Chapter 230: Encounter And Conflict
(Planet Gaia- Imperial Palace)
(Grand Hall)
"It is truly an honour to visit the royal palace. I plan on thanking his royal highness for hosting such a magnificent banquet," Sophie spoke politely while forcing the urges down.
"Yes, there were certainly no expenses spared. The wine in my hand for example is made from a special fruit only found in the Dagaon System," Rosalina replied while taking a sip.
Sophie had been stuck in this conversation for over five minutes with this strange noble girl but that was not the main issue.
It was the voice in her head constantly telling her to kill.
Sophie could feel the corners of her eyes start to itch and she casually tilted her wineglass to peek at her reflection.
Just as she feared.
There was a faint red colour spreading out from the corner of her eyes.
It was a sign that her bloodlust state was being activated.
Fuck.
What to do?!
Sophie frowned slightly as she could feel the blade-like appendages on her back begin to stiffen and her fangs slowly extended.
Worse case... she would just leave the banquet.
It would be considered rude and abrupt, but it was far better than attacking a fellow noble out of the blue.
Sophie knew how crazy and out of control she got when her eyes turned fully red and it would be a devastating blow to the hybrid rights movement if she acted like a beast.
That scene alone would be enough for the Imperial Teacher and his faction to sway many of the undecided nobles to his side.
"My family is from the Alpha Star System and we recently discovered some oritheium crystal mines," Rosalina smiled pleasantly.
"Maybe we can negotiate some form of cooperation in the near future. My family is willing to offer you a ten percent discount."
"I will let my father know," Sophie nodded as she painfully dug her fingers into the palm of her hand.
Thin droplets of blood formed where her nails pierced her soft flesh, but the unexpected sting was enough to bring about a brief moment of clarity.
Just as Sophie was about to stab her flesh even further, Rosalina bowed and said goodbye before turning around and walking towards Alexander.
The lanky boy with a thin physique and a scholarly aura was surprised to see a beautiful girl like Rosalina approach him.
She politely began a conversation with him, and Sophie could see out of the corner of her vision that Alexander was blushing furiously.
"How innocent," Sophie smiled as she saw the sight.
There was no hatred between herself and Rosalina but due to the whispers of the hunter goddess in her mind, it would probably be best to stay away.
Now that Rosalina had disappeared from her side, the voice in her head slowly faded away and her eyes returned to their typical golden hue.
Seeing that the noble girl who had been occupying Sophie's attention was gone, another noble heiress approached the hybrid girl to start up a conversation.
Sophie had been well trained in etiquette and cultural classes since she was small as was the standard for all high nobles.
It was annoying to speak in such a pompous tone and make small talk about surface level topics, but Sophie handled it well.
The general emotional state of most nobles who came to talk to her seemed to be a mix of both curiosity and fascination.
There were a few with more malicious intentions but Sophie handled them with dignity and grace that only strengthened her image.
Sophie was able to talk about the recent political affairs of the Federation, the economic situation in the various galaxies and even some of her father's new trade deals.
This information had been carefully memorised before the banquet had begun and due to the fact that she was now in the qi tide stage, her memory would never fail her.
Some of the noble heirs who she met were even people she would consider hanging out with in the future after the banquet ended.
A noble girl named Jasmine Silvermore was quite a delight to interact with as her family-owned B.Y.T entertainment.
It was the company that made all the love dog blood dramas that Moon loved to watch so Sophie was a bit familiar with their work.
There was also a noble boy called Arthur Hoplins whose family operated the largest combat beast pet breeding farm in the Federation.
Sophie was surprised at how just knowledgeable the boy around her age was and she casually asked him a few questions about Moon.
Arthur was surprised and at first, he didn't believe Sophie description of the Frostwing bat as he had never heard of a pet from that species developing its ability so early.
It was only after Sophie pulled out her communicator and sent him some videos that Arthur realised what a treasure the hybrid girl possessed.
Even within the same tier, hybrid beasts who developed their abilities early would definitely have the greatest potential.
Add on to the fact that Moon was a legendary class combat beast pet and Arthur could not help but give Sophie another look.
Beast cultivators would gain enormous benefits from the blood bond and their cultivation would be unusually stable as their pet increased its rank.
This was due to the blood bond that connected both the cultivator and the beast on the soul level.
Arthur was fascinating to talk to, and Sophie even managed to get two tickets to visit his breeding farm whenever she had time.
She planned on taking Cleo to have a romantic trip. The princess deserved to be loved and pampered.
Sophie sighed lightly as she missed having her girlfriend around.
After Arthur left, there were a string of other noble girls and boys, but Sophie just found them arrogant and boring.
It was hard to bond over a topic when most people just made light conversation that revolved around the same surface level topics.
Sophie continued to maintain her polite but distant attitude and her image in the minds of the other nobles in the grand hall had now stabilised.
It helped that she was in the center of the room and the dim light from the chandelier shone on her face and highlighted her group.
Sophie was now the center of attention.
She had just finished talking with a boring middle-aged man with a plump belly when she noticed that the atmosphere of the banquet had gone strangely silent.
Sophie narrowed her eyes as she saw a group of ten nobles approaching her location with polite smiles.
Each of the faces walking calmly towards Sophie had been in the information files that her father had told her to read.
But it was not good news....
They were all part of The Human Supremacy Faction.