The Devil's Cursed Witch

His heart beat faster with the thought of his mate being nearby. Even before he could deal with it, he heard the sound of wings approaching.

Hoot!

Midnight let out a loud hoot that conveyed the message that Draven had already guessed. The owl landed at the branch of a tree near his master and hooted again, only to get a displeased glare from the red-eyed man.

Not even a minute later, Erlos came to Draven. "Sire, Elder Leeora and Miss Ember returned to the palace."

Draven acted calm and replied with a nonchalant "hmm."

With each passing second, the mild fragrance of jasmines continued to assault his senses.

Erlos didn't notice how the King was struggling to keep his composure. The young elf was filled with curiosity by the sudden return of two women who had left the palace just a while ago.

"Elder Leeora wished to speak with you. Shall I send her here or make them wait in the study?"

"Send Leeora here," Draven instructed.

Erlos left with a bow, and soon, Leeora arrived at the garden by herself. Meanwhile, Erlos led the human girl to the King's study.

Leeora stopped on one side where the King was standing and politely greeted him as usual.

"What is it that brought you back here?" Draven asked with a bland tone.

"Sire, an unexpected issue arose and it seems like Ember can no longer stay in Ronan," she informed him with a heavy sigh.

He turned his face to one side to look at Leeora. "Issue?"

Leeora nodded. "Yes, Sire. The situation is like this..." She narrated what happened when they entered the elf city up until they eventually reached their houses.

Draven listened quietly and turned to face Leeora with a frown. "So you think it is because of her?"

"Yes, Sire. The tree spirits behave like this when there is a threat to their existence, and the thing that they fear the most is fire."

"So..." Draven stopped as he sensed a certain gaze on him. He turned his face towards the direction of the corridor, only to meet gazes with the owner of the most beautiful pair of green eyes.

Caught staring, she immediately averted her gaze and continued to walk with her head lowered, unconsciously moving closer to the silver-haired elf escorting her.

Draven continued to stare at his mate as he spoke, "So you are convinced her elemental constitution is fire."

"Yes, Sire. Or else, there is no other explanation for such a strange incident."

He nodded and looked back at Leeora who continued to speak her thoughts, "That also means she can't stay in Ronan anymore. Of course, we can have her live in the other cities, but there is no reason to go through all the trouble of having her adapt elsewhere when we can keep her here with you, Sire."

Draven agreed as there was no way he would allow his mate to stay somewhere else. He allowed her to stay in Ronan because it was Ember's wish to stay with Leeora. Also, Draven knew she would be safe among the Wood Elves who are known for their friendly and peaceful nature.

"She will live in the palace from now on," Draven confirmed.

Leeora was not surprised as she knew this would exactly be the King's decision.

After Leeora separated from Ember to talk with the King, Erlos escorted Ember towards the King's study. While walking along the corridor, Ember was following Leeora with her eyes up until the elf reached the King who was standing in the garden.

Though he was at a distance with his back facing her, she could easily recognize that tall black-haired man with a strong dignified presence.

'Elder Leeora is right. The more I look at him, the less he seems to be a bad person.'

Before, just the thought of him was enough to scare her, but now, even though she was boldly staring at him, she no longer felt frightened. She still found him intimidating, but there was also growing curiosity in her gaze. Unknown to her, she was openly staring at him without even blinking.

All of a sudden, Draven turned to one side to face Leeora, and his side profile became visible to Ember. She clutched at her chest, thinking that perhaps she had gotten used to his presence, and cheered at the fact that she was no longer scared of him.

'Elder says to give him a chance because she seems to be friends with the King. I think Morpheus also thinks the same. I wonder if the Elder, Morpheus and the King are all friends...'

It made her thoughts wander, and her gaze became distracted.

Suddenly, the King turned his head and she found his red eyes staring straight at her.

'Ahhh!'

She felt like her heart would explode. Ember immediately averted her gaze from him like a thief caught red-handed. She lowered her head and wanted to hide behind Erlos who was walking in front of her. However, she felt embarrassed to tell Erlos that she wanted to hide from the King.

