Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1772 - 1771: The Witchs’ Current Situation

Chapter 1772: Chapter 1771: The Witchs’ Current Situation

"Galina, would you go so far as to make your underage grand-niece kiss your lover just to tease me?"

Megan, trembling with anger, pointed at the Duchess, who smiled and corrected her:

"Although Little Angelina is small and slender, she is already of age. Besides, I didn’t force her; she might even thank me for it."

"You..."

"Megan, there’s no need to be so upset. You’ve been hiding your identity and eyeing my knight. What’s wrong with me giving you a little surprise? By the way, Shard had nothing to do with this; he always wanted me to give it up."

"I know it has nothing to do with him. Now that I think about it, his strange behavior can be explained. So it’s all because of you... we agreed that we are all members of the Council, all sisters?"

Megan took a few deep breaths to calm her emotions. Miss Galina chuckled and said:

"Yes, that’s how we sisters of the Cavendish Family get along. If you don’t believe it, you can ask Angelina later. Our family’s sisters sometimes do even more outrageous things."

She blinked:

"You won’t be unable to take such a joke, will you?"

Megan’s mouth twitched, and she threw a wine glass at her, restrained as it seemed. The Red-Haired Witch had anticipated this. With a flick of her fingers, with a crisp sound, the glass flew back. Not a drop of wine spilled, and an indistinct glimmer covered the surface of the cup:

"You haven’t forgotten that I’m Twelve Rings while you’re Eleven Rings, right?"

Megan reached to catch the cup, but unexpectedly, the glass passed straight through her hand like a phantom. The Red-Haired Witch was about to laugh and turn the glass from phantasmification to solid, ending the small struggle when a pure white, semi-transparent spiritual body arm emerged from Megan’s back and caught the cup.

Next, two spiritual body arms embraced Megan’s shoulders, and a spiritual body head identical to Megan’s emerged through her brown hair from behind.

Even for someone who had seen many bizarre scenes, the Duchess was shocked by this:

"You..."

"Alright, the joke can end now."

Shard spoke, seriously asking the Red-Haired Witch beside him:

"Are you satisfied now?"

"Satisfied, indeed. Tonight has been truly amusing."

Miss Galina said with a smile, then apologized to Megan:

"I know you’re angry, so I apologize for the joke. Isn’t this kind of welcome ceremony fun? And look, the outcome is quite nice; you don’t have to worry about me reporting Shard, you should be happy."

She led Shard to the sofa, and Shard apologized again:

"Megan, Audrey, I’m very sorry; I was part of this prank too."

"You don’t need to apologize to me; I know whom to blame."

Audrey’s spiritual body said, and then Megan’s hand suddenly pulled Shard in front of them, and in front of Miss Galina, the body and spirit merged, and the two kissed Shard together.

The Red-Haired Witch still wore a smile, sitting gracefully and watching this scene with a glass in hand. Once the two... three separated, she gestured for them to sit down to talk:

"I won’t oppose you if you want to vent your dissatisfaction and anger this way. The joke was excessive, but I must reclaim my dignity. But I’ve opened my eyes today; so this is what a three-person kiss looks like... is this your perfect ’Duality’ stance? Truly beautiful."

The last part of her remark wasn’t sarcastic; it was sincere:

"Alright, we’ve had enough fun; let’s sit down and talk. We have a lot more to discuss."

Saying, she called towards the door, telling Angelina to lead Tifa and the other Miss Maids back to the banquet hall to maintain order in the absence of Miss Galina. Angelina, who had been eavesdropping at the door, stepped back before she responded.

Inside the room, Audrey’s upper half spiritual body returned to the body, she sat across from Galina with a glass in hand, watching Shard sit on the side sofa, then being pulled by the Red-Haired Witch to sit next to her.

After the anger and shame, the Grand Witch of Wisdom and Knowledge calmly contemplated the present situation, watching Galina arrange for Angelina to return to the banquet hall, using this time to calm her emotions and ponder everything that had happened thus far.

"Galina, you really know how to manipulate people’s emotions."

She stared at the Red-Haired Witch opposite, who toasted her with a glass:

"Thanks to family education."

After raising an eyebrow, she took the initiative to explain:

"Calmed down? It seems you’ve accepted my apology. But don’t you admit, deep down, you’re secretly happy now?"

"What’s really going on between you and Shard Hamilton?"

Megan asked, and Shard answered proactively:

"Last summer, I met Galina in Tobesk. At first, she used many tactics to test my identity and gender, and later, we agreed to explore the origins of my peculiar nature together. Later on..."

"I fell into the web woven by the Knight, called love."

The Duchess laughed, her eyes on Megan:

"Though I teased you, you must admit, we’re on the same side."

"Since we’re on the same side, you should have informed me about these matters in advance. If your concealment causes the Council to find out about Shard, what then?"

Megan asked severely, thus the Red-Haired Witch reached towards Shard’s neck, pulling up a fine thread, extracting that emblem:

"Do you think Shard and I weren’t prepared? Look at this, an alchemical tool made according to the Fifth Era’s recipes, capable of detecting witches. But it’s not very effective on you, it needs to be within a meter to work."

