The Devil's Cursed Witch

Inside the study, Ember was walking across the bookshelves. Though she was curious, she simply stared at them, not knowing if she was even allowed to touch them.

A voice made her jump in surprise.

"Miss Ember, would you like to take a look at the books?"

It was Erlos. It appeared that she didn't hear him enter. She looked at him with eager eyes. "Can I?"

Erlos was quite surprised to see her reacting like this. Till now, he had only seen her quiet and withdrawn, even wary of the people around her. Even when Leeora was around, she seemed so awkward and shy.

'Does she like books?'

For the first time, he got to see her eyes clearly sparkle with excitement.

'She has such beautiful eyes.'

Seeing the elf not answering her question, Ember said, "I understand..."

She was about to walk away when Erlos realized he had forgotten to reply to her. He shook his head and said immediately, "Apologies, Miss Ember. Of course, you can get any book you want from there."

She was the King's mate. Who would dare deny her the things she wants? Wouldn't she hold the right over whatever belongs to the King?

Erlos tilted his head as another realization dawned on him 'Well, as his mate, she now holds the right over the King himself. With him being  a Dragon, doesn't that make her our Dragon tamer?'

"Is that really fine?" Ember asked, which pulled him out of his thoughts. "They look precious."

"Ah, yes. Please get any book you want. If you tell me what you like, I will help you find any book," he suggested.

"Is there any book which has stories of magic?" she asked.

"Stories? Hmm, there are lots of books which have information about ancient magic but they're instructional...Oh! There's one with legends and myths. I will get that one for you," Erlos replied and went to one of the shelves to his left.

He pulled out a blue leather-bound book from the highest shelf and handed it over to Ember.

"Ah!" Her arms sunk and she almost dropped the book to the ground. It wasn't a thick book, but it was terribly heavy due to its leather cover. Erlos held it like it was nothing, but for Ember, she had to put much effort to carry it.

"Ah!" the elf mirrored her. "I'm sorry. I forgot you're human."

Ember gladly passed that book to him. He put it on the table in the lounge area and gestured for her to sit. "Please make yourself comfortable."

Ember happily complied. There was something written on the leather cover of the book but she didn't know what it was. When she flipped the pages, she discovered not a single letter was familiar to her.

Her whole face turned beet red in embarrassment. "Uhm, I-I can't read this. I don't know what language this is."

"It's in human language though?"

"I...I wasn't taught...the language I know is different."

Erlos looked at her and then at the book and back to her again.'I forgot this book was written in ancient times. Perhaps humans no longer use this.'

Just then Leeora entered the study and looked at the awkward atmosphere. "May I know what's going on here?"

"Miss Ember wanted to read a book, but I think the writing system she knows is different from ours," Erlos replied.

Leeora looked at the book in front of them. " Well, most books in Agartha are written in either the ancient human language or racial languages.  Ember, you need to study if you want to read books."

"Please teach me, Elder!"

"Oh, maybe if I have free time? Erlos can have a tutor arranged for you if you want."

Ember felt that was reasonable. "Can you not live here in the palace, Elder?"

"Don't be sad, child." Leeora held her hand in hers. "I am an elder of my clan and I need to be with them. But as I said before, I will visit you often. I will introduce you to Yula who will take care of you. And trust me, she's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet."

'Yula,' Ember repeated in her mind. However, she was still disappointed since she wouldn't be able to live with Leeora.

"Also, you know Erlos. You can talk to him anytime."

She looked at Erlos who immediately spoke up.

"Of course!" He looked at Ember. "Miss Ember, you can always trouble me with anything. I will immediately come to help you."

Ember looked at him. "Thank you."

After a while, the three heard a knock on the door. A beautiful short-haired woman with pointed ears  entered the study and Leeora introduced her to Ember, "This is Yula, the chief steward of the King, the one I told you who will take care of you in my stead."

Yula greeted her. "Miss Ember, I am fortunate to be able to serve the King's mate."

'Mate? It's that word again. The Elder told me that I am his mate but why does everyone insist on this word? Does it hold a special meaning?'

She heard Leeora once again, "You can ask Yula if you need help with anything. She will fulfil all your needs."

Ember looked at the blue-haired elf lady. "I will be in your care then, Miss Yula."

"Please, just call me Yula."

Ember wondered if that's all right, but then she remembered Erlos also said the same thing.

Yula continued, "Miss Ember, for now, your stay is arranged to be in one of the guest rooms. It may take about an hour for your chamber to be ready as the servants are still working on it."

"There's no hurry. Please take your time."

Ember was feeling flustered because of how courteous and considerate Yula was treating her. Regardless, she didn't think much about which room she would stay in. She was fine with anything as she was not used to luxury. A small room in any corner of the palace would be more than enough for her.

"Ember, I've stayed for too long. I have to leave and take care of the matters related to the tree spirits," Leeora informed as she stood up. "I will leave you in Yula's care."

Ember nodded and Leeora left after assuring that she would come to visit her soon.

"Miss Ember, I will show you your temporary room so you can rest there," Yula offered.

Ember had just woken up from her two-day long sleep that morning and Yula knew she must still be feeling weak and would want to rest. "I will also arrange a nice meal for you. Do you have any particular food you want to eat?"

"I'm fine with anything. Thank you."

Though she said that, Ember realized she was really hungry despite having a lot of food in the morning.

Food, a small space to live and the freedom to be able to go anywhere are what she wished for the most at this moment and nothing else. Gaia told her to keep living, and that was the only goal she had in life.

----

With Yula escorting Ember out, only Erlos remained inside the King's study. After he randomly put the leather-bound book back on the shelf, he left to look for his master. He first went to the King's bedchamber but the King was not there.

'Where did he go? Don't tell me he left the palace again?'

The young elf came out in the garden and searched for the one creature who was most aware of the King's whereabouts. Erlos pulled out a tiny metal whistle and blew in it, but it didn't make any sound.

A moment later, a snowy white owl came flying towards where he was standing and landed on the tree beside him.

"Where is Sire?"

The owl hooted in reply.

"In his study?" Erlos exclaimed. "But I was there just a while ago!" Frowning, he went back to the study, and before entering, he knocked as usual.

He saw Draven was standing by his desk and was holding the ancient book that Erlos had pulled out for Ember.

'Eh? Didn't I return that on the shelf? Did I mistakenly put it on his desk?'

Erlos explained, "Sire, regarding that book, Miss Ember wanted to read a story book but we found out that she can't understand the ancient language used in the book."

Draven closed the book and took a deep breath. Her scent still lingered in his study and the fragrance of jasmines was strongly concentrated on this particular book. He wished it would disappear soon, as he felt himself getting affected once more.

He sat in his chair and looked at Erlos. "Go out of the kingdom and bring back books that humans read. Have Garros give you human currency."

"Huh?" was all Erlos could say in his disbelief. Was he getting punished in exchange for taking care of his master's mate?

"S-Sire...last time..."

"You failed to bring complete information about her identity so take it as your punishment," Draven interrupted him.  "Make sure to bring all the story books available."

"All?! Sire, that is impossible--"

Swoosh!

Erlos was nowhere to be seen.