Alice was already awake when Isaac entered the room. Her eyes immediately shifted toward him, lingering on his face for a moment. His crimson eyes seemed to hold faint flames within them. It looked like an illusion created by the light, yet at the same time, it felt undeniably real.
As he stepped closer, Isaac noticed something else. Standing near Alice, he could feel warmth radiating from her. It wasn’t ordinary heat but a strange mixture of vitality and warmth, as if life itself had become part of her presence.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked as he stopped beside the bed.
"I’m good. Although... I feel different. I got a new skill, but it feels like there were other changes too. Like I have new inherent abilities. And there’s also this," Alice replied.
She raised one hand with her palm facing upward. A thin crack appeared in the empty air above it, and familiar mana seeped through the opening.
Isaac blinked. He immediately recognized the mana leaking from the crack. "Is that..."
"A portal to Cradle, yes. Now I’m connected to it just like you are, so I can open a direct portal whenever I want. Although only I can go through it," Alice answered.
"That’s good," Isaac said with a smile as he walked closer to her. As he stopped in front of her, her tail quietly wrapped around his leg affectionately. The gesture had become so natural that he barely reacted to it anymore.
He glanced toward the bathroom before asking, "Where’s Selene? Is she in the bathroom?"
"Yes," Alice replied with a nod. She slipped off the bed and stretched lightly before adding, "I’m going to the gym now. Do you want to come with me?"
"Later. I want to check on Celia first," Isaac answered.
Alice nodded, but instead of leaving, she remained standing in front of him, looking up at him with the same unreadable expression she almost always wore. Isaac had spent enough time with her to understand exactly what she wanted.
A quiet chuckle escaped him before he leaned forward and kissed her. Alice’s expression barely changed, but her mood visibly brightened. To anyone else she would probably look exactly the same, yet Isaac could easily tell the difference.
Satisfied, Alice turned and left the room. Isaac waited until she disappeared into the hallway before making his way toward the room where he had left Celia.
The moment he opened the door, he frowned. Wisps of dark clouds drifted lazily through the room, filling the air with dark mana. Soft sounds echoed from somewhere inside, though the voice definitely didn’t belong to Celia.
Isaac waved his hand, dispersing some of the floating mana as he walked farther inside. The dark mist parted before him, finally revealing Celia sitting comfortably on the bed.
She was already dressed, holding both palms upward. Floating above them was a tiny black sphere with two little bat-like wings, two thin tails, and a pair of round eyes. It happily circled around her head before rubbing itself affectionately against her cheek while making cheerful happy sounds.
"Isaac!" Celia called out as soon as she noticed him.
The tiny creature turned toward Isaac as well. The cheerful noises immediately stopped, turned towards him. It flinched, before instinctively drifting behind Celia’s shoulder, peeking at him with obvious caution.
Isaac raised an eyebrow. He was currently using the item Sera had given him to hide his strength, so to everyone else he should only appear to be an ordinary human Overlord. There was no reason this little thing should be reacting to him like that.
"Who is this?" Isaac asked.
"Rot!" Celia answered happily. The tiny black creature looked at Celia before looking back at Isaac again, its little eyes widening slightly as though it had noticed something impossible.
"And?" Isaac prompted with a faint smile.
"Oh, right. Rot used to live with me and my brother back in Hell. I used Dark Mana to summon him. I think... I can probably summon more. I’m not completely sure yet, but it feels like I can create familiars’ bonds. It’s just difficult. Maybe because I’m in the Mortal Realm instead of Hell." Celia scratched her cheek sheepishly.
Isaac looked at the little familiar with surprise. He rarely asked Celia about her past because those memories had never been pleasant for her, preferring to let her bring them up whenever she felt ready. Since she had mentioned it herself, he didn’t avoid the subject.
"So Rot survived the attack on your home? Does that mean others survived too?" Isaac asked.
"That’s the part I’m also curious about. He won’t tell me anything," Celia replied with a small pout. Despite her complaint, the excitement in her voice was impossible to miss. "But Rot is really weak. If he survived, then someone stronger must have protected him. That means there has to be a chance that other people survived too."
The little black creature immediately bounced up and down in the air as though protesting being called weak. Celia laughed and gently poked it with a finger. "Okay, okay. You’re strong."
Rot puffed itself up proudly before turning toward Isaac again. Celia carefully lifted the little familiar into her hands and smiled. "Rot, this is Isaac. He’s my husband."
Rot slowly nodded, but its gaze lingered on Isaac far longer than necessary. There was something complicated hidden inside those tiny eyes. It wasn’t simply fear anymore. It looked more like confusion... or recognition.
Isaac quietly pieced several thoughts together. He had already suspected that when he died as a child, Mother hadn’t truly been the one who revived him. She had only kept him alive afterward because she wanted to understand why resurrection had been possible in the first place.
Then Catherine’s Trial had confirmed he possessed more than one life. The possibility had always been there, waiting for him to accept it. Somewhere in Hell, there had to be a contract involving Grim Reapers that allowed his resurrection.
If Rot had lived in Hell long, then perhaps the little familiar knew something about that contract. It might even know the Grim Reaper responsible for it. Judging by its reaction, it had definitely recognized something unusual about him.
Isaac decided not to ask any questions for now. Pressuring Rot would only upset Celia, and the familiar didn’t seem eager to speak anyway. There would be plenty of opportunities to learn the truth later.
Instead, he walked over and sat beside Celia on the bed. Looking at her, he smiled slightly before asking, "So, how are you feeling now?"
"I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt," Celia said as she leaned comfortably against Isaac’s shoulder. "I also gained a bunch of abilities. I think... my soul changed a little. Before, I could only use my Aura to strengthen my skills, but now it feels like I can do much more with my soul itself."
"Like what?" Isaac asked.
Instead of answering immediately, Celia placed her hand against his chest. Through his spatial sense, Isaac noticed the corner of her lips lifting slightly. She looked far too pleased with herself, making it obvious she was planning to surprise him.
A wave of Aura flowed into his body. Her control was still rough, so she used mana to guide the Aura as it spread through him. Isaac quickly realized her Aura itself had changed. It carried a different quality than before, one that felt strangely gentle while also trying to influence him.
"I can make people love me, and that will make you do anything I want," Celia declared proudly. Her Aura surged to its fullest, washing through his entire body before she leaned back to look him in the eyes. A small camera was already floating beside her, quietly recording his reaction.
"Isaac," she asked with an eager smile, "how much do you love me?"
Isaac simply looked back at her without saying anything. Several seconds passed, and the confident smile on Celia’s face slowly began to disappear. Confusion gradually replaced it as nothing happened.
"What is happening? Did you somehow copy the properties of my soul too? No... even if your soul is much stronger than mine, it should still have at least some effect," she muttered.
Isaac stared at her for another moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Didn’t you just say your Aura makes people love you?" he asked.
"Yes. The effect depends on how much stronger the other person’s soul is than mine, but it should still affect you at least a little," Celia answered, still looking puzzled.
Isaac could only give her a speechless look. This girl was so excited about her new ability that she had completely overlooked the obvious problem.
"I already love you," he pointed out. "What exactly were you expecting to change?"
Celia blinked several times. Then her mouth slowly formed a small "O" as realization finally caught up to her.
"...Oh."
Isaac suddenly felt a little worried. Sometimes he genuinely wondered how this girl managed whenever he wasn’t around. Her biggest danger wasn’t always other people. Quite often, it was her own way of thinking.
"Hey. That was rude," Celia said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Huh?" Isaac frowned in surprise.
"Huh?" Celia froze as well.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment before Celia’s eyes widened with excitement. She immediately sent her Aura into him again, concentrating much more carefully this time. After repeating it several times, she finally understood what had happened.
"I can’t read your thoughts. But when my Aura is touching someone, I can feel their emotions. The deeper my Aura reaches, the more clearly I can understand what they’re feeling," she said, sounding delighted.
Isaac nodded thoughtfully. That was a powerful ability, especially considering her Aura had retained its original effect of strengthening all of her skills. Now it also enhanced her charm-related abilities to an entirely different level, and let her sense others’ emotions.
Combined with her Queen of Desire Transformation skill, the results would likely be overwhelming. Against anyone unable to resist her soul, she could probably make them lose the will to attack her altogether. It was a frightening ability despite how innocently she described it.
Isaac wanted to hear about the rest of her changes and everything she had gained from the talent upgrade. However, a quick glance at the time reminded him that breakfast was almost ready.
"It’s getting late," Isaac said as he stood up. He walked over and gently woke Emily, who had somehow managed to sleep through everything. Once she was awake, the three of them headed toward the bathroom together.
Unsurprisingly, what should have been a quick bath ended up taking much longer than usual. By the time they finished and came downstairs, the smell of breakfast had already filled the house.
Alice had apparently already completed her workout, taken a bath, and started cooking. Eleanor stood beside her, quietly helping prepare breakfast without needing any instructions.
Isaac paused for a moment as he watched the two of them. When Eleanor had first arrived, she hadn’t been particularly happy about acting as a maid. Now, however, she seemed completely comfortable helping in the kitchen.
"She’s probably worried you’ll end up helping Alice if she’s cooking by herself," Celia whispered with a grin as she walked beside him.
Isaac slowly turned toward her and gave her a completely flat stare. Emily couldn’t hold back a smile before flying toward the kitchen to greet Alice.
Around the same time, Selene finally came downstairs as well. Isaac wasn’t sure whether Silver Dragons naturally spent a long time getting ready or if it was simply one of Selene’s personal habits. Either way, he decided it wasn’t worth asking.
He walked into the living room and sat down with Avery, Althea, Charlotta, and Celia while everyone waited for breakfast. The atmosphere was peaceful, and for the first time in a while, nobody seemed to be in any particular hurry.
Althea looked at Isaac for a few moments before finally speaking. She tried to sound casual, but the curiosity in her eyes gave her away.
"This reminds me. What happened to your Vitality Grain Seed Tree? It looks completely different now," she said.