Rose looked to be in her early thirties, her elegant, wine-red hair cascading over her shoulders in large waves, making her skin appear even paler and more delicate.
She wore a bold, deep-V dark red dress with a low neckline, yet she didn’t seem the least bit frivolous.
After all, her wine-red eyes were far too bright; any disrespectful gaze would feel a sense of guilt before her.
However, the person who actually made Celeste’s footsteps falter for a moment was not Rose.
It was the person sitting beside Rose, legs crossed and winking at her.
Grey Cat.
That familiar face, along with the faint, persistent sense of wildness clinging to her…
Celeste could never mistake her.
‘But wasn’t she supposed to be locked in the deepest dungeon of Hela City? Wasn’t she supposed to have her hands bound by multiple shackles and be watched by guards in rotating shifts day and night? How could she be here?’
Grey Cat seemed to read the silent question hidden beneath the shadow of Celeste’s hood.
She grinned, revealing a triumphant smile, and shifted her crossed legs.
Faint bruises still remained in circles around her ankles.
“Are you confused to see me?”
She asked with a laugh.
Celeste shifted her gaze away from Grey Cat’s face and settled it on Rose.
“Did Lady Rose save you?”
Her tone carried a certain level of certainty, as if she had already confirmed the fact.
Grey Cat curled her lip and let out an ambiguous snort.
“Honestly, being too smart makes things boring for everyone else.”
Though she grumbled, there wasn’t a hint of genuine dissatisfaction in her feline eyes.
Instead, they flickered with a light that bordered on admiration and worship.
Celeste let out a soft chuckle.
She walked over to stand before Rose, removed her hood, and bowed slightly.
“Lady Rose.”
Rose raised her hand.
That hand was slender and white, and on her ring finger sat a Ruby Ring, reflecting a deep, shimmering halo under the yellow lamplight.
“There is no need to bow to me. A witch capable of unlocking the Heart Gem must be a Grand Witch just like myself.”
As she invited Celeste to sit down, the corners of her lips curled upward into a meaningful arc.
“We can simply treat each other as equals.”
‘Treat each other as equals?’
A light flickered in Celeste’s eyes.
She didn’t think Rose would be this easy to talk to.
The bottom rungs of the Witch Council were essentially a breeding ground for cutthroats.
For the Rose before her to become a Councilor amid such fierce competition, she certainly hadn’t relied on kindness.
Perhaps this was merely a tactic to win her over.
Furthermore…
Celeste looked up, her gaze quickly sweeping over Rose’s smiling but cold face.
‘She seems to have misunderstood something. Grand Witch? I’m nothing of the sort. I just possess incredibly unique Eros Energy that allows me to undo magic seals that many other witches can’t. Grand Witches are all beings who have stepped into the Gold Rank; I’m still a long way off.’
However, she had no intention of explaining.
Thinking of this, she lowered her eyes, appearing somewhat dissatisfied.
“Treat each other as equals? But Lady Rose, you brought me quite a bit of trouble the moment you arrived.”
Rose raised an eyebrow.
“Trouble?”
The corners of Celeste’s mouth curled slightly.
The drunkard downstairs, that greasy face flushed red from alcohol, those cloudy eyes flashing with a strange, frantic excitement, and the faint fluctuations of Magic Power coming from him…
She had realized it long ago.
The reason that drunkard had targeted her was clearly because someone had meddled from the shadows.
It was all a plot directed at her.
“That drunkard.”
Celeste only mentioned him briefly, believing Rose would understand.
After all…
‘One should never say too much; the more I speak, the easier it is to make a mistake. I only know that the drunkard was manipulated, but I’m not entirely sure if it was Rose who did it. To maintain my persona as a Grand Witch, I have to put on an act to show I’m not someone to be bullied.’
Rose calmly took a sip of her tea.
Her voice remained lazy, though it gained a touch of honesty.
“As you know, the reputation of witches is terrible. The Witch Council can only operate in the shadows now. Even I wouldn’t dare to act rashly without proper intelligence.”
“So you sent him to test me?”
Rose didn’t deny it.
She simply smiled — a smile that was part cunning, part honest, and part something between admiration and wariness.
“You handled it, didn’t you?”
Rose looked at her as if she were inspecting a perfect artifact.
Celeste chose to remain silent.
The entire VIP room suddenly fell into a heavy stillness.
Grey Cat sipped her tea quietly; usually restless, she didn’t dare utter a single word at this moment.
After a long while, Rose seemed to concede. She spoke.
“A drunkard like that deserved to die anyway. The fact that you killed him without hesitation shows, firstly, that you still possess a basic sense of good and evil.”
She paused for a moment.
“Secondly, it shows that you do not fear an investigation by Hela City. I like the idea of cooperating with a witch like you.”
She had adopted the posture of an ally, yet Celeste still didn’t speak.
This time, it wasn’t because she wanted to keep the pressure on Rose, but because she was considering how to make her escape later.
Rose’s words had reminded her.
She had killed someone in the tavern.
The drunkard’s head was rolling on the floor, blood staining the wood, and the Inquisitors from the Inquisition would surely come sniffing around soon.
If she didn’t figure out a way to flee, she might run headfirst into those Inquisitors.
She wasn’t particularly afraid of ordinary Inquisitors, but she feared meeting Mephia.
She hadn’t prepared anything this time.
If she truly encountered her, there was a high probability she would fall into her hands.
When that time came, the witch locked in a dungeon under countless shackles would be her.
However, Rose seemed to read something else into her prolonged silence.
She arched an eyebrow, and a very faint trace of praise flickered in her wine-red eyes.
“Fine, fine.”
She shrugged, her tone carrying a bit of indulgence and compromise.
Of course, the clearest thing was her subtle recognition of Celeste.
Everyone had their own temperament, and the temperament of the strong was naturally even more eccentric.
After all, they had the capital to vent it as they pleased.
To Rose, the fact that Celeste — or rather, Nightingale — refused to back down was clearly a sign of her own confidence.
The confidence of a Grand Witch.
“It seems you are even more troublesome than I thought.”
Rose sat up straight and poured Celeste a cup of tea, her voice becoming more solemn.
“How about this? I will make an exception and promote you to a Core Member of the Witch Council. What do you think?”
She glanced at Grey Cat beside her.
“A position higher than this cat here.”
Grey Cat, who had been enjoying the show with her legs crossed, rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.
She silently mouthed something that, judging by her expression, was likely not very nice.
Rose ignored her.
Her voice took on the persuasive tone of someone in a high position.
“A Core Member is different from an ordinary Officer. Not only can you access some of the core secrets of the Witch Council, but… you will also receive two Magic Crystals for free every week as a salary. Though, for a Grand Witch like you, Magic Crystals might not be of much use…”