The Devil's Cursed Witch

"Y-Your Majesty?!"

"What did you—"

Sounds of flurry could be heard as a few females let out an involuntary gasp. Some of the seated leaders even jumped to their feet in surprise, their chairs scraping along the stone floor. The entire hall was in shock—no, to say they were in shock was an understatement.

The council members and the rest in attendance were all experienced people. They saw the King's mouth on that human's neck and two of his teeth elongated into fangs to pierce her delicate skin, deep enough to cause her to bleed. Even though they could not believe it, they all knew what Draven was doing.

The King of Agartha, the Devil, the infamous Black Dragon that brought terror to the continent…was marking a female.

For beings of magic, to mark someone means to create a sacred bond, an intimate act far surpassing anything else in existence.

That the King would do that to a mere human…

"D-Dear spirits…" one of the most conservative elves seemingly fainted, but no one paid attention to her as all eyes were on Draven and Ember.

Ember felt as if her body was on fire from the inside. Tears streamed down her face but there was something else as well. When her eyes snapped open in shock, her emerald green eyes let out flicker like tongues of flames, as if something inside her had awakened.

On the other hand, Draven could not be bothered by the people's reactions. To be more precise, his act seemed to have triggered a mysterious power and some strange images flashed in his mind.

The fire that could burn anything in its path, living flames that seemed capable of turning the world to ash.

It was the same fire he had witnessed in his dream, the kind of world-ending fire that burned everything including her.

Only a single being had a different reaction among those watching the ridiculous exchange—Cornelia Grimm, the head of the witches. As a witch who had a special affinity in the study of the soul, she was sensitive enough to sense that something was awakened inside the human girl.

"That child…?"

Cornelia's eyes saw a soul mark flashing on the back of Ember's neck, something indistinct that looked similar to a fire. Her intuition was warning her that whatever it was, it was powerful and dangerous.

Ember felt like the entire world was spinning. The burning pain became bearable only after she felt a warm and coarse tongue slide over the curve of her neck, bringing much-needed relief to her body. But as if she had reached her limit, the world darkened and she fell unconscious.

The silence of the council hall was eerily tense.

Draven was shocked at what he had seen- the fire images flashed in his mind when he was marking her, but he didn't show it on his face and calmly licked the blood off his lips as if he had just finished a meal. He leaned back on his throne, eyeing the two red dots on the side of her neck that represented his mark.

Holding her unconscious body carefully in his embrace, Draven raised his head to look at the flabbergasted expressions of his subjects.

They had witnessed their king marking the human girl. What were they going to say? They couldn't even begin to accept what just happened. It was too ridiculous to think it was an illusion.

For the longest time, no one could say a word.

Among them, a certain shapeshifter had his eyes briefly closed. Morpheus, who had guessed the King's intentions and even pushed him in that direction, felt his insides twist uncomfortably. Seeing Ember get marked made him uneasy. He didn't even realize that he was tightly gripping the backrest of the chair where his uncle was sitting until he felt broken fragments on his hands.

Even after Morpheus saw her go unconscious, the uneasy feeling inside him intensified. She won't wake up anytime soon.

'With this, either she wakes up as his weakness or she dies.'

Remembering the short time they spent together, Morpheus felt a twinge of guilt inside, knowing that even Draven could not save her if Ember were to fail this test.

The most senior members of the council were able to somewhat regain their composure after a while. Discomfort could be seen on their faces, and they all turned to the High Elder of the Moon Elves to break the strange atmosphere. Halifax had no choice but to be the bait.

"Y-Your Majesty," he coughed awkwardly, "what is the meaning of this?"

He was the oldest living elf, close to a thousand years old, yet even he was unable to act normally in this situation.

"As you can see, I have marked her," Draven answered.

Though they already knew it, hearing those words from the King flustered them once more. "This human…? Why would Your Majesty…?"

He was their king, an almighty being feared and respected by all. If he wanted to mark a female, he could have chosen a potential partner from any of the powerful female beings in Agartha, or even if not his subjects, there were those supernatural beings living in hermit across the continent.

Why a human?

No, why that particular human?

Even if it's a human, they would still be able to understand if it was a kind princess, a saintess of virtue or at the very least a lady of grace…

Draven eyed the council from his throne as if what he did make perfect sense. "We all agreed to put this human to a test. This is her test. Whether she lives or dies, the result will solve the issues the council raised in this meeting. If she survives, it proves that she's special, as a bond can only be created if the partner is worthy enough of the mark."

The other council members finally found their own voices and spoke up.

"But…Your Majesty, you can mark a female only once in your life. Why did you give up that chance for this human?"

"Your true form is a dragon. How can a mere human survive your mark? I doubt even among the outstanding ladies in our clans, their magic wouldn't guarantee their survival if you marked them."

"Yes, Your Majesty. You can have only one mate and mark only once. If you wanted this human girl to die, we could have used other means."

"As expected, His Majesty still hates humans. To think he can come up with this creative way of killing someone—"

"I think this kind of death is too cruel. It is kinder to simply let a kind human family look after her—"

Death? Draven sure didn't want her to die, but this radical action of his convinced others that he wanted her to be tortured to death.

Marking a mate was sacred and intimate as it was an eternal vow between souls that would last a lifetime. It tested a person's worth if they were destined to match the giver of the mark. No one could survive a marking if the person is not meant to be his mate.

Especially for Draven whose true form was a dragon, the strength of his bloodline was too powerful for even the ordinary supernatural beings. It made sense that everyone in the council hall was sure a frail human would never be able to bear it.