Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 642: I Can Finally Cook! Finally!

Catherine didn’t complete her sentence.

She didn’t even understand what she had witnessed. The memories of the trial still lingered in her mind. Every time she recalled them, a heavy feeling settled in her chest.

Eleanor remained silent for a few moments before speaking, "I’ve never heard of parallel timelines or parallel worlds actually existing. We still don’t know much about other worlds in general, and although there have been theories about parallel timelines, nobody has ever managed to prove they exist."

She paused briefly to make sure Catherine was following her thoughts before continuing. "But if they do exist, then maybe the dream Celia experienced wasn’t just a dream. It could have been something she received from her counterpart in another timeline, or perhaps even from Isaac himself. If that’s true, then maybe it was meant to help us survive the disaster."

Catherine nodded as she absorbed those words. The explanation sounded unbelievable, yet it somehow fit everything they had experienced so far.

Her expression gradually turned more complicated. The trial she had witnessed wasn’t simply terrifying because of what happened. It frightened her because it showed a future that could have existed under different circumstances.

Everything had fallen apart so quickly in that vision. People she cared about had died one after another, and even Isaac, who became capable of overcoming impossible odds, had....

Eleanor noticed the change in Catherine’s expression. She reached across the table and gently placed her hand over Catherine’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Don’t let those thoughts consume you. Whether that trial’s story was real or not doesn’t change where we are now. You can’t protect everyone by worrying about possibilities that never happened for us," Eleanor said.

Catherine looked down at their hands for a moment before raising her eyes again. She took a slow breath, allowing some of the tension in her shoulders to ease.

"I know. It’s just difficult to forget something like that. Even if it wasn’t real, it still felt like I lost too much," she admitted quietly.

"That’s understandable. But dwelling on it won’t help you move forward. Instead, you must prepare for whatever lies ahead without letting fear dictate your actions," Eleanor replied.

Catherine gave another small nod. She couldn’t say that the uneasy feeling had disappeared, but Eleanor’s words did make it feel lighter than before.

Seeing that Catherine had calmed down a little, Eleanor decided to change the topic. "And don’t throw yourself into training the moment you leave this room. You’ve only just become a Conqueror. Your body and your mana both need time to adjust to the changes."

She continued before Catherine could respond. "Training is important, but recovery is just as important. If you spend every waking hour trying to grow stronger, your body won’t have enough time to recover properly, and eventually that will slow your progress instead of helping it."

A small smile finally appeared on Catherine’s face.

"So my master is actually telling me not to train? If the others heard you saying that, they’d probably think someone has taken over your body," she said with a teasing look.

"You shouldn’t make jokes like that. I’ve never trained any of my disciples beyond what they were capable of handling. Pushing yourself recklessly isn’t the same thing as becoming stronger," Eleanor replied with complete seriousness.

The corner of Catherine’s lips twitched, seeing Eleanor was serious about her words.

...

Isaac POV

Isaac slowly opened his eyes.

The pounding headache that had tormented him before was completely gone. Instead, his mind felt unusually clear, and his body felt lighter than it had in years. After sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around the quiet room.

Alice was still asleep in the bed beside his. Her breathing was calm and steady, and she looked far more comfortable than she had after they exited the trial.

Isaac then noticed Selene.

She was asleep on a chair beside his bed with one hand still wrapped around his. Judging by the awkward position she had fallen asleep in, she had probably refused to leave his side throughout the entire night.

A helpless smile spread across Isaac’s face.

Even without looking any further, his heightened senses picked up faint traces of Emily’s and Celia’s scents lingering throughout the room. Neither of them was present anymore, but it was obvious they had spent plenty of time here as well. They had most likely taken turns looking after both him and Alice while they were asleep.

His gaze drifted toward the window.

Although the curtains remained closed, the faint darkness visible around their edges told him that dawn hadn’t fully arrived yet. It was still early morning, and the house remained unusually quiet.

’I really slept for a long time,’ Isaac thought, recalling he had returned from trial before yesterday’s evening.

It had been so long since he had enjoyed uninterrupted sleep that the feeling almost seemed unfamiliar. Normally, even while resting, he always kept several clones active, allowing part of his consciousness to remain awake while they continued working.

Over time, that habit had become so natural that he rarely experienced true rest anymore.

’I should probably sleep properly once in a while instead of staying awake for several days. It makes me feel quite refreshed,’ he thought.

As though sensing the movement beside her, Selene slowly stirred.

