The Devil's Cursed Witch

All the council members had already left the palace aside from the representatives of the witches and the Wood Elves. They confirmed that the King had returned to his study after leaving the council hall, and Leeora and Cornelia went to visit him. Meanwhile, Ember went ahead on her own as she had nothing to do. She decided to use this chance to continue her postponed plans of exploring the palace.

Inside the King's study, Draven was sitting in his armchair quietly. Though he was present there physically, his mind was somewhere else.

'There is still nothing?'

As soon as he calmed down, he spread his consciousness trying to figure out whether his little mate had returned to her lodgings or had gone somewhere else. However, his powers couldn't find a trace of her. Even after she had become his mate, he could not find her presence using his powers, as if she didn't exist.

'Does that mean I can only determine her location by smell? No, I shouldn't be thinking about her now—'

Despite trying to focus on other things, his mind could not help but think about her. He was in deep conflict. He wanted to keep her away from himself, but at the same time, he wanted to know her whereabouts, what was she up to, who she was talking with...

Worse, Draven could not take a certain sight out of his mind—when his mate entered the council hall looking like a proper lady, it was as if everything suddenly fell into place.

Her beautiful emerald green eyes stole his breath when their sights met, her smile that he could not take his eyes away from and when she mumbled her name- Ember Aramis. His sharp hearing senses could hear her clearly and could not deny the kind of warmth he felt in his heart.

His mate had his name. She belonged to him and him alone.

After a long, long time, he had someone he could finally truly call his.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock. His personal servant entered afterwards.

"Sire, you have guests. Elder Leeora and Lady Cornelia are here to see you," Erlos informed him.

Draven nodded to approve it.

Leeora and Cornelia greeted the King as per decorum. Draven accepted it with a light nod and signalled them to have a seat.

The red-haired witch was the first to speak. "Your Majesty, I am here to tell you about what I have found about the mark I saw on Ember during the last council meeting. I believe you will be interested to hear about it."

"Proceed," he simply said.

"I have gone through the countless books from the various races residing in Agartha, but only found a single book that has that particular symbol. Surprisingly, it was not a magical rune nor was it a character of an ancient language—it was a holy insignia related to a long-lost human religion. I found a clue among the books left behind by Her Eminence the Monarch. It was an ancient ceremonial book that belonged to humans."

It peeked up the interest of the other two. Draven had a pensive look as Leeora asked, "You mean that it's a religious symbol?"

"Indeed. That symbol belongs to the deity of fire that ancient humans worship. I believe that thousands of years ago, there were various deities humans worship, and the deity of fire is one of them. That insignia represents his fire."

"Those from the divine realm no longer bother about the mortals. Even during the warring times centuries ago, I don't even recall any instances where they meddled in human affairs," Leeora commented.

"That's right. Humans worship gods, but the gods have abandoned them, causing lesser humans to worship them with each new generation. I believe even in the continent nowadays, the remnants of the god-worshipping religions are few and far between. From what I heard from our kind travelling outside Agartha, there is not a single human kingdom practising a national religion anymore."

"But then how can Ember have that symbol? It's not even a tattoo on her skin, but a symbol hidden in her soul. She is clearly of human constitution…." Leeora could not help but mutter. "Regardless, it's safe to say this fire deity is the reason why even despite being a human, Ember can use magic spells, right?"

Cornelia nodded. "That must be the reason." She then looked at Draven. "Your Majesty, to have such a divine insignia with her, her parents or her ancestors must be from the religion of that fire deity. If that deity once descended on the mortal realm, it's even possible that Ember is his descendant. Do you have any idea about her lineage?"

Draven pondered for a while. "Her birth mother died due to simple poisoning so there is no way she's a descendant of a deity. Her birth father is nothing but an ordinary human with a royal status."

"Are any of them devout believers of the deity of fire?"

Draven frowned. "I recall hearing about an oracle giving a prophecy about her birth, but I didn't bother digging up information about it."

"To learn more about Ember's uniqueness, I believe understanding more about the deity of fire is needed," Cornelia explained. "A divine insignia would not appear on anyone without reason as anything related to the gods contain powers.

"Fire carries the power of destruction. If my intuition is right, based on what I saw and His Majesty's dreams,  Ember embodies destructive fire powers that seem to be suppressed for now. We don't know how long it will remain that way. If that power is unleashed, we can't tell how things will turn out and how it will affect her. The power that lacks control is extremely dangerous. We need to be careful and look after Ember well."

"She is just an innocent child," Leeora commented.

"I am not saying she is not, but that's more reason why we need to carefully guide her. Imagine, how scared will Ember be if one day she loses control of her power and harms another person by accident? How guilty will she feel?"