Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Kirill had one hand stretched towards Hal as though to welcome his inevitable acceptance but then Hal snorted and then looked directly at the sky before bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha hahaha..." 

For a full minute, Hal laughed and it got so serious that he even began to gasp for breath.

However, whenever it seemed as though he would stop laughing, something would just crack him up again and he would be right back at it.

At the one minute mark, Hal finally stopped laughing and faced Kirill whose eyes were narrowed, 

"Are you done? Are you done acting insane?" Kirill asked.

Hal wiped a bit of moisture forming at the corner of his eye from laughter before he said, 

"The question is, are you done 'Grandfather'? Because if you are, I'd like to ask that you spare me all this crap. 

Are you going to lock me up or do something else to stop me from leaving the Duchy?"

Kirill shook his head with a frown, 

"No. Like I said it's your choice. If you leave the Duchy, I will not protect you but will continue to use your name to spur my faction on"

"Okay, prove it" Hal said.

"What?"

"Prove it is truly my choice and take me back to where you took me from. This view is nauseating" Hal said and suddenly, everything around him became a blur as he was wrenched from the mountain top.

When things came back into focus barely a second later, Hal was back in the courtyard of Emily and Amelia's joint residence with Rita and Karmen still standing there.

They were not worried per se since Hal had already informed them there was nothing to worry about through the telepathic connection, they were simply awaiting his return.

Once Hal saw familiar faces, he turned away from Kirill who was in the courtyard as well, 

"Alright then, see ya" he waved without turning back.

The Ex-duke could not believe the amount of disrespect Hal was showing him and it showed in the tone of his voice, 

"Boy, after all I've said, you will still leave the Doxon Duchy? You will put yourself in danger?"

Still without turning back, Hal shrugged, 

"Hey, I'm going to war in a week, so my life will be in danger anyway" he said.

"War?" Kirill repeated but Hal did not bother to expatiate as he waved once again, 

"Goodbye old man. If I ever see you again, it would be only too soon" he said.

Kirill sneered, 

"Alright boy, enjoy your brief moment of enjoyment at my expense. It's not going to change anything anyway. Like I said, whether you like it or not, this is going to happen. 

If you keep insisting on fighting a losing battle,  So be it"

... And with those ominous words, Kirill Doxon vanished from the residence, heading out of Sensual palace entirely.

Once he was gone, Hal took a deep breath and then faced Rita and Karmen, who were now looking worried due to the words and expressions of the Doxon Patron, with a smile he said,

"What's with those expressions? It's not the first time I'll be threatened and it surely won't be the last"

"But it's the first time you will be threatened by a Saint. That counts as a big deal" Rita pointed out.

Hal waved her off as he noted in his mind that this was only the second saint to threaten him as the first was Isabella Dane, 

"As I said, it is not the first time and it will not be the last time so why get so bent out of shape. Come on girls, we have some goodbyes to say before leaving."

...

The only one Hal felt obligated to inform of his departure was the Sensual palace head who gave him a sad smile that told Hal that he was well aware of all that had transpired between him and the Doxon patron.

Not really a surprise though considering Emily had claimed they were close friends and the second part of the conversation had happened right on his property.

Emily's brothers were there as well when he said his goodbyes but Emily and Amelia were not. They had no interest in making a show of the departure.

With that done, Hal left the Sensual palace swiftly and headed for one of the Teleportation circles.

By then, Kirill had lifted his ban on Hal leaving the Duchy.

He truly seemed to be ready to let him do as he wished.

However, Hal was getting processed with Rita and Karmen now in his Harem space when a Runemaster suddenly came inside the Teleportation building with a scroll that he presented to one of the attendant Runemasters.

When the Duchess' seal was noticed on the scroll, they quickly unrolled it and read the contents silently before they froze and looked up at Hal whose eyes were a little widened in surprise.

Was the Doxon Patron finally going to move to stop him?

That the scroll had the Duchess' seal did not mean all that much as Hal felt Kirill might have relatively easy access to it. 

"What's the hold-up?" Hal asked to speed things along but all attendants who had read the scroll suddenly bowed to him while everyone else (not that many) who wished to use the circle after him looked confused.

They were not as confused as Hal though and when he was about to ask what the hell was going on, even though he could take a guess, one of them, who had come in with the scroll said, 

"We apologize for the delay, Your Grace" they said.

"Your what...?" Hal asked and grabbed the scroll and quickly read through it to highlight a few points.

First off, Svetlana (she had written this for sure. Hal could not explain how he knew for sure but he did) had announced that Hal was her son and he was to be appointed a title befitting his status as the son of a Duchess.

He was to be called either Young Lord Hal or Your Grace. Both of which sounded incredibly annoying to the one in question.

Second, anyone who showed even a hint of disrespect among them would be dealt swift justice.

'Oh please, like I need you to intimidate people on my behalf. I can do that myself, damn it!'

Third, they were not to accept any form of payment from him to travel. He was absolved of all tax and the blue gems required to power the Teleportation circle would be provided by the Duchess herself.

Hal was guessing the Runemaster who had come with the scroll was with blue gems.

Of all the points, the third was the only one that actually appealed to Hal.

And it caused him to smack his forehead in annoyance at himself.

He should have tried to get a few million blue gems from the Doxon Patreon before he insulted him too much.

After all, Kirill had never taken care of him all his life and had nineteen years to make up for.

He wondered if he could go back right now and demand the Blue gems but eventually decided he had burned that bridge already.

It was really painful to think about.

Especially since the advancement of his ladies as well as his forces in Sapphire city was costing him a fortune in terms of upgrades of their techniques.

Eventually, he sighed.

'Oh well, at least I don't have to pay for my travels. The next time I return to the Doxon Duchy, I'll make sure to milk them dry'

Those behind him were murmuring among themselves.

Hal mostly tuned them out but he still caught a bit it the conversations, 

"Your grace? Is that not a title reserved for a direct offspring of the incumbent Duke or Duchess?"

"It is"

"Then would that not mean, he's the Duchess' son?"

"He certainly has the looks"

"I agree, he's so dreamy"

"Your Grace, would you prefer a faster Teleportation circle? It will take you two days to reach Silva with this circle." Said the Runemaster who brought the scroll as he looked around, 

"I was told you would have companions"

Hal shook his head, 

"This one is fine. But wait, I'll be right back"