The Devil's Cursed Witch

Ember looked at Ray through the corner of her eyes. "What's gotten into you today? You always run away from me, if not flatout ignore me. Why are you sitting on my shoulder now? Hmm? Hmm?"

The bird chirped a few times and before speaking adorably, "Servants bring food…No tree nearby, master."

Ember understood the second line but not the first one. She gently poked the bird with a finger. "You mean, you are treating my shoulder as a tree branch? You selfish little bird. And what food? Did I not give you enough before I left my chamber?"

"Master eats a lot…Pet eats too…"

Ember felt shocked. "You mean I eat a lot? Have you been checking on how much I eat? You just wait…I will—"

The bird dodged her poking finger before circling over her head.

"Come back here, you naughty little bird!"

"Master eats a lot!"

"You—"

After flying some more, Ember watched the bird land on Clio's shoulder, who was bringing snacks and tea for Ember along with Reya. Ember saw the delicious snacks on the tray. 'So that's why this bird is here! It came to eat! How dare it say I eat a lot?'

"Miss Ember!" Reya hurried to her side. "How are you feeling? I heard from the other servants you fainted?"

"What? I did not faint. I just got exhausted, that's all."

Reya was able to let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. I will smack those girls who exaggerated their stories. Hmph! You didn't know, Miss, but we were so worried that we brought more snacks than usual to help you recover."

"I made good progress on my lesson today, so it's good you brought more snacks," Ember replied but her gaze was still fixed at the bird who didn't pay her any attention. Its beady eyes were staring at the food tray.

The elf continued, "After practicing magic, you must be feeling really hungry."

Rather than staying in the training grounds, Ember led them towards the nearest garden gazebo. Reya and Clio served tea and snacks for Ember. The little bird also hopped down the table, seemingly also ready to eat.

It chirped and did a silly dance. "Food!"

"No, these snacks are for the Miss. You can't eat these, Ray." Clio gave her grains from her pocket, something  that was meant for  birds to eat. The bird let out an angry chirp out of protest.

Ignoring her pet's tantrum, Ember sipped on the tea and realized it tasted different from the usual fruit teas she liked.

"Is it a different tea?" she asked. They put honey in it to make it sweet, but she could still make out the herbal taste.

Reya replied with a smile. "Yes, Miss. This tea is good for you as you need to prepare your body for that night."

Ember stopped drinking. "That night? What night?"

Reya and Clio both blushed a little. Being the bolder of the two, Reya answered, "You know, that special night."

"What special night? What are you talking about?"

"The night of the full moon, Miss. You know that it is a night that is special for those who have mates, right?"

Ember simply stared at them with a puzzled look. "Full moon? Isn't it normal to have a full moon once a month? I never heard anything special about it, other than they say the moon is more beautiful during that night."

Reya let out a loud gasp. "Are you serious, Miss? There's only five days till the full moon!"

"Oh, it seems that Miss is not aware of it," Clio said as she looked at the human with concern. "For humans, the full moon is nothing more than a pretty spectacle, but for supernaturals, it is very important. More so for you as you are the mate of His Majesty, a divine beast. It will be special for you as well, Miss."

"Why?" Ember asked curiously as she continued to sip on this new tea. "Is something going to happen?"

Clio was torn between laughing and crying at those words. "Miss, the night of the full moon is when the magic of the world is at its strongest. That means that is also the night when the bond between mates is at its strongest."

Seeing her master's clueless face, Reya decided to speak up with a pink tinge on her cheeks, "That means on that night five days from now, Miss will find His Majesty irresistible, and vice-versa! Aahh! Our Miss will finally be His Majesty's true mate. Miss, you probably don't know,, but you are so fortunate to be able to have your first experience on the night of a full moon. It is considered as every female's dream to have their bond consummated on the night of a full moon and it is so romantic—"

"Wait! Wait, stop!" Ember almost spat out her tea in shock. She turned into Ray who could only nitpick the important words from Reya's statement. "Consummate the bond? Night of the full moon? In five days?"

"Oh! Yes, Miss! That's right! You are really so fortunate," Reya answered happily as if she was telling her master the best news she'd received.

Unfortunately, her poor master was badly shaken with this newfound knowledge. Draven's words seemed to echo in her mind. She had to complete the task given to her by her mate which now looked like the most difficult task of her life.

'The night of the full moon?' Ember exclaimed in her mind. 'His Majesty said we cannot consummate the bond till I learn to resist his scent. And unless I think about the questions he asked, then he won't allow us to continue where we left off. But five days? How am I going to do it in five days? His Majesty didn't say we have only five days left. What am I going to do now? What if I fail my task and he won't agree to consummate the bond? If we don't consummate soon, isn't he going to suffer more? I cannot let it happen. I need to hurry and do as he said. Only five days left…This time I need to make sure to consummate the bond.'