The Invitation

Hal informed her of the news and made to continue but Melinda shook her head and turned away

"I don't want it anymore, it feels rushed" she pouted

"Okay, how do you want it then?" Hal asked with a smile

"The grandest way possible" Melinda smirked and Hal's face blanked, the smile was wiped off

"No, not that" he let go of her and backed up

"Yes, exactly..." Melinda smiled and moved closer until he was backed up against the wall and their faces mere inches apart

'Here it comes. The word I have hated more than anything else on earth, I can't believe I will hear it from her' Hal thought...

...But if Melinda noticed his discomfort, then it only excited her the more because her smile grew -if possible- even wider "I want a marriage ceremony"

"*Gasp*. Betrayal" Hal said with a face filled with hurt but Melinda simply shrugged and stepped back.

How could she not know her man? During the last week together if there was one thing Hal made clear as subtle as he could. It was how much he hated the whole concept of marriage.

While it would not stop him from 'chasing skirts' he still did not want to be married in any real sense.

Melinda of course picked up on that and had long decided she would seek to be married to him. A simple contract won't cut it though, so she wanted it to be as public and as grand as possible.

She was vain that way.

"You didn't expect me to be satisfied with a simple contract did you?

Hal looked at her in silence for a while before he sighed "Is that all"

"That is all" she nodded and Hal's smile became smug again as she had forgotten one detail, the most embarrassing part on the road to getting married and he did not intend to remind her as he left her smiling in triumph.

He was at the door when Melinda spoke again...

"Of course I want a public proposal as well"

...Hal's knees went slack.

...

Amelia sat in the lounge with Rita who had been mostly silent since she got there.

Amelia decided to spend her time studying one of the two women who spent the most time with Hal and what she saw did not put a calm smile on her face.

It was not jealousy per se, it was more of an insecurity brewing within her as she watched ladies who were many decades her senior have a more youthful looking skin than hers.

The more she watched, the more dissatisfied she felt and eventually she couldn't hold it in and decided to inquire about her secret

"Oh this?" Rita said with false confusion as she stretched and flaunted her creamy perfect skin "This is a testament to the power of the elixir of youth"

"Elixir of youth?" Amelia did not believe it, this was obviously Rita's attempt at a joke

"Yes, Elixir of youth. The type that only comes from Hal" Rita nodded with a wink

Amelia instantly caught on and blushed to the root of her hair

Rita chuckled but decided to end it there and not make the her feel more uncomfortable than she already felt.

Amelia's blushing face gradually returned to normal while she wondered if Hal would agree to what she had come to ask him.

Speak (or think in this case) of the Devil and he shall appear. Hal finally showed up and as he had yet to see Amelia, his face was wearing a frown.

Not one of anger but one of frustration and discomfort.

The whole conversation was still very much on his mind while he walked to the lounge, all of it was made much worse by the cackling Grimiore in his head.

'What's so funny?' Hal asked when it became too irritating

'Nothing' Grimiore chuckled

'Grr. Spit it out' Hal growled

'It just seems incredibly ironic that the world in which you can finally let your promiscuity run amok also happens to be the world where a girl finally gets you to not only marry her but also propose to her 'publicly''

Grimiore did not seem to care that Hal did not share it's humor on the matter.

In truth, this should not have meant anything to Hal but he just did not feel comfortable being in a more committed relationship than he already was.

While he was still lost in his thoughts...

'By the way, your -fiancée- has a suppressed bloodline'

... Grimiore dropped another bombshell.

'What? And you are just telling me this now'

'It didn't come up'

Hal was forced to put the conversation on hold as he worked on turning his frown into a smile as Amelia hugged him tight and pulled him out of the mansion to the garden where they usually take walks.

"So, are you here just to spend time with me or for...something else" Hal asked with a seemingly innocent raise of his brows

"Rouge" Amelia smiled and turned away. She was aware that the only reason they had yet to take the next step was because she was not ready. Hal for his part acted normal and did not seem all that interested in asking for it.

This always warmed her heart... at least until it came to mind that there were two ladies with him already and he was hardly suffering from abstinence.

"I want you to have dinner with my family" She said

"Okay" Hal answered instantly

"But of course you don't have... Wait, what?" Amelia was convinced she had heard wrong

"I said okay. If you want me to, then I will" Hal repeated. After the realization that marriage was in his future, dinner with her family was something he believed he could handle.

"When is this dinner?"

"Day after tomorrow" Amelia still felt a little surreal to see things going so smoothly

Hal on the other hand could not think of any reason not to meet another great family head, this was an opportunity to have another ally.

He was not under any illusion that Gregory would continue to obey Hector Edgar, at some point he would come after him and Hal's men were far from ready.

The most pressing issue was acquiring a more permanent location for properly nurturing his men and also a premises to proceed with the next stage of his plans.

As they walked back towards the mansion Amelia decided to ask another question that bothered her

"Will you join the competition?"

He stopped and turned towards her "Will you?"

Amelia shook her head "I won't. I have no interest in such a pointless struggle, and I have no need for this city's validation. So stop turning the question around, will you?"

Hal shrugged "I just might. All the young talent of Salmon city engaged in a contest. It seems promising"

"Alexander is surely going to participate" Amelia cautioned

"So what?" Hal chuckled

"He's dangerous" she said in a serious voice

"Well I survived the Holgers, I think I can survive him" Hal said and walked back towards the mansion with Amelia looking shocked behind him

"You have something to do with the death of the Holgers" Amelia asked in disbelief

Hal turned "Yes I do"

Amelia lightly bit her lower lip"You look so hot right now"

"I always aim to please"

...

That evening Hal sat crooslegged in his room as he absorbed cosmic energy in another greedy bid to further advance his cultivation.

Killing the Holgers happened to count as being on the grand scale but so far Hal had not bothered to redeem it or even see what it was. He decided to do that now, but a gentle nudge to his subconscious caused him to pause

"What is it?" Hal asked

"Master, The Holger estate is going up for auction"

"This must soon be public news, why bother reporting it"

An information was shared with Hal that caused the edge of his lips to curl

"Hmm, interesting"