The Devil's Cursed Witch

Draven walked towards the window and stood facing outside, but he could see neither the bright sky nor the peaks of the distant mountains surrounding his kingdom. He didn't know why he was acting like this.

To make sure again, he turned around to look at the human, causing the nervous servants to flinch. He didn't mind them and simply eyed the human on his couch whose clothes were being removed, but he did not even last three seconds before he turned his head to the other side.

Not like he had not seen her without clothes. He felt nothing at that time, but now, he could not look at her when her clothes were being removed.

'This damn bond…'

Draven turned his back on them once more.

With the king no longer looking at them, the servants felt relieved and continued their work with more efficiency, scared that if they were to delay then the King would pay attention to them. The news was quick within the palace and everyone among them already heard of what happened inside the council hall.

This human was marked by their king, and after she woke up, she would be his mate and their queen. If they wanted to have a peaceful life, they had to be careful with how they treated her. Any mistake would anger the King and no one wanted to suffer their king's anger.

Once the servants finished everything, they put Ember carefully back in bed that was now changed to new fresh sheets. Once they covered her with the blanket, everyone gathered their stuff and left after bowing to the King.

Erlos could hear their collective sighs of relief afterwards, as if they had each gone through a harsh battle.

'That's not even a third of what I suffer every day…'

Rolling his eyes at them, Erlos reentered the chamber and bowed to Draven who was still looking outside his window.

"Sire, everything has been done as you had asked. Are there any more instructions?" he asked.

"You can leave," was all he said. Erlos left quietly as he closed the door behind him.

-------

Draven was left alone with Ember once more.

With her body wiped and her clothes changed, he could finally approach her as the other scent was gone from that human's body.

He sat at the edge of the bed and moved the blanket to check on her condition. What she was wearing now was a simple green cotton dress that was a size too large for her, and even the white bandages on her arms had been changed.

Removing the glove from his right hand, he checked the bite mark on her neck which still looked the same. It was supposed to heal a little bit as his bite mark should have been replaced by something else, but there was no change.

He pulled the blanket further down and held her delicate hand. It was no longer bandaged, but he could still see traces of the scars left from back when she tried to grab at the rocks after falling down that cliff. He gulped at the touch of her cold skin under his warm palm.

'I didn't expect it to be this strong.'

Though the second stage of the bond, which was her fight of survival, was not fulfilled yet, he was already starting to feel the effect of the bond they will share if she survived.

Exhaling a little, he decided to ignore the urge and checked her pulse. It was still weak, and the vitality inside her body seemed to be fading with each passing second.

He felt a little restless. He was confident that she would survive this ordeal, and that's why he decided to mark her. But at this rate, she might truly die.

Would he feel guilty to have caused the death of an innocent girl? Or would he feel bad that he would lose the only key he found to his lost past due to his reckless action?

Draven did not leave the chamber as he felt the urge to be around the human who was lying in his bed. Even if he wanted to leave, he could not, and all that once again was blamed on the mark he made and the pull of the bond he initiated.

For the next few hours, he remained seated in his chair inside the chamber. After a while, he heard a knock and Erlos came inside the chamber.

"Sire, it is way past your usual time to eat your midday meal," he informed him. Seeing the King ignore him, Erlos asked, "Shall I bring your food here?"

"No need," he said coldly and continued to sit in his chair with his eyes closed. He didn't feel as if he had an appetite as all of his attention was on that human.

He didn't know how long it would take for this human to wake up. Not even a day had passed since he initiated a bond, but he was already this out of sorts. He didn't even want to imagine what tomorrow would be like.

But was he worried about her? He sure was, but the reason…

'I am just worried as I might not be able to know more about my lost memories. That's it.' He convinced himself and continued sitting in his chair as his gaze moved to her once in a while.

There was nothing he could do to help her. Even his powers wouldn't help her, and everything truly depended on herself. He could only wait for the result.

-------

Morpheus was sitting at the tallest tree at the peak of the mountain northeast of the palace after his last argument with Draven.

It was his favourite hangout spot, the highest yet more comfortable place for a Divine Eagle to simply laze while overlooking the peaceful land of this magical kingdom. In front of him lay the Forest of the Elves.

At this moment, Morpheus was in his human form, sitting leisurely on the thick branch with his back resting against the tree trunk, one leg folded up in a knee while the other one was stretched along the branch he was sitting on.

He looked at the cliff that bordered the territory of the Wood Elves and the Valley Elves. It was where that human female had jumped from that day, and he could not help but to save her after witnessing her reckless behaviour.

"I wonder why I saved her. To use her for my plan or did I just feel bad for her?"

It was an instinctive act where his body reacted before his brain could think of anything, and he ended up saving that human he didn't even really care about.

He thought for a while. "Of course, to use for my plan. I have no sympathy for humans even if they die and their bodies are left to rot."

He felt somewhat comforted with his conclusion, but what he didn't understand was that he was making excuses from having any sympathy or guilt towards her.

Just as he closed his eyes, trying to discard any such thoughts that would make him think about her, he once again failed.

'What if she dies? That innocent female… She is so tiny and frail, weak to the point she will fall on the ground with the slightest push. Can she bear a dragon's marking?'

He opened his eyes in shock. "Why am I thinking about her?" He frowned at himself but doing so only flooded his mind with thoughts of that human female.

"Why was I so good to her? Why did I even go to the extent to console her that I will take her with me? Would have I done it for real if she was ordered to live among humans? What was I thinking when I said it? I never planned such a thing. Why did it come out of my mouth so naturally, as if I really wanted to take her with me? No, I don't have any such plans with her. I was merely provoking that coward."

He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and closed his eyes again.

"But I don't want her to die either." His ashy grey eyes once again looked in the direction of the palace. "That Dragon only knows how to hurt people but doesn't know how to care. He sure doesn't know that his care and warmth can help her ease through that survival phase. This is common sense among those beasts with divine bloodlines, but I bet he's as clueless as usual. I doubt he will even go close to her."

He sighed helplessly. "What should I do? If I try to tell him, and forget about believing me, he will choke me even before I could say a word. That brainless and heartless Dragon. It's not wrong that I pity that human for falling into his hands. Should I risk intruding—"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came into his mind. He was sure he wouldn't be able to go anywhere near the palace for now as Draven was too sensitive to any provocation with his potential mate being in a vulnerable state. Even if Morpheus had good intentions at heart, Draven wouldn't be reasonable enough to let him come close. He had to use another way.

"I need to do it for that human's sake. That way I might feel less guilty for pushing that devil and putting her in this situation."

With the thought of saving that human, Morpheus flew away from that tree with a plan in his mind.