The Devil's Cursed Witch

The next morning, Erlos didn't want to return to work but had no choice but head back to the palace due to Leeora's nagging that constantly reminded him of his duty as the King's servant.

'At least, I got two bottles of elixirs this time,' was his only comforting thought.

Fortunately, he was able to recover from his travel fatigue because upon his return, he realized that he needed to welcome the council members.

The council meeting was scheduled to be held in the morning, thus, by the time Erlos arrived, he had to hurry to the King's chamber and serve his master's morning needs.

The moment Draven entered the council hall, all the members in attendance bowed to him as he walked towards the throne.

'His Majesty only has his personal servant with him?'

'Where is the human girl?'

'Isn't she attending?'

Everyone had expected the King's mate to make her appearance along with him, but she was nowhere to be seen even after they were seated. The council members looked at each other and no one dared voice it out as the human they would be talking about was now the King's mate, and by extension, would be the official Queen after the bond was completed.

The oldest elf, High Elder Halifax of the Moon Elves, stood to start the meeting.

"Your Majesty, as per what we have decided in the last meeting, we will now continue the discussion of the human girl and her stay in the main territories of the kingdom."

The old elf paused, and when the King didn't say anything, only then did he continue.

"The human girl has survived and successfully passed the test Your Majesty personally conducted. She proved that she is not an ordinary human but a special one who could survive a mating bond. All the council members have now convened to officially announce the final verdict."

Halifax looked around the hall and said, "But we wish for His Majesty's mate to be here in person so she can listen to the decision that will decide her future, as is proper."

Draven looked at Erlos who promptly went out of the council hall. After a while, the young elf entered the council hall with a delicate figure walking behind him.

Ember walked inside the council hall with her head lowered, her hands busy holding the front of her long skirt to walk with ease. Due to a certain traumatic experience from yesterday, this time, she was wearing flat shoes while taking each and every step with extreme caution.

Because her focus was on keeping herself upright, she didn't see the awe on everyone's faces.

'It hasn't even been a week since the last council meeting.'

'Her burn scars are almost all healed. She looks like a different person.'

'Do humans really change this fast?'

Ember was nowhere close to how they saw her just a few days ago.

Her petite frame was clad in a frilly pink gown that showed off the graceful curve of her neck and shoulders, narrow at the waist before flaring into a large floor-length skirt with ribbons. Her long mahogany hair was styled in waves, the upper part of her hair loosely secured at the back of her head with a matching pink-jewelled accessory. Her makeup was light, mostly done to cover the leftover scars on her face and neck, but this was more than enough to emphasize her most beautiful feature--that pair of emerald green eyes.

'For a human, I guess she doesn't look bad,' the onlookers couldn't help but agree amongst themselves.

She wasn't an astonishing beauty, but considering the arrogance of elves about their peerless appearance, it was already considered a great achievement for anyone to receive praise from them.

But the most shocked person in the hall wasn't the leaders of the various races and clans, but a certain someone who was sitting on the throne.

Draven could not take his eyes off of her. He felt as if he had become deaf due to the thundering noise of his own heartbeat. It wasn't just the way she looked, but also her scent that overwhelmed his senses. It was as if her fragrance that only he could smell had filled the entire council hall, and it was getting stronger with each step of hers

His throat turned dry, and not even gulping could help him. While barely maintaining his calm front, he could only grip the armrest of his throne to suppress himself.

'Not here, not now, I should not...'

All he wished was to take her away from here and do what his body was urging him at this moment--to claim his mate and complete their bond.

But then he noticed all the gazes in the hall on his mate, and another strong feeling added to the burden he was already carrying--anger. He felt angry that everyone was looking at her. He felt angry that this beautiful sight wasn't for his eyes to feast alone. He clenched his fists, yet it was obvious that he wasn't able to control his strength since small indentations were already forming on the armrests.

Ember stood in the centre of that dome-shaped council hall, facing the throne where the King sat. Copying what she had observed so far, she greeted the King with a bow. She contemplated if she should look at him or not, but then, being the curious girl she was, she ended up looking at Draven.

His red eyes were fixed at her, staring at her without any restrain. She didn't understand what kind of look there was in those red eyes, but it was definitely not anger, which made her feel relieved. That emotion in his eyes was something that she could not understand.

Not just her, everyone had noticed how the King could not take his eyes off of his mate. Many of them could not help but smile at the sight. They had never seen their king like this, showing something that was neither irritation nor indifference.

"Cough!"

Halifax cleared his throat to pull everyone's attention back towards the topic they were discussing. With that, Draven finally moved his gaze away from his mate to the Moon Elf.

"Your Majesty, as the human girl is here--"

"Ember Aramis," the King corrected him without any hesitation.

"Pardon?"

"Her name is Ember Aramis," the King repeated.

In the last council meeting, there was an instance where Ember was asked about her family name, but she had no answer to it, and everyone considered her a lowly human slave due to her lack of a surname.

With the King's declaration, she would now be sharing surnames with the most powerful person in Agartha. Regardless of her human background, just the fact that 'Aramis' was attached to her name made her status higher than any human royalty.

'Aramis?' Ember looked at the red-eyed man in shock and felt a wave of different emotions pass her chest. The King had given her the name 'Ember' and now he even gave her a surname.

'Isn't it His Majesty's last name? Why did he give me his surname?'

She contemplated it, but then, she calmed herself as she accepted her new name.  'Is it because they say I am his person, his mate?'

"Ember Aramis..." she murmured, liking how the name rolled out her tongue. A light smile appeared on her lips as she finally had a complete name.