The witches were still awake. After a series of hardships, they still couldn't believe that they had been taken in by the prince. No shackles, no guards, just letting everyone live in the castle, in such spacious and comfortable rooms?

Wendy probably guessed her sisters' unease. Together with Nightingale, she called everyone to her room, sat in a circle around the bed, and used chatting to soothe their emotions.

This is the demeanor of a leader, Yezi thought to herself. If it were Hakala, she would never be so considerate, or even if she noticed it, she wouldn't have the leisure to comfort her sisters.

"Sister Wendy, His Highness the Prince... what will he ask us to do?" Hummingbird asked timidly, "Our abilities are far inferior to yours and Sister Nightingale's."

This resonated with the other sisters, and they nodded in agreement.

Wendy chuckled. "Let me think, um... first of all, what you have to do is practice your abilities."

"Practice abilities?" Soroya hesitated. "Does that mean His Highness will make me paint all the time?"

"Very likely," Wendy patted Mystery Moon, who was bowing her head to one side. "You too. Although Hakala forbade you from using your abilities in the camp, His Highness won't. On the contrary, he will only encourage everyone to master their abilities as much as possible through practice."

"My abilities will cause trouble for the sisters," Mystery Moon whispered.

"You must practice it," Wendy said decisively. "It concerns our life and death."

"Life and death?" Yezi couldn't help but ask.

"That's right, Roland His Highness has discovered a way for witches to safely get through the Awakening Day," Nightingale took over from Wendy. "From now on, we can say goodbye to the pain of magic backlash, and all sisters can live to adulthood smoothly."

All the witches stared at Nightingale with wide eyes, not daring to believe their ears for a moment. Scroll asked in surprise, "Is it Anna xiaojie you mentioned last time? But you said you didn't know the specific reason at the time."

"Yes, at that time it was just His Highness's guess, but later Nana Wawa's Awakening Day verified this—she also suffered no harm."

"Then what is this method..." Scroll couldn't help but hold her breath.

"Just consume magic power every day," Nightingale said word by word. "I can see the changes in magic power in the mist. Using it frequently will continuously increase the total amount the body can accommodate, and at the same time, the pain of devouring the body will also be reduced. When Awakening Day approaches, as long as all the magic power is consumed, it will hardly cause any harm to the body."

"I think everyone can vaguely feel it," Wendy added. "During the days when we were hunted down by the Church, we cautiously hid in the corners of towns and didn't dare to use our abilities at all. Therefore, many sisters left us every winter. But this year in the camp in the Impassable Mountain Range, except for Aining and Aixi, everyone survived the Devilish Month."

So that's how it is. Yezi took a deep breath. This is why the duration of the magic devouring her body was particularly short when she encountered it in the Barren Lands. "In other words, the Holy Mountain is not in that no-man's land..."

"That's right, the Holy Mountain is not a specific place," Wendy nodded. "Any place that can accept us, does not regard witches as devils, and does not xianzhi the sisters from using their abilities is the Holy Mountain."

"Wendy also made a request to Roland His Highness, wanting to go to the camp again after the Devilish Month to tell everyone this news." Nightingale looked at Wendy and said softly, "Even if you don't find the Holy Mountain, you can still live well in the mountains."

"Now that everyone is back, there's no need to mention this," Wendy shook her head with a smile. "So, whether His Highness needs your abilities or not, for your own safety, you must practice it every day."

"If this is the key to resolving magic backlash, wouldn't other witches have noticed this?" Scroll thought for a moment and said, "We are not the first witch organization to gather together. In the Kingdom of Dawn and Wolfheart, there are other witch associations. I have sent them letters, wanting to invite them to find the Holy Mountain together, but I have never received a reply."

Yezi sighed softly. She knew that Scroll had something else she hadn't said. Since Hakala discovered the ancient artifact in an underground ruin in the Eastern Forest, she has firmly led everyone on the path of finding the Holy Mountain. Since then, the Mutual Aid Society began a long liuwang journey, almost traversing the entire Graycastle. Along the way, everyone met many new sisters and also lost many sisters. If from the beginning, they had chosen to hide in that ruin, would they have discovered this key in advance?

"We can try to contact the witches hidden in other cities," Nightingale said. "Roland His Highness also has this plan. He wants to let the witches notice this remote town by spreading rumors. If we act as a go-between, it will undoubtedly greatly reduce their wariness."

"But I still don't understand, why did His Highness the Prince take us in?" Echo looked blank. This alien woman from the Far South experienced worse than most witches. She was first sold to merchants in Azurewater Port by the Sand People, and then resold all the way to the royal capital. She was forced to learn dancing and court etiquette, and even the skills of pleasing men. If she hadn't been rescued by the Mutual Aid Society, she would probably have been resold to a duke or minister at a high price. Even now, she still speaks with a noticeable alien accent.

"Maybe it's the same as those who wanted to buy you," Lily pouted. "Men..."

"Don't talk nonsense, Lily," Nightingale said unhappily. "Roland His Highness is different from those people. As long as everyone lives here for a while, they will naturally understand."

"That's right, I have a deep understanding of this," Wendy still had that gentle smile. "It's getting late today, everyone should go back to their rooms and sleep. Even if your abilities don't work, don't worry. His Highness said that he wants the witches in the territory to live the same lives as normal people. If you really want to know what His Highness will ask you to do tomorrow," she paused deliberately, "I think, it will probably start with filling out a contract."

Yezi and Scroll returned to their room. The latter casually closed the door. "Let's sleep too."

"Yeah." When inquiring about abilities earlier, His Highness arranged her and Scroll in the same room, and at the same time stated that this was only a temporary arrangement, and in the future, the town would provide brand new single rooms. But in her opinion, there was no problem with three people sleeping on such a spacious bed.

She took off her coat and got into bed. An indescribable softness and comfort enveloped her whole body. Yezi couldn't help but hum softly and buried her head in the pillow. After a long time, she asked softly, "Do you blame Hakala?"

"..." Scroll sighed softly. "No one can predict the future. No matter what she did later, at least in the beginning, she sincerely wanted to find a home where witches could live in peace. It's meaningless to mention these things now. Sleep, child."

She closed her eyes. "Good night."