"A type of tea I've never heard of?" Regulus muttered, genuinely puzzled. He hadn't realized Sekhmet had coined the lewd term 'Rus Tea' earlier.
Just as Regulus was about to ask Daphne what exactly this tea was...
"Ah!"
A small cry escaped the Gluttonous Witch. It wasn't one of surprise or shock, merely an instinctive sound of displacement.
Accompanying the sound, Daphne's squirming body detached from Regulus's arm and slowly floated into mid-air, enveloped in an invisible grip.
"We'll talk about the tea later," Sekhmet sighed lazily. She glanced at Beatrice, who was still staring at the floating Witch in shock. "Regulus, and... this little spirit girl, come inside the mansion first. Everyone is waiting."
Sekhmet proactively took Regulus's hand and led him forward.
As the four of them entered the grand mansion's interior, they found the other five Witches already present, gathered around a large sofa. Lying motionless on that sofa was Echidna, who was still in a deep sleep.
"Mother!"
Beatrice's gaze was instantly captivated by Echidna. She immediately ran over.
Upon reaching the sofa and discovering that Echidna was merely asleep and not injured, Beatrice's expression instantly relaxed.
However, after relaxing came confusion.
Echidna's face was too red. It was an extremely unnatural shade of crimson, and she was panting softly even in her sleep. This feeling was familiar to Beatrice, but she couldn't recall exactly where she had seen it before.
At the same time, the attention of the conscious Witches was entirely fixed on Regulus.
Satella even walked directly to his side, reached out, and shyly grasped the fabric of his shirt near his waist. The moment she caught hold, she revealed an adorable expression, like a small, lost pet that had finally found its owner.
It was eye-catching, stirring a deep impulse in Regulus to hug this cute girl and cherish her.
"Hah... Has the ownership of the Castle of Dreams changed?" Sekhmet spoke first, breaking the silence. Her words were phrased as a question, but they carried a tone of absolute certainty.
"It seems you've already noticed," Regulus smiled. He had no intention of hiding it, nor was there any need to hide it from them. Once Echidna woke up, they would inevitably learn of this matter anyway.
"So it is," Sekhmet nodded lazily. "We were just wondering how Echidna managed to manifest such a luxurious mansion when she's completely unconscious."
"And... and you entered without her invitation," Carmilla added softly, hiding her lower face. "Bringing a young spirit lady with you."
"Huh!?"
The smallest of them, Typhon, tilted her head, looking as if she understood but also didn't. Most of her attention was already drawn to Beatrice, who was about her size. The green-haired loli's eyes revealed a strong desire to play with Beatrice, but she held it back due to the serious atmosphere.
As for the remaining one, Daphne...
"Want tea... want tea... want tea..."
Still restrained in mid-air by the *Unseen Hand*, Daphne kept muttering softly. Clearly, she was in a state where her monstrous appetite had been aroused but not satisfied, preventing her from calming down completely.
"This is one of my abilities," Regulus announced to the room, looking at the Witches. "I can Plunder an Authority from you. The condition for completely taking your Authority is... to have a certain degree of physical contact with you."
"A certain degree, huh," Minerva crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.
"I see..." Sekhmet drawled, glancing at the slumbering, thoroughly flushed Echidna.
"That... that means..." Carmilla squeaked, her face turning entirely red.
The three of them easily understood the incredibly lewd implication hidden within his words. They had just seen the 'state' Echidna was left in after this "contact."
"Does Big Brother want Typhon's ability?!" Typhon suddenly asked cheerfully. Her attention was split, so she had only caught words like 'ability' and 'take'. "If it's Big Brother, it's okay! You can just take it!"
Regulus clearly felt the innocent trust from the little loli before him.
But regardless of how useful her Authority of Pride might be in tearing his enemies limb from limb... given her appearance, Regulus couldn't bring himself to do it.
'If I truly want her ability,' Regulus thought, looking at her childlike frame. 'I'd have to wait until after awakening her in the real world, and then raise her for about ten years or so until she actually grows up, before it would be acceptable.'
He raised his hand and patted her little head.
"Hehehe~" Typhon let out a happy giggle, leaning into his touch.
Regulus then looked at the older Witches before him.
"What do you all think?"
"Think about what?" Minerva snorted indifferently. "Isn't this fine? If you want my Authority of Wrath, take it. It's not like I'll need it anymore once we wake up anyway."
"P-Please take my ability. I beg of you."
Unlike Minerva's indifference, Carmilla stepped forward and expressed a strong, fervent desire.
Becoming a Witch and obtaining an Authority... at first, she had been happy because people finally loved her. But only initially. From happiness to distress, to finally disliking it, she now actively detested it.
As time passed, she had grown to hate her own Authority of Lust. After all, her ability provoked mindless obsession, conflict, death, and even war. As long as she existed, as long as the Authority of the Lust Witch remained within her soul, such tragedies were absolutely unavoidable. If Regulus took it, she could finally just be a normal, loved girl.
Only Sekhmet showed a deeply conflicted expression.
Her Authority of Sloth—the *Unseen Hand*—was her primary means of survival. Once she lost it, wouldn't she actually have to do everything herself?
'I'd die. I'd starve to death. I'd definitely starve to death just because eating is too much effort!' Sekhmet panicked internally.
But...
"If you're willing to take absolute responsibility for feeding and caring for me after taking my ability..." Sekhmet stated her ultimate condition, looking at Regulus through half-lidded eyes. "...you can take it anytime."
She also wanted to become Regulus's asset. After all, the man before her was their benefactor who had supposedly saved them.
"Even if you didn't say it, I would take absolute responsibility for you," Regulus promised with a smile.
Just as Regulus finished speaking...
"I..." Satella couldn't help but make a sound.
When Regulus looked over, he found the silver-haired half-elf's face full of intense conflict.
Noticing Regulus's gaze, Satella pressed her lips together tightly.
"Please," she whispered, her voice carrying a heavy tone of warning and despair. "You must not come looking for my physical body. You absolutely must not..."
This sudden refusal made Regulus pause slightly.
Since meeting in the Dream, Satella had shown strong dependence and closeness. Logically, she should have been like the other Witches—willing to surrender everything to him.
'Wait!' Regulus's mind raced, connecting the lore dots.
Typhon always called her 'Tella'—Satella. But the Witch of Envy, Satella, was completely different from the other Witches.
Her original self was incompatible with the Envy Witch Factor, leading to the birth of a separate, extremely mad and destructive personality. Because of this, Satella was Satella, and the Witch of Envy was the Witch of Envy. These two represented different consciousnesses sharing the same physical body.
The personality before him was clearly the gentle, good-natured Satella, who was welcomed by the other Witches.
'This means that the soul projection in the Castle of Dreams is just Satella,' Regulus deduced. 'While the other personality—the one currently controlling her sealed physical body in the real world—should be the mad personality of the Witch of Envy.'
Terrible. This was really terrible.
The Witch of Envy was Regulus's ultimate target, after all. As the absolute pinnacle of combat power in this world, her Authority of Envy was powerful enough to swallow half the globe in shadows. Obtaining her ability would mean becoming truly, literally invincible.
And there was another, far more terrifying point to consider...
'If I go to unseal her,' Regulus gulped internally. 'Will the mad personality of the Witch of Envy have her yandere eyes set on me too?'
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