楼上的上瘾女士

Doxon Duchy palace...

Svetlana was once again in her lounge but there was a slight frown of worry on her face as she stared into a blue orb that hung in mid-air in front of her and then she heard a voice getting ever closer to where she was, 

"Would you unhand me? I can walk" the voice said and Svetlana raised her eyes towards the sound before looking back at the orb.

Soon, two female guards entered the lounge with each grabbing one of Rita's arms as they guided her to the lounge.

Once inside, they let her go. just as she attempted to shrug them off as she had been doing since they grabbed hold of her.

Then they bowed to Svetlana, 

"She declined to be escorted" one of them said in a bid to explain the rude entry.

Especially since they had not actually announced the presence of a visitor.

Not exactly their fault though as it was a well-proven belief that no one could enter the Doxon palace without the awareness of the Blue-eyed witch.

And they were not wrong.

"That's because I know my way around, you idiots. I was here before you ever were" Rita said in annoyance.

"You can leave us" Svetlana said while still peering into the blue orb.

Once they were gone and the door was closed, Svetlana looked up at Rita and smiled, 

"Well, I never thought you would come to visit me. You seemed to be enjoying staying by his side so much"

Rita frowned slightly and then bowed, 

"My lady" she said in a respectful voice and then she straightened up, 

"It would have been rude to come to the Doxon Duchy and not pay my respect. After all, you gave me a job to do and I only barely did it well" she said and Svetlana waved her off, 

"Oh, you did fine. I mean he's alive and can even cultivate, surely you must have performed your duties well"

'I really doubt I had anything to do with the two scenarios' Rita thought but did not say anything.

She did not think it needed to be said as she was almost certain Svetlana knew her part in Hal's survival and eventual ability to cultivate was nothing worth mentioning.

Especially the ability to cultivate.

"Oh come now. Don't put yourself down. Never downplay your accomplishments." Svetlana insisted and then sighed.

Rita frowned.

This was not her first time in the presence of the Duchess to know that she did not actually feel the way she was saying. She was not actually being supportive. There was something she wanted to know.

And sure enough, 

"And while we are on the topic of your accomplishments, why not expatiate on what exactly was your part in his ability to cultivate." Svetlana said.

Rita shrugged,

"I had nothing to do with it" she said truthfully and Svetlana patted the sofa to invite Rita to sit.

Rita sighed and then sat down only for the Duchess to turn to face her and nail her with her Deep blue eyes, 

"I believe you. You had nothing to do with it... But you know something. So why not tell me? Come on, Rita, tell me what you know" Svetlana said and Rita gulped.

Maybe this was not the first time she was talking with the Duchess but it was surely the first time she had been so persuasive.

When she had helped her off the streets and provided her with a cultivation technique, it had been with a gentle but firm, ready to reprimand hand.

And then, when she had ordered her to watch over Hal in Salmon city, she had not attempted 'persuasion'.

And here was a woman she knew could squash her if she really wanted to.

"I know nothing" she answered in a surprisingly stable voice that failed to betray the turmoil going on in her mind.

"Lie" Svetlana said in a low voice and pushed her face even closer so that their lips were only inches apart and she seemed ready to move in for a kiss. and then chuckled.

"What are you doing?" Rita asked her with her eyes widened.

"This? Just a new interrogation tactic." Svetlana said.

"What? Torture and threats aren't enough?" Rita asked.

"Do you want to be tortured?" Svetlana asked still with her lips close to Rita's.

"I would pick that over this weird closeness any day" Rita said and stood from the sofa.

Don't get her wrong, she did not wish to be threatened or tortured even though she was sure they would not be enough to make her say anything that would endanger Hal who would forever have her devotion and love, but she could hardly explain why she felt so weird.

In her mind, Rita giggled as this would probably be the first time she would actually admit to loving him. Even though it was only in her mind.

In truth, she really did not know how Hal was able to cultivate and she did not know many things about him either, one of them being how he was a Devil who made her into a Demon. A succubus.

But information regarding his antics was sure to be appreciated.

Svetlana was smiling as though something had just been confirmed,

"You've slept with him, haven't you?" She asked suddenly and Rita who was looking away turned to face her, 

"What?"

Svetlana smiled, 

"Surprised I know?" She asked.

At that moment, Rita no longer saw Svetlana as the one who she owed so much to and it showed in the manner she spoke,

"Not admitting anything but... have you been spying on me? On us?"

