Melinda's eyes opened the next morning to Hal watching her. She smiled lightly and sat up a little while Hal's expression remained the same,

"Much as I do enjoy last night. I was under the impression that you would be taking advantage of the change in time flow to grow even stronger before we get to the capital.

You said you were not bored, so why not tell me what is it that's on your mind." He said.

Melinda stretched her hand and pushed a lock of his dark hair away from his face to better appreciate its beauty which she could never get enough of. Then she sighed,

"A message from my Grandmother" she said.

The time flow did not affect when she received messages on her communication talisman along as it was not a current communication.

So long as it was a sent prerecorded message. It would be received just fine.

"Hmm, the same over-protective grandmother?" Hal asked as it was not the first time Melinda had made mention of her grandmother.

She was the only relative she ever spoke of with fondness and longing.

"The very same" Melinda nodded.

Hal transitioned to lying on his back which Melinda took as an invitation to lay her head on his chest while tracing a finger on his rock-hard abs.

"Well, what did it say?" He asked.

"She wants me back. Soon. Threatened to have me dragged back if she had to." Melinda said and chuckled lightly.

She was no stranger to her grandmother's irony and the one thing she never worried about was Isabella Dane ever hurting her or holding her against her will.

"Will you reply?" Hal asked as he kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair.

Melinda shook her head as best as she could with her head pressed against his chest,

"There's no need. In three days we should be at the capital and should she decide to follow through with her threat... Well, she won't find us at Sapphire city now would she?" She said.

"No she won't" Hal agreed before a knock interrupted anything else he might have wanted to say.

With the use of Astral sense, he knew who his visitor was already and stood up from the bed to put on a loose robe that showed off his chest as he went to open the door just enough to block Eva's view into the room.

"Hi" was the first thing Eva thought to say as she eyed him from head to toe and memory of last night came flooding back.

Which was not particularly hard as she had never truly forgotten it. In fact, she found she never could. She also did not want to.

"Hi" Hal smiled at her.

"Um, can we talk?" She asked tentatively and Hal nodded and invited her inside by opening the door completely,

"By all means" he said and closed the door as soon as she was inside the room.

Eva was about to speak again when she noticed they were not alone. A dark-haired lady with goddess-like beauty and light gold eyes was looking at her with a neutral expression.

"Eva, this is Melinda. Melinda, this is Eva. Melinda is my Fiance" Hal told the lithe young lady whose eyes widened at the information.

"Is that so?" She said in a faint voice and when she looked at the two she could not help but admit that they looked quite perfect as a couple.

Also, she did not need to be told to understand what was going on. It was clear that Hal held no discrimination against the girls he bedded and was most likely a staunch follower of polygamy.

She had guessed as much when he had brought her more pleasure than imaginable. Even her sister admitted that no normal man could pull that off. The only ones who could, were those from the Doxon Duchy.

Only Dual cultivators whose very craft relied on those means.

If Hal was indeed a Dual cultivator, then it was quite likely he was not a one-woman kind of a guy.

Maybe he had screwed her brains out and she was no longer capable of rational thought, but she could not help but find the very prospect of being part of a harem intriguing.

That said, she felt she was getting ahead of herself.

For one thing, she was in a relationship with Henrik and was also taxed by the princess to be a part of her information circuit.

Her place was here.

She shook off all those thoughts as all answers to her personal dilemma could wait.

She cleared her throat,

"My sister, the Baroness would like to speak with you. It is our understanding that you will be leaving today and we would be remiss to not tell you the Princess' edict." She said.

Hal nodded,

"I'll be sure to drop by before my departure" he said.

Eva held her head high and looked at him snd then at Melinda and back again before she said,

"Good" and turned towards the door to leave.

It was clear that this was not all she had been interested in saying but she could not even piece her words together anymore.

She had pulled the door open and was poised to leave when Hal pulled her arm,

"You didn't really have to say anything. It's a consequence of being with me. You can never again settle for mediocrity. It does not matter what choice you make going forward, you are my woman." He said.

He was rational enough to simply let her make her decisions and attempt to forget him but he also knew it was impossible. At some point, she would no longer be able to hold back anymore.

Eva breathed in and seemed to consider the implications of Hal's words before he released her arm and she left the hotel.

Once she was gone, Hal sighed and turned away towards Melinda who was now getting ready to return to the Harem space.

"Another sister?" She asked and unlike her neutral expression when Eva was around, she was now smiling lightly.

Hal brushed his hand through his long dark hair,

"Who knows? She's too conflicted between pleasure and loyalty to her Boyfriend. It's quite endearing."

"Too bad you'll be leaving soon." Melinda said but Hal stepped closer to her and took off the clothes she had put on.

"Not really. You should know me well enough to know that this cannot really be the end. All I do is for the purpose of one day indulging in all of you ladies' embrace.

Now, how does taking a bath with me before returning sound?" He said and kissed her neck.

Melinda moaned,

"It sounds perfect."

...

Two hours later,

Hal was boarding a carriage to the Baron's residence and arrived quiet after.

It was quite obvious that the guards had been told to allow him entry because they did not attempt to stop him.

Once inside the residence, he made his way to the Baroness' study and did not bother to ask for direction or escort since he knew the way.

And then he ran into the Baron,

"Mr. Hal. I see you have returned." The Baron said.

Hal bowed,

"Yes, Baron. As it turns out the Baroness and I still have matters to discuss. I hope to see you again" he said and walked past him.

Once before the study door, with the Baron watching, Hal did not bother to knock and merely pushed the it open to enter into the study.

"Something is not right" Baron Aaro said and moved closer to the study door...