The Devil's Cursed Witch

"But he seems busy working all the time--"

"Even better. If he is working in his study, you can ask if you can help him out. He will definitely reject it because he is one stubborn creature but you have to remember to not give up. Say something like, you don't want to be an idle freeloader or you want to learn useful things or anything along those lines. If you are adamant, trust me, he won't be able to resist you and in the end he will give up."

"I will try," she said. "Do you have more ideas?"

"Observe him, little female. I do not know how, but as long as you stay by his side long enough, you will find other ways to show him you care for him as his mate."

"Makes sense..."

Morpheus sighed as he stared at her anxious look. She looked really worried, so he decided to give her more ideas. "For example, if he is strolling in the garden, you can offer to accompany him."

"Won't that be a bother? What if he wants to be alone?"

"Don't let him be alone, that's the point. He's been alone for a long time, and that has to change," Morpheus replied. "You are his mate. You can do anything. You can go to his chamber and help him with various things, like helping him select clothes for the day. Female mates love to do that for their male counterparts. If he looks like he needs a break, you can even ask him to accompany you and go travel around the territories of the kingdom."

Ember liked the last idea especially well, but she could not imagine herself doing all these things with the King. Excluding the fact that being close to him felt nerve-wracking, she was someone who enjoyed quiet time by herself. She felt it was wrong to be overly attached to someone that way and disrupt the King's daily life. She didn't want to be an inconvenience.

"Won't that be too much?" she questioned hesitantly.

"Trust me, it won't. You are mates. Change is necessary. This is what you need between you two," he replied and then suggested, "Why don't you ask for his help whenever you want something? That would be even better."

She gulped at the mention of 'help'. Wasn't she thinking of someone to help her learn magic? Would the King accept helping her when she stole his book--

'No, I just... borrowed, yes, I borrowed the book without his permission. Once I am done, I will return it so it's not considered stealing.'

Seeing her lowered face, his curiosity was piqued. "What are you thinking?"

She didn't want to tell Morpheus that she had stolen...erm, borrowed a book without the King's permission.

She cleared her throat and wanted to change the topic. "Morpheus, do you have plans today? If you are not busy...can I ask you to teach me?"

Morpheus raised a brow. "Am I not already teaching you how to be a proper mate?"

"No, I don't mean that. I want to learn something else. You can use magic, right? Please teach me magic."

"You want to learn magic?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes. Is that all right? If you are busy then--"

"Hah, you cannot find a man less busy than I am," Morpheus chuckled. "Sure, I can teach you magic, but rather than teach, I think I can only show you magic. You are human, and humans don't have the ability to use magic. I don't think you can learn."

"I can use magic."

It surprised Morpheus. "You can use magic. Are you sure?"

She nodded confidently. "My nanny said I am different from other humans. I learned a shapeshifting spell from her..." She then said immediately, "Don't ask me to show it to you. I look ugly. I turn into a monster so I can scare other people away from me."

"Scaring away people, huh? Seems fun," he commented and decided to trust her words for now. "Fine. Hmm, for now, how about I show you a small magic spell?"

"Yes, thank you, Morpheus!"

"Small thing to do for my little human friend."

Ember smiled in delight as she watched Morpheus lift his right hand. His fingers moved gently and there was some change at the tips of his fingers.

She looked at it with a curious gaze, and the next moment, there was a gust of air formed on top of his fingers, rotating into a palm-sized tornado that stayed in place despite causing the wind around them to pick up. Ember had to hold onto her hair to prevent it from whipping her face.

Morpheus looked at Ember while his fingers continued to be engaged with that tiny tornado.

"As you know, I belong to the shapeshifter race. Magic in general depends on innate ability. For my race, the talent in our bloodline allows us to change forms, but you can say that I have a more superior background since I am a descendant of a divine creature. That allows me to use another magic power. I can control the air around me the way I want. That is my main strength," he told her with pride. "Want to touch it?"

She nodded and then saw that palm-sized tornado moving towards her and stopped an arm's length in front of her.

She moved her hand and touched it with her forefinger, but the next moment, it dissipated into nothingness.

"Ah? I'm sorry--" She looked at Morpheus nervously.

"It's fine," he said. "That was supposed to happen."

She felt relieved and then asked, "Can you create butterflies by magic?"

"Create? You mean, like an illusion? No, I can't. Besides, there is no fun in having fake butterflies when I can bring you real ones," Morpheus said and once again Ember saw him moving his fingers.

"Are you ready, little female?" he asked, and before she could reply, she felt another gust of wind. It did not take long for her to spy a change in the garden below as if a sea of colours was approaching. Many colourful butterflies soon surrounded the balcony. Ember could not help but let out a delighted gasp. She had not seen so many of them gathered in a single place like this.

"This! Morpheus, please, can you please teach me this? Tell me how you do it!" Her eyes looked earnest and Morpheus could not say no to her. He was worried that refusing her would make her upset, but on the contrary, accepting to teach her yet seeing her fail would also make her upset.

"Please, Morpheus," he heard her beg again.

'I worry for her too much. It's not my place to worry. I will just explain it to her the way I teach it to the young ones in my clan,' he decided. 'I am sure she will fail but it's fine to let her try...'

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You all can thank reader DespinaNY for these bonus chapters. <3 <3