The Devil's Cursed Witch

"Miss, are you alright?" Helia asked, feeling worried to see her pupil gasping for air as if she took on manual labor. "Did something go wrong? Did you see your core?"

Ember shook her head in embarrassment. She didn't dare look her teacher in the eyes.

"Then what happened? Something must have gone wrong for you to react like this."

"I-I...I just pushed myself too hard. I didn't want to disappoint you..."

"Do not worry about disappointing me, Miss," Helia assured, not knowing what exactly had happened to her pupil. All she saw was Ember's entire face turning red and wondered if something had gone wrong with her power. "It is fine to take an easy pace. We are not in a hurry, and what we want is for you to understand your own power. Please try not to be self-conscious. You need to be calm. Hmm, should we take a break first?"

"I...yes, I am sorry...I need some time..." Ember muttered weakly and walked away from the middle of the training grounds.

Helia didn't stop her though she did feel surprised by Ember's reaction.

Rather than sitting on the chairs outside the training grounds where the servants were waiting, Ember hurried away to be alone somewhere else. She was scared, very scared, and she felt like it was impossible for her to continue her lessons when all she's  thinking about was what happened yesterday.

Before she realized it, she had walked quite a distance and had circled the gardens surrounding the palace. She had come to the main garden where there were various plants and trees growing haphazardly like they would in nature.

Ember found herself walking across the wooden bridge over the stream filled with water lilies, which once again reminded her of her encounter with the King on this bridge.

She reached the gazebo on the other end and that place also reminded her of the same thing. That time, the King picked her up and sat her inside, and for the first time ever, she felt something different.

She turned around, not willing to look at the place inside the gazebo. It was as if she could imagine her form where she was supposed to be sitting that time, and the King was so close to her--

'W-Why do all these places only remind me of embarrassing moments?! Why do I only think of him? I hate this! I don't want to think about him!'

She closed her eyes for a moment.

'What should I do?'

She breathed deeply to calm herself and left the gazebo, wanting to go somewhere else, somewhere where she had no such memories related to Draven. She continued to wander inside that huge garden which seemed to have no boundary.

-----

Meanwhile, Draven arrived at the training grounds to check on his little mate, but all he found was the Fire Fae walking towards where the servants were waiting at the sides.  He found the situation confusing since he could see the retreating figure of his mate going the other way. He went to Helia.

"What happened?" he asked, as his gaze continued to follow the young human who was running away.

Helia looked at the King and bowed to him in greeting.

"Your Majesty, shouldn't I be the one asking you what happened to my pupil?"

Her stern expression had a hint of disapproval. However, Helia was a competent person. Though she felt conflicted over the way Ember reacted, she was only here as a teacher and didn't want to meddle over her student's personal affairs.

"I thought at first it was because she was stressed that she could not reach her core but...I think it's something else," Helia replied. "Something is troubling her and is not allowing her to focus on her lessons."

Draven's response confirmed her suspicion.

"We should cancel today's lesson."

"I feel the same," Helia agreed. "Please let me know if I should return tomorrow or come back in a few more days. I think she needs some time alone. I shall excuse myself then, Your Majesty."

The King agreed to it and Helia left. Draven looked at where his mate ran away and decided to go after her.

'Seems like it's because of yesterday's incident.' He thought for a bit. 'I should talk to her. I cannot let her waste time. We don't have much left in hand.'

Draven didn't have a hard time following her tracks because of the delicious scent she's emitting, and all he needed was to follow his instincts. He soon found her standing at the small slope at the farthest part of the garden. From where she's standing, she could probably see the river outside the outer wall of the palace that acts as a boundary between his residence and the vast land outside the palace that was part of the territory of the elves.

"Are you alright?"

Ember's body froze upon hearing the firm and manly voice coming from her behind.

She gulped as she grabbed at the skirt of her dress. She wished to disappear from there. No, she wished that she could become invisible. She wanted to hide and run away and--

'Why is he here?' she thought but then turned to look at him as it was rude to not respond to the King.

She didn't look at his face and only bent her body in a small bow. Her gaze was on his black boots stepping on the green grass, that's why she could see that he was standing several feet away from her.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

He was surprised at her strangely civil tone. "What happened? Is anything troubling you?"

Though he was concerned, his voice was as cold as usual, without a tinge of emotion in it.

Ember shook her head. "It's nothing."

How could she blame the King for her own thoughts?

'I don't want to get punished.'

Draven took a step towards her, but out of instinct, Ember took a step back to maintain their distance from each other.

'His scent, I cannot fall for it again,' Ember told herself. 'I don't want to smell his scent or again I will lose my mind. I can never allow myself to lose my mind...'

Draven frowned. He disliked the way she took a step back in response to his approach. He disliked it more that she seemed scared.

'Is she scared of me again?' He wanted to scoff. 'Wasn't she so bold to come to me and say she wanted to consummate the bond? What happened now? Has she changed her mind all of a sudden?'

Draven didn't expect his actions to have the opposite effect on her. Instead of her trying to understand the truth behind what consummation entailed, she ended up feeling confused and overwhelmed, unable to understand his purpose and unable to voice out her concern, which led to this strange situation full of misunderstandings.