She didn't bother circling around the issue.

She knew herself well enough to understand that if she delayed, her resolve might waver.

"I am okay if Neo…" Elizabeth began.

She paused, pressing her lips together.

For a brief moment, her pride resisted.

It screamed at her to stop, to take the words back, to say anything else.

But she pushed through it.

"If Neo is with both of us."

Morrigan froze.

For a few seconds, she didn't even blink. The teacup in her hand remained suspended in the air, forgotten.

Witches were possessive by nature.

Morrigan was no exception.

The instinct to claim, to hold tightly, was etched into her existence.

And yet, she had lived long enough to understand what Neo had endured.

He had suffered for thousands of years.

He had used the Talent Transfer Technique to help her, paying a price far beyond imagination.

He had sacrificed again and again, quietly, without ever asking for recognition.

He did all for her.

For Morrigan, Neo's happiness mattered more than anything else. That's why she had decided to give him to Elizabeth.

When she had joined the war alongside Ouroboros, she had been warned.

They told her that one day might come when she would save Neo, but would not be able to stay with him.

Even knowing that, she had continued forward.

Neo had once sacrificed everything for her.

So she had decided she could sacrifice everything for him.

That was how deeply she loved him.

That was why she had endured in silence. Why she had hidden herself. Why she had helped Neo search for Elizabeth's reincarnation, even though it shattered her heart.

'I didn't think she would say this,' Morrigan thought.

Elizabeth was the Witch of Pride.

Among all witches, she was supposed to hold herself above everyone else.

Pride wasn't just an emotion for her.

It was her foundation.

And yet, here she was.

Lowering that pride.

Sharing Neo.

Morrigan slowly lowered her teacup back to the table.

"Why?" she asked.

It was a single word, but it carried countless questions. Why accept this? Why compromise?

Elizabeth didn't answer immediately.

"I… saw Celestial Worthy," she said at last.

Both Morrigan and Persephone stiffened.

"Are you sure? There are no records of anyone ever meeting Celestial Worthy," Morrigan said.

"I'm sure. He came to meet Neo. But I was able to see him too. Others saw him as well, but it seems only Neo and I remember him. Neo doesn't even know that I saw Celestial Worthy."

Persephone's expression turned serious. "What did he say?"

"Neo's Fate — this Fate is different from the Fate we know — is Eternal Transcendent/Endless Hell/Seat of Virtue/Mad God."

The room fell silent.

Morrigan's mind moved quickly, fitting pieces together.

"…It sounds like a warning," Morrigan said.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied. "That's what I believe too. Celestial Worthy came to warn Neo. That unless he stops chasing strength, he will suffer endlessly and go insane in his endless chase for strength."

Silence pressed down on the room.

Persephone suddenly stood up.

The chair scraped loudly against the floor, breaking the stillness.

Elizabeth and Morrigan both looked up at her.

"I'll go talk to Hades. He doesn't remember much since he's only a fragment of his whole, but he might know something. This might not be a warning about Neo's future. It could be about something else entirely."

Before either of them could respond, Persephone disappeared.

The room felt emptier without her presence.

Elizabeth and Morrigan sat across from each other, neither speaking for a while.

The tension was different now.

"So, you want Neo to stop chasing strength," Morrigan said eventually, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Elizabeth replied.

Her gaze changed the moment Persephone left.

It became sharper.

She took a sip of tea, placed the cup down carefully, and continued.

"Before anything else, I need to ask you something. Are you and the Supreme of Darkness the same… or different? I don't want to share between three."

Morrigan answered immediately. "We are the same."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed.

"How? You were severed long ago. You lived different lives."

"I know some people in my position might think they're separate beings. But from my perspective—and from the Supreme's—we are one."

Elizabeth didn't relax.

"Are you sure the Witch of Gluttony thinks the same way?"

"Yes. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left me with Neo. You know how possessive she is. If she believed we were separate, she would never allow a fragment of herself to stay with him."

Elizabeth nodded slowly.

Then she asked, "Last question. Why did you hide everything from Neo? Why didn't you ever try to get close to him?"

Morrigan's expression darkened.

"Because of that bitch's possessiveness," she said bluntly.

Her calm cracked for the first time.

"She left me to be with Neo. But she didn't want a fragment of herself receiving more love than her. She warned me. If I revealed the past, if I approached Neo, if I tried to touch him first… she would kill him."

Elizabeth stiffened. "Kill him?"

"Yes. Using the Seed of Darkness inside him."

Elizabeth blinked, then slowly nodded.

This was exactly the kind of possessiveness witches were known for. Irrational. Extreme. Unyielding.

The Supreme of Darkness couldn't stay with Neo, so she left a fragment behind.

But even that fragment wasn't allowed to truly be with him.

Jealousy had overridden reason.

Elizabeth exhaled quietly.

In contrast, Morrigan's actions stood out even more.

She had been the one to give up first.

She had chosen Neo's happiness over her own feelings and helped him search for Elizabeth.

'Seeing it like this, Morrigan and Moraine look to be quite different,' Elizabeth thought.

And then, another worry surfaced.

They wouldn't refuse to fuse later, would they?

They wouldn't insist on remaining separate and ask Neo to share himself with both of them. Right?

Right?

She rationalized, thinking that Supreme of Darkness loved Neo just as much as Morrigan. That's why she stayed away from the universe, not coming down to meet Neo even though she could.

Elizabeth suppressed the worry before it could show on her face.

She straightened slightly and asked the question she had been avoiding.

"That Seed of Darkness was used to save Neo. Does that mean now you can… approach him freely?"

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