As the banter between him and Arya continued, Hal had to admit that the Alchemist was quite persuasive.

Shame though that she was unable to sell him anything, both literally and figuratively.

Arya eventually stood up from her seat and expressed how disappointed she was that they could not engage in business, after which she left the Mansion, boarded her carriage and pulled out of the courtyard.

By then Hal and Melinda we were outside and watching her carriage shrink into the distance, after which Hal faced Melinda and chuckled when he found she was still pouting.

The truth was that he could actually understand why she would have wanted him to put Arya in her place, with his words but he felt the way things turned out was much better.

He headed back into the lounge with her following closely behind as he sat in the luxurious chair again and held out his hand for her.

Melinda snorted but still sat down on his lap before she lounged on him,

"So... What did you notice?" Hal asked her.

Melinda narrowed her eyes and concluded that Hal was not going to refer to her dissatisfaction.

If so, she would let this one go,

"She's mysterious. And not the good kind of mysterious" she said.

Hal's eyes widened,

"Oh, There's a good kind of mysterious?" He asked but he knew the answer already.

"Of course there is. There is the kind that pulls you in. Makes you curious and relaxed that once you find out what it is, it will make you happy.

Then there's the bad kind which you know nothing about and you wish not to know because you believe the moment you know, things are going to get crazy" She explained.

Hal nodded thoughtfully,

"Okay, so there's the ensnaring and there's the scary."

"Exactly" Melinda nodded

"She is clearly interested in you so we can be sure that part of the conversation was truthful, however, the interest is far from being merely sexual" she said.

"Why does it even have to be sexual at all? She might be interested in me for other reasons?" Although Hal's words were a tad bit vague, Melinda understood what he was referring to,

"For starters, and I say this at the risk of inflating your already large ego, you are not the type of Man to not turn the heads of ladies. Whether she swings your way or not.

Even someone who hates you will probably still have to admit that you are well beyond gorgeous... In secret of course..."

"Dial it down Baby girl, you're making me blush" Hal said with a chuckle.

Melinda snorted as him blushing would have to refer to him having the ability to feel embarrassed which was something she doubted existed in his vocabulary.

"As I was saying, it is not a question of whether Arya finds you attractive or not, because she definitely does, it's a question of whether she was seducing you because of that interest or not. And she was definitely attempting to seduce you.

She could hardly keep still, changing position often to get your attention towards certain parts of her body, her legs, her breasts e.t.c.

Her words also focussed a lot on putting you down. Even relating our relationship to that of a princess and a commoner.

So you speak"

"Well, she's not wrong" Hal said with a smile.

Melinda grinned,

"Does that make you feel inadequate?"

Hal looked at her with disbelief,

"Of course not. I just never thought of us that way. It makes the whole thing sexier. I seriously can't wait to sleep with you right in your father's luxurious home."

Melinda's cheeks reddened slightly,

"As I was saying, while that could have all been a tactic to get you to buy her products, I feel it could have also been meaning to set things up for future meetings.

Not to mention her saying that the resources that helped you get as strong as you are now were from me. She cannot possibly believe that.

If she took her time to ask around, which she definitely did, it would have been clear that your cultivation speed was way too fast for a normal cultivator. And its consistency was nothing like someone guzzling up resources for quick progress while neglecting foundations.

As an Alchemist, she should have known that"

Hal could see where she was going with her reasoning and he agreed,

"So you're saying that was just bullcrap to source out what my means of resources and hence success came from"

Melinda nodded,

"Yep. While resources are more abundant and of better quality at the Duchy capital, it is far from being able to create the miracle of monstrous advancement speed.

You not buying her products must have hurt her but it also served as an affirmation to you having some vast pool of resources. Something, even I cannot supply you with.

The whole thing about quitting while you're ahead was probably to know just how much of it you had left. If it had been enough to get under your skin..."

"I might have boasted about it" Hal completed for her.

Melinda nodded in agreement.

Hal became lost in thought.

All that Melinda had been able to study as well as what he had gleaned from Arya's reactions made her seem like nothing more than a very good Alchemist who wanted to sell her products.

Although her actions could be interpreted in other ways, when compared to simpler deduction such as the one above, it seemed more like a stretch so Hal decided to table it for now.

And that decision did not come easy considering the fact that cooperating with Arya could be the perfect way to get some plans up and running.

That said, it was better to leave it this way. She was at the Cosmic Pagoda Realm and not a force he could afford to contend with at the moment.

Much as he would have loved to think, 'there's no rush', the truth was that there was a rush and it was to prepare for something big about to go down.

...

Two Days Later...

The city was buzzing and believe it or not it was not because of the impending civil war but because of the insanity in form of a wedding ceremony right when the city was on the brink of social collapse and total chaos.

Today was the day Marlon Edgar was going to rewed his wife Olivia and it had been made into a grand affair.

Apparently, the logic behind it all was that the bride or groom or maybe even both might not survive the war and so wanted to get it out of the way.

Despite the bad blood that now existed between the Great families, what with them all fighting for themselves, they were all still invited to the ceremony and they all came... guarded.

The truth was that disagreement aside, there was still quite a strong bond between the four families.

Enough for them to call a truce for this Happy occasion.

That said, the security of the Castle was tightened.

Way more than it had been when they had been attacked during the competition.

Hector was not going to let anything ruin his son's... second big day.

If only he knew the security would have no effect in the long run and that when life wants to ruin your day, it won't give up until it succeeds.

Life, in this case, being San Fidwud and the Plebeians of course.