"You don’t need to worry about Alice," Catherine said suddenly, breaking the silence that had settled between them.
Isaac turned his head toward her. "What do you mean?"
"Before, Mother must have been planning to target Alice to force her to awaken," Catherine said slowly. "But now I doubt she’ll do that."
Isaac frowned. "Why?"
"You," she said simply. "The growth you’ve shown is... unique, to say the least. That’s why Mother will leave Alice and me with you now. She’ll want you to have two Conqueror Candidates with you, people who can potentially become Conquerors."
Isaac leaned back slightly, looking at her carefully.
"Sis, I’m trying to understand what you’re saying here."
Her face was calm now.
She must’ve wiped away her tears when he wasn’t looking.
"Three Colors," Catherine began, her tone more serious, "the organization Mother is part of, has one goal: to conquer the Apocalypse and bring peace to the world.
"For that goal, they’ll do anything.
"Raising talented children in weak cities, like we were, is one of their methods. They do this so that the safety of children is guaranteed.
"When these children grow strong enough, the Three Colors send them to powerful Lords who show promise."
Isaac stayed quiet for a moment.
His expression darkened as the scale of it sank in.
Conquering the Apocalypse?
That sounded insane.
Even Apex-rank races, demigods, and gods had failed.
Entire civilizations had been wiped out.
How could anyone do it now, when the world itself was just barely holding on?
Catherine must have seen the doubt in his eyes because she added, "We have the System now. Conquering the Apocalypse is possible, at least in theory."
Isaac shook his head. "That doesn’t change anything. Mother’s goal can be whatever she wants, but that doesn’t erase what she did to us."
Catherine smiled wryly.
"You’re right. But her goal is also why she won’t target Alice. She’s with you, a promising Lord. That’s enough for her."
"She’ll target me then," Isaac said coldly. "She’ll create roadblocks, test me, push me until I break. And if she decides I’m not working hard enough, she’ll force Alice to awaken just to ’help’ me."
He could see how Mother operated.
She didn’t need to kill to destroy.
She’d just put him in situations where death would be a natural result of failure.
Then she’d call it fate, or a test.
And now, she had already done something that would cause the city to fall tomorrow.
Isaac clenched his fists, jaw tight.
He hated being used like a pawn.
Catherine reached out and gently held his hand. Her touch was soft, grounding him for a moment.
He met her eyes and exhaled slowly.
’I can’t keep thinking about Mother right now,’ he thought. ’There are more important things in front of me.’
He took a deep breath.
"Let’s put the topic of Mother aside for now. We need to talk about us."
Catherine smiled teasingly. "Us? I know you like me, Isaac, but—"
"I’m talking about my memories," Isaac interrupted. "You’re not allowed to alter them anymore. I know you did it before to stop me from going after Mother recklessly. I understand it was to protect me. But that ends now."
He took another breath, steadying himself before saying the next words.
This wasn’t something he wanted to say, but he had to put clear boundaries.
"If you mess with my memories ever again, I’ll see you as my enemy."
Catherine froze.
Her eyes widened as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.
"...Enemy?" she repeated softly.
"Yes," Isaac said quietly but firmly.
Her lips parted slightly, disbelief flashing across her face. The expression almost made him falter.
Isaac tried his best to not focus on her eyes that looked betrayed.
He didn’t want to hurt her. But he had to draw a line somewhere.
"Okay," she finally said, her voice calm again. "I won’t touch your memories."
Then she smiled, and something shifted in her tone, making it sharper, and colder. "But everything else is fair game."
Isaac blinked. "What? No. Don’t mess with my head at all."
"You only said memories," she replied casually.
He sighed, frustrated. "Catherine—"
Before he could finish, a strange heat started building in his body.
His pulse quickened.
"What did you—"
Catherine moved toward him on all fours seductively.
"Can we not do this right now?" Isaac asked quickly, trying to calm himself down, but his voice trembled slightly.
She didn’t stop.
Her tails moved behind her like living shadows, and her eyes were locked on his like she was staring at a prey she had been saving to savor but she was now going to devour.
"Isaac," she said softly, straddling his thighs and cupping his face with both hands.
He froze. Her breath brushed against his skin. Her lips were inches away.
"Even I have things that make me angry," she whispered.
His thoughts scattered.
"...What did I say that was so wrong?" he asked, though the words came out uneven, tangled with his rapid breathing.
The heat inside him was almost unbearable now.
The intensity made clear to him that until now, Catherine had never used her ability fully.
He tried to look away, but his gaze kept returning to her lips.
They were soft, slightly parted, and his eyes followed the faint movement as she spoke.
When her tongue briefly touched her lips, his mind went blank.
A part of him screamed to stop, but another voice — a quieter, more dangerous one — whispered that a kiss wouldn’t hurt.
’Just one,’ it said. ’She’s your sister, but not by blood. Just one kiss. She’s yours anyway.’
’It will also make her your wife, and you will get new skills.’
’With her skills, you can protect your mind from her.’
Before he knew it, his arms had moved on their own, wrapping around her waist.
His body leaned forward, the heat pulsing through him like a drug.
Her eyes curved like she was enjoying his struggle.
"Isaac... I won’t make a move, but can you hold yourself back?" she whispered.
His breathing grew heavier.
He was losing control.
Every instinct told him this was wrong — that something terrible would happen if he gave in — but his body refused to listen.
Her lips were so close now that he could almost taste her breath.
And in that moment, something deep inside him stirred.
It wasn’t lust or desire, it was danger.
A primal, heavy warning, like a bell ringing at the edge of his mind.
His life affinity pulsed faintly. So did his death affinity.
Both were reacting at the same time.
’Don’t,’ a voice in his mind whispered sharply. ’Don’t kiss her.’
The heat in his body clashed against the cold alarm running through his veins.
His fingers trembled slightly around her waist.
Catherine’s expression changed.
For a brief second, her confident smile faltered, and her eyes softened.
She leaned closer, enough that their foreheads touched.
"Fine, I won’t tease your anymore for today."
She tried to pull back, but Isaac didn’t let her.
He moved forward.
"You think you can keep pushing me like this and just back away when you want?" he asked.
A flash of surprise passed through Catherine’s eyes. She tried to pull back but Isaac was holding her strongly.
"Isaac, don’t—"