Chapter 332 - I Was There.
Elsa suppressed whatever outburst of sexual drive she now had. This was how far she wished to go for now and she was trying her best not to be swayed by the perfection that was Hal's face, body, and even seed.
Hal on the other hand had quite enjoyed the session but would have loved for it to go further since this had not contributed to his essence reaping at all. He had not actually dual cultivated with Elsa.
Putting his now flaccid cock back into his pants and buckling up, Hal sat up and smiled at Elsa who was still doing her best to stop the flames of passion that were now rising within her.
She was sure she would have been able to quell it on a normal day but was only finding it mildly difficult today because of how unexpected and sudden it had been.
When she took a deep breath and opened her eyes which had been closed in concentration before, there was something in her gaze that told Hal she was seeing him in a new light.
Not just that, she looked like she was now more cautious around him.
Even with him detecting all this from her eyes, there was actually no tell in Elsa's actual expression which was still the same.
The seductive lady patted her stomach with the content of someone who just is a nice meal,
"Ah, that was satisfying. Who would have thought you would taste so good?" she said with a hint of teasing. Even though she was being honest.
Hal sighed,
"I'm one of a kind. Now can we get to matters you seemed so interested in ignoring before?" He said.
Elsa smiled at him,
"Well, I am sure you can guess it all by now. I was employed by the Duchess of Doxon." She said.
Hal narrowed his eyes on mild confusion,
"To find me?" He asked.
Elsa sighed,
"Kind of. You see, she never actually thought you were missing. I was told exactly where you would be; Sapphire city, and it was where I went to first upon arrival and why I only arrived just in time for the auction.
Needless to say, you were not there. That was when it became my job to find you.
However, you are so easy to find that merely showing up for a job was enough."
Hal's confusion remained,
"So if you were not to search for me, what are you here for?" He asked.
Elsa chuckled and grabbed his chin to turn his head this way and that as though inspecting his looks,
"I was expecting your question to be how I knew it was you when I saw you?" She said.
It was understandable why she would say that since for all Hal knew, his mother had not seen him since he was an infant and should not have a thorough idea of what he looks like.
Hal shrugged,
"I guessed my eyes were a quick giveaway" he said.
Elsa nodded,
"True. Blue eyes are already rare, beautiful sapphire blue eyes like yours are even rarer and are a tell for the Doxon Bloodline. However, I knew exactly what you looked like. I never needed to make a guess" she said and withdrew a portrait from her spatial ring.
A full-sized portrait of him.
However, the portrait was not exactly just a painting, there was something very life-like about it. In fact, it almost looked as though it was moving or at the very least, shimmering.
Without a prompt, Hal took the portrait and spread his Astral perception to it and detected a heavy use of Astral energy which he could also see was mapping out the portrait.
It was making additions to the painting in it. It was... growing.
The complexity of the runes used in the making of the portrait quite easily blew Hal's mind.
"What is that?" He asked.
There was a look in Elsa's eyes as she observed the painting that was almost intimate. But not intimate with the painting exactly. But more like intimate with the artist.
"It's a portrait that was drawn on the day of your birth. I was... there when It was painted. It was etched with runes to allow the painting of you which at the time was an infant to follow certain growth patterns and age as you would.
Obviously, it is not exactly accurate but the resemblance is clear as day. It was the Duchess' way of watching you grow from afar"
Hal had to admit that the resemblance was clear and had it not been for his Devil Bloodline which deviated from those growth patterns and further refined his looks, he was quite sure it would have been a perfect image.
He eyed Elsa who was looking quite collected and undisturbed.
It was that collected expression of hers that sparked Hal's suspicions as she was now sounding serious as opposed to the jovial manner she had been speaking before.
Clearly, she was trying to hide how she was really reacting at the moment and Hal knew she would only be doing so if she had a personal connection to the events.
A thought process that was further reiterated by the fact that she just mentioned having been present at the time of this portrait's creation and most probably present at his birth as well.
"So, what is the story here?" He asked.
Elsa looked up at him, a little bit confused,
"Story?"
Hal nodded,
"Between you and Svetlana" he clarified.
Elsa shook her head,
"There's no story. She hired me for a job." She said with an attempt at a shrug.
Hal had already stood up from the bed by this time and was eyeing her intensely,
"Oh come on. I know I can't force you to tell me, but I believe I deserve to know what is between you and that woman who birthed me" he said.
Elsa sighed,
"I maintain that there is no story there and even if there was, you are right, you can't force me to tell you and should not even try to get it out of me... If there was anything to tell that is.
As for deserving to be told, I won't deny that you do deserve some answers but this is not one of them" she said and Hal gave a casual shrug.
"Okay, fine. Why don't you now tell me why exactly you are..." Hal began before he paused and looked down at the portrait in his hands and his eyes widened in understanding,
"Ah, I see. You're her forerunner. Your job is to go ahead of her and lay down the groundwork. Show me that she never really forgot about me. That sending me to live with Gregory in Salmon city was not her way of tossing me out of her life.
Lay down the groundwork so she can eventually make an appearance and establish our almost non-existent mother-son relationship." He said and passed the portrait back to Elsa who received it carefully and put it back into her spatial ring.
While she did so, a smile crept on her face as Hal had been right on point with his words.
However, there was something about his time when he said those things. It was controlled, it was calm, it was deductive and it was not emotional. It was not pained and was nothing like how she expected him to react.
Especially since she could tell it was not that he was actually okay with Svetlana's actions.
"That's smart of you..." She began but Hal interrupted as he was not yet done,
"But that is not all, is it? I am willing to bet you were also hired to watch me. Mostly from a distance. If I am right about that, then you really are terrible at your job, since Gavin nearly killed me today and you were nowhere to be found."