Under the heiress facade

Chapter 922: The Fine Line Between Cute & Terrifying

Jake knew that the logic of ectognamorphs was something he truly couldn’t understand. Vesperia also looked at him as if what she had said was only natural… which in her world it was. He had already known that the Endless Empire was the most hierarchical organization in the entire multiverse, putting even demons to shame, but still.

Throughout the multiverse, power was the ultimate decider of status. Jake was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, yes, but he also knew that not a single god in existence viewed themselves as beneath him. Them being nice to him was either a display of respect toward the Malefic Viper, or because they found him interesting for his future potential. None of them would ever agree to be his subordinate and swear loyalty to Jake as a person, as he was ultimately just a mortal who was beneath their statute.

For Vesperia, it was different.reserved.

During the following conversation, where Jake asked some more things about how sure she was things would work out fine if she approached a bunch of other Hive Queens on Earth, and Vesperia explained a bit about her time at the Endless Empire,

She told him that during her time there, many variants of the Vespernat Lineage had made their way back to the Endless Empire. They had been independent factions before, operating by themselves with only a friendly relationship with the Empire, but when they heard – and felt – that a new Vespernat True Royal had appeared and resided at the Endless Empire Heartlands, they made their way there.

This included Hive Queen gods. Even a few at or around the realm of Godqueen – powerful beings with much renown in the multiverse in their own right – hurried there. Not just to see Vesperia but to recognize her and swear their loyalty without even knowing anything about her. It was also merely an implicit understanding that they were now part of the Endless Empire, ruled by Vesperia and Vesperia alone.

Despite how much weaker she was, they recognized her as their unquestionable leader. It was simply blind, biological devotion and loyalty, with no thought for rhyme, reason, or logic. They were just compelled by their nature. And while Jake had a good grasp of following his instincts… he did find the entire concept tough to fully grasp.

“I… to clarify, if you told a bunch of gods from your Lineage to go kill someone…?” Jake asked, just to clarify, after Vesperia was done with her explanation.

“Hm, I reckon they would ask the reason and offer me advice if it’s a good idea or not to carry out the order,” Vesperia answered without much thought. “Of course, that assumes it’s someone that’s controversial to kill.”

“And if you insisted, no matter the person?” Jake continued pressing.

“They’d naturally carry out their duty.”

“What if the other True Royals of the Endless Empire disagree?” Jake tried again.

“In that case, I would certainly consider the matter carefully,” Vesperia said, thinking a bit more about that one. “But I find the probability of that happening low. My desire to want someone dead badly enough to even disagree with the other Hive Queens beneath me will more likely than not be a desire born of the greater good of the Endless Empire, and my sisters would never disagree with something like that. However, let’s say that I want to do something everyone disagrees with. Just know that, no matter what, they do not have the authority or right to command me, even if I respect their opinions immensely.”

“What if Jake asks you to do something and the other True Royals oppose?” Sandy decided to also ask a hypothetical that Jake wasn’t sure he really wanted the answer to.

“That… would be problematic,” Vesperia answered with a frown. “I guess at that point, I would have to understand both sides and the essence of the disagreement and then simply decide for myself what I believe is best.”

Alright, that was a very balanced and reasonable response.

“To clarify, I am not going to be causing trouble,” Jake said. At least he wouldn’t cause any problems on purpose.

“Sure, sure, but what if the Endless Empires decide to make you an enemy for some reason?” Sandy continued to try pushing their hypothetical scenario.

her head. “The Endless Empire does not declare enemies that easily, and if only one of the True

it, no reason to fret over something that won’t happen,” Jake said, closing

they couldn’t cause trouble anymore. “Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to go and say hi to that scientist guy again and see if

the air and headed toward Arnold to do who-knows-what, leaving Vesperia and

of knowledge about their race anywhere. Then again, neither could

Viper also doesn’t seem to know much, if anything,” Jake shrugged. “Not that it matters, does it? I doubt they need much help to progress or to be told some historical facts about what’s best to do. They just need to follow their own instincts, and I believe they can go

Simply following my instincts without considerable forethought just seems foreign, yet also familiar. As

Royal, if there even is

am also one of Sire’s creations,” she nodded

just nodded nevertheless as he

and lowered her head a bit as Jake got the hint and placed a hand on top of it. Having seen what she was capable of – and what kind of forces

Prima Guardian defense, it would be best to keep her in the loop, and I’m sure she has some good information to get

Amazon, know that

you deem that the best course of action,”

pulled out a one-way communication token and quickly infused a message. “Besides, if I don’t keep her in the loop, I’m gonna get quite the scolding later. I can already imagine Miranda sending some poor party into a hive,

this Miranda woman is to you. Is she not serving

guess it’s more accurate to say we work together. I help her, she helps me, it’s all about mutual benefits. I also trust her, and she’s good at her job. But if she wishes to one day leave, I won’t do anything about it either. The same is true if she one day falls too far behind or fails to

humans have such odd relationships,” Vesperia

who had weird as fuck relationships, even if they were

pond as he continued to pat Vespy. It didn’t take long before Jake detected the resident witch, who’d quickly made her way over. Jake couldn’t blame her

hoped Miranda and Vesperia could get along. If not, things would

--

with all of the factions who would soon arrive on the planet. Making sure that fights wouldn’t break out was a damn struggle, and there was also still all of the usual existing problems. Earth had

she had believed things were getting under control. Everything was finally calming down a bit… and then she got word that Sandy had returned to Earth. That in itself was fine, as the giant space worm didn’t really cause much trouble on their own. There were a few annoyances from people wanting to meet Sandy, such as

take lightly. Not in the slightest. True Royal was truly a deserved title, as they represented the peak of the Endless

a high status. Jake was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, yes, but he was still “only” a

on her own, she was that peak figure who could command even gods to do her bidding. The ectognamorphs were the only race Miranda was aware of, where the deciding factor in the hierarchy wasn’t power but the status of one’s caste. What’s more, this power in the hierarchy wasn’t just some agreed-upon social construct but a tangible

that was far from comforting. It wasn’t just that she was a powerful being in her own right, but that Miranda was legitimately afraid of the consequences if something should

she was finally contacted by Jake to go meet this True Royal. It was honestly a huge relief he contacted her, as she had honestly put it down to a fifty-fifty if Jake would keep her in the loop about what he and the True Royal were planning.

could already feel the presence of the True Royal there, and she made sure to calm herself

True Royal prior, this would effectively be their first real meeting, and she wanted to make a good impression. It was also undoubtful that this kind of

finally laying her eyes on Jake and the True Royal sitting on a bench in front of the small pond. Miranda had a lot of thoughts beforehand and

True Royal, capable of commanding armies that could destroy galaxies with ease, sitting with eyes closed as Jake ruffled her hair.

before catching herself