She cried out inwardly, 'Oh no. I hope he doesn't get mad at me. Why was I even looking at him? What if it offends him? I heard from Gaia that commoners are not allowed to look directly at nobles, much less royalty, because it's rude. Commoners should be humble and keep their heads lowered. What if the King punishes me...?'

"Miss Ember, we have arrived in the King's study. You can sit comfortably inside while you wait for the King and the Elder to finish talking," Erlos explained as he opened the door, gesturing for her to enter.

It pulled her out of her thoughts and nodded to what Erlos said. "Uhh, thank you, Mister Erlos..."

"No need to be polite, Miss. You can call me Erlos, just like the Elder."

Ember entered the study, and the elf servant closed the door, leaving her on her own inside. With the absence of the King, she used that chance to take a proper look at the large room.

Similar to the other rooms in the palace, the study was a large stone chamber filled with luxurious furniture and expensive decorations, many of the items were things Ember had never seen before. The materials of a majority of the things inside did not exist in any human kingdoms, since they were mostly enchanted products created from materials only found in Agartha.

There was a massive antique desk with detailed engravings with a large high-back armchair behind it, a bronze chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, a lounge area with seats made of velvet cushion, a fireplace with curious items as decor...

What caught her attention the most was that an entire wall was dedicated to books and scrolls, and there was even an interesting-looking shelf that reminded her of a honeycomb.

'So many books...is this truly a study, not a library?'

As someone who grew up in a cave, this was the first time Ember had seen this many books in her life. Though she had never owned a book before, Gaia had taught her how to read and write.

Gaia used to bring books for Ember once in a while whenever she sneaked out of the mountain to get food for them from the nearby towns. She used to bring story books for her to help pass time, some tales about heroes who saved a kingdom, others about adventures of mercenaries who travelled the continent. Her favourite by far was the collection of fairy tales and folk stories related to magic.

'Are there any books that have stories of magic?' she wondered as her eyes didn't leave the sight of those huge bookshelves.

-----

Meanwhile, Draven had a passing servant call for Yula, and the female aide in charge of domestic affairs of the palace was summoned to the garden where the King and High Elder of the Wood Elves were discussing Ember's stay in the palace.

A mature woman with short wavy blue hair that shone with silvery glint under the sun soon appeared before the two.

"This humble aide greets the King of Agartha and the High Elder."

Yula appeared to be a charming woman in her late twenties or early thirties by human standards. She was shorter than an average elf, her height similar to that of a human adult, and thus she was more than a foot shorter than both Draven and Leeora. However, no one would mistake her for a human because of her pointed ears, her strange hair colour and her pair of dreamy blue eyes.

Opposite to Wind Fae Melion who was almost never in the palace and was roaming the kingdom, Moon Elf Yula was the aide who never left the palace grounds as she's the one in charge of housekeeping, acting as the chief steward of the King. From the assignment of tasks of the palace servants to the kinds of plants grown in the garden and the meals cooked in the kitchen, those things were all under her jurisdiction. It could be said that she's the one running the palace itself.

"Sire has asked for me?" Yula asked politely.

He nodded. "You have to prepare a chamber for the human to stay in."

Before coming here, Yula had already heard about the human girl's return to the palace and she was not surprised to hear what the King said.

"Rest assured, Sire. I will take care of everything," she said in confidence.

"You two can discuss among yourselves," Draven said nonchalantly before disappearing into thin air.

Yula offered a light smile to the older elf. "Elder, I believe that the arrangement will be permanent?"

"Yes, she's no longer a guest, after all," Leeora replied.

"Is there anything specific about Miss Ember you would like to instruct me about?"

Leeora thought for a while. "Nothing much. She is an obedient child, and her needs are simple so you won't find any difficulty serving her. Though she seldom voices out her needs, I am sure you will do your best. I will trust you with her, Yula," Leeora replied.

The short elf nodded. "Rest assured, Elder. She is the King's mate and I will arrange everything for her. She deserves nothing but the best that the kingdom can offer."

After talking for a bit more, Leeora went to the study where Ember was while Yula went to proceed with the King's order.