"Mhm... Isaac? You’re awake?" she mumbled sleepily.

She rubbed her eyes, and yawned before standing up and sitting beside him on the bed. Without saying anything else, she reached over and placed her palm against his forehead, quietly checking his temperature.

"Your fever’s gone. I was worried it might come back," she said with an obvious relief in her voice. A small smile appeared on her face.

"I had a fever?" Isaac asked. His hands moved and he hugged Selene’s waist. She didn’t stop him and let him draw her in, resting her head on his shoulder.

Isaac felt like it had been too long since he held any of his wives, and that’s why he wanted to hold her.

"Yes, you and Alice both did yesterday. Everyone was worried about you two, especially after neither of you woke up for so long. Emily even cried. But don’t tell her I told you that. She asked me to not tell you because she didn’t want you worrying about her."

Isaac smiled helplessly as he imagined Emily trying to hide the fact that she had cried. It sounded exactly like something she would do. Reaching out, he gently patted Selene on the head.

"Thank you for taking care of me and Alice," he said warmly.

Selene responded with a sleepy "mhm," but didn’t say anything else. Her body relaxed against him almost immediately, and within a few seconds her breathing became slow and even. She had apparently been quite exhausted.

Isaac smiled before carefully helping her onto the bed so she could sleep comfortably. After covering her with a blanket, he walked over to Alice and checked on her condition as well. She was still asleep, and there was no sign of fever.

To make sure there weren’t any hidden problems, Isaac sent a gentle stream of mana through Alice’s body. He examined her mana nerves, and organs before withdrawing his senses a few moments later. Everything looked perfectly normal, leaving him with no reason to worry.

Satisfied, Isaac stretched, and quietly left the room after closing the door behind him. He decided to do farming, and make use of the peaceful early morning.

As he walked through the hallway, his mind naturally drifted toward the Conqueror Trial. The strange part wasn’t that he couldn’t remember it. It was that every time he tried to think about it, powerful emotions surfaced despite the complete absence of any memories.

Exhaustion, pain, longing, and anger appeared one after another, as though they had been carved into his heart instead of his mind. None of those feelings came with images or conversations, yet they felt completely real. Then, beneath all of them, there was another emotion waiting quietly.

It was relief. Not the simple relief of surviving something dangerous, but the kind that came after accomplishing a goal that had taken an entire lifetime to reach. The feeling was so overwhelming that Isaac couldn’t help slowing his steps.

He scratched the back of his head as he tried to make sense of it.

’It looks like the System erased my memories, but the experiences, or perhaps emotions, that my soul went through are still with me,’ he muttered to himself.

The realization only made things stranger. He could understand why he felt exhausted, angry, or even relieved after a difficult trial, but the lingering sense of longing refused to make any sense. It felt as though he had left something—or someone—precious he wanted to meet, yet he couldn’t remember what it was.

’I can think about it forever and still get nowhere,’ Isaac chuckled wryly.

Instead of dwelling on questions he couldn’t answer, he pushed those thoughts aside and entered the kitchen. He brewed himself a cup of coffee before deciding to prepare a second one as well.

Holding both mugs, Isaac stepped out of the mansion and headed toward the farm. The cool morning air brushed against his face, and the quiet atmosphere slowly eased the tension that had remained in his chest. Everything felt calm, and peaceful.

"Good morning," Isaac called as he approached the fields.

"Good morning," a familiar voice answered. Water rose from the ground nearby before gathering into Avery’s familiar form, and she gave him a brief look from head to toe. "You look much more refreshed than yesterday."

"I really do feel different. I guess becoming a Conqueror changes your body more than I expected. Everything feels lighter, almost like I’d been carrying around a rusty body until yesterday." Isaac smiled.

He offered her the second mug of coffee. Avery looked down at it instead of immediately accepting it, and for just a moment, a trace of hesitation crossed her eyes. She eventually accepted the cup after meeting Isaac’s calm expression.

She studied the coffee in silence for several seconds before taking a careful sip. The moment the drink reached her mouth, she froze completely. Lowering the mug, she stared at it with unmistakable surprise before slowly looking back at Isaac.

Isaac couldn’t help smiling at the rare expression. Avery usually remained calm regardless of the situation, so seeing genuine shock on her face was unexpectedly amusing.

"The coffee is... actually very good," Avery admitted after a long pause.

"I thought it tasted good too." Isaac nodded as though there was nothing unusual about it.

