Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Many hours of intercourse later after which all ladies were satisfied, Hal lay on the bed with Melinda resting on him.

She was the only one of the trio of ladies who was still conscious and had not fallen asleep after the thorough treatment she had received by Hal's hands.

A session that had been as thorough and sentimental as Hal had ever been in his life. It went beyond a simple joining of genitals and like the kiss they had shared earlier, was their way of coming back together and becoming one as they did the dance of pleasure on the bed.

There was no doubt that she was satisfied and as she laid her head on his chest and traced his pecs, she smiled and simply indulged in the closeness she felt with him.

Eventually though, the quiet indulgence in each other's bodies was not enough for her and she brought up pressing issues,

"So, about the hearing...?" she said.

"What about it?" Hal asked with a smile while he stroked her hair after having unbraided it while they were having sex previously.

"Well, what is your planned defense? If you're still here and seem to have no problem going through with it, you have to have something planned" Melinda said.

Hal sighed,

"Not really. I mean I don't really have a penned strategy and was mostly planning on just going to the hearing and giving the old fogeys a piece of my mind" he said and chuckled a little.

The chuckle at the end of Hal's words made his words all the more confusing to Melinda who found that she could not be sure if he was kidding right now or if he was serious.

"You're going to give them a piece of your mind? The same people who want you imprisoned for leaving the Royal Academy, you are going to give those powerhouses a piece of your mind?" Melinda asked and rose up a bit on the bed with her weight resting mostly on her forearm.

"I honestly don't know why that is so surprising. I'm just going to act like they expect me to act. They see me as arrogant... As not giving a damn about the illustrious name of the Royal Academy..." Hal said and Melinda interrupted,

"... Which is true" she said with a head gesture and Hal nodded,

"Exactly. So why pander to what they want?" Hal said.

There was a brief moment of silence and then Melinda smiled,

"You're going to cause trouble, aren't you? I mean, even more trouble than you've already caused" she said and Hal nodded as he leaned forward to kiss her on the lips,

"Yes, yes I am" As he spoke, he tapped her on the forehead to give her a Harem key and guarantee that she would have access to the Harem space whenever she wished.

"I have to say that I find this plan of yours to be overly exaggerated. You're like a burning man who wants to burn everything before he is reduced to ashes.

I mean it is just like you to do things in such a loud fashion but you do realize that you will be burning a lot of potential bridges.

You can just leave. Run away and not even attend the hearing" Melinda said and placed her head in Hal's chest again.

"I could indeed not attend the hearing but I will not put it past those idiots to put out a continent-wide search for me and while I can surely evade them for the few weeks before the monument of Ordinances open, I will hate to be so restricted.

Not to mention, as things stand, I would really love to be able to come and go wherever I want to as I please.

Hell, I want to be able to come and go between the Haron continent and the Dystopian continent." Hal said.

"Oh please! It's pride, plain and simple. I know you. You just want to use this hearing as a chance to get in the face of the elders"

Hal did not deny her words and neither did he confirm them as he merely smiled.

Melinda rolled her eyes and continued,

"According to the Empress, the hearing is a voting system where the accusations are made against you and you get the chance to present your case.

However, as the Elders who accuse you are the ones to vote on your sentence, the system is not really in your favor.

The Empress says she has tried to appease the Elders and quite a few of them have said that they are ready to let things slide if you deliver a public apology for all students in the Royal Academy to hear.

I told her that, knowing you, you would not apologize and she told me that you will have to."

***

As Hal stood in the middle of the hall used for his hearing, he could not help but think back to his conversation with Melinda.

He could not help but chuckle inwardly at the fact that on an occasion that was meant to be serious and determine his fate, he was nonchalantly thinking about his time with his women the day before.

When he came out of the Harem space, the date of his hearing was delivered to him by an official working for the Academy and it seemed as though the Elders were quite keen about getting things over with as the hearing was the next day i.e the day after he returned to the Academy.

They must have all been in the Imperial city prior because otherwise, Hal saw no feasible way that they could have congregated so fast.

Probably every single one of the elders resides in the Imperial city and Hal wondered if that was a criterion to be an Elder of the Royal Academy and decided that it probably was.

In the Hearing hall, Hal was the only student and he faced an imposing (at least they were clearly meant to be imposing) gathering of Royal Academy Elders.

The most important individuals in the Royal Academy.

The hall was like a coliseum with the Elders, who were about a hundred, seated in the leveled spectator seats and eyeing him with either annoyance and disgust or indifference to his current situation.

That was not to say that they were all unfriendly though as among them, Hal noted a few faces that were actually intrigued by this young man before them.

However, there were only two faces that Hal actually noted to be on his side and they were none other than Empress Harlyn Haron and her daughter, Tanya who was supposed to be Hal's sponsor and Elder within the Royal Academy.

It was not any of the two who spoke though and it was rather one of the other elders, a thin man who looked to be in his late forties but was surely much older,

"Hal Doxon, I believe you know why you are here. You are not only been tried for disregard of the Academy but also lack of gratitude." the man said.

"Lack of gratitude? For what?" Hal asked with no ounce of respect in his tone and as everyone in the hall heard the tone, for most, their looks of disgust got even more pronounced.

Hal ignored them and his eyes were on the Elder who had spoken.

The Elder sneered,

"You showed blatant disregard for the Royal Academy during the Entrance Exams with your disrespectful statement. You were forgiven and nothing was said about the matter and then you showed a lack of gratitude by leaving the Academy a day after Orientation"

"I still don't understand when I showed a lack of gratitude" Hal said with furrowed brows which caused a lot of the Elders to converse among themselves.

Tanya sighed but she said nothing and made no gestures for now.

The Elder clarified,

"You showed a lack of gratitude to the Empress by ignoring her graciousness to not punish your disrespect to the Royal Academy and proceeded to do something worse by not stepping foot in the Academy for a year.

Even if the Empress does not wish to punish this action of yours despite the crime being obvious, she represents the entire Academy.

You disrespect her and you disrespect the entirety of the Royal Academy."

The Elder let this sink in before he then said,

"Your misdemeanors are clear... But we will allow for you to briefly present your case and for anyone who supports you to say their piece.

Your sponsor perhaps?" the Elder directed his eyes at Tanya who nodded and stood up,

"Yes, Elder Chad, if I may..." Tanya began but Hal shook his head as he interrupted her,

"Princess Tanya, thank you but there is no need for you to bother. I alone will speak in my defense"

Tanya paused and frowned at Hal with a bit of embarrassment at how he had cut her off and then she sat down.

Hal took a deep breath and then he said,

"Well, I thank you for this chance. A chance to address all Elders of the Royal Academy directly. This is everyone right?" Hal asked Elder Chad who looked taken off guard but still answered,

"Not all. But for those who are not here physically, we have their votes and know what they want" he said in a stern tone.

"Of course you do. They voted against me right?" Hal asked with a smile.

The Elder didn't answer and Hal continued regardless,

"I know they did. But at least they were wise. Wise enough to not attend this absolute waste of time of a hearing!"