The Devil's Cursed Witch

Draven went to his study after seeing Morpheus and Ember together. He should have started heading towards the meeting hall, but he felt like he needed to be by himself. He didn't know why he was angry, but he felt like destroying everything around him.

The way that creature hid herself behind Morpheus after seeing him angered him. He was sure she looked at him as if he was a monster and this angered him even more. He thought that having alone time would be enough to calm himself, but he couldn't vent out his anger since he could still hear their voices from beyond the door.

At a particular moment of their conversation, his anger started to disappear. Erlos, who was quietly standing at one side, sensed this change in his temperament and finally felt relieved.

After a while, they heard a knock on the door and a servant relayed a message to Erlos. The young elf then turned to Draven. "Sire, shall we leave for the council meeting? All the council members have arrived in the meeting hall and are simply waiting for your arrival."

Draven stood up to leave for the council meeting. When he stepped into the corridor, the place was empty. Those three were gone.

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The King reached the council hall where he found the fourteen council members in complete attendance, seated with their aides and attendants standing behind them. For Chief Agraleus, the head of the shapeshifters, it was his nephew Morpheus standing in the stead of his uncle's aide.

Draven walked straight towards the throne as the rest of the council rose from their seats to bow to their heads at his arrival, including Morpheus who didn't forget to officially show his respect to the King of Agartha though outside he never maintained that respect for him.

On this day, Erlos took particular care of his master's appearance. Draven was solemnly dressed in a formal long coat with an imposing black dragon embroidered on the expensive red fabric, with a heavy black-gold cape flourishing behind him with each of his long strides. Together with his cold expression, it strongly emphasized the dignity of the King.

Only his footsteps could be heard echoing in the silent hall, and when Draven sat down on his throne to look down on the council, it was as if only then was everyone allowed to breathe.

Everyone returned to their respective seats, and only their aides and attendants were left standing.

Halifax, the High Elder of the Moon Elf Clan, stood up to start the council meeting. The faces of each council member were grave, while the ones standing behind them were even nervous and agitated. This wasn't an ordinary meeting, as there was only a single item on the agenda, but this particular meeting was of such importance that the entire kingdom was waiting for its conclusion.

Halifax briefly looked at everyone's expressions and then turned towards the King. "Your Majesty, like what we have discussed in the previous council meeting, we are here to hear what his Majesty has decided about the issue of the stay of that human girl you brought to the kingdom."

Draven simply looked at him calmly, allowing him to continue speaking his part.

"Your Majesty, on the behalf of all the other council members who represent their people's wishes, I would like to propose that we send that human girl to stay among her kind, or if not, that we send her back to where she came from."

Halifax looked at the other council members who agreed with what he said.

The Queen of the Fae,  who had transformed to her human form, spoke, "Your Majesty, you are already aware that the main reason we are not allowing her to remain was for the peace of the kingdom."

She continued to talk while looking at him with a calm gaze, "Your Majesty, you must have already received the information that the humans are already creating trouble at the border they are sharing with the fae clan and are trying to enter other territories. They claim that their innocent children should also be allowed to enter our territories since there should be no difference between that human girl and their children. We can not allow them to destroy this peace we have been maintaining for centuries now just because we allow one human to stay with us out of pity."

Halifax nodded. "I can see that happening. If we allow the human children to cross our boundaries, give them a few years, they would dominate our cities."

The other council members chimed in.

"Humans grow fast. In less than a decade, those children will become adults."

"A pair of humans are capable of producing a single offspring in one or two years, while for our kind, our entire city will rejoice if even one offspring is produced in a decade."

"Humans are weak, but they are quick to increase their population. This is the reason why they can dominate the entire continent despite being weak compared to us."

Halifax commented, "We Elves can produce only one offspring per family, as our women have pregnancies lasting for two years, and there is no assurance that the same female can conceive once more after her first child. We can say the same for the other supernatural beings."

The head of the shapeshifters, Chief Agraleus, stood up. "I would like to bring Your Majesty's attention to the same thing. Those refugees we allowed to take shelter when the kingdom several centuries ago, weren't they initially less than twenty in number? Even if there's only one human accidentally entering Agartha after that every few years, the humans now have many villages on the outskirts. Their numbers are growing too fast, and it won't be long before they take over this kingdom. It has already started from how they are revolting these days.  Bringing that human female even boosted their morale."

Halifax added, "Your Majesty, it would be better if we send that human back among her kind. It will send the message to the humans  that we still don't won't allow any humans within our territories, that we have kept her here only out of kindness as she was injured."

Draven listened without saying anything. Morpheus also did not voice out his own opinion, merely curious to know his decision.

Suddenly Leeora opened her mouth. "I would like to say something."

Others looked at her and she continued, "I am not opposing the decision of sending that human girl away as I understand the concern the council members have. I have been looking after that human girl for almost two weeks now and understand she has no knowledge of the outside world. She is but a naive child. If we send her among strangers, it would be difficult for her to adjust. Moreover, as a woman, I worry for her safety."

One of the elves replied, "We understand your concern, Elder Leeora, but we can send her under the care of a kind human family where they will take care of her. I am sure other humans will look after her as she belongs to their kind."

Leeora wanted to say more but she was sure they would find a way to answer her worries.

"I agree with Elder Leeora," Cornelia, the leader of the witches, intervened. "We cannot easily trust anyone with her safety. If something bad happens to her after we send her to human villages, we will be responsible for it. His Majesty was the one to bring her here so we should consider her safety."

Halifax chuckled as he said, "His Majesty brought her here and saved her life. That is more than enough. There is no need to worry about a human's safety when we ourselves are worrying about our safety from the increasing number of humans."

Agraleus sided with Halifax. "Moreover, we don't know who that human is.  From what I understand, she seemed to be abandoned and we don't even know of her origin. Who knows if someone had just planned to plant her here to harm us just like in the past? Perhaps she's someone's slave?"

"Must be a slave as I did hear she is ugly and wild," the Queen of the Fae said.

"I heard that as well. If she carries the blood of a decent human family, she would have looked and behaved a little better," Halifax commented.

Elves considered themselves to be the most beautiful race, and they took great pride in their beauty. In their eyes, humans were always ugly, and their appearance reflected their personality.

"Where is that human female? Shouldn't she attend this council meeting when it's about her?" the Queen of the Fae asked.

Other than Leeora, Cornelia and Morpheus, the rest were curious about where that human was as they knew she was summoned for today's council meeting.

Draven eyed Erlos who was standing below the throne. The elf acknowledged the silent order and silently left the hall.

When the door of the council hall opened again, Erlos was escorting a frail-looking human girl who was following behind him with her head lowered.

Everyone in the hall could hear Erlos whispering, "Don't be afraid, just follow me."

Ember did what she was told and entered the council hall with her heart beating fast. The curious gazes thrown her way made her more than anxious, and she promised herself that she would only keep her eyes pinned on the floor.

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Top 5 golden Tickets Rank = Mass Release.