Hal knew the workings of the Teleportation circle more than well enough to get it to take him where he wanted to go... He had already stepped on it and was preparing to activate it when Aliya's brain finally clicked to what he was doing.
He was leaving...
He got her all hot and bothered and now he was leaving...
A part of her was glad to finally see him leave as that would put an end to any further inappropriate attempts to touch or kiss her but another part wanted him to stay.
No part of Hal wanted to stay enough...
He had anchors in the Arkene Duchy capital now and could return whenever he wished and however fast as he wanted.
Before he even came back, Aliya had been setting up a replacement for herself... Someone who was a part of Tanya's information-gathering network and could take over the running of the Rose petal restaurant while she went into the monument of Ordinances to finally take a step further in her journey as a Cultivator.
This would be Aliya's second time in the Monument and she was hoping to succeed where she had failed the first time.
This time she would get herself an Ordinance and make herself an even stronger part of Tanya's inner circle.
Not to mention that she knew for a fact that Tanya was going to enter the monument and attempt to gain insight into an Abstract Ordinance.
The Princess believed that insight into an Abstract ordinance would surely set her apart from the other Imperial scions and she would be in an even better position to become heir to the throne.
Tanya was also not the only imperial scion who would be entering the monument as quite a number of the others had a similar idea as her.
Anyway, as Hal activated the teleportation circle and winked at her before he was teleported away, Aliya was sure they would meet again and she dreaded the next meeting.
Especially since an hour after Hal was gone, she could still feel his effect on her and she was still craving to feel his touch once again.
All in all, the absence was not helping her get over the feeling that was Hal...
-
Meanwhile, two days later, Hal materialized on top of a teleportation circle inside a secret room hidden in the office of the Rose Petal Hotel manager.
The door opened almost immediately after he appeared and he was quickly face to face with Lena who looked at him with a mixture of excitement and annoyance...
"Welcome back," she said and stepped as though to usher Hal out of the small room.
Once Hal stepped out, Lena promptly closed the door behind him while Hal looked to the desk which Tanya was leaning against with a smile on her face.
"You did it," she said.
Hal nodded before he retrieved the necklaces from his inventory,
"Yes I did," he said.
Two days had passed as he traveled through the void and that was clearly more than enough time for Aliya to let Tanya know that he was on his way and enough time for Tanya to await his arrival at the point of his exit.
He put the necklaces into Tanya's hands before he sat down in the chair in front of the Desk.
Tanya smiled as she observed the Orb Pieces,
"Impressive. It would seem that there is no one immune to your charms. Have I been using your skills the wrong way all this while?" she asked suddenly as she projected runes to the point where the Orb pieces were connected with the necklace cords.
She tried to pull them apart with runemastering but soon discovered that the workmanship of the necklaces was on a level that she could not break on a whim. She would surely break it eventually but it would not be instant.
She was a tad impatient though so she just retrieved a vial of Beldar the Dystopian's blood and used it to straighten her runes so that she could rip the necklaces cord away from the orb pieces with brute force.
Hal watched all happen and watched her succeed before he said,
"In what way" referring to what she had said before he became focused on the necklaces.
Tanya shrugged,
"Well, the Nexus stone will let me harness the faith of the denizens of the Haron Empire but on a political front, I will still need to pacify the Duchy rulers and anyone who could have a say in my becoming Empress.
Maybe this is how I should have used your charm to my advantage; Pacification"
"Ah, I see," Hal said with a small nod.
"Not too late though. Once you are back from the Monument of Ordinances, maybe these are the missions I will have you undergo for me. Of course, you will be very compensated" she said and looked down at Hal who shrugged,
"Who knows? I say we focus on getting you all to pieces of the orb and help you find the Nexus stone first. That takes precedence" he said.
Tanya chuckled, looked once again at the orb pieces that were now free of the necklace cords, and then shook her head,
"I have heard of no incidents in the Arkene Duchy and nothing worth note that would give away the fact that you were there or that you were going something as difficult and dangerous as charming the Duchess and stealing the symbol of her and her husband's love.
Knowing you, I doubt a bunch of sweet words were all that you said and I am quite sure the relationship went all the way.
You got in bed with a Cosmic Saint...
Before this mission at the Arkene Duchy, your mission at the Silver moon sect also comes to mind... While the details are less clear in this regard and it is a bit surreal to think that you actually slept with the Silver moon sect head, I can't help but wonder if anyone is safe from your charms.
Tell me, Hal, am I safe?" Tanya asked and there was something about her smile as she looked down at him that looked dangerous and seductive but that did not stop Hal from smiling at her words and chuckling as he said,
"No, you're not. You're not safe at all. But you already knew that... didn't you?"
As he spoke, he looked over at Lena to see her cheeks burning as she followed the exchange between Hal and get Princess.
Tanya took a deep breath which caused her to take a long and even deeper whiff of Hal's scent (Natural scent... No pheromones involved... No pheromones needed) and she shuddered at how much that smell of his affected her,
"Yes, yes I did," she said in a bit of a throaty tone of voice that betrayed her arousal.
"But you still keep me around," Hal said and leaned back in his seat with confidence that he naturally exuded and made him all the more attractive to the green-eyed princess.
"Well, you are still useful," Tanya said as she shrugged to try and look like she was still in control.
Tanya had known for quite a while that keeping Hal close was a dangerous game.
Yes, Hal was useful. but he was ambitious and while Tanya felt she was being as cautious as she could possibly be, she still felt that a lot still fell through the cracks.
With him having gotten her these Orb pieces, there was nothing in regards to the Orb that she needed Hal for and she could get the rest without any problems... The few pieces left could and would be gotten by Ehrlich...
She no longer needed to keep this dangerous young man close but she could not help it... She just wanted him to be a part of her success.
While all was this running through her mind, Tanya kept her face devoid of it all and only looked mildly contemplating.
He chuckled before he stood up from his seat to get closer to her before saying,
"You and I know that my 'usefulness' is not why you keep me close... You keep me close because you want something but you can't decide if you want that something more than you want to rule the Haron Empire.
You are indecisive because while you don't know what goes through my head, you know that there is a very likely possibility that you can't have both and that is true... You can't have both.
You can't have me and also have the Empire.
I could decide for you and help clear up your indecision but what would be the fun in that?" Hal asked and kissed her on her cheek before leaning away to say,
"Let me just say this now, I have no interest in the Nexus stone. Maybe my ambitions indeed clash with yours but my ambitions don't require the Nexus stone and I could not care less about it.
You can trust me on that..."
"I do," Tanya said suddenly.
He lied a lot to her but, this she believed to be true...
Hal had no interest in the Nexus stone but that was not necessarily a good thing.
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