Avery looked between the mug and Isaac several times before asking, "What exactly happened during your Conqueror Trial? Did you happen to meet someone who taught you how to make coffee while you were there?"

Isaac laughed, realizing the first question was about the coffee, not his enemies or powers, and shook his head. "I wish I knew. I don’t remember anything that happened after I accepted the trial."

Avery accepted that answer without pressing him.

She took another sip, this time much more slowly, as if confirming that her first impression hadn’t been mistaken.

Isaac quietly drank from his own cup while the two of them continued walking through the farm together.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke. They simply enjoyed the peaceful scenery and the silence that surrounded them, letting the conversation come naturally instead of forcing it.

The morning sunlight gradually spread across the fields, giving the farm a quiet warmth.

After finishing the last of her coffee with a faint, blissful expression, Avery raised one hand. Water materialized in the air, washed both empty mugs clean, and shaped itself into a long arm that carried them back toward the mansion’s kitchen. Only after everything was put away did she return her attention to Isaac.

"So, about your Conqueror Trial. Could tell me anything you remember? This is the first time I’ve heard of the System handling someone’s trial this way, so even a small detail could help me understand what happened," she said.

"I was given the option to choose Nightmare Hell Difficulty. It only appeared because of the same protocol that forced me into an individual trial, and the System warned me that there would be no possibility of death if I accepted. At the same time, it also said that unknown conditions would be applied," Isaac said.

He continued after taking a slow breath. "Since there wasn’t any risk of dying, I accepted it. The first condition immediately appeared, and it sealed all of my memories before the trial began. The next thing I remember is stepping out of the portal and appearing in my living room after completing the trial."

"Mhm, Nightmare Hell Difficulty has always existed, but nobody knows exactly what unlocks it. The conditions are different for each Trial. But... this is interesting. System specifically warned you that unknown conditions would be applied, yet the only one you remember is the memory seal," she said.

She slowed her pace while organizing her thoughts. "That makes me wonder whether there were additional conditions that you simply can’t remember anymore, and if the memory erasure after completing the trial also counts as one of those conditions. Either way, the System behaved differently than it normally does. Memories are one of the things that it rarely interferes with."

Isaac smiled faintly as he listened to her reasoning. Avery seemed to be genuinely enjoying piecing together mysteries.

Considering she had spent three thousand years traveling the world and studying anything that caught her interest, that curiosity probably explained how she had accumulated so much knowledge.

"I don’t know what the other conditions were," Isaac said after a brief pause. He deliberately left out the part about the System telling him that the memories except a portion of his entire first life had been sealed during the trial.

"If the System sealed your memories, do you think it placed you in a trial where you relived an event from your past? That would explain why it needed to erase your memories beforehand. Even if your mind forgets something, your soul still carries every experience you’ve ever had," she said.

She slowed her steps as her thoughts continued to develop. "Conqueror Trials often draw upon important events from a person’s past. If that’s what happened, then perhaps the trial may have been testing whether you had truly changed as a person, and grown from your experiences."

Isaac thought about her theory for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I honestly have no idea. Without any memories, I can’t even tell whether that sounds right or completely wrong."

Avery nodded without looking disappointed. She seemed more interested in exploring possibilities than forcing a conclusion. After another moment of silence, another question came to her.

"What about your strength? Do you think the System sealed that as well?" she asked.

Isaac gave the question some thought before answering. "I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. The System specifically said it would apply ’conditions’ to me, but the only one I remember is the memory seal. If there were others, sealing my strength would make sense."

Avery nodded. She fell into her thoughts.

Isaac didn’t interrupt her, knowing was likely organizing every possibility in her mind. The two of them quietly finished their walk through the farm while enjoying the peaceful morning.

After dealing with the farm, Isaac headed toward the gym.

He opened a storage cabinet and took out a pair of stat-sealing bracelets. He wore them, but nothing happened.

His strength remained exactly the same, and the familiar feeling of suppression never came. It was as though the bracelets had become nothing more than ordinary pieces of metal.

"I guess I’ll need stronger ones. Again," he smiled wryly.

Ever since his awakening, he had outgrown one training tool after another rapidly. It seemed becoming a Conqueror had simply pushed him beyond the limits of these bracelets as well.

As he put them away, another thought suddenly crossed his mind. He blinked once before lightly tapping his forehead.

"Oh, right. I completely forgot to check what I received from clearing the Conqueror Trial," he said to himself.

Without wasting another moment, Isaac called up the System interface in front of him.