The Devil's Cursed Witch

Draven had many matters to attend to and thus could not stay with Ember for long. His sharp senses also heard the movement outside the door and realized Ember's servants must be waiting to attend to her.

The moment Draven opened the door, the two elves immediately lowered their heads upon seeing the King wearing nothing but pants. It was because the previous night, he had ruined his white shirt and that was why he had nothing to cover his upper body.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"Take care of her, and when she awakes, let me know," was all he said before disappearing from the chamber.

After making sure that the coast was clear, the two elves entered the chamber and saw their master still asleep, wrapped in a warm blanket.

"It's almost noon yet Miss is still sleeping."

Clio had a flushed face as she scanned the mess on the floor. "It is as expected. Is it not a given that females sleep for recovery after they complete the bond? We just need to make sure Miss will have a warm meal ready when she wakes up  in a few hours."

Her cousin let out a cough. "But, uhm, do you think Miss is alright? I also heard males are quite aggressive on the night of the full moon."

"Since Miss had survived the marking, this should be alright for her. We shouldn't worry."

In order to not disturb their master, the two servants started to tidy up the room without letting out a sound, starting by picking up the clothes on the floor.

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Draven returned to his chamber and found Erlos already waiting for him inside.

"Send a message to summon Cornelia in the palace," Draven instructed.

"Yes, Sire. I will do it right away," the young elf replied, and just as he was about to turn to the door, he did a double take as his gaze passed across Draven's chest and shoulder. However, tactful as always, he averted his gaze immediately and said as he closed the door, "Oh, Sire, I have prepared the bath for you so..."

On his way to the side chamber, Draven passed the mirror and stopped in front of it. Of course, he didn't miss Erlos' behavior and had a feeling as to why Erlos had to hurry away.

On the skin of his shoulder and chest were a number of scratches left by nail marks, and even his arms had few of them. Unknown to him, a playful smirk appeared on his thin lips.

'That little mouse.'

Draven strode towards the side chamber carrying the same playful smirk. Even after he took off his pants and he stepped inside the pool of hot water, even after he spread his arms to  lean against the side of the pool, the smirk never disappeared. His mind kept remembering the moments he had with his mate over  and over again.

'I need to stop thinking about it or I will end up going back to her right away.'

He forced himself to regain his composure, but the corners of his lips kept on curling upwards. That beautiful body writhing under him, her lovely voice calling out his name, the feeling when--

'She is not in a situation to take me again.'

To calm himself and get rid of those wicked thoughts, he submerged himself under the water and lay at the bottom of the pool.

At first, he thought he managed to tame the memories of the previous night, yet something else happened. Strange images started to flash inside his mind.

A beautiful ancient structure made of white stone, surrounded by a sea of clouds, as if it was a palace floating in the heavens. A woman in a long elegant dress made of simple white fabric, her long mahogany hair falling in waves behind her, was walking ahead, and Draven seemed to be following right behind her.

When she turned around, the woman with emerald green eyes offered him the loveliest of smiles.

'Raven, you are here?'

It was a beautiful smile, a genuinely happy smile, the kind one knew its owner was giving it to someone important to her. Yet like a broken record, the image faded, replaced by another, but the images were all so blurry they did not make sense. It was as if time went in fast forward, and by the time Draven regained his senses, he was no longer in a sea of clouds but in a sea of flames.

The same woman was looking at him with tears in her eyes.

'I am scared, Raven... I am scared...Don't ever leave me...'

The ancient palace was engulfed with large flames, and Draven could feel the heat of the fire despite standing a distance away, while the woman stayed at the same place, wrapped in flames, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

Draven could clearly feel her raw emotions, and it caused his chest to hurt, as if he was suffocating from their weight. The moment those images disappeared, Draven came out of the water with a loud gasp leaving his mouth.

'What was that?' He breathed heavily again and again, trying to make sense of the scenes he had seen, and he touched his chest where he could feel the loud beating of his heart.

His hand ran down his hair to get rid of the water and then wiped his face, but something caused him to freeze. He noticed something new, something he had never seen on his body before, and he could not help but relate it to the images he saw a while ago.

He looked at the inner side of his right wrist, and at first glance he thought it was a burn mark, but upon closer inspection, it was a tiny tattoo drawn in red ink.

It was a tattoo of a red phoenix.

As if he felt an unknown connection to that tattoo, he gently ran his thumb over it, causing a faint sound of voices echoing in his mind. He shut his eyes to focus on the words.

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Bonus chapter dedicated to reader "Peaches". Thank you so much for the spacecraft and the golden tickets. <3<3