Chapter 3978: Weige's Scheme Backfired

The black-haired head maid perfectly completed the task left by the Duchess. After the witches left singing, she invited Xia De to the bedroom to test whether the brand-new mattress and blankets suited his sleeping needs.

Xia De really was inspecting them at first, but at some point the bedroom door was silently shut. Two arms embraced him from behind, and a moment later various garments fell to the floor together.

Miss Miss Difa still respected the Grand Witches, so she required Xia De to remain seated the whole time and not lie down—that way it wouldn't count as her being the first to use this new piece of furniture.

However, Xia De clearly sensed that ever since Margaret had taken their relationship further with him, Miss Miss Difa obviously had her own little feelings about it. The source of this feeling was—

"Again?"

The maid did not reply, only wrapped her arms around Xia De's neck and bit her lip to keep herself silent, though in the end she still let out a very small sound. In the past, when "stealing a moment of leisure," she actually more often did not engage in such tiring exercise, but instead checked whether the carpet would leave obvious marks on the skin of her mid-thighs.

Meanwhile, at the Witches' Council.

Beside the round table illuminated by the celestial light cast down through the thick fog above, aside from Sylvia who was attending an important diplomatic banquet with Margaret, the twelve Grand Witches had all gathered, many of them bringing their own apprentices.

Adele had already briefly recounted the situation communicated to her by the Zhengshen Sect, and now it was Weige's turn to inform everyone of the information Xia De had told her.

Originally Weige had worried that the Chairwoman and her other colleagues would question how she knew so much. Even if she pushed the reason onto her own mother, she believed there were logical loopholes in it.

But somehow, Chairwoman Adele Isabella believed her words without a doubt, not even asking about the source of the information, leaving the clever responses Weige had prepared unspoken.

As for the others, some were listening attentively, some were thinking carefully. Moreover, quite a few were acting distracted or even impatient tonight, clearly wanting this impromptu plenary session to end as soon as possible, so Weige guessed that on this Thursday evening, everyone had originally had important plans.

"The situation is roughly this. The afternoon was quite perilous. Apparently a so-called 'Flame Giant' even appeared at the Papal battlefield and briefly clashed with the metal golem of that traitor, the 'Construct Master.'"

To prevent the Adele Isabella she didn't know from figuring out the equation "Flame Giant" = "Weige's mysterious friend" = "God-Summoner," Xia De had also told Weige not to reveal her true encounter.

Weige hadn't originally wanted to tell the others that something had happened to her, so of course she didn't.

Adele nodded:

"Weige, you did excellently this time. This valuable information will allow us to gain more bargaining chips in our upcoming contact with the Church. I know you are unwilling to have direct contact with the Church. Although your physical condition has recovered somewhat, it is indeed unsuitable for you to appear in public.

Next, I will negotiate these matters with the Church. Audrey, you sisters come to me as soon as possible to rendezvous."

Adele always liked to call the current Edwards sisters along when doing things—after all, one of them equaled two people, and seated at the chair of "Knowledge and Wisdom," after recovering their mental health, their breadth of knowledge was already comparable to Grandmother Cassandra's.

"Understood, we'll come find you tomorrow."

Although Audrey answered very enthusiastically, Adele still heard some impatience in it.

She glanced at Audrey. Though she said nothing, she had already guessed the other's "evening" arrangements. The witch with the beauty mark at the corner of her eye was inwardly annoyed, but continued chairing the meeting:

"Weige, go to the Council's treasury and pick out a piece of jewelry you like—this is the reward you've earned. If the tenth Chosen One truly appears in the Arcadia region, we'll still need you to gather intelligence, but do be careful."

Weige nodded. She had not been questioned, so she was in a very good mood. Since she was in a good mood, and seeing none of her colleagues' complicated thoughts, she decided to probe a little more:

"Recently the Arcadia region has seen one accident after another, and the young ladies under me have been working very hard. Especially that Miss who helped treat me... she's been run ragged lately, but she listens to me very well, and our relationship has become quite good recently."

As she spoke, she observed everyone's expressions. The real intent of this remark was to make the witch acquainted with Xia De jealous—once the other party showed a similar expression, Weige would spot it at once.

But this time she still couldn't find her target, and the remark instead provoked an unexpected reaction.

Specifically, Adele Isabella had already been holding back a bellyful of anger, because she realized she wasn't the only one who seemed distracted tonight, and she didn't dare imagine what might happen tonight.

Thus, Weige's "showing off" made the fire in Adele's heart flare up in an instant. Adele actually considered herself an emotionally stable person, but this time was different:

"Weige!"

