Gathering Wives with a System

Isaac tried to defend himself by explaining the effects of the aphrodisiac, but even he knew that explanation could only excuse so much.

Then he sensed someone outside the bathroom.

Isaac glanced toward the door, while Alice’s expression changed as she noticed it at almost the same time. A quiet giggle came from the other side, and Isaac immediately recognized the presence.

"Celia," Alice spoke coldly.

The giggling stopped.

Alice narrowed her eyes toward the door as the presence outside began moving away. Celia was clearly trying to leave before she became involved, but Alice was not about to let her escape after hearing her laughing at Isaac’s misfortune.

"Why are you laughing? Come inside. You’re easily as responsible for this as Isaac is," Alice said.

There was no response.

The presence outside continued moving away, and Isaac could almost imagine Celia quietly congratulating herself for escaping. Alice’s expression became colder as she realized what was happening.

"If you run away, I’ll make sure you regret it," Alice said.

The presence stopped.

Isaac looked toward the door while trying not to smile. A few seconds passed before Celia reluctantly stepped back toward the bathroom.

"Come inside," Alice said.

The door slowly opened, and Celia peeked inside with a hesitant expression. She looked at Alice and then at Isaac, clearly hoping that one of them would decide to let her escape from the situation before it became any more embarrassing.

"I... I can’t enter, Alice. Don’t you remember that you don’t like being seen naked?" Celia replied.

"Come inside while keeping your eyes closed," Alice said.

Celia fell silent.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Alice asked.

Celia looked at Isaac for help, but Isaac immediately turned his head away. There was no chance he was going to help her when doing so would probably make Alice angry with him all over again, and he had already received more than enough of her lecture for one morning.

With no other choice, Celia carefully stepped inside while keeping her eyes closed. Alice warned her once again not to open them, and Celia obediently remained where she was while Isaac tried his best not to laugh at how ridiculous the whole situation had become. They were being scolded, inside bathroom at that.

The lecture continued after that, with Alice taking her time to explain exactly why both of them had behaved irresponsibly. Isaac tried to defend himself a few times, but every explanation only seemed to give Alice another reason to continue, so eventually he decided that staying quiet was the safest option.

Celia seemed to be having a much easier time with the situation. She listened to Alice while occasionally lowering her head to hide a smile, and Isaac soon realized that she was finding the whole thing strangely comforting rather than embarrassing.

’You know, I think this is what having a mother would feel like.’

Isaac froze when Celia’s voice suddenly appeared inside his mind. He immediately gave her a sharp side-eye, silently telling her to stop using whatever item she had for telepathy before Alice noticed, because the last thing either of them needed was another problem added to the lecture.

Celia either failed to understand his warning or simply decided to ignore it. She lowered her face a little more so Alice could not see her expression and continued speaking through the telepathy item.

’I don’t remember much about Mom. The little I do remember is that she was a lovely person, but whenever she scolded me, she would be like this.’

Isaac’s expression softened for a moment, although he still remained concerned about Alice noticing their conversation. He decided not to answer because there was no reason to risk being caught, especially when Alice was already watching them closely.

A moment later, Alice’s voice suddenly became cold. "Isaac, you can go."

Isaac blinked and looked at her. "Huh? Okay."

He did not waste any time questioning the sudden dismissal. Isaac quickly finished washing and stood up, while Celia also started moving as though she intended to leave with him.

"You, sit," Alice said.

Celia stopped immediately.

Isaac glanced at her and saw the brief confusion on her face before understanding what had happened. Alice had clearly noticed the telepathy with her powerful mana senses, and Isaac had no desire to remain around long enough to witness the consequences, so he quickly left the bathroom.

Once outside, Isaac let out a long sigh and began changing into some fresh clothes. He opened the wardrobe Alice had been using temporarily and was not particularly surprised when he found several of his missing outfits folded among her clothes.

Alice had been stealing his clothes since their academy days, so this was hardly new. Back then, she would at least replace whatever she took with an identical outfit because Isaac had been poor and could not afford to lose clothes, but these days she apparently saw no reason to bother with replacements.

Isaac changed and headed downstairs.

He found Althea and Emily in the kitchen, preparing breakfast together. Althea looked unusually cheerful while working beside Emily, and Isaac could not help wondering how isolated her life in the Florathi Kingdom must have been if something as simple as cooking with another person could make her this happy.

Charlotta, Althea’s bodyguard, stood nearby holding a drink, looking as though she wanted to help but had no idea what she was supposed to do. From what Isaac could see, her cooking skills were not particularly impressive, and Althea seemed to have quietly accepted that Charlotta was better suited to standing guard than preparing food.

Isaac looked at Charlotta with a sense of pity and camaraderie.

When Charlotta noticed Isaac’s gaze, the corner of her brows twitched, as if she understood what he was thinking. She walked over and handed him a drink. She studied his face for a moment before speaking, "Can I say something rude, Lord Isaac?"

"Yes?"

"I don’t like the look in your eyes."

Isaac stared at her, genuinely confused by the accusation. Charlotta seemed to realize that he had no idea what she meant, so she explained herself while trying to defend her own dignity.

"You were looking at me as if you were thinking, ’So I’m not the only one who can’t cook.’ I can cook, you know. I’m just not as good as Lady Althea," She said, defending herself.

Isaac took a sip of his drink before asking, "How many dishes can you cook?"

Charlotta hesitated for a moment.

"...Five," she answered.

"Does that include tea and other drinks?" he questioned.

Charlotta went silent.

Isaac looked at her with a faint smirk, and Charlotta immediately understood what he was implying. She looked away with an embarrassed expression, but Isaac was actually a little surprised by how easily she had joked with him, so he continued the banter rather than pressing the matter.

Their conversation continued for a while before the others gradually came downstairs. Celia eventually appeared looking exhausted, and Isaac suspected that Alice had kept her in the bathroom for considerably longer than she had expected.

Breakfast itself passed without anything particularly unusual happening. Isaac was beginning to relax when Eleanor suddenly spoke, and the simple statement immediately made him regret lowering his guard.

"We will be training after the breakfast."

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