Chapter 23: The Witch’s Banquet

The pristine white stone walls were covered in fine droplets of water from the lingering steam. Warm yellow light pierced through the hazy mist, casting wavering patches of light across the broad surface of the pool.

In the pool, streams of hot water continuously flowed in, rippling the clear surface. The overflowing water slid along the edges, forming miniature waterfalls.

The depth of the pool was designed just right. Peletti could comfortably rest the back of her head against the soft cushion at the edge, her entire body submerged in the warm water without the slightest feeling of suffocation. There was even enough space here for another person.

Or rather—
for another witch lying on top of her.

By all logic, the pool was more than large enough for Scarlet Night to lie beside her.

Yet for some reason, this little one was like a stubborn hermit crab, utterly unwilling to leave Peletti’s body no matter what, clinging tightly to her chest.

In the end, Peletti gave up on the idea and let Scarlet Night sprawl on her like a human-shaped accessory, with only half her face exposed above the water. Her silver-white long hair spread out in the pool like drifting seaweed.

She had to admit—holding a girl so much smaller than herself, especially with the girl’s cheek pressed against a chest that she hadn’t had before but now found surprisingly soft, was an experience that carried an indescribable sense of wonder.

Damn it, is this part of the price too?!

Peletti screamed silently in her heart.

“So, it was the Star Witch who told you all that I became a witch?”
Pulling her thoughts back to the main topic, Peletti absentmindedly stirred the water with her fingers, Scarlet Night’s hair floating like seaweed on the surface.

“Mmm…” Scarlet Night’s cheeks were flushed pink from the steam, but her voice remained steady. “Most internal witch affairs are handled by her. You could say she’s our leader in the open.”

Scarlet Night had known about Peletti becoming a witch ever since she had just been reborn.

But she didn’t want Peletti to know that. The fact that Peletti had no memories of her previous life was, to Scarlet Night, a good thing.

Those memories were simply too painful. Compared to Qingcheng of the past, who bore far too much, she cherished the present sister before her—one who could still smile.

And this time, she had stayed by Peletti’s side from the very beginning. Knowing what the future held, she could help Peletti avoid many bad outcomes.

As for how she knew all this, if Peletti ever asked later—

She could just blame it all on Sister Isabena.

That elf…
Compared to calling them elves, Scarlet Night preferred calling them blond goblins.

They were the ones who made the mistake, yet they used moral coercion to make her sister pay the price…

If she weren’t worried about Isabena getting angry, Scarlet Night would have gone straight to the Elven King’s Palace before coming to find Peletti, doing whatever she pleased.

But what if she hadn’t been reborn?

If she hadn’t been reborn and knew nothing, Scarlet Night could still have spared her for Isabena’s sake.

“I see. She could even foresee me becoming a witch from such a distant place—just how powerful is her precognition?”
Peletti stretched lazily in the water, enjoying the comfort of the warmth enveloping her skin. She immediately felt that the money spent here was well worth it.

“Relax, it’s nowhere near as strong as you imagine. You could even say the Star Witch’s prophetic ability is quite limited—she can only manage the most basic foresight.”
Scarlet Night chuckled softly, her nose brushing against the skin at Peletti’s collarbone.

“Huh? Then how did she know about me?”

“Because of the star chart. Even when the Star Witch is so weak that she can’t leave the tower—when even standing is difficult—she can still project her will to every corner of the world through the star chart. In other words, most of the time it isn’t prophecy at all—she actually sees it with her own eyes.”

“Oh… she saw it with her own eyes…”
Peletti let out a sigh of relief. So she was just seen—thankfully, it wasn’t mind reading.

…

…

But the very next second, she froze.

“Wait—doesn’t that make it even more outrageous?!”
She abruptly sat up, nearly flinging Scarlet Night off her, anxiously scanning her surroundings while instinctively pulling Scarlet Night tighter into her arms.

Sensing her panic, Scarlet Night laughed lightly. “No need to worry. If she came, I’d feel it. Besides, the Star Witch isn’t the kind of pervert who peeks at girls while they’re bathing.”

“Uh… hearing that come from your mouth just feels kind of weird.”
Peletti stiffened for a moment, then helplessly turned off the hot water valve and sank back into the pool.

“Could it be that Sister actually wants me to peek at you while you bathe?”
Scarlet Night tilted her head, a mischievous glint flashing through her violet eyes.

“You’d even peek? Don’t you always just walk in openly?”
Peletti couldn’t help complaining.

She recalled how not long ago she had wanted to leave Scarlet Night outside so she could properly relieve the fatigue of the past few days.

After all, ever since she’d been drugged by Josuna that day, she hadn’t had a proper chance to clean herself. Coming here, of course she wanted to enjoy it properly.

And then she turned around—only to see a completely naked Scarlet Night already in the bathroom, her hair wrapped up in a towel.

That was even more outrageous than peeking, okay?!

“Mmm, don’t sweat the details. It’s not like I haven’t seen it before…”
She said the last few words extremely softly, almost swallowing them.

“Then my need to drink blood—that must’ve been what she predicted, right? Even I didn’t know about it myself.”
Peletti tried to change the subject.

“That kind of thing, of course—wait. You didn’t know what you were supposed to eat?”
Scarlet Night suddenly seized on the key point, pushing herself up, her wet white hair clinging to Peletti’s chest.

“Yeah. I turned into a witch from being a normal human—how would I know witches have to drink blood?”
Peletti spread her hands helplessly.

“How could you not know? Don’t tell me you never experienced the Witch’s Banquet?”
Scarlet Night’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“The Witch’s Banquet? What’s that?”

The moment she heard this, Scarlet Night immediately climbed off Peletti, turned around, and knelt between her legs, staring down at her suspiciously.
“You… you really don’t know what the Witch’s Banquet is? That’s common knowledge among all witches.”

Peletti was almost amused by the serious expression on the little girl’s face.
“Huh? If I knew, why would I be asking you?”

Scarlet Night stared into Peletti’s eyes. After a long moment of eye contact, she finally drooped her head like a deflated little animal.

“No wonder you’re so weak. I thought you had some kind of bloodline defect.”

“Then hurry up and explain clearly what the Witch’s Banquet actually is!”
Peletti couldn’t help reaching out to pinch her slightly flushed cheek.

“Mmm…” Scarlet Night tried to organize her words. “You’ve probably heard rumors like ‘becoming a witch makes you incredibly powerful,’ right?”

“I have heard that,” Peletti recalled from the books she’d read.

“But that’s actually not a rumor—it’s true,” Scarlet Night explained seriously.

“A witch is, by nature, a pure elemental entity. When an individual becomes a witch, in order to adapt to the awakening of their bloodline, they enter a special state where they absorb the element corresponding to themselves from their surroundings. In this state, all of the witch’s actions are governed by instinct—the self is temporarily set aside until the state ends. This process is called the Witch’s Banquet. When the banquet ends, the witch’s strength undergoes a tremendous leap.”

She paused, then continued:
“What a witch eats during the Witch’s Banquet is what they’ll need to consume in the future to replenish energy. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be the corresponding element—it can be something else. For example, both the Blood Witch and I use the dark element. Mine is the Eternal Night Banquet, while the Blood Witch’s—just like yours—is the Blood Banquet.”