Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Two things came to Lucile\'s mind as she looked at the fan in Melinda\'s hands;

First, the lady Hal had bought the fan for was a Dane. That itself was a big deal \'cause the family was a big deal and,

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Second, this lady was already aware that Hal and Lucile knew each other.

There was something about Melinda\'s smile that made her so sure of the second thought. 

However, in all honesty, the fact that she was now in contact with a lady who could very well be just one of those Hal had gone about charming did not change how Lucile felt about Hal.

That was not to say she was in love with him, it was just that she still did not mind his company.

"He got me this fan at some auction and I felt I might as well get him something from YOUR trade union. But I didn\'t want to get something from some clerk.

I wanted YOU to guide me to what would be best to get"

Lucile felt no ill will coming off of Melinda. In fact, she seemed overly jovial and caviler about the whole thing.

Cryptic as she was by not actually mentioning the encounter between Hal and Lucile at Black Lagoon, all what she was saying seemed to just be referring to how undisturbed about the whole thing.

Lucile was not quite sure how to feel about this stamp of approval of sorts that she was getting from Melinda, but she was at least glad that Melinda was not here to cause a scene.

"What sort of things do you think he would like?" Lucile asked with a friendly smile.

The clerk was a tad bit confused. He had known already from the golden eyes that Melinda was a Dane but that had been been a justification for anyone to ask to see Lucile without having a verification seal.

After all, if Melinda did indeed know Lucile well enough to discuss business with her personally, then she should also have been able to contact her with a Communication Talisman which would have cleared this all up.

However, here they were talking for what was clearly their first time but Lucile was still readily conversing with her.

Irma\'s thought process was the same except that she had a strong feeling that the one who was causing this quickly-forming sense of familiarity was none other than Hal who she knew must have gifted Melinda that Fan.

Melinda shrugged, 

"Who knows with him? A weapon-like Artifact perhaps." She said. 

Lucile nodded slowly and gestured for Melinda to follow her as she led the way to a storeroom guarded with complex Runes that were clearly of high rank as well as guards, the weakest of which were at the peak of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.

"We have quite an array of weapons to choose from but I will be honest, the most powerful of the ones in store right now is a High tier Armament Rank Artifact.

We are keeping the rest away, by which I mean they are still with their owners, until the grand Auction. As such I highly doubt you will find what you would like to gift Hal among all this." She said as she opened up the store and allowed Melinda to have a walkthrough.

Irma\'s eyes widened ever so slightly as she wondered how Lucile knew the name before Melinda even mentioned it, but when she looked over at Melinda\'s face, she found her smiling lightly and not the least bit caught off guard. 

"I guess not" Melinda looked around before turning back to Lucile,

"Then maybe I should come for the auction. I might find something suitable then" she said.

Lucile nodded in agreement, 

"You should" she said and brought out her communication Talisman and held it out to Melinda who withdrew her own and touched the two together.

Now they could contact each other with their Communication talismans.

"I will inform you of all the potential artifacts up for auction once I get a full list of them" Lucile said as she returned her Communication talisman into her spatial ring.

Melinda smiled, 

"I will appreciate that" she said and followed after Lucile who led the way out of the store to lock it up once again.

When she had almost led Melinda and Irma back to the clerk\'s desk, although now it was more of an escort since Melinda knew how to return, Lucile turned around and seemed to struggle with herself before asking, 

"Where is he?" 

Melinda smiled lightly, 

"He went to Doxon a few days ago. What he went for, I think you can imagine" she said.

Lucile nodded. She indeed could imagine.

Then Melinda and Irma left the Paladin Trade Union.

Once again, Irma\'s eyes widened as this was the first she was hearing of Hal\'s current whereabouts and Melinda glanced sideways at her and sighed, knowing for a fact that Irma would be telling it to Isabella by the end of the day.

It was not that she actually cared that her grandmother knew where Hal planned to spend the next few weeks before the expedition with her father, she just thought it was silly for Irma to have such bright eyes from what was in all honesty, casual information.

What Melinda failed to see was that it was not as casual as she thought...

...

That night, Irma did report what she had heard to Isabella,

"Doxon?" Isabella said not because she was worried she had heard wrong but to affirm to herself that Hal was now in the Duchy that was champion of Dual cultivation.

She mulled over it for a while and then it was as though the fact that Hal went to Doxon was the final piece of the puzzle that allowed her to make a connection.

His beautiful Sapphire blue eyes (did she just call them beautiful?) no longer seemed like another part of his immaculate and perfect face (what was with all these adjectives?!) but a trait that was quite prestigious in the Dual cultivating capital.

It was the color of eyes the Doxon family was known for.

Could it be...?

Could Hal be a Doxon...?

Now she thought about it, really thought about it, and searched inside her infallible mind, she could now note even more similarities between Hal\'s face and the face of the Doxon Duchess.

A woman who despite belonging to a family that governed a Duchy that preached the values of Dual cultivation and being centuries younger than she was, Isabella had, on more than one occasion, praised for her decisive and swift meting of justice; the Blue-eyed witch, Svetlana Doxon.

That was not to say she was the Duchess\' biggest fan because she was not. She still disliked the family, but she was sure if the occasion ever came, she could converse with the Duchess better than other members of the Doxon Bloodline.

"Could it be...? No, it can\'t possibly be..." Isabella said with a shake of her head as though to shake disturbing thoughts out of her mind.

...

Meanwhile in Dell city over at the Doxon Duchy,

Hal and his ladies were preparing to attend the feast the Mayor was holding in their honor for bringing down a potential threat to his rule of the city.