch with his furry chest slowly rising up and down.

It was an ordinary day.

And yet…

Cleo slowly walked into the apartment and took off her wrist communicator. She placed it on a nearby table and then headed for the kitchen.

With deliberate movements she made herself a cup of warm hot chocolate and then slowly sipped the contents of the cup.

Her eyes flicked back and forth from the mug in her hand to the communicator that was resting motionless on the table.

An unknown number had managed to send a message directly to her personal inbox which meant one thing.

Her wrist communicator had been compromised.

Fortunately, Cleo had picked up some tricks after spending years in the imperial palace and knew exactly what to do in this situation.

First, she left the wrist communicator on the table and then headed for one of the side bedrooms that was not in regular use.

As she entered the room, Cleo locked the door behind her and then reached into her storage bag and pulled out a metalloid sphere.

She pressed a button on its side and several harsh beams of light swept the entire length of the room multiple times.

This was a scanner that could detect bugs, listening devices and other surveillance devices that used electricity.

Cleo waited patiently for the scanner to finish while thinking about her future plans.

She would need to scan every nook and cranny of the apartment to make sure that the other spaces were not bugged.

The warning in the video message said that if she told anyone then her mother would be in danger.

It was a threat that could only be carried out if there was someway of knowing if she had told other people.

Finally, the metalloid device bleeped twice, and the screen went blank.

"Good…" Cleo whispered softly to herself as she walked over to the bed and slowly lifted up the mattress.

Below the mattress was a tiny brown box that had been locked using several layers of protection devices.

Cleo took a few minutes to unlock the box and then reached inside to pull out a new wrist communicator.

Some might consider her to be a paranoid person and… they were right.

If you grew up in the imperial palace, then most people would be the same.

As for those who weren't.... well…

They didn't last long.

Cleo powered on the wrist communicator and began to write a message. There were several things that just did not add up about the video.

The first was that she was unsure if that was really her mother or someone who was impersonating her appearance.

There were many ways to do this… digital editing… using a shapeshifting technique or simply hiring a Quafes.

The woman in the video did not speak which was an immediate red flag.

The second was that Cleo did not believe that her mother was stupid enough to be captured by the crown prince.

Her mother was a woman with a lot of secrets… the symbiote… her clan… her true purpose in marrying the emperor.

Somehow Cleo found it hard to believe that she would so easily be captured.

And finally… clearly the crown prince had not done enough research because if he had then he would know that Cleo was not going to risk her life for the woman who abused her.

Once she would have rushed to her mother's aid regardless of the personal costs but now… Cleo felt nothing but hatred in her heart.

Her own mother had nearly killed her.

If the duke hadn't intervened, then… she might have died.

The princess took in a few deep breaths in order to compose herself and then continued writing out the message.

Still, she had no proof that the crown prince was really behind this.

There was a possibility that it was a third party trying to create chaos by impersonating Prince Theseus.

It would be monumentally stupid for the crown prince to personally involve himself in a kidnapping and blackmail attempt.

And even record himself on video.

Cleo finished typing out the message and pressed send. The message detailed everything that she had just seen in the video as well as her personal thoughts.

The message was sent out to a private number that was the only one in the wrist communicator's contact list.

This number was connected to one of Duke Peterlor's secret devices only to be used for emergency purposes.

Cleo wanted to send a message to her girlfriend as well, but she wasn't sure if her wrist communicator had also been compromised.

The blackmailer probably knew that she was likely to confess to Sophie, but they could not have predicted that she also had a secret connection to the duke himself.

The princess placed the wrist communicator back inside the wooden box and then put it back under the mattress.

She had a five-day time limit.

It was probably best to continue to act like normal and wait to see what Sophie's dad suggested that she do.

Sophie would be arriving tomorrow so Cleo planned to fill her in person once she made sure that the apartment was safe.

"Damn it… who is playing with me?' Cleo muttered angrily to herself as she walked towards the bedroom door.

She took a moment to compose herself and then stepped outside. She clutched the metalloid device in her right palm and pressed the button on its side.

It was time for the long and arduous process of going through room by room looking for any listening devices or bugs.

Cleo let out a heavy sigh as bright beams of light burst out of the device and began to sweep around her nearby surroundings.

This was really not how she anticipated her first semester of second year to start.

Was it too much to ask for just a few months of regular university life?

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(Hydra Star System- Unknown Location)

(Hidden Lunar Base)

"Do you think that she will come?" a hoarse voice echoed through a darkened room.

Several figures completely covered by long black cloaks stood in complete silence as if they were statues.

A handsome young man with similar facial features to Cleo leaned back against a metalloid chair and smirked mischievously.

He had a soft and delicate build with muscles that were severely undeveloped. He was the spitting image of a man who knew nothing but wine and women.

"Well, we probably would have gotten a better chance if one of you had managed to capture the bitch's mother," Prince Luke sneered angrily.

He lazily snapped his fingers and one of the hooded figures stepped forward and began to massage his shoulders.

"So, tell me… why me? Why not my older brother? Bastard is already being hailed as the next emperor by some snivelling nobles eager to suck on his cock…" Prince Luke mockingly jeered.

There was a hint of jealousy and hatred in his tone as he spoke about his older brother the crown prince.

Unlike the rest of his royal siblings, he and the so-called 'next emperor' were full siblings since they were born from the same mother.

Except well… that is where the similarities ended.

Prince Theseus would go on to be the most promising candidate for the throne while on the hand Prince Luke was nothing more than a fuck up.

Always in his brother's shadow…

"My lord… you have great potential… we wish to see you as the next leader of the Earth Federation," one of the hooded men softly spoke.

"Oh, save me the whole bullshit…" Prince Luke laughed sarcastically as he slapped away the hand resting on his shoulder.

"Tell me what you want from me and where does my little sister fit into your plans."