Chapter 697: Contract With Elemental Spirit Of Machines

"Take it, Miss Eleanor," Isaac interrupted firmly. He was no longer speaking to her as a disciple asking his master to accept a gift, but as her Lord giving her an order. "You are my subject, and as such, it is your duty to follow my orders. So, take it. Florathi Kingdom is dangerous, and I’m not going to let you enter that place without proper equipment."

Eleanor fell silent, but the way her brows furrowed made it clear that she was displeased due to the way he talked to her. She looked at the equipment in Isaac’s hand but made no move to take it, and the tension between them slowly grew as neither of them was willing to give in.

"Isaac—" Alice spoke up, clearly intending to intervene.

"I will deal with this," Isaac said, cutting her off. He knew Alice respected Eleanor as well, so she probably did not want to see her husband disrespect someone she considered important, even if she also understood what he was trying to accomplish and had attempted to mediate between them.

Isaac kept his eyes on Eleanor and refused to back down. "Do I need to repeat myself, Miss Eleanor? You will be representing me in Florathi territory, and I can’t have you walking around without proper equipment. If something happens to you because you weren’t properly prepared, it will affect my image as well."

Eleanor remained silent, staring at him with an expression that made it obvious she was still unhappy. Isaac simply stared back, unwilling to surrender on this matter even though he knew he was making things uncomfortable between them.

After several moments, Eleanor finally looked away.

"Fine," she said, sounding as though she had accepted the equipment only because she did not want to continue arguing with him.

Isaac handed her the set of legendary equipment. Inwardly, he wanted to apologize, because everything else aside, he genuinely respected Eleanor and thought of her as his honored master. If possible, he did not want to speak down to her like this, but he could not apologize after saying the words he had said.

Although he was her disciple, he was also a Lord. He believed that protecting the people of his city, especially the members of his family, was his responsibility, and he could not allow Eleanor to enter a dangerous place without giving her every advantage available to him.

With that matter settled, Isaac began distributing the remaining potions and items he had prepared. He had accumulated a large amount of loot from his solo clears of the Great Dungeon, and he had also sent his clones to farm the dungeon for several days, giving him more than enough supplies to distribute among the others.

Most of those items had been stored inside the Soulbind Pendant. The pendant itself was back in his city, but Alice could access it after she gained the legacy from the Cradle, so she went there and brought the stored items back with her before helping Isaac distribute everything.

Once everything had been handed out, Isaac dismissed the group. However, he deliberately stopped Celia from leaving with the others.

"Is there something important, Isaac? If it isn’t urgent, can we talk about it later?" Celia asked as she tried to leave.

Isaac sighed inwardly. She already knew what he wanted to discuss, which was probably why she was trying to leave before he could stop her. She knew he would not let her refuse easily, and apparently, her solution was to avoid the conversation altogether.

"Come here," he said, flicking his finger.

Telekinesis immediately caught hold of Celia and pulled her toward him. She came to a stop directly in front of him, but unlike usual, she did not joke around or try to escape by wiggling free from his control.

Instead, she stared at him seriously. There was no playful smile on her face, and her expression made it clear that she already knew what Isaac was about to ask.

"No," she said.

"Why?" Isaac asked gently.

"You should take it. It’s always you who is in the most danger, so why should I take something that would be more useful for keeping you alive," Celia replied.

Isaac stared at her quietly. If his death once had already given Celia trauma, then hearing from Catherine about the Trial where he had died in front of her again had undoubtedly made things worse, and he could understand why she was so unwilling to accept something that might leave him more vulnerable.

"Even if I say please?" Isaac asked with a small, soft smile.

"You’re saying please?" Celia looked genuinely surprised.

"Is it really that surprising?" Isaac asked, pretending to be offended.

"You’re a dragon. I barely hear Alice say please or thank you, and I can count the number of times I’ve heard her say either of them on one hand. You have two dragon bloodlines, so I didn’t expect you to start begging me to accept something," Celia said, looking at him as though that explained everything.

There was a slight tremor in her eyes as she spoke, and Isaac could tell that she understood how important this was to him. He gently took her hand and pulled her closer before making her sit on his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist once she had settled down.

"Please take the contract with the Elemental Spirit of Machines. Can’t you do that for me?" he said softly.

Celia fell silent. Her expression changed several times as she struggled with the decision, clearly torn between wanting to keep Isaac safe and wanting to grant him something he was asking for sincerely.

Isaac sighed inwardly as he held her. He did not want to be strict with Celia, and perhaps she had become such a gremlin precisely because he had spoiled her so much, but even knowing that, he still wanted to spoil his wife whenever he could.

That was why he decided not to force her. He had already spoken to Eleanor as her Lord, but Celia was different, and Isaac did not want to use his authority against her when what he really wanted was for her to understand why he was asking.

So instead of giving her another order, Isaac decided to open his heart to her.