Her tone wasn’t cruel, only genuinely confused. She turned toward Eleanor with a wronged expression, looking as though she had just been tricked by someone she trusted. Eleanor simply blinked, equally surprised by her reaction.
Alice instinctively looked toward Isaac. He remained standing where he was for several silent seconds, staring blankly at the remaining croquettes. Without saying anything, he quietly turned around and walked out of the dining room.
Alice immediately stood up and followed after him. Celia hesitated for only a moment before leaving as well. It was a good chance to leave the snack.
"Isaac! Wait, it was good!" Celia said, following him.
Only after they had gone did Sera suddenly realize what had happened. She slowly lowered her gaze toward the plate before looking back at Eleanor. Embarrassment quickly appeared on her face.
"That... was something Isaac made, wasn’t it?" she asked.
"He worked hard on it. No matter how it tastes, you shouldn’t say things like that so directly, and wasting food isn’t a good habit either, so finish it." Eleanor nodded slowly.
Sera looked at Eleanor with a deeply wronged expression. If she hadn’t known better, she might have suspected that Eleanor knew her true identity and was taking revenge on her.
Outside, Isaac stood quietly in the yard with his hands behind his back. After remaining silent for a few moments, he finally spoke in a calm but defeated voice.
"Avery... am I cursed?"
Celia, who had just stepped outside, almost stumbled after hearing those words. She stared at Isaac with wide eyes, unable to believe he had actually reached that conclusion. Even Alice looked surprised.
Avery slowly materialized beside Isaac before smiling helplessly.
"I can’t detect any curse on you. As far as I can tell, nothing about your soul or body has been tampered with," she answered honestly.
"But this doesn’t make sense. I have perfect memory, and becoming the Human Lord should have increased my talent in every field. There shouldn’t be any reason for my cooking to stay this terrible," Isaac replied.
Avery simply smiled without answering. She clearly understood why Isaac was confused, but she couldn’t explain something she didn’t understand herself. Her silence only made Isaac look even more troubled.
Honestly, Isaac knew he shouldn’t add extra flavors to "improve" a dish. But somehow, every time he made something, he would become confident that the "improvement" he did was good.
It was like how no one could hold their breath in water, even if they knew logically that breathing there was dangerous. Isaac also knew he shouldn’t add anything extra, but he would still end up doing it.
For a brief moment, Isaac seriously considered visiting the Sage Sea to have himself examined. If Avery couldn’t detect a curse, perhaps he could discover something she had missed. Before he could voice the idea, however, Celia finally spoke.
"It’s not a curse," she said confidently. Isaac immediately turned toward her, looking almost hopeful despite the sulking expression still lingering on his face. The sight nearly made both Celia and Alice swoon in their heart, but they wisely didn’t show that on their faces.
"How do you know?" Isaac asked.
"Sister Catherine told me something a while ago. Back at the academy, whenever you cooked for yourself, she secretly swapped your food with something edible before you noticed. If your cooking were caused by a curse, then you’ve been cursed since before you even awakened your Talent," Celia explained.
She shrugged lightly before continuing. "But why would anyone place such a curse on an ordinary student? Back then, you weren’t famous, or powerful."
Isaac quietly looked away while considering her words. For a brief second, he wondered whether Mother had somehow done it, but he immediately dismissed the thought himself. There was no reason she would use a curse so absurd, especially one powerful enough that Alice couldn’t remove it and Avery couldn’t even detect it.
With a long sigh, Isaac walked over to the porch and sat down. His shoulders slumped as he stared blankly at the garden, looking as though one of his greatest dreams had just been shattered. The defeat on his face was so genuine that even Celia felt a little sorry for him.
She quietly sat beside him and spent the next several minutes comforting him, gently patting his shoulder and assuring him that everyone had strengths and weaknesses. Isaac gradually became less depressed as she spoke, although he still looked unconvinced.
Meanwhile, Celia laughed so hard in her heart that she thought she might burst, but she wisely kept every trace of it hidden because she knew Isaac would definitely hold a grudge it if she laughed in front of him. And Isaac could be very petty when he wanted to be.
Alice wanted to comfort him as well. It wasn’t often that Isaac looked so dejected, and she quietly felt that it was a rare opportunity to spoil him a little. Unfortunately, they were standing outside where others could see them, and she was simply too embarrassed to do something like that in public.
After sitting quietly for another moment, Isaac let out one last sigh before standing up.
"I’m fine now. I’ll go check on the Happy Bunnies," he said.
"The species you created? I want to come too. I’ve been curious about them ever since I heard about them," Celia said, her eyes brightening.
"I’d like to come as well." Alice nodded.
Isaac agreed with a small nod. Although the disappointment over his cooking still lingered, he decided to put the matter aside for now. If natural talent wasn’t enough, then he would simply learn properly, even if that meant obtaining a cooking Skill or even an Art in the future.
Before entering the Soulbind Pendant, Isaac spoke toward the communication device on his waist. "Ruby, how is the city doing?"
Ruby’s voice quickly came from the device. "The human citizens are all experiencing the same phenomenon that Lady Alice and Sword Empress experienced. Everyone is amazed, and many people are already praising you, Lord Isaac."
Isaac nodded calmly. He had already instructed Ruby to warn the human citizens beforehand, so the sudden increase in potential hadn’t caused panic. Instead, everyone understood that it was connected to the Human Lord.
"Tell everyone to prepare for another city fusion," Isaac said.
"Understood, Lord Isaac," Ruby replied without hesitation.
The three of them entered the Soulbind Pendant together. A brief flash of light surrounded them before they appeared inside the mansion within the pendant world. The familiar surroundings greeted them, yet something immediately felt wrong.
Isaac frowned at the same time Alice’s expression became serious. Neither of them said anything at first, but both had sensed the same abnormality. The atmosphere itself felt unsettled.
"Be careful," Isaac said without wasting another second.
He immediately flew upward, phasing straight through the ceiling instead of taking the stairs. Alice and Celia followed closely behind through the windows, emerging into the open sky a moment later.
The moment Isaac looked around, his expression froze.
The forest surrounding the mansion had been utterly devastated. Massive craters scarred the ground in every direction, some areas were still burning with intense flames, while others had been frozen solid beneath enormous pillars of ice. Far in the distance, dark clouds churned violently as bolts of lightning continuously struck the earth.
Even the mountain range on the horizon had suffered. A gigantic hole pierced straight through several peaks, as though an unimaginably large spear had been thrown clean across the landscape.
"What the hell?" Isaac muttered.