Isaac sat frozen for a moment, watching the scene unfold ahead of them. Sera knelt on the pavement with a small child clutched against her chest, the boy’s face buried in her shoulder as he sobbed for his mother.
Eleanor stood a short distance away, arms loosely folded, her expression calm and almost detached as if the whole situation were someone else’s problem.
Sera looked thoroughly flustered.
She kept murmuring soft reassurances while glancing around, clearly unsure what to do next. The angel finally turned toward Eleanor and asked if the City’s AI could locate the child’s mother.
Eleanor answered without hesitation that the system was currently occupied with higher-priority operations and could not take on anything else at the moment.
Isaac knew at once that it was a lie. His City AI had been upgraded long ago and handled far heavier loads without trouble.
Celia shifted a little closer and activated a small device between them. The soft bubble of silence settled over the two of them, cutting off every sound from escaping to the outside. She licked her ice cream once, then spoke in a conversational tone,
"You know, I’ve been wondering. Does the Sword Empress just not like Sera? She made her eat your food earlier, and now she’s doing this."
Isaac stayed quiet. There was no way he was going to answer anything that implied his cooking was bad. Celia chuckled, whether at his silence or at the rare sight of Eleanor behaving so differently from her usual cold self.
She raised her ice cream toward his mouth. He took a bite without thinking, and she leaned in to take one from his cone in return.
"What do you think Sera did to her?" Celia asked.
"Who knows?" Isaac replied.
They watched in silence for several more seconds. Then Isaac spoke quietly.
"Ruby."
"Understood, Lord Isaac," came the City AI’s voice from his device.
A few surveillance drones dropped from the higher levels of the street almost at once. They were the same units that usually monitored awakeners to make sure no one exceeded the city’s allowed strength limits. The drones hovered near Sera and began guiding her along a clear path toward the child’s mother. Isaac was fairly certain he heard Eleanor click her tongue. The Sword Empress glanced in his direction.
She said nothing, but the look was enough. She was dissatisfied that he had interfered and taken away whatever small amusement she had been getting from the situation.
Isaac watched her follow after Sera and shook his head once.
"So even Master has a childish side to her," he muttered.
Celia lowered her head to lick his ice cream again before answering, "She has more than just a serious side and a childish side. There’s a perverted side too. Though you’ve been helping her with that."
Isaac froze. He shifted his neck like a rusty door, and stared at her, unable to move for a moment.
"...How do you know?" he asked. He had never told anyone.
Celia’s eyes curved with quiet enjoyment at his surprise.
"Guess how?" she asked back.
Isaac ran through his perfect memory at high speed and still came up empty.
"...Did Sis tell you? No, she isn’t the type to reveal other people’s secrets. So how?" he asked again.
"Well, it was pretty obvious," Celia finally said.
"...Really?" he questioned.
"Kind of. I already had my suspicions, but I confirmed it when she was looking at you and Selene so impatiently back at the Calloway Mansion," Celia replied.
Isaac was quiet for a second before asking carefully, "Do you think Alice knows?"
"Why? Are you afraid she’ll punch you once she finds out you knew?" Celia chuckled.
"It’s not my fault. How was I supposed to know she would keep watching? I didn’t even realize she could look through Mirror Dimensions, or that she would do it inside the Calloway Mansion too," Isaac complained.
The devil seemed to be enjoying the perverted topic. She slid a little closer and let her hand rest against his inner thigh, rubbing slowly.
"Well, you don’t have to worry about Alice. She probably won’t get as angry about new girls anymore after you accepted Selene. So... when are you going to conquer the Sword Empress?" she asked, unable to hide her excitement.
Isaac felt the subtle pull of her Temptation Whisper skill, but his Spirit stat was high enough that it barely brushed his thoughts. He slapped her hand away before it could move any higher and spoke firmly. "I have no intention of trying to woo Master. And stop saying weird things like ’conquering’ people.
Celia only chuckled again. "Acting innocent, are we? Isaac, if you really didn’t like the Sword Empress, you’d be angry that someone saw those intimate moments with your wives, with us. But you don’t get angry at her. That’s because you already want to conquer her."
Isaac fell silent. He had already noticed the lack of anger even after learning that the Sword Empress had peeked into those private times. The meaning was obvious, though he tried hard to ignore it.
Isaac sighed and decided not to continue the conversation. The whole topic had already become awkward enough for him. He was just about to stand when Celia shifted and lay down, resting her head comfortably on his thigh. She had finished her ice cream some time ago, and her tail flicked slowly with that familiar hypnotic rhythm.
