The Devil's Cursed Witch

"S-Sire..I-It's good that it's not stolen, and in fact, they are safe with you." He laughed while nervously rubbing his hands together. "How fortunate these elixirs are to be taken by your honorable self!"

Draven simply looked at him, not getting affected by his flattery.

Erlos gulped and said, "Sire, I can explain. The act of theft is not acceptable. It's a despicable crime, right? Not only that, I was just enraged seeing how pitiful that human girl looked. I thought the attacker had assaulted her after seeing the condition of her torn dress that barely had anything left to cover her body—"

"Erlos!"

The displeased voice of their king had a tinge of anger, causing both elves to feel their bodies feel suffocation.

Erlos immediately kneeled on the floor, thinking he had pissed the King for real by calling him a thief and saying how he would punish the culprit.

"I was wrong! Please punish me, Sire!" he said with his head lowered. "I deserve to be punished but just lightly, lightly…Sire…"

Leeora decided to plead for his case. "I will apologize in his stead. Erlos is still too young, Sire. Please forgive him. Even I thought it was an attack on her and got it wrong. I am also the reason for this misunderstanding."

Draven didn't react to what Leeora said as his mind was somewhere else.

"From now on, Erlos is banned from that human's home," the King ordered.

'Huh?' was the reaction from the elves. They didn't get the reason for this sudden declaration. Not like Erlos was the one to hurt the human, and neither was he a threat to her.

Who could know Erlos better than Draven himself?

Yet, Erlos knew this was his chance to avoid punishment and so he simply embraced it.

"As per your orders. Thank you for your generosity, Sire!"

Draven stared down at the silver-haired elf kneeling in front of him. His red eyes showed a hint of anger hidden underneath his cold and emotionless gaze. Still, neither Leeora nor Erlos could guess the real reason why the King was angry.

Leeora let out a sigh, relieved that the King didn't give a tough punishment to Erlos. Still, she remained worried as Draven's temperament was impossible to understand.

"Sire, he will follow your punishment. Erlos will never enter Ember's house from now on," Leeora assured to calm the scary king in front of her.

"Yes, Sire, I will never even look at her house," Erlos vowed despite not knowing why his master had given him such a punishment. Well, to him, it was not even a punishment. He had nothing to do with that human girl.

Leeora decided it was time to divert the King's attention from Erlos. "May I know why Sire brought these elixirs here. If I had given her this potion from the witch clan, she would not have been in a worse situation."

"That is what I wanted to stop you from doing," Draven replied, tapping the box with a long finger.

Leeora was startled. Did the King just admit that he took the box of elixirs to deliberately deprive the human girl of medicine? If she didn't hear it straight from his mouth, Leeora would have thought it was nonsense.

Though Draven hated humankind, it was a shared belief among the residents of Agartha that human children are innocent of their people's sins. The King was not that cruel to take out his hatred on a weak and helpless human girl.

"Sire…may I inquire why that is so?" she asked hesitantly.

His red eyes stared at her in silence.

Leeora was an intelligent elf, thus she made a guess in her heart. "Are you trying to check something, Sire?"

"I wonder if she will die" Draven replied calmly as if someone's life and death were not a concern to him.

"What if she dies?" Leeora asked.

"Then, that's her destiny," he replied plainly, "I wonder if I had not stitched her wound, would she have died in the night?"

Leeora looked at him in disbelief, but she controlled her thoughts as she still believed in her king though he sounded cruel and emotionless. "May I know what Sire is trying to do?"

"Not worth wasting a precious potion on a useless human," he replied, not leaving any more space for Leeora to ask further. The elf elder simply bowed her head, saying she understood his will. Their eyes then fell on the still-kneeling Erlos.

As if he suddenly remembered something, Draven told Leeora, "If that creature survives, get her a new set of clothes."

"Yes, Sire," Leeora replied despite the strange order, but then she realized something. She recalled Erlos' exact words before his master got mad and made a connection. 'Is the King put in a foul mood because Erlos saw Ember in torn clothes? That can't be it, right?' It was hard to guess what was in his mind.

She heard the King continue speaking, "Take these elixirs with you but remember what I said."

"Yes, Sire," she agreed and asked again, "Till how long can I not give her this potion from the witch clan?"

"When you feel she can survive without its help. If she is dying, don't waste it on her," he instructed.

Shouldn't he say the opposite, that if she is dying then they need to save her? What was the use of giving it to her when she could survive on her own?

'Is he really fine with her dying when we can help her?' Leeora was puzzled. 'If he doesn't care about her, then why did he get angry enough to punish Erlos? What exactly is he planning to do? I do not understand the King's thoughts.'

Deciding her doubts wouldn't be cleared at the moment, Leeora took the box of medicine with her. "I will take my leave then."

Just as she excused herself, Erlos, who was still kneeling, jumped on his feet and stood up as well.

"I will see the Elder off," Erlos informed his master. He was about to leave with Leeora when he heard that cold and firm voice behind him.

"No water and food for you for the day."

"Huh?" Erlos turned to look at his master whose red eyes stared at him with a flat gaze.

Leeora sighed helplessly and thought, 'Our king sure loves to hold grudges.'

Before Erlos could say another word,  his body turned upside down in the air.