楼上的上瘾女士

"What should I do?" The lady giving the report asked.

Svetlana paused her sips and nailed the lady with her sapphire blue eyes, 

"I'm not sure I follow" she said.

The lady did not seem to understand what her Duchess was saying so she decided to clarify her own words, 

"Well, should I get some men to extend an invitation to him? Set up a reunion?" She said.

Svetlana made an 'o' shape with her mouth in a mocking manner, 

"Oh, of course. why not? We shouldn't stop there too, let's begin a parade. Let's hold a huge celebration" she said.

The lady gulped, 

"I get the feeling you are being sarcastic" she said in a slow voice.

"You think?" Svetlana said and took another sip of her drink before she sighed, 

"I was not the one who called him here. He came here for something. If he came to see me, well, surely he can find his way here and if he came for other reasons, well... I would love to know what they are" she said.

Then there was a pause before,

"Where's my father?" She asked almost like an afterthought.

The Lady seemed caught by surprise before she said in a careful tone of voice, 

"Well, for a while now, he has been 'cultivating'" she said.

Svetlana frowned slightly, 

"In other words, he's been busy with his cauldrons" she said.

And then a voice sounded behind her, 

"Actually, I WAS busy with them but now I'm not. Also, you should have some respect dear daughter, they are people too, you know?" 

The one who had spoken was a middle-aged handsome-looking man with shoulder-length gray hair and the characteristic sapphire blue eyes of the Doxon Bloodline. The only true mar that could be pointed to about the man's face was the excess wrinkles that did not belong on a middle-aged face like his.

The wrinkles were vestiges of a sickness the man once had.

And he wore them quite well too.

The Lady who had been giving her the report rose to her feet and bowed to the newcomer, 

"Patron"

The Man was Kirill Doxon, Ex-Duke of the Duchy and now patron of his family. 

Svetlana did not bother to look behind her as she replied the newcomer,

"Are they people, Father? I would not have guessed with the way you diddle them every single day" she said in a casual voice that did not betray her annoyance.

Kirill chuckled, 

"Now that, my dear girl, is an exaggeration. Also, I have to say your senses are getting dull. You had no idea I was so close to you until I spoke up" he said and took a seat opposite the sofa Svetlana was lounging on.

As he did so, the servants served him his preferred Beverage and he drank a cup of it in one gulp, 

"So thirsty" he said and had another cup poured for him.

The reporting Lady excused now as it could not be any clearer that this was no place for her.

Svetlana gave her father a long hard look before she said, 

"Father, have you ever thought of your grandson?" She asked.

Kirill furrowed his brows slightly, 

"You mean Ivan? I think of him. And I think he is an idiot" 

Svetlana frowned, 

"Ivan does everything he can to impress you" she pointed out.

"And he fails constantly to meet my standards. So he is an idiotic suck up" Kirill said.

"Well, I was referring to your other grandson" Svetlana said.

"Artyom?" Kirill said but Svetlana shook her head, 

"I'm talking about my son, father. My son" she clarified and now Kirill frowned deeply, 

"Oh, that one. What about him? He hardly deserves to bear the Doxon name. Partly because he was born of a Silva Native and partly because he came out... Defected. I mean the son of a Doxon Duchess who can not cultivate... What a disgrace!"

Svetlana let her father complete his rants. Mostly because this was not the first time she would be hearing it and then she rolled her eyes and was about to speak when Kirill interrupted her, 

"And don't you even think of ever bringing him here. Let him stay in the Silva Duchy like his worthless bum of a father. With any luck, I will never have the misfortune of laying my eyes on him throughout my lifetime."

Svetlana opened her mouth to speak and then closed it,

There was no point in reasoning with him.

Maybe she should tell him that there was a possibility he would meet his grandson in the Duchy capital and that she had had nothing to do with it, but then she thought of it again and decided to keep quiet.

...

Meanwhile,

Once Hal was done enjoying simply being in the Duchy capital he opened up the portal to the Harem space and Rita and Karmen stepped out of it and were dressed to fit in with the demographic.

Which meant, the two beautiful ladies were dressed every bit as revealing as any of the ladies in the Duchy capital.

They already had high-class materials in the Harem space and only needed to give them a few adjustments to make them perfect for the scenery.

Rita was grinning and no matter how Hal looked at her, she seemed to be glowing with positivity. Clearly, she really enjoyed being back to her roots.

The three of them then began a slow walk down the Capital's streets with Rita occasionally stating how a lot of things had changed since she was last here.

Hal nodded and smiled at her reminiscences.

And then of course there were the looks their group of three was garnering. The ladies eyeballed Hal and it was usually not mere interest, sometimes it was curiosity as well.

While Hal was indeed not sticking out as a new arrival to the city, he was hardly a forgettable face, and yet he was not recognized.

Who is he? Some of them wondered.

And what was with those eyes...?

Eventually, they arrived at where Rita had been partially leading them to which was a restaurant which she said she knew to serve delicious meals and exotic drinks that would boast wonderful advantages to a cultivator's body.

She did admit that it was a much larger establishment now compared to when she had still lived in the capital.

It was sure to be more expensive now as well but they could afford it.

Once they were inside and took their seat, Rita took the menu and began to order meals with the waiter looking quite eager to serve.

How was it his business that this group came here by foot and not with a luxurious carriage, at least they were dressed well enough to be admitted to eat here.

While Rita took care of the ordering, Karmen was casting weird looks at what some of the other people in the Restaurants had been served and wondering if it indeed was as delicious as Rita had proclaimed or would just upset her stomach.

Hal on the other hand reached out to a certain someone with their telepathic link,

'Did you miss me?' He asked Amelia who was the one he had actually signed a contract with and could speak to through said contract.

He could feel Amelia's excitement at hearing his voice through the telepathic link but she worked to keep it hidden as she answered in a grumpy voice, 

'Took you long enough. I thought you forgot about me' she said.

Hal chuckled, 

'I almost did' he told her and knowing he was teasing her, she smiles on the other side of the connection, 

'Bastard' she said 'So when are you coming?' She asked him.

'How about now? I'm in the Doxon capital. And as I seriously doubt I would be allowed into Sensual palace with no actual authorization, I'm reaching out rather than arriving at your doorstep.'

There was a pause in which Hal knew Amelia must be rejoicing in a more vocal manner while probably also calling to her mother to tell her the good news, 

'Where are you?' She eventually asked him telepathically and he told her the name of the restaurant they were in,

'Stay there' she said.

Hal chuckled, 

'Yes ma'am' he said as the communication was cut off.

When he focussed once again on the table, he saw it was already laden with all the dishes Rita had taken to order and that seemed to be about half the entire menu.

Karmen made a face but decided to take a courageous bite and her eyes widened at the flavor, 

"Rita, Never would I doubt you again" she said as she began scarfing down meals.

Hal was not about to act shy now and began eating as well while ignoring the peaks people kept sneaking of him while talking among themselves.

Now he was sure it was not just about his looks...

Even the men were looking at him.

Mostly they looked at Rita but even then they were paying too much attention on him.

"Master. Everyone is looking at you" Karmen pointed out.

Rita did not even bother to glance around as she said, 

"It's your eyes" she said and Hal knew she was right.

His eyes were distinctive enough, but here in the Doxon Duchy capital, where the rulers of the Duchy reside and share the same color of eyes, there was no way he would not garner attention...