Adele's tone was somewhat stern. Weige was startled, but then Adele's voice returned to normal, which made Weige think she had misunderstood just now.

"The situation in the Arcadia region is very serious. Relying only on the young ladies under you does seem to be somewhat unfair to you now."

Jia Lin Na's eyes lit up and she sat up straight at once; Weige also caught her meaning, and a look of astonishment appeared on her fair, pale face—she had not meant to ask for reinforcements.

But Adele was not so "kind-hearted" as to dispatch other witches to the area to rendezvous with Xia De:

"Now the incident of the Creation Sect will inevitably strengthen the Church's surveillance of the Arcadia region. Grand Witches are not suited to go provide support, and besides, what you need isn't a combat-capable helper, but a Miss who can handle mundane affairs for you.

How about this—dispatch suitable personnel to help you deal with those troublesome matters, so that you can focus on handling things related to the tenth Chosen One."

Weige hurriedly shook her head:

"Chairwoman, what I meant just now was... I'm not short of hands here. Besides, it's better for me to handle my own affairs myself. If others handle them, I'd actually find it troublesome.

Isn't Margaret possibly coming to my place in the second half of next month? I'll hold on a bit longer. When she arrives, I can have Sylvia's young ladies help me out."

In any case, Weige was absolutely unwilling to let anyone else disturb her and Xia De's "dates" for the time being.

But Adele was clearly truly angry this time:

"That won't do, Weige. Don't keep refusing. This isn't only for your sake, but for the Council's... Jia Lin Na!"

"I can go!"

"Aren't you very busy in Tobesk City? You'd better stay in the Steam Capital. What I mean is, your grand-niece was originally planned to be introduced to Weige as an apprentice because of her powerful Chaos talent.

This is a perfect opportunity—let that Miss go to Arcadia City to help Weige. You've said her administrative abilities are very strong, so handling Weige's daily affairs should be no problem. Besides, she was originally meant to become Weige's apprentice, so to Weige she isn't an outsider either. While helping Weige with matters, she can also study under her.

Although her Princess status is somewhat sensitive, with a little cover-up, as long as she doesn't appear in public, it's fine. Jia Lin Na, I won't have her stay in Arcadia the whole time. When Margaret arrives there next month, she can decide for herself whether to stay or leave."

As Adele spoke, no one present could fault her proposal, nor claim that Adele had thought of sending Jia Lin Na's grand-niece to help for other reasons—because she truly had solid grounds.

And although Jia Lin Na was disappointed not to go herself, sending Ajielina to Arcadia had originally been part of her plan, so the Duchess nodded very naturally:

"No problem, but letting Ajielina leave Tobesk will require some other preparations. Today is already Thursday. I'll have Ajielina set out late next week. Chairwoman, can you ask Sylvia to help open a teleportation gate? Otherwise it's too far."

Sylvia wasn't here now, but Adele answered on her behalf:

"No problem."

Weige maintained her astonished expression. Most people at the table understood what she was thinking, so they held back their laughter. Jia Lin Na had originally felt tonight's meeting was a waste of time, but now she was very satisfied with it.

She also made sure to remind Weige:

"Weige, remember to take good care of Ajielina. Although I have quite a few grand-nieces, only two are worth looking at. She was spoiled by the King and Wang Hou growing up. I can give you her living expenses in advance. You must take good care of her—it's best if she stays in the room next to your bedroom."

Even Grandmother Cassandra felt Jia Lin Na was being a bit malicious, but Weige could only grit her teeth and agree. Refusing again now would make everyone think she was shirking:

"I will, cough, cough, I will take good care of her... there's no need to come in such a hurry. I also need to prepare here to welcome this future possible apprentice."

Jia Lin Na smiled and said nothing more. Thinking that there would still be rich and colorful entertainment activities after going home later, she felt tonight was truly wonderful.

Weige pressed her lips together, deeply regretting. Realizing she had at most one more week of being "alone" with Xia De, she decided to use that week to pick up her pace.

In the past week she had gone from first meeting Xia De to that passionate, fiery kiss this afternoon. The witch, who felt her methods were very clever, believed that next week she would surely be able to go further—and with luck, perhaps she could...

"Then it's settled. Audrey, you sisters rendezvous with me tomorrow. Bella, you come too—set aside some time. Didn't you say you gained a lot from the Snow Mountain battle?"

Adelle added, and after the Countess of Moon Bay nodded, she stood up and looked at her colleagues whose expressions all differed. If she did not know that having Xia De in hand was equivalent to having in hand the vast majority of people who had already grown disloyal, she would certainly have a headache right now:

"May the hidden Chaos shelter you and me, who are witches. Good evening, everyone — meeting adjourned!"