Walking into the dining hall, the first thing that came to Hal's mind was,

'I'm in a world of grey'

All eyes that turned to him were grey as synonymous with the Antonov bloodline. Not one of all those present had a different eye color.

These were the core of the Antonov family. Emily and Amelia's immediate family.

The two young men sitting side by side on the right side of Anton who was at the head of the table looked to be in their thirties.

Of course, their actual age was sure to actually surpass that and they had inherited the Antonov good looks.

On the other side was Emily right after Anton and then Amelia who smiled at Hal.

After Amelia was Rita and Karmen and then a seat was skipped after which we have the cousins.

Children of the Antonov brothers.

There were five of them. Two young men and three young ladies whose countenance as they looked at Hal went from an interest in his looks accompanied by a lick of the lips to cold indifference.

In case you are wondering, they are all older than Amelia. Having been conceived long before Emily even decided to leave the Doxon Duchy.

If there was one thing Antonovs or even cultivators, in general, had in common, it was that when they were ready to procreate, they had the number of children they were satisfied with, and then focused on cultivation.

Especially for ladies who would actually be handling the childbearing which would halt their cultivation until they had delivered.

Only the Antonovs were at the dinner table. Occasionally, the family had dinner together which usually, included the partners of the Antonov brothers and mothers of their children, but it was not the same for today.

Even Noelle was absent.

"Sorry I'm late" Hal said and moved over to the seat beside Karmen which had been saved for him.

Anton smiled lightly, but it was one of the brothers who spoke up,

"No worries. We only just arrived." He said while stroking his jaw and occasionally pulling at his beard,

"Speak for yourself, Dimitri" Emily said.

"You always take forever to get ready" added his brother who unlike Dimitri was beardless.

"I do not" Dimitri said and then cleared his throat before adding,

"And even if I do, it's only because my beard needs extensive grooming. I get that you're smooth as a baby, Andrei, and won't be able to understand the responsibilities that come with having a beard" he said.

There was a collective groan after this and the only one who did not make the unanimous sound apart from Dimitri was Anton who simply shook his head, seemingly at his family's absence of manners.

"That's all you talk about now, your Beard. I could grow one too you know. I just don't see the point of having hair sticking out of my face" Andrei said.

"Well, of course you don't see the point. You can never pull it off" Dimitri said with even more exaggerated stroking of his beard.

"I'd like to pull it off your face" Andrei said and there was a seriousness to his smile after he said it that made Hal think he was genuinely serious about it.

From this exchange, Hal had gotten the gist of the two brothers' personalities.

Although it would be presumptuous for him to assume he already knew everything about them from just one meeting and a few words, he felt Dimitri was the more laid-back one while Andrei was much more serious.

"I'd like to see you try" Dimitri said with another stroke of his beard while Anton glared at the two,

"Boys, we have guests" he pointed out and the two went quiet for a while only for Anton to say,

"But you really are obsessed with your Beard, Dimitri. Not everyone is as enthusiastic with facial hair as you." He said.

"Ah ah" Andrei said in triumph but Anton was not done,

"That said, you truly can't pull off a beard son" he said to Andrei whose face blanked while Dimitri bellowed out his laughter.

Emily rolled her eyes,

"Do you always have to give these arguments credence by participating?" She asked her father.

"Well, I can hardly help it. They usually raise some good points." Anton said with a smile.

"Good points? Last time, it was about whose favorite color is best, Dimitri's red or Andrei's white?" Emily said in an exaggerated tone of voice.

There was a collective sigh of concurrence following her words as the young generation agreed with her.

Anton nodded despite her reprimand,

"And I still say red. I mean, what sort of favorite color is white? Sorry son, but you're boring" he said.

Andrei clutched his chest,

"Father, you hurt me" he said in a falsely pained voice while Dimitri tilted his head upward with smugness.

Then Anton cleared his throat,

"Well, I guess it might be seen as rude if we just jabber on in front of guests." He said.

Hal shook his head,

"Not at all. You're just conversing with your family, there's nothing rude about that" he said.

"If one can't be free with family, then who can one be free with?" Rita added.

Anton nodded,

"Wise words. I have a feeling we are going to get along swimmingly" he said.

'Don't encourage him' Emily told Hal and Rita telepathically but Hal only chuckled.

"Let me introduce the family, these are my sons, Andrei and Dimitri and these are their children..." Anton said and then began to introduce them one by one,

The two boys were brothers born to Dimitri and were named Boryan and Cheslav with Boryan already following in his father's footsteps to spot a beard.

Hal's observation of the two boys was that they did not like him. The only difference lay in their degree of dislike for him.

The three girls were named Nicole, Jelena, and Vanya.

Hal's observations of the ladies were as follows;

First, they were all very beautiful with nice assets. Well worthy of being related to Emily and Amelia.

Second, Jelena could not stop staring at him and that went beyond simply admiring his looks. She wanted him and she was not hiding it as she winked at him constantly while also blowing kisses.

But it was also clear that she was the most outgoing of the three sisters and probably had the most partners.

Once she aged further, she would most likely have a dual cultivating cauldron as well.

Second, Nicole was cold. Her expression and her attitude. She was still a dual cultivator. Just more of the Dominating and sodomizing type.

As for Vanya. She was kind if in the middle. Not as outgoing as Jelena and not as cold as Nicole, but she was trying her best to act indifferent to him.

That said, the three ladies regardless of how they acted to Hal were all intrigued since, although their Aunt had not outright said it, they knew he had something to do with the curing of her condition.

"So... The man from Silva" Andrei said and his eyes narrowed and seemed to be the start of a deep tension but then he smiled widely,

"Well, maybe not all of them are actually prudes. Is the righteous path of Dual cultivation finally gaining more ground in that uptight Duchy or are you only one of the few?" He asked.