After Isaac and Celia were done, they cleaned themselves up and dressed properly. The mood in the room slowly shifted as the adrenaline faded. Only then did Celia look down at her skirt.
The excitement disappeared, replaced by a haunting realization. She froze for a second, then lifted the torn fabric with trembling fingers.
"Um... Isaac, can you help me?" she asked quietly.
"With that?" he asked, following her gaze.
"Save me from Arlene. She is going to scold me for the skirt! We tore it a bit!" Celia said, genuinely panicked.
Isaac couldn’t help but smile wryly. In the span of a few dozen minutes, she had gone from curious, to excited, to flushed and aroused, and now to outright terrified. Her emotional range was surprisingly expressive.
"Don’t worry. I’ll handle it," Isaac said. "Let’s put that aside for now. What about your bloodline? Did you get something from eating the Abyss Fruits?"
"Ah, I think?" she blinked, then spread open her palm. "It’s not a skill, but I think something improved. I can’t put it into words but—"
The space above her hand cracked.
Isaac’s eyes sharpened.
Celia concentrated. Her mana churned, and the crack expanded slightly. Beyond it was pitch black space, filled with swirling clouds of ominous dark energy. The air around them grew heavy.
She focused harder, and a small portion of the cloud seeped out through the crack. Then the tear in space snapped shut.
The dark cloud hovered above her palm.
"I can do this? Woah... I was just following my instincts. But what is this thing used for?" she asked, poking it curiously.
Isaac didn’t answer immediately.
That thing felt wrong.
All of his bloodlines reacted, baring teeth at the black cloud. The reaction was most intense from his Solar Dragon bloodline. It was almost aggressive, as if something impure had appeared. Only Celia’s bloodline was calm, no, in fact it was happy.
"Give it to me for a second," Isaac muttered.
He took the dark cloud from Celia. The moment it touched his palm, a faint chill crawled across his skin.
He activated Solar Dominion, the ability he shared from Alice.
Golden flames erupted in his hand. The dark cloud hissed, twisting violently as it was burned. The energy resisted, but the flames slowly devoured it.
Isaac stopped halfway.
Then he activated Miracle of Grace.
Soft white light spread over his palm. The dark cloud trembled and then dissolved instantly, as if it had been purified.
Isaac frowned.
"It’s a negative status effect. But we don’t know what it does. Let’s ask the Sword Empress later. Don’t use it until then, okay?" he said.
"Okay," she nodded.
Afterward, Isaac opened the door. Arlene entered a moment later, followed by the rest of the crew. The atmosphere inside shifted back to normal. Everyone got busy with their work.
Arlene’s gaze landed on Celia.
Then on the torn skirt.
Celia stiffened immediately. She looked like a cat ready to bolt at any moment. Her shoulders tightened, and she subtly moved behind Isaac.
Arlene paused. Her eyes flickered toward Isaac. Then she calmly reached into her storage and handed Celia another skirt while the crewmates were busy setting up things and distracted.
"Change into this. I’ll get the other one stitched," she said.
Celia blinked in surprise. "O-okay..."
She hurried off to change.
Isaac watched the interaction thoughtfully. Arlene’s behavior was noticeably restrained. She didn’t question anything, didn’t tease, and didn’t even sigh.
’She is quite afraid of me, huh,’ Isaac thought.
Once things settled, Isaac left the concert hall and returned home. Selene, Alice, and Chairman Lucius were already there.
Chairman Lucius was glaring at him.
He looked really, really pissed.
Isaac paused at the entrance, confused. Shouldn’t Chairman Lucius be happy that Selene completed her Trial? Why did he look like he was about to start a war?
Then Isaac’s gaze shifted to Alice. He remembered she had gone with Selene earlier to talk with Chairman Lucius.
’Did she tell him about me and Selene?’ Isaac wondered.
Yeah. That would explain the glare.
But Isaac wasn’t the same as before. Instead of feeling pressured, he smiled shamelessly and walked forward.
"Chairman Lucius, it’s nice to see you here. You didn’t have to come honestly. I could’ve taken care of Selene by myself," Isaac said.
The corner of Chairman Lucius’ lips twitched, but he forced a calm expression.
"Hahaha. Of course I came. This is an important matter for my daughter. So, I had to be here and make sure everything went properly," Chairman Lucius replied.
Selene looked between the two, confused. Why did it feel like the two were arguing? What was there to argue about her bloodline evolution?
Alice sighed and massaged her brows.
Isaac continued smiling. "Chairman Lucius is just worried. It’s understandable. I would also worry if it were my daughter."
Chairman Lucius’ expression darkened slightly, but then smiled. "Yes, it’s completely normal to worry about daughters even if they are grown up. You will feel the same when you become a father."
Isaac’s lips twitched this time, knowing Chairman Lucius was saying his daughters might meet scumbags like Isaac.
The two kept poking at each other, their smiles polite but their eyes sharp. The air grew tense with friendly yet competitive atmosphere, and Selene became more confused with each passing second.
Finally, Alice cut in. "Selene needs to start her evolution."
"Right, I almost forgot about that because I enjoyed talking with father-in-law so much," Isaac said with a smile.
"Hahaha, you jest," Chairman Lucius replied, though his eye twitched.
Isaac took out the Life Pod from the Soulbind Pendant. The metallic capsule appeared in the middle of the room, faint runes glowing across its surface.
"This will stabilize the process," Isaac explained.
Selene nodded. "Then... I’ll drink the potions."
She first drank the Bloodline Evolution Potion. A faint silver glow spread through her veins. Then she took the Royal Moon Dragon Potion. Her aura deepened, becoming more dignified and ancient.
She entered the Life Pod.