Alice’s eyes narrowed.
Selene noticed the look but didn’t understand what it meant.
Isaac did.
He could already feel the tension beginning to stir in Alice’s posture.
Before he could try and step in, she spoke.
“Did you say that on purpose?”
Her voice was flat, but her shoulders were tense. It was clear she was on edge, ready to move if needed.
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
All eyes turned to Alice.
Then the woman in the back finally moved.
Asha Fenn, the leader of Black Wing Guild, took a small step forward. She was a tall woman with short black hair and a sharp, predatory gaze.
“What are you doing?” she said.
White wisps of aura started curling around her shoulders, like mist caught in a cold wind.
It was a warning, clear and unmistakable towards Alice. That she needed back down.
Alice opened her mouth, ready to respond.
But she felt something.
Isaac’s hand.
He had quietly placed it over hers.
She looked down in surprise. He didn’t say anything. Just gave a subtle shake of his head.
She clicked her tongue in frustration and pulled her hand back.
Without saying another words, she walked left the room.
The pressure in the air faded the moment she left. Even the white wisps around Asha faded into nothing.
Selene let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
She rubbed her palms lightly against her shirt.
Her anxiety wasn’t something she spoke of, but ever since the kidnapping attempt, tense situations made her nervous.
She was still recovering from the trauma.
The governor watched the door Alice had exited through.
His expression softened slightly. He looked like a tired old man for a moment, not the powerful figure who could shift city policies with a single call.
“I apologize for my words,” he said gently, turning to Isaac. “I should’ve been more careful of what I said.”
Isaac shook his head. “It’s fine.”
He sat next to Chairman Lucian.
The people in the room talked about the aftermath of the battle in the middle of the city.
After they were done, the governor gave a short nod and stood.
“It’s getting late. I should head back.”
He looked at Isaac once more. “If you have time, I’d appreciate it if you joined me for tea someday.”
Isaac understood what that meant.
While it looked like a casual invite, the governor had told him he wanted a private meeting with Isaac.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Isaac replied.
Governor Dane smiled, then turned and walked toward the door.
Vale Rae followed him silently.
Asha Fenn gave Isaac one last glance before she followed the other two out.
After the door closed, the room was quiet again.
Only Chairman Lucius, Selene, Isaac, and the lawyer remained.
Chairman Lucius stood and walked up to Isaac. His expression towards Isaac was the same as always—Cold, as if Isaac had stolen his precious jewels.
But then he did something unexpected.
He placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder.
“You did well staying safe,” he said. “Next time, if something like this happens again, don’t hold back. Your safety comes first. Leave the aftermath to me.”
Isaac blinked. He hadn’t expected that.
That might’ve been the first time he’d ever said something that sounded genuinely supportive.
“I understand,” Isaac replied.
Lucius gave him a curt nod, then turned away.
“I’ll go check on Alice,” he said as he walked out.
Once he was gone, Selene cleared her throat and stepped forward. “Isaac, this is Mr. Darion Welles. He’s our family’s legal advisor.”
The man in the gray suit nodded politely. He had a calm demeanor and a voice that carried the practiced weight of a seasoned lawyer.
“I’ll need your signatures on a few documents,” Darion said. “They relate to the incident tonight. These are to ensure the official report lines up with what’s been coordinated through proper channels.”
Isaac signed the forms after checking them.
With everything that had happened tonight, paperwork was the easiest part.
Afterward, Darion thanked him and left the room.
Selene stood by the door.
She was on her tablet now, already speaking quietly with someone over the line. Likely legal or internal affairs.
Her voice was calm, but there was a tightness in her posture.
After ending the call, she turned back to Isaac.
“You can stay overnight if you want. Everything’s been arranged,” she said, her voice was quiet and subdued. “Goodnight.”
Then she left.
Isaac watched her go. She hadn’t even looked back.
It wasn’t hard to guess why.
Back when the room was heavy with tension, Selene had frozen. Just briefly, but it was there. Everyone else had kept their composure—even Isaac and Alice.
They were from the same batch of awakeners as Selene.
She probably hated how she’d handled it.
She wasn’t weak. But she had been reminded of her limits tonight. And that probably embarrassed her more than anything.
Isaac stepped out of the room.
The halls were quiet.
The lighting was low, dimmed for the night.
He glanced around, wondering whether they were staying or leaving. He figured he should talk to Alice first.
He found her near the balcony at the end of the hallway. The glass doors were open. She was leaning on the railing, staring out at the city below.
The wind tugged lightly at her hair.
She heard him coming but didn’t look back.
“I take it you talked to uncle?” Isaac asked.
“I did,” Alice replied. Her voice was stiff.
He stood beside her, but gave her a bit of space. He could see the tension in her jaw. She was angry.
“Why did you let the governor say that?” she said suddenly.
Isaac looked at her, confused. “What do you mean? He said some pretty normal stuff—”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
Her eyes turned toward him. Frustration was clear in them.
Isaac didn’t respond immediately.
Alice continued.
“The governor’s not dumb. He can tell you’re trying to stay independent. But the moment today’s incident happened, he stepped in. Now it’ll look like you’re aligned with his faction.”
Isaac stayed quiet. She was right.
“And worse than that,” she said, her voice lower now, “I hate the way he spoke to you. He mentioned your past after helping you. It was his warning. He wanted to say that while he was helping you, he could plunge you back to the depth of despair if he wanted.”
