The Devil's Cursed Witch

While the pair of uncle and nephew were having a friendly conversation amongst themselves, Ember and Erlos finally reached the horse shed. Even after they got on their horses, Ember didn't spare a glance to Morpheus which made him smile wider, but he suppressed his amusement to not provoke her temper.

Cornelia arrived not long after and climbed her horse. Afterwards, their group departed in the same arrangement as they came in, and they headed for the most bustling part of the city, the marketplace.

Ember's green eyes could not help but marvel.

'It's like what I've read in story books!'

In her entire life, Ember had only seen the marketplaces of two cities: the city of the Wood Elves, Ronan, and the city of the White Tigers, Nimer. Both of them were crowded places with many items put out for trade, but neither of them were as neat and as picturesque as the marketplace of Honeyharbor, the city of witches.

'There are so many beautiful women! And their clothes, they all look like pretty dolls!'

It was as if Ember was transported into a human kingdom's capital city and was walking on a luxury street meant for noble ladies.

Everyone in the market was equally stunned to see their group, and upon realizing who was leading them, the people milling about moved in unison to make way for the horses, standing at the sides of the street with their heads lowered. Even the people inside the stalls and shops stopped whatever they were doing to pay respect to them.

It was because not only did their leader visit the marketplace—an act she rarely does since she mostly stayed indoors, studying spells and making potions—but also due to the esteemed guests she had with her.

An unfamiliar young woman rode a white horse side by side with their Head, and to their awe, it was a human girl with the prettiest emerald green eyes one had ever seen.

'The King's mate!'

Even without the mate mark on Ember's neck, it didn't take them time to recognize the only human allowed to walk among their kind. As a scholarly race, many eyes filled with curiosity stayed on Ember, especially the younger witches who had never seen a human being in their entire lives.

As the group passed by the curious crowd, the attention of the majority shifted towards those at the back.  The witches were attracted by the presence of three handsome men in particular.

Morpheus, the commander of the warriors of Agartha and nephew to the Chief of the Shapeshifters.

Aureus, the golden eagle of the current generation, King of the Divine Eagles and Lord of the Feathered Races.

Erlos, the High Elf and trusted aide to the King of Agartha.

Many were well aware of the Commander's achievements to the kingdom's current peace, as well as the fact that he was one of the most sought-after unmated beastmen in the kingdom. The crowd could not help but be amazed by his overwhelming presence. It was not easy to spot this powerful shapeshifter who had isolated himself from important matters regarding the kingdom.

As for the young golden eagle by his side, though not many knew of his name, rumors of his arrival at the Divine Eagle Clan had long reached the ears of the merchants and had already spread to the general populace. Even those recluse scholarly witches who hadn't heard of the news yet could recognize his identity because of his golden hair and wings.

However, the most popular among them was the young Erlos, his handsome silver-haired looks coupled by his aloof, if not arrogant expression, not even throwing a single glance at the crowd, made him especially attractive to the young witches of the coven.

After finding a good spot to leave their horses to Cornelia's servants, their group then went around on foot.

'Hmm? One, two…there's only been three men so far in the crowd?'

At first, Ember thought there were many female witches due to the shops they passed by selling female-targeted merchandise, but the more they walked, she saw not even ten men, two of them even elf merchants. It was so strange, as in the other cities she visited, all had an abundance of males and less number of females.

"Lady Cornelia, do the males in your coven work somewhere else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't seen many males so far. Not only here in the marketplace, even in the research workshop. Do the male witches, the warlocks, mostly work outside the city?

Cornelia understood why Ember had asked that question. "Miss, no, there is no particular rule like that, though a few warlocks are appointed outside for certain jobs. But I know why you asked that."

Ember looked at her and Cornelia continued, "The Witch race is mostly dominated by females. Unlike other clans, our kind gives birth to daughters more than sons. Warlocks are rare, and since they also have weaker magic, they were often given jobs and positions that didn't involve much use of magic spells."

"Eh? But if the number of warlocks is that little, then does that mean many witches have no mates?"

"We have a similar concept to a human's marriage, so we do not experience mating and heat, and we also have little interest in increasing our population. Not to mention, like humans, our females can give birth to multiple children so our number is not an issue for us. Nature has a way to balance the existence of our race with the world.

"Plus, the majority of the females don't really care about building families as our kind are more focused on studying witchcraft. Most witches dedicate their lives to either increasing their magical powers or inventing new spells or potions. Like I mentioned before, it's common for witches to lock themselves inside their workrooms to research about their areas of expertise."

"Lady Cornelia, are you also among those who focused on increasing your powers instead of having a family?" Ember asked.

"Hmm," Cornelia agreed.

Ember, being human and following human values, she was curious what women of this race actually thought while sacrificing things in life for the sake of their powers.  "Have you never wanted to build your own family? From what I remember you saying, you are quite young even for a witch."

The beautiful redhead gave Ember a bewitching smile, as if this was a question she particularly heard often.

"You remember it correctly, Miss. I am, in fact, the youngest not only among the members of the kingdom's council, but also among the powerful witches in this kingdom. All the ones you've met in the research workshop are my seniors, and I belong to the younger generation, the apprentice witches, age-wise."

Pride shone in Cornelia's eyes as she spoke.

"In every coven, the position of the leader is not decided by bloodline or seniority but by one's capability. When I was selected to be the Head of the Honeyharbor Coven, it was because the coven needed my skills and guidance and I had no privilege of thinking about anything else.

"A century ago, I was but a young witch lucky to be guided by the last Head and Her Eminence. Just like other races living in Agartha, we also suffered greatly in that war. We lost not only the Head, my master, but most of our high-ranking witches, which left us with very few capable ones. Some of them succumbed to curses and died a few years after the war, while the rest were those who sustained soul injuries that made it impossible to recover their past strengths.

"I am not sure if you know, but a great number of our enemies back then were also our fellow witches, Black Witches who had fallen depraved and evil in their obsession for a stronger power and thus embraced black magic. This caused great pain for our people to fight with our fellow witches."

Cornelia let out a sad sigh.

"Moreover, Her Eminence left us, and our coven were like orphan kids that needed guidance. But Her Eminence trusted us and we could not let her down. Every survivor back then vowed to persevere. The responsibility fell over the rest of the coven members to train and become more powerful so we can bring our race back to its former glory.

"Although I am young, I am capable when it comes to the study of the soul, that was why when I was made the Head of the Witches, I accepted the responsibility gladly. I studied even harder in order to remove the curses and heal the soul injuries of those who survived the war."

A bewitching smile appeared on the lips of the Head of the Witches once more.

"Miss, tell me, why would I desire a family when the entire coven is my family, every witch my sister and warlock a brother? I am more than content seeing my coven flourish like before."

Ember's eyes shone with awe and respect.

"You are a really amazing woman, Lady Cornelia."

"Thank you for the praise, Miss."

Both women smiled at each other and continued moving ahead.