Jelena burst into laughter,

"Yeah right. You could have just told me you weren't a sharer. You didn't have to come up with such tall tales.' She said, making her disbelief known.

Hal studied the other Antonovs and realized their reactions were similar to Jelena's.

"Just tell the truth. You're a commoner. You're a commoner who lucked out on some fortuitous encounter" Cheslav said and, fun fact, Hal's relationship with his aunt which was ambiguous at best and was one of those fortuitous encounters he was referring to. The rest were the unknown reasons why his cultivation was so speedy.

Hal chuckled.

"Actually, back in my city, I was a man of status. My father belonged to one of the four great families. But I do admit that before those of your status... I am probably no better than a commoner." Hal said.

'Never be alone with me though. Cause I'll kill you' he added in his mind and his eyes flashed.

'You're taking this really well' Grimoire said and Hal could not believe the Artifact was still surprised by his reactions.

Anton surely was not surprised and he had only met him today.

The Antonov Patriarch had noticed a subtle change in his expression and Hal's words now reminded him of what he had said when they had met earlier today,

How he preferred to be underestimated.

Cheslav noticed Hal did not admit or dismiss the idea of a fortuitous encounter,

"So you know your place then" he said smugly but Hal shook his head slowly,

"Actually, no. No, I don't think I do"

...

The dinner, sans all the unpleasantness, went quite nicely. Having being told beforehand, none of the Antonovs asked Hal why he had eyes like the Doxons and were quick to accept that he truly was not a Doxon.

Now he was on his way to Amelia and Emily's joint residence with Amelia, Rita, and Karmen.

Emily stayed behind with her father after dinner after she told him there were things they needed to discuss and after Hal asked if it concerned them (By them, he meant their own family which consisted of Hal and his ladies) and she said 'Not necessarily'.

At the residence, the ladies were more than ready to roll in the sheets which Amelia defended as her right since she had been away from him for so long.

Hal replied that there was never a need for justification. Why else was he here if not to fuck them into oblivious pleasure?

But first, while they waited for him in the Harem space, he retrieved the map he had stolen from the Kruger family.

He unrolled what had caused him so much trouble to get and what he had almost lost his life getting;

"It's blank" he said in a shocked tone.

Indeed, the scroll was completely absent of any writing and when Hal rubbed his hands over it, he observed there was nothing to feel. It seemed like a normal piece of parchment simply rolled up into a scroll.

'Not exactly. Inject Cosmic energy into it' Grimoire instructed and Hal did so.

The paper while remaining blank did glow faintly for a few seconds.

To this, Grimoire seemed quite satisfied,

'It's not blank. Just concealed. I reckon it requires the cosmic energy of at least a semi saint to reveal what is written on it.' It said.

'Can you read it?' He asked but the Artifact said no.

'Unless the concealment is lifted, there is nothing I can do' it said.

Hal sighed and returned it into his Inventory before he went into the Harem space and conducted an Orgy with his ladies. Starting with Amelia, Rita, and Karmen and once they were all thoroughly satisfied, he soaked in the pool before returning to the outside.

There, Emily was already waiting for him with a silk night-robe on.

She seemed quite pleased to not have been part of the Orgy as now she could have him all to herself,

"You can keep going, can't you?" She asked as she pulled him towards her bedroom.

"Forever" Hal told her as she took off her robe and revealed she was wearing nothing underneath.

Hal let his eye roam over her beautiful body, taking in her wide hips, thin waist, and shapely, perfect ass, and then her ample breasts that stood out perky and firm as ever.

He grinned as he could already feel a stirring down below and judging from Emily's roaming grey eyes and sultry grin, she noted the stirring as well.

With a wave of his hand, He opened the portal to the Harem space but Emily's hand closed around his wrist,

"No, I want it here. For so many years I had to listen to moans and groans of indiscriminate pleasure. Never to enjoy it for myself because of my condition. I always fantasized to one day yell out my joy like that..." Emily said in a low voice.

Hal smiled,

"So you just want to scream out your pleasure indiscriminately?"

"Very much so. It happens all the time anyway, so why not happen right here, right now... Unless you're scared..." She said and sauntered even closer to him.

Hal's clothes hit the floor right that second and he was naked just like she was and pulled her closer to him to join their lips in a passionate kiss in which Emily's delectable tongue probed his mouth.

Then he separated to say,

"Scared? Of having sex? You take that right back" he said in a tone of mock outrage and Emily chucked before pulling him back to the kiss.

While her breasts were smashed against his chest, Hal reached down to her wonderful, oh-so squeezable ass and kneaded it.

"Mmnngghh" Emily moaned into the kiss as she felt this and then distanced their lower half just enough to grab Hal's hard cock which had been pressed against both their stomachs and begin stroking it.

Then she leaned her head back to allow him to dip his head into the crook of her neck and kiss it.

His kisses went lower and soon he was at her breasts and grabbed one of her nipples into his mouth to give it a hard suck while she continued stroking his cock.

Especially the head of it.

His ministrations were already getting her inner thighs wet with her juices and her pleasurable stroking, despite dry, had actually managed to coax precum from his cock.

Not an easy thing to do considering his immense stamina and ability to hold back and make the experience last longer.

Needless to say, the act only got more steamy from there and well into the night, Emily's cry of pleasure would spread about her surroundings and for those who had not heard it in the main part of the Sensual Palace, which was already a little percentage, by the way, they would hear the tales from the maids who were actually even closer to the action.

Though never actually seeing it for themselves, what they said had credit all the same.

Anyway, after that night, Hal's relationship with Emily was no longer ambiguous and Hal himself could never have imagined how much of a legend this would make him among all those who had heard.

...

Two Days Later...

Days which Hal had spent either in Emily and Amelia's joint residence or inside his Harem space, not going outside even once, many were already beginning to venture into the Garden of peril.

By fairly accurate calculations, this was the day the Primal fruit would ripen and some had even gone the night before to get a headstart.

Hal who was sitting cross-legged in the Harem space with the Fire crystal in front of him was not in too much of a hurry. At least he could spare some time to continue attempting comprehension of the Ordinance of fire.