Svetlana raised her hands, 

"Trust me, this has nothing to do with my 'All-seeing eyes'. I don't spy on people's personal moments. I just keep a regular watch on the general situation in my Duchy. Besides, I would have to be looking constantly since I doubt you keep it to a fixed schedule." She said with a chuckle and looked to be enjoying herself.

"What would make you even think that?" Rita asked.

Svetlana shrugged, 

"I'm perceptive. You walked with silent confidence of someone who has been made 'a woman'" she said.

"There's such a thing?" Rita asked.

Once again, the Duchess shrugged, 

"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, you are glowing just like Emiliana Antonov and you moved away from me when I got too close to your comfort zone because I am the mother of the man who took your virginity."

Rita pushed her palms out, 

"Whoa, where are you getting all this? 'Glowing like Emily'?"

Svetlana sighed, 

"When I met 'Emily' -as you call her- and her daughter Amelia, I noticed the subtle glow. The look that set them apart. For one, Emily was not returning to Doxon as she had left. She came back better than ever both in cultivation and in looks.

It was confirmed when you and Hal arrived and the first place you visited, other than the restaurant, of course, was Sensual Palace.

And what about the 'Legend'?

The blue-eyed young man who is not a Doxon and was able to cure Emiliana, oh sorry, 'Emily's' condition and make her moan loud enough to wake the dead.

Your reaction to me was the final nail in the discovery coffin."

At first, there was a pause before Rita said, 

"So... What?" She asked.

"Nothing. It's not my business where he sticks his stuff. There are those who are likely to care though but anyway... I just want to know what you know. Surely, he can't just be sleeping with you for nothing right? He must at least be sharing a few things with you" Svetlana said.

Rita sneered inwardly at the attempt to play on her ego, 

"Actually no. He tells me nothing. He just uses my body for his own pleasure" She said with an amused smile.

Svetlana looked at her for a while, clearly not believing a word before saying, 

"That's disappointing" then she turned her head to the Orb in front of her and exclaimed, 

"Finally!"

Rita wondered what she was referring to and she did not have to wonder for long as Svetlana explained, 

"I've been trying to look at the situation in the Garden for a while but it's been difficult. Just what I would expect from a Divine Array I guess" she said in a low voice that Rita could hear.

Maybe not understanding the thorough engineering of Arrays, not being a Runemaster herself, but the word 'Divine' attached to it told her it was bad news.

Divine was not a word to ever be taken lightly.

"You're looking into the Garden of Peril? Why?" Rita asked. Wondering if Svetlana really cared about her Duchy's inhabitants enough to actually watch over them when they were seeking a fruit for their own gains and well aware of the danger.

"Why not? My son is there, is he not?" Svetlana seemed confused at Rita's question.

"You are watching over... Hal?" She asked and the question had already left her lips before she reasoned that she was insinuating that Svetlana did not care about her son.

While others might think so, Rita had never followed that trend. She might not devote her life to Svetlana but she would always be grateful and hardly ever saw her in a bad light. One of the things that constantly worried her was what Hal would do during the inevitable mother-son reunion.

She would always be on his side and fight with him but she wished it did not necessarily mean she would be staunchly against and opposing Svetlana.

She might not know all, but she always felt Svetlana was misunderstood and was not as bad as she might be made to seem.

But we digress, 

"Watching over him? That would be silly. I have not done that for eighteen years. However, he has no idea what he is getting himself into by going into that garden..." Svetlana paused suddenly and her eyes widened slightly,

"This... This is not good."

While Rita could not see anything in that glowing orb, the look on Svetlana's face said it all.

...

Meanwhile in the Garden,

Hal, Karmen, and Amelia had arrived at the center of the Garden against all odds and traps. There had been a significant reduction in the number of these who had been in their group and the impact of those losses was in the eyes of the survivors, 

Right in front of them was a hill but this was the real deal as it had an opening through which they could feel an emanation of energy that could only be coming from the Primal fruit.

"We made it" Boryan said and just as he did, a purple rune circle appeared atop the hill and in a few seconds, a purple dude dressed in leaves and vines with one horn above his left eye which was black to match the right was formed from it.

Embry stared at them all with malice but was smiling as he said, 

"Welcome"

Hal smiled nervously,

"Anyone else having a case of deja vu right now, or is it just me?" He asked.

No one said a word and he took that as a 'No',

He was not the only one.