The struggle ended with Echidna suffering irreparable losses.
When the five Witches returned to Regulus's presence, Echidna immediately tried to step toward him.
"Regulus, you—Ugh!"
Just as she was about to get closer, the collar of black mist around her neck jerked taut, causing her to let out a very uncomfortable, strangled sound. She immediately turned to glare at Satella, the culprit holding the leash who had just made her look foolish again.
"What are you doing?" Echidna hissed.
"You are not allowed to approach," Satella stated flatly, her veil hiding her expression.
"Why? Do I need your permission to approach my own guest?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?!"
Echidna was furious. She had already been punished for trying to run away with him. Were they going to hold onto that one incident forever? No matter what, she was the host! If it weren't for her ability to construct this dream and pull his soul in, they wouldn't even be able to see him right now.
However, just as Satella paused, unsure of how to answer the semantic argument—
"I also agree with Satella's opinion," Sekhmet sighed lazily from beside Regulus.
"Sekhmet!"
"I... I think so too..." Carmilla whispered, hiding behind her scarf.
"Carmilla, you too?!"
"Typhon also agrees with this!" the green-haired loli declared, crossing her arms firmly. "Mischievous people are not allowed to approach Big Brother."
"..."
Echidna was speechless. Did they really need to gang up and target her like this?
"How pitiful. No... how self-inflicted," Daphne mumbled from her coffin, chewing on a fingernail, making Echidna even more annoyed.
But annoyance was useless. Satella's faction already held the overwhelming majority, and even if Echidna wanted to object, they wouldn't let her near him.
"Fine. If I can't get close, then I can't get close," Echidna huffed. "But this is very uncomfortable. Can you take it off?" She raised a pale hand and touched the collar on her neck.
"Mm."
A faint response from Satella. The shadowy chain in her hand transformed into black mist, and the collar quickly dissolved into nothingness.
They weren't worried about Echidna going back on her word. She was a Witch who strictly committed to her promises and vows. Of course, whether she intentionally misinterpreted the wording or exploited loopholes depended entirely on her mood, but outright breaking a rule was beneath her.
After the collar completely disappeared, Echidna rubbed her neck and looked at Regulus.
With a wave of her hand, an elegant round table materialized on the grass beside her, along with exactly seven chairs.
She actively pulled out one of the chairs.
"Sitting on the grass isn't comfortable," Echidna smiled sweetly. "Regulus, come sit here. I'll make you tea. This tea is a new invention of mine from these past centuries; only I can brew it, you know."
Her words were dripping with honeyed anticipation. They had only said she wasn't allowed to approach him. They hadn't said he couldn't come over to her.
But the result disappointed her.
"No need. I think sitting on the grass is quite nice," Regulus declined lazily.
"Eh!!?"
He actually refused!
However, she quickly regained her composure. She had no intention of giving up. In her opinion, Regulus simply hadn't understood her implicit meaning.
"I've already prepared seats, you know. Enough seats for all eight of us to sit down together and have a tea party," Echidna spoke again, heavily emphasizing the words.
This made Regulus look at the table and chairs nearby. There were exactly seven chairs, but there were eight people present. That meant one person would have no seat... or two people would have to share one.
He looked back at Echidna. As the absolute mistress of the Castle of Dreams, she possessed the power to create anything at will. Yet, this power was only used to create a seating shortage, while her own clothes—which were still tattered, torn, and revealing a scandalous amount of pale skin—showed no sign of being repaired.
It was a blatant, highly tempting invitation. If he went over and shared a seat with her in her current state, he could gain many, many visual and physical benefits.
'Should I choose what I already have, or give up what I have to pursue benefits that will likely be ruined by the other Witches anyway?' Regulus weighed his options.
The former was clearly more appealing.
"I don't feel like drinking tea right now. I'll just sit like this for the time being," Regulus firmly chose to refuse.
The repeated refusal made Echidna frown.
"Fine, don't come," she pouted, angrily turning her head away.
At the same time, the table and chairs immediately disappeared. Most tragically, the moment Echidna sat down cross-legged on the grass, her tattered clothes rapidly repaired themselves, transforming back into a pristine, fully-covering black gown.
The visual benefits vanished. She was throwing a tantrum.
However, while Echidna was sulking, Satella quietly took a few steps forward and sat directly on the grass on Regulus's left side.
Now, along with Sekhmet on his right, the Witch of Envy and the Witch of Sloth occupied the two best positions beside him. The remaining Witches didn't express any dissatisfaction with this arrangement. Instead, they sat down on the grass in a semi-circle, fixing their gazes entirely on Regulus.
"We won't ask any unnecessary questions about where you've been," Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, spoke up, cracking her knuckles. "Since you're finally back, please awaken us from our slumber as soon as possible. It's already been over four hundred years! After sleeping for so long, if I don't properly exercise my body in the real world, I'm really going to rust."
"Hmm!!?"
Minerva's words greatly surprised Regulus.
'Not death, but slumber?' he thought.
That completely contradicted the lore he knew. Previously, Roswaal had clearly stated Echidna was dead, and he had spent centuries preparing a strange artifact for her absolute resurrection.
Minerva naturally noticed Regulus's change in expression.
"Don't worry," Minerva smiled proudly. "From the moment the life-saving measures you prepared for us activated four centuries ago, our original mission in this world as Witches was over. We won't meddle in worldly affairs anymore. Once we wake up, we will just stay by your side."
"That sounds very noble."
"In reality, everyone here except Satella just lost a bet to him. Wouldn't it be better to be a little more honest about it?"
"Hah! What do you, a little brat, know! Don't interrupt when adults are talking," Minerva shot back.
"You're the brat! Typhon is almost four hundred years old!" Typhon protested loudly.
"Four hundred years!!? You've only slept for four hundred years, so you're still just a little brat!"
Minerva and Typhon began a loud verbal clash. But from their expressions, it seemed like a very ordinary conflict—a daily bickering routine. Judging by their current behavior, the relationship between the seven Witches was actually quite harmonious.
However, Regulus's focus wasn't on their massive lore-dropping banter at all.
The reason was simple.
Another hand had appeared.
This time, it wasn't coming from Sekhmet's direction on his right. It was coming from his left—from Satella.
The sudden, ghostly sensation beneath the draped fabric of Sekhmet's dress startled Regulus, making him realize a terrifyingly awkward problem.
It was very, very likely that Satella, the Witch of Envy, could perfectly see Sekhmet's Unseen Hand.
And not only could she see it... she possessed an incredibly similar Authority of her own. And right now, under the cover of the black dress, Satella's invisible shadow hand was engaged in a silent, vicious tug-of-war, forcibly trying to pry Sekhmet's invisible fingers off of him so she could take over!
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