Chapter 19: Are you afraid of spiders?

“Wake up my lady,” a gentle voice called out.

Sophie opened her eyes with a yawn and saw the figure of Katarina smiling down at her. She had slept through the whole trip!

Her cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment, so she glanced through the window to hide her shame.

This would be the first time since her transmigration that she visited the Peterlor ancestral home.

Err… where was the house?

The spaceship had landed in front of an empty plot of land with no vegetation or any signs of life present. Sophie was quite puzzled at the sight before her and asked,

“Are we at the right place?”

“Of course, we are my lady! It is just a few new security upgrades to the mansion that the duke ordered before your arrival,” Jack replied at the front.

The walkway swung down from the side of the spaceship and landed on the ground with a dull thud. Katarina and Jack both walked without hesitation, so Sophie followed closely behind them.

As they neared closer to the empty space, Sophie’s eyes began to glow slightly, and a blurred image of a dome appeared in her mind.

It was an enormous structure that reached towards the heavens and covered all angles of the empty space.

Sophie could make out slight fluctuations in the air when the wind brushed against the dome forming tiny ripples.

“I can never remember where exactly the damn entrance is,” Katarina muttered to herself.

Jack and Katarina began to hold their hands outstretched and feel around the dome to locate something.

Sophie was unsure about what they were looking for, so she quietly stayed at the back of the group and stretched out her limbs.

Truthfully her spider legs were beginning to get cramped, but she wanted to meet her father before taking off the cloak.

“Found it!” Jack exclaimed.

He placed a rectangular square of unknown metal into a small slit in the dome and a rumbling noise came from around them.

A beam of light cut a door into the dome and an entrance appeared.

“After you my lady,” Katarina bowed and spoke.

Sophie walked through the door and was amazed at the breathtaking view before her eyes. It was like a whole different world.

The other side of the dome was not empty as it appeared from outside but had a beautiful garden covering the soil.

Lush green grass tickled her feet as Sophie walked in a daze while strange plants and flowers bloomed along the side of the path.

A sense of peace and tranquility washed over her, and Sophie could tell these were the emotions of the original host.

Sui Meng also had a love for flowers and barely held herself back from venturing deeper into the garden to pick some.

She looked up at the end of the path of find a small wooden shack the size of a one-bedroom apartment.

This whole place seemed like it was frozen in time and untouched by the grip of humanity.

In a world with futuristic technology, the wooden shack formed a sharp contrast with the buildings in the capitol.

Her loyal bodyguards seemed to have no sense of urgency as they let their young miss roam around the garden with wide eyes.

In fact, there was a small look of resignation as if this was a scene, they had viewed too many times.

Sophie was shocked out of her trance by the bleeping noise of her tablet, she quickly held it up to see it was a call from her dad. She pressed accept and a calm voice spoke from the screen,

“Honey I know the garden is your favourite place, but don’t you want to see your old man?”

“I also heard you wanted to have a talk to me urgently so you can find me in my study where we can have a long chat”

Sophie suddenly remembered the purpose of the trip and hurriedly replied,

“Don’t worry dad…I’ll be there shortly”

A small hum of acknowledge was heard from the other end and the call was ended.

(Inside the mansion)

The duke had gotten a report on his daughter while she was asleep during the ride and Katarina had told him the suspicions.

He may have sounded calm on the phone, but his palms were sweating slightly, and he could hear his heartbeat racing in his chest.

Did his daughter resemble her?

No that should not be possible… there were no signs that his little girl was a monstrous talent or had any features of her mother other than her eyes and ears.

He had been able to hide her identity for sixteen years without revealing her racial heritage but if his fears were true… he dared not imagine the consequences.

Not from the humans who would simply treat her as yet another hybrid because there were many species with insect- like appendages.

Not even from the general races of the Insectoid empire who would see her as just another human.

The main fear was that her mother’s race would find out and send high level hunters after them.

They would kill her in a heartbeat just for the sin of being born.

(Flashback)

It had been over three years since Rokan had arrived in the heart of the Insectoid empire thanks to the warp gate and he had been through many trials and tribulations.

His cultivation base had shot up due to the numerous life and death battles.

He was now the youngest god stage cultivator humanity had ever seen. There were no known ascension god cultivators among the Insectoid empire so as long as he chose to flee, none could catch up to his spatial manipulation techniques.

He was unmatched among all the opponents he encountered, and arrogance swelled up in his chest.

He was an invincible fighter and considered himself untouchable to all cultivators below the Ascension Stage….

Until he wasn’t.

She was the strongest person he had ever seen, the qi in the air seemed to flow into her body as naturally as breathing air.

The swordsmanship he was so proud of was shattered by one casual thrust of her palm.

He still recalled the seductive figure in his dreams and the words she said while he lay on the floor in total defeat still haunted his mind.

“Say human… tell me this,” she spoke with a devilish grin on her face.

“Are you afraid of spiders?”