She gripped the railing hard.
Her knuckles turned white.
“He was belittling you. Just because he did it with a smile doesn’t change the meaning.”
Isaac looked at her hand, then at her face.
She was angry. Not at him, but for him.
He exhaled slowly and leaned forward on the railing beside her.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I understood it too.”
Alice’s expression didn’t change. If anything, she looked more frustrated.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
Isaac stayed silent for a moment. Then he turned to her again.
“Because the Governor was helping me through a channel—the Calloways. If I snapped back at him, it’d reflect badly on them. And he might take it as the Calloways standing up against him too.”
“The Calloways are not so fragile that we are afraid of the governor.”
“They’re not. But the battle between factions are complicated. You know that.”
Alice narrowed her eyes.
“So you just let him talk like that? As if it’s fine?”
“I didn’t say it was fine. I said I let it slide for now.”
Her brows pinched together.
“You’re planning something.”
Isaac let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips.
Alice stared at him. There it was. That dammed smile. The one that meant he was already ten steps against his opponent.
“What are you planning now?” she asked.
He raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand.
“What do you mean?”
“You just said you had another plan.”
“Did I?”
His expression shifted into an innocent one.
Alice clicked her tongue. She knew that look.
But this time, she could guess his plan.
“You’re going to try to pull Celia into your faction, aren’t you? The Governor clearly wants her, but she hasn’t agreed to anything yet. If you get her first, that’ll be a huge blow to him.”
Isaac coughed and looked away.
“So I’m right.”
He didn’t deny it.
“It’s not going to be easy,” she said after a beat.
“I know. But I am trying.”
“I can tell. Isn’t it why you went to meet her today and hid that from me?”
Isaac froze for a second. But he recovered quickly.
“Hiding? What are you talking about, Miss Alice? I was going to tell you—”
Before he could finish, she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her face was right in front of his now, so close their noses almost touched. He could feel her breath—warm, fast—and the press of her body made him blink in confusion.
“Alice?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she kissed him.
Deeply. Hungrily.
Like she wanted to make sure he remembered this moment, this feeling. Like she was trying to mark him as hers.
Isaac’s hands slid instinctively to her waist, then lower. He stopped himself before it went too far, breaking the kiss with a shaky breath.
Alice was breathing hard too. Her eyes were half-lidded but ger gaze was sharp and domineering.
For a second, neither of them said anything.
Then she straightened her posture and ran a hand through his hair to set them correctly.
“Let’s go back home first,” she said, her voice steadier than he expected. “We need to buy the land and prep everything for the third shop tomorrow.”
Isaac nodded, still catching his breath. He adjusted his clothes.
“Yeah. Right. We have a busy day.”
Alice turned and began walking ahead, her heels clicking softly on the floor.
The air between them still buzzed from the heat of the moment, but her steps were calm now.
Isaac followed.
He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
As they reached the corridor connecting the side balcony back to the main hallway of the Calloway estate, he spoke again.
“You know,” he said, “you’re really scary when you guess my plans that quickly.”
Alice didn’t look back, but she replied.
“That’s because I know how you think.”
“You make it sound like I’m predictable.”
“You’re not. That’s the problem. I always have to stay on guard.”
He laughed quietly. “That sounds exhausting.”
“It is. But I’m still here, aren’t I?”
He smiled again. Not the calculated kind this time, just a genuine one.
“Yeah. You are.”
They didn’t talk after that as they made their way out of the estate.
The evening had dragged on long enough, and neither of them was in the mood to linger any longer than necessary.
They passed by a few staff members who bowed respectfully.
Isaac stepped ahead to open the front door.
Alice walked past him with a small nod, and the two of them got into the sleek black car waiting outside.
The engine hummed to life.
Isaac pulled away from the estate.
The ride was quiet.
Eventually, they passed through a designated teleporter gate.
Once they appeared on the other side, they switched into a high-clearance, matte-gray city vehicle built for official errands in the stronghold.
The Sanctum of Masters’ administration sector wasn’t far from there.
It was located near the central governance hub, the Land Registration and Urban Management Office was one of the few departments still running at full capacity even this late.
As they stepped into the main hall, Alice tapped something into her wristband and turned to Isaac.
“We have fifty billion credits in the business account.”
“That much?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “That’s not counting the emergency fund I set aside last time.”
He scratched the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish.
He had stopped checking the account after he gave Alice the control over the account so the amount of money surprised him.
But it made sense, his yield had been rising like crazy, and his products always sold with ease.
Alice brought up the numbers on a translucent screen and continued, “We’ll use twenty billion to buy the third shop.”
“Alright.”
“Then another billion or so for handling costs—renovations, staff setups, security.”
“And the rest?”
“Land,” she said, already walking toward the registration kiosk. “We will use the remaining twenty-nine billion to buy as much as we can.”
Isaac glanced at the terminal beside her. “What’s the land rate these days?”
“Five hundred million per hectare,” she replied.
He raised an eyebrow. “That low?”
Alice gave a half-shrug. “The rates were going up. They almost touched eight hundred million last week. But then the Metavore Hive incident happened.”
“Right.”
“We defeated it, sure,” she added, “but the public doesn’t trust the area anymore. Prices dropped across nearby Sector.”
“So they’re afraid something like that might still be hiding nearby?”