The Devil's Cursed Witch

"..."

"...yes?"

"...give me…hand…"

The fragmented voices seemed to belong to a man and a woman.

"Raven...how does it look…?"

And the woman's voice was the same one as the woman in his dreams.

"It's good."

Hearing the man's voice, Draven recognized that it was his own voice.

As if the memory had further surfaced, the voices in his head became crystal clear. He could now properly hear the melodious female voice speaking amidst the laughter.

"I drew this little phoenix on your wrist so everyone will know you belong to me, that you belong to this phoenix. You are mine for eternity."

"Hmm!"

"I am sealing this with my powers. No matter what you do, you won't ever be able to get rid of it."

"Hmm!"

Hearing this exchange, his heart constricted as if in pain and longing.

The voices disappeared and Draven gradually opened his eyes.

The more he stared at that newly appeared tattoo on his wrist, the more he felt confused.

'That green-eyed woman gave  me this tattoo? However, this mark has never shown itself up until now… so why did it suddenly appear?'

Draven continued to stare at the tattoo. 'Is she really Ember? Everything seems to be pointing out that possibility.'

Afterwards, he stepped out of the bath and returned to his chamber after wrapping himself in a bathrobe.

Erlos had already returned by then and he was preparing the clothes for his master. Seeing Draven, he informed him, "Lady Cornelia responded to the summon and replied that she will be arriving this afternoon."

-----

When the Head of the Witches arrived at the palace, Erlos directed her towards the King's study. Draven had been impatiently waiting for her, though this could not be seen in his expressionless face, as she was the only one who could answer his questions.

As usual, she greeted him formally.

"Cornelia Grimm of Honeyharbor Coven pays respects to His Majesty King Draven Aramis."

Draven gestured for her to have a seat. Even without him saying anything, Cornelia was aware as to why the King had asked for her. As the full moon had passed, she was sure he and his mate had completed their bond. It was  now time for them to see if their theory about Ember was right.

"I have called you to check how the completion of the bond affected the seal on Ember's powers."

"I have expected as much. I will look into it, Your Majesty," Cornelia said.

"There is something else that I have discovered." Draven narrated to her about those new scenes that appeared in his mind.

"They must be parts of the memories that I had lost." As he explained further, he said, "I have a strong suspicion that the woman in my dreams is Ember from her previous life."

Cornelia was taken aback by this discovery. Though it sounded absurd, as someone who specialized in the study of the soul, she knew there was a high possibility of it.

Draven then put forward his hand. "I discovered this on my wrist this morning. In my memory, the woman claimed to have drawn this phoenix and that she had injected her powers to keep it everlasting. I guess it's related to the completion of the bond, further supporting my suspicion that Ember is the same woman."

"Listening to your words, that can be possible, Your Majesty," Cornelia replied. "There are no coincidences in this world and everything happens for a reason. We have noticed that since her arrival, you have started to get more clues about your lost memories, as if her presence had triggered something in you. I believe it is only a matter of time before you recover your lost memories and you will find what exactly happened to your past."

After talking for a while, Draven and Cornelia went to see Ember in her chamber.

"Apologies, Your Majesty, but Miss is still asleep. If she's meeting a guest, shall I wake her up?"

"No need. Let her rest and recover."

Draven had neglected to consider the stamina of a human body, and didn't realize that Ember would remain asleep even up till the afternoon.

'She might only wake up in the evening at the earliest,' he thought, that was why after some consideration, he ordered Clio and Reya to have Ember briefly cleaned and made to wear a new set of clean clothes. Cornelia was a leader of a race, and it would be rude to summon her suddenly despite her busy schedule, only to send her away because Ember was still asleep. He was also reluctant to wake up Ember after having gone through her first night of the full moon.

Only after the servants left the chamber did Draven lead Cornelia inside.

The red-haired witch sat at the edge of the bed and pulled out Ember's hand from under the blanket. She held her hand in both of her palms and closed her eyes. A runic circle appeared in the air as Cornelia tried to look through her energy core.

Unlike before, the witch found it with ease this time. She tried to see through more, but just like before there was something that was blocking her.

'The seal remains.'

Cornelia opened her eyes and put down Ember's hand. She looked at Draven who was calmly standing at the side, silently waiting for Cornelia to do her work.

"Your Majesty, that seal is weaker than before but it's still there. Though it has lost its strength, its sealing power remains intact."

Disappointment took over his mind as he didn't know what to do now. What other way could there be to break that seal? Would his mate have to go through that pain again and again whenever the one who put that seal on her tries to search for her?

"Your Majesty, though it's still there, it's very weak. It might be possible for that seal to be broken if Ember learns to take control of her power and break it from the inside. Given the strength and purity of her element, the possibility of her breaking it on her own is high."

Draven simply nodded as he looked at Ember with a silent gaze.

Cornelia stood up from the bed. "I shall excuse myself then, Your Majesty. I apologize, but I won't be able to wait until Miss Ember wakes up, but please call me again if a need arises."

Draven nodded and Cornelia left after bowing to the King.

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