The Devil's Cursed Witch

Some time in the middle of the night, Ember, whose consciousness continued to flicker in between restlessness and sleep, seemingly found herself in the middle of the forest, the soothing scent of the wood and the rich masculine fragrance of the soil causing her lips to curve into a smile. As she felt herself drifting off to deeper sleep, giving into the allure of a sweet dream, a pair of strong arms both familiar and warm wrapped around her body...

It was still dark outside when she woke up. Still half asleep, her arm blindly reached out and felt the warmth still lingering on the space by her side dissipating. This caused her to jolt awake, but when she checked her bed, no one was next to her.

'Why do I feel like he was here?' She could not help but pout as she buried her face in her pillow. 'Ugh. Am I missing him so badly that I dreamed of him in my sleep? Looks like it. Otherwise, why would he come here, only to leave before dawn?'

Ember groaned as she battled her thoughts, hating how she kept expecting for him to appear out of nowhere like the main character in the romance books who refused to be separated from their beloved. Not only was Draven extremely busy with his work, their relationship was not like that in the first place.

A few restless hours later, a tired Ember joined Cornelia and Erlos in their morning meal. Fortunately, Cornelia took over most of the conversation, sharing some tales about her potion-making, and Ember didn't need to expend much energy aside from nodding and saying praises from time to time.

Soon after, it was time to leave.

"Thank you so much, Lady Cornelia," Ember said with a bright smile. They were on the small lawn at the entrance of Cornelia's cottage, the redheaded witch formally seeing her two guests off. Their horses, one pure white in color and the other with a chestnut coat, were being saddled by the witch's servants.

"It's my privilege to have you as my guest, Miss," Cornelia said with an equally bright smile.

After Erlos made sure their horses were ready to leave, another of Cornelia's servants approached them with a basket in hand and handed it over to the elf. Packed inside were some baked snacks for them.

"These are the local snacks you enjoyed yesterday. I thought you might like to have some on the way back," Cornelia explained.

"Thank you, Lady Cornelia!"

After giving her word that she would return again to read the books in the research workshop, Ember bid the Head of the Witches farewell. By now, Ember had enough experience on horseback riding that she didn't need anyone's help in climbing the saddle.

As her white horse turned to go, she gave one last wave at Cornelia, the brilliant smile on her face not leaving even as she turned around.

Cornelia continued to look at the retreating back of Ember. 'It feels like a dear sister who grew up under my watch  is leaving...I can't believe we've only spent a day together...'

Once they left the city gate, Erlos spoke, "Miss, did you enjoy this outing?"

"Of course, I did, Erlos. It is everything I imagined and more." Her emerald green eyes seemed to glow brightly as she stared ahead. "For as long as I can remember, I have always dreamed of going to a city--a human city--walking on paved roads, roaming inside various shops, dining inside restaurants, checking items sold on the market, you know, simple things even ordinary people get to experience.  To experience the joy of interacting with merchants, buying, bargaining but..."

Even though she was smiling, a tinge of sadness appeared in her eyes.

"But you never got the chance to leave that mountain," Erlos continued in her stead.

"Hmm." She nodded. "We also didn't have much money. I don't know from where and how my nanny got those bronze coins--there was no animal to hunt in that mountain, and neither was there any plant or herb we could sell--but before coming to Agartha, I had never even seen a silver coin. Even with the pitiful money my nanny scraped, we had to use them sparingly to buy not only food, but also necessities from the villages. Food was expensive, and worse, my nanny had to buy them in bulk while in hiding, so for that, she had to pay extra money."

"Miss, do you know why you had to live your life in hiding?"

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "I don't get exactly why my nanny didn't let me leave the mountain. She said the villagers feared me. Whenever I asked my nanny for the reason, she would only say they just don't like us because we do not belong there. She also looked uncomfortable whenever I brought up that topic, so at some point in time, I simply stopped asking."

"Humans are unbelievable creatures," Erlos sighed and then looked at her with a comforting gaze. "It's fine. Miss. You may not belong with those humans