She gently motioned for Shard to bow his head, then took off the pendant and tossed it to Megan. The latter caught it and indeed felt an astonishing heat, immediately realizing what had been heating up on Shard’s chest every time they embraced.

And upon seeing the emblem of the "Duchess of Saradiel" on the pendant, the corners of her mouth twitched a few times.

Shard also explained:

"Megan, the first few times I met you, I couldn’t be sure whether you were a witch. It wasn’t until we encountered the Mirror Keeper, and you were forced to turn into a cat, that I confirmed your identity as a witch."

"Then it was I who prevented him from telling you about his identity."

Miss Galina took the initiative to say, as she indeed did not want to put Shard in a difficult position. She leaned lightly against Shard, speaking in a somewhat sweet and sticky tone:

"At that time, I couldn’t be sure of your attitude towards Shard. After all, Shard was such an exception and it was the first time this had happened. I think you could understand my concern, right? My thoughts then were exactly like yours just now."

"You..."

Megan took a deep breath and then purposely switched to Audrey, letting her sister handle the current situation:

"You say it’s for Shard’s safety, but why do I feel like you’re intentionally retaliating against me for seducing your..."

She abruptly stopped, knowing she absolutely couldn’t admit to that:

"Retaliating against me for knowing Shard’s identity but not sharing it with you all."

"Why would you think that? That’s ridiculous."

The Duchess effortlessly denied it; however, she bore no grudges against Audrey or Megan, and having achieved her purpose for the evening, she didn’t intend to stir up further discord between them and thus restrained her expression slightly, stating seriously:

"I have some good news for you, you no longer have to worry about the Council’s attitude towards Shard. The number of witches who know of Shard’s existence, plus you, just happen to be over half, a total of seven."

Audrey slightly furrowed her brows; this was indeed good news:

"You actually have so many people concealing this matter together, and yet there hasn’t been any leakage, you all are really... too excellent. Besides you and me, who else is there? You know it’s important."

Miss Galina gestured for Shard to speak, while she sipped her red wine, surveying Shard who was right in front of her.

"The second person to know me is Miss Hevy Aurora. Then I met Grandma Zina Cassandra at Midshire Fort, and later during Princess Margaret’s visit to Tobesk, I met Miss Emma Sylvia. After the Year-End Festival, at the beginning of this year, I met Miss Vanessa Benanis of the Golden Dawn in Randall Valley."

Shard said, and Audrey deeply furrowed her brows:

"How are your relationships with these witches? Just acquaintances, or have you become friends? Witches aren’t all as easygoing as Galina and I. Take Hevy for instance; I am quite sure she is a traditional witch, definitely not one to fancy men."

"Hevy is rather bold; you have a too rigid impression of her. As for her and Shard... luckily, I met Shard first."

The Duchess said with a smile.

Audrey looked at Shard with surprise:

"Your abilities exceed my expectations, Hevy actually too... But what about the others? Like Grandma Cassandra, you’re not going to tell me that she and Shard are also..."

"No, no, please don’t let your imagination run wild."

Shard hurriedly shook his head denying her overly bold idea:

"I only know her teachers, so Grandma Cassandra trusts me a lot. You can think of it this way, she would never do me any harm."

Audrey and Megan had also heard some rumors about the old witch’s teachers, plus that Wish Demon claimed to have met Shard a thousand years ago, so they didn’t delve into it:

"What about Sylvia? That kind of young, independent girl, even if she encounters someone as exceptional as Shard, wouldn’t easily be charmed by him, right? Young girls aren’t like us; she’s a witch of the new era."

The Duchess nearly laughed while holding a wine glass:

"Sylvia, ah, is the most outrageous among us. She wants Shard to become her apprentice, yes, that type of apprentice. She quite admires Shard and believes he is a rare kindred spirit."

"Is that so?"

Audrey accepted this fact seeing Shard nod:

"So, is our gentleman here holding a Ph.D. in mathematics or physics? Or are you perhaps a so-called grassroots scientist with many intriguing inventions?"

Speaking on this topic, Shard indeed felt a bit embarrassed:

"I... I’m actually illiterate, never went to school. Besides not telling you that I knew you were a witch, I haven’t lied about anything else about myself. I was truly a wandering man without family or relatives before."

Shard gently shook his head, and Audrey expressed an apologetic look, finally asking:

"What about Vanessa? Isn’t she a staunch celibate? Even if she regrets it, I feel she would look for someone like Miss Ciris Lathes; what’s her view on Shard?"

"Her view... she performed solo for Shard."

The Duchess glanced sideways at Shard, who immediately recalled the passionate solo dance Miss Benanis performed when they parted in Randall Valley... The spotlight on the stage was bright that day, and also very hot.

"Moreover, neither Shard nor she would say what exactly she performed. That opera singer understands performing and role-playing better than you, unknowingly capturing my knight."

The Duchess softly said, summarizing the current situation:

"Thus far, more than half of the Council members are on Shard’s side. Even if His Excellency the Speaker discovers him now, or if the Council has to convene to discuss how to deal with him, we still hold the majority."