"Don’t you want to see it too, Isaac?" she said. "The high and mighty Sword Empress naked beneath you. Someone who was feared by everyone, known for being cold and untouchable, moaning your name while your bodies press together—ouch!"
Isaac flicked her forehead without hesitation. "Stop trying to use your skill on me. It doesn’t work."
Celia pouted and rubbed the spot. "Hmph. Keep acting like a saint. Everyone at home already knows how much of a pervert you are. And about the Sword Empress, let’s see if a scumbag like you can actually resist putting your hands on her."
"I’m not a scumbag," Isaac replied.
"If you say so, soon-to-be God of NTR," Celia shot back.
That finally got under his skin. He pinched both of her cheeks tightly between his fingers. She squealed and tried to pull away, but the attempt was useless. A few people nearby in the plaza glanced over and clicked their tongues, muttering about how shameless young couples had become these days, flirting right out in the open. No one recognized either of them. Both were still wearing their disguises.
Celia retaliated by trying to bite his finger. She pushed a bit of evolved Aura into her jaw to increase the strength and managed to make him feel a small sting of pain. Knowing she had gotten even that much out of him made her smile with open smugness.
Isaac’s lips twitched. He decided enough was enough and started tickling her sides, which he knew was one of her biggest weaknesses. She burst into loud laughter almost immediately, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she squirmed and tried every way she could to escape. Isaac simply used Telekinesis to keep a firm hold on her.
"I’m sorry! I won’t say anything weird next time!" she shouted between gasps, still trying to wriggle free.
He only stopped once she was panting hard from laughing too much. She needed several moments to catch her breath again.
"I’m going to complain to Alice," she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Isaac asked, already raising one hand in a clear warning that the tickling could resume at any second.
"Nothing, you bully!" Celia spat, glaring up at him.
Even though she was still angry, she dragged him around for the rest of their date. In fact, the anger seemed to push her into making him do a series of embarrassing things. She pulled him into a photo booth for cute couple pictures and later forced him to wear a pair of cat-ear headbands while she took more photos. She only let him go once she felt she had gotten her fill of revenge.
"It was a good date. But don’t think I forgot what you did to me," she said at the end, still wearing a small pout.
Isaac just chuckled and shook his head. Celia leaned in to give him a quick kiss before opening a spatial cloud toward the building to resume her work. As she left, Isaac could already predict Arlene going mad at Celia for skipping work again.
After the date ended, Isaac made his way toward Sage Sea.
While he had been spending time with Celia, his clone had already spoken with the giant crocodile and gathered the materials they would need as tribute for the Goddess of Wealth and Purity. He found Sage Sea waiting inside the Moon Pendant and stood beside the massive form.
"So, what kind of Goddess is she?" Isaac asked.
"Goddess Syl is a benevolent Goddess, though she might not like you much," Sage Sea answered,
"Why? And would that affect Selene’s contract with her?" Isaac pressed. The question mattered. Selene’s upgraded skill could only reach its full potential with the Goddess’s help.
"She is the Goddess of Purity. She doesn’t mind people having spouses, but she doesn’t like those who keep multiple spouses," Sage Sea explained.
"...Isn’t that bad for me?" Isaac asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not. One of your wives is a Saintess. That could either convince the Goddess you have a pure heart, or make her decide you are absolute scum who corrupted someone who was supposed to remain extremely pure." Sage Sea chuckled teasingly.
Isaac fell silent at that. Sage Sea continued after a moment. "I’m only joking. Please don’t worry. I will help you placate the Goddess and have a cordial conversation with her."
"...So the Goddess hates people who play around with multiple spouses?" Isaac asked again.
"Yes, but as I said, with me here you do not need to worry," Sage Sea replied.
There was a short silence. Sage Sea seemed to realize something was off and stopped his preparations, turning to look at Isaac more carefully.
"...Can Gods tell if a mortal is on the path of becoming a God?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. They can even faintly feel what sort of God Domain a mortal has currently the highest affinity with. If the Domain is similar or opposite to their own, the chances of them sensing the exact budding Domain increase. Why? Do you perhaps have an embarrassing God Domain?" Sage Sea teased, then froze when he heard Isaac’s next word.
"NTR," Isaac said in a quiet whisper.
"..."
"..."
Silence stretched between them.
"...Maybe I misheard, but—"
"Yes. It’s NTR," Isaac repeated, resignation clear in his voice.