Without saying a word, Isaac reached out, took each of their hands one by one—Alice first, then Emily, and finally Celia—and kissed them gently on the back of their hands.
"You look beautiful," he said. His tone was simple, not exaggerated or teasing, just honest.
Emily turned bright red, her eyes darting away.
Alice’s ears, or rather the tips of her black dragon horns, seemed to warm with a faint red hue.
She nodded stiffly but didn’t say anything.
Celia smirked, the corner of her lips curving up. "I could already tell that from the way you were looking earlier."
Isaac rolled his eyes, chuckling under his breath. "Come on. Let’s have breakfast."
Celia paused before sitting down. "What about our makeup? Won’t it get ruined?"
Before Isaac could answer, Priscilla, who had been standing silently near the side of the room, spoke up. "Please don’t worry. Celeste’s makeup skills are among the best. You could fight in a storm and still look flawless afterward."
Celia grinned. "Now that’s impressive."
The group took their seats around the table.
The food was warm and simple—eggs, bread, and fruit juice—but it was enough to calm the tension of the morning.
Priscilla remained standing beside them, her posture perfect as always.
Isaac noticed and frowned. "Priscilla, sit down. Eat with us."
She bowed slightly. "I can’t, Master. A maid eats after her master and his guests have finished."
"Come on, there’s no need for that," Isaac insisted. "Everyone here’s family. You can sit and eat with us."
She shook her head firmly. "I appreciate your kindness, Master, but it’s unthinkable for me to dine at the same table. Please, don’t insist."
Isaac sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You’re really not going to change your mind, are you?"
"No, Master."
The small back-and-forth went on for another minute before Isaac finally gave up.
"Alright, fine. Do as you wish."
Priscilla bowed again, her expression calm but her tail flicking once behind her, a faint sign of happiness of having done perfect job of her master’s maid.
Leora, who had been quietly eating, finally spoke.
Her eyes had been observing Priscilla for a while, especially the faint dragon scales on her neck and wrists. "Who is she?"
Isaac looked up from his plate. "She’s one of the maids from the Cradle I told you about."
Leora nodded slowly, glancing once more at Priscilla before returning to her food. "I see."
When breakfast ended, Priscilla immediately began clearing the table.
Isaac told her to leave it for later, but she was already stacking plates before he could finish speaking.
He gave up trying to stop her again and headed to his room to change clothes for the ceremony.
Leora excused herself soon after, heading to her own room to get ready.
Isaac was halfway through buttoning his shirt when he felt soft arms slip around him from behind.
Two warm, soft sensations pressed against his back, and a familiar scent filled the air.
"You called?" Emily’s voice was light.
Isaac turned his head slightly, one eyebrow raised. "When did I call you?"
"I noticed you were looking at me during breakfast," she said, her chin resting on his shoulder. "It looked like you wanted to talk."
Isaac chuckled. "You understand me too easily."
She pouted, pressing her cheek against his back. "Of course I do. I’m your wife."
He smiled faintly. "My cute, beautiful wife."
She giggled softly at those words.
Isaac reached for the small golden chest sitting inside his spatial ring. He had several of them, given to him by Professor Catherine.
"Actually, there was something I needed to talk about. We’ll need money to finalize the purchase of the city. I checked earlier, I’ve got forty-seven gold coins in the Treasury Chest of Evergold."
Emily blinked. "That’s.... not enough."
"It produces about twenty gold coins a day now that I have so many Subjects and the top guild under me," Isaac explained. "Once I become the city’s lord, that number should go even higher. But right now, outside of that, I’ve only got two more gold coins on hand."
Emily tilted her head, doing quick math in her head. "So, forty-nine total?"
"Right. How much do you have?"
She thought for a second, then said, "Three gold coins and a few silvers from my quests."
Isaac nodded. "So, together that’s about fifty-two gold coins. Enough for the Fortified City, I think."
Emily tilted her head, confused.
"What? The Fortified City requires one hundred gold coins, right?"
Isaac smiled faintly. "Don’t worry about that. We’re not short."
She looked at him suspiciously as he handed her the small chest.
"Isaac... are you thinking of breaking this open? You know it’s a one-time function, right? You can destroy it, and get a massive payout, but we would lose the passive income forever. We should keep it for emergencies."
He shook his head. "No, I’m not breaking it. Just watch."
He closed his eyes briefly and thought, ’ System, share the coins Emily has!’
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
[Host has gained +47 Gold Coins, +303 Silver Coins.]
Then he transferred everything—his total amount—into Emily’s account.
She blinked, eyes wide as her interface updated.
"Wait, what?! We have a hundred and two gold coins now. How is that possible? You just said you didn’t have that much!"
Isaac laughed quietly, wrapping his arms around her from behind as they changed positions.
He guided her to sit on his lap and leaned his chin on her shoulder.
"I wonder how I did that. Any ideas?"
She turned her head slightly, squinting at him. "You... can copy money too? Or duplicate what I have? And it doesn’t even require sleep as a condition?"
"Maybe?" He smiled teasingly.
Emily huffed, puffing her cheeks again. "You always do this. You make me curious and then refuse to explain."
"Should I?" he teased.
"Ugh, you’re such a bully! Why bring it up if you’re not going to tell me?"
Isaac chuckled, his voice low.
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.
She squeaked in surprise, then melted into the kiss.
They fell back on the bed, laughter breaking between them.
After a few minutes, Isaac pulled back, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. "We should go. Everyone’s probably waiting already."
Emily nodded slowly, still a bit dazed. Her cheeks were warm, and her eyes carried a hazy look.
Isaac glanced at her status window.
[Status: Wants to ’sleep’ with Isaac. However, she believes this isn’t the right time and will wait until night. But she is struggling to do that.]
He stifled a grin, inwardly satisfied.
He had expected that.
His saliva had gained a faint aphrodisiac effect since he shared Celia’s Physique. It worked on Emily earlier when they kissed.
But then he frowned slightly.
When did I become someone who plans things like this?
He sighed quietly to himself, shaking his head.
It’s fine. Emily is... a masochist. She enjoys it, so I’m just giving her what she wants. That’s all. Definitely not because I enjoy it too.
Emily stood and fixed her hair, still blushing.
Isaac adjusted his coat, fastened the last button, and opened the door.
Outside in the living room, the others were waiting, Alice, Celia, Selene, Priscilla and Leora stood by the main hall entrance, ready to leave.
Celia had her hands on her hips, smiling faintly when she saw them.
"About time," she said.
Isaac smiled back. "We’re ready. Let’s head out."
Emily walked beside him quietly, though her hand brushed his as they moved. Alice gave her a knowing glance but said nothing.