I will never associate with this girl again!

This was her first friend since arriving to this world!

Sophie's only contacts on her wristband were her father and the death guards which was not exactly bad per say…but none of these people could be called friends in her age group.

She quickly tapped her wristband against the band on Cleo's wrist and an affirming ding indicated that they had exchanged numbers.

"Truthfully from the moment I saw you…. I felt a feeling of love and passion swelling up in my chest," Cleo continued to flirt.

"You are the stars to my universe…. the gentle moonlight that chases away the shadows."

Sophie was very flattered, but the other party was moving way too fast for her liking.

"Um…I do think you are pretty cute as well, but I want to get to know you a bit more before making a decision on dating," Sophie decided to be as honest as possible with this forward girl.

Cleo held her tightly as they waltzed around the dance floor while seemingly trapped in their own little bubble.

"Well my full name is Cleopatra Vostrir Resall Niltos-Sisrelis and I'm currently sixteen years old."

"My cultivation level is pretty low compared to the rest of my siblings. I am merely on the second stage of qi spirit," Cleo said with a nonchalant expression.

She paused for a moment before leaning in and whispering softly into Sophie's ear, "The reason I'm valued so highly is my innate talent for mech piloting."

Mech warriors were a highly specialised branch of the imperial army that focused on controlling humanoid or beast like robotic structures for use in battles. The main criteria to operate one of these systems was an extraordinary amount of mental force and a high cultivation level was not necessarily a factor.

No artificial intelligence was immune to hacking so out of necessity, most mechs were operated manually. Mental force was even more rare than cultivation potential so those that showed even the slightest positive deviation from the norm were encouraged to enlist in the program.

Strength was the most important factor on a battlefield so even those who ridiculed mech warriors as turtles were forced to admit that their damage output far outdid those of higher cultivation levels.

"Your turn!" Sophie's train of thought was interrupted by a cheerful whisper.

"My name is only Sophie Peterlor and I'm also sixteen….

(Few Hours Later)

Sophie had spent the last couple of hours with Cleo seemingly attached to her hip and standing in the corner while talking. She had tried to limit her alcohol intake, but the wine seemed to have a high concentration as Sophie was beginning to feel lightheaded.

Having gotten to know the princess a little better, she was surprised to find how much they had in common with one another. Cleo was considered a problematic personality by the royal tutors and her mother's concubine status did not leave them in a stable position in the imperial family.

She had started explaining to Sophie that her dream was to fill a harem of beauties just like her father…. but a sudden chill from her future wife's frosty expression caused the words to die in her throat.

Buzz Buzz!

Sophie glanced down at her wristband to see a notification from her father saying to meet him in the other banquet hall.

"Is everything okay?" came a concerned voice from the princess.

"Yeah…my dad just plans on leaving soon so he said to meet him in the other banquet hall," Sophie replied.

She hesitated for a moment as a strange feeling of reluctance came over her when she saw that her banquet experience was coming to a close. Cleo was like a whirlwind that just uprooted her entire calm evening but….it was not so bad…

Cleo leaned in and gave Sophie a big hug and softly spoke, "that's a shame…. I wanted the effects of the poison to kick in during the banquet,"

"What?" Sophie froze in shock.

Sophie hurriedly put down her glass of wine and tried to peer into the contents to see if any foreign substances were present.

"Do you really believe I would poison a duke's daughter without making sure that it was untraceable?" a mocking laugh came from Cleo who wore a sneer on her face.

"Now…. walk to the exit of the hall and do exactly as I say, and I will provide the antidote before you meet your father," she commanded.

Cleo's face had completely transformed from a soft gaze into the vicious glare of a predator and Sophie could feel the killing intent directed at her.

Sophie's body tensed and the familiar urge of bloodlust rose up inside which she fought to control. Cleo gestured towards a direction and walked swiftly away without looking to see if her hostage was following or not.

There were conflicting feelings of skepticism but ultimately Sophie was not willing to take the chance. She secretly tapped the emergency icon on the wristband and set the alert to broadcast in fifteen minutes.

Cleo wrapped an arm around her own which would have made Sophie very thrilled only a few moments ago but now it simply filled her with dread.

How could she have been so careless?

The hall was quite spacious, so it took the pair around ten minutes before they managed to reach the exit.

"Give me the antidote…. I did what you asked," Sophie muttered as she saw Cleo reach into her pockets and grab something.

Her eyes activated automatically and begun glowing slightly, and she could see the object inside Cleo hands

Huh?? Why were they empty?

"Here is the antidote as I promised," Cleo said in a serious tone.

She lunged forward unexpectedly, and Sophie could not react as she stumbled backwards while trying not to trip on her high heels. Before even her fighting instincts kicked in, one soft pair of lips brushed gently against her cheek.

"Got you," came a teasing voice and Sophie opened her eyes to see the princess furiously blushing.

"Wait….it was all a joke?" Sophie roared.

She wanted to beat this playful girl to death! Royalty or not!

Unfortunately, Cleo seemed to be as slippery as a fish as she waved goodbye and then her figure vanished into the crowd. Sophie was going to go after her when she felt another faint vibration on her wrist and gave up the idea.

She quickly disarmed the future alert as who knows if her overprotective dad would shoot first and ask questions later.

There were a couple of attendants standing at the exit of the banquet hall, so Sophie just asked for a guide to the other hall and one of the maidservants happily helped her to navigate the twists and turns.

Sophie seemed to be in a bit of a daze as she followed the uniformed maid and her hands would subconsciously stroke her cheeks before forcibly stopping herself.

No…that girl was nothing but trouble…

She would make sure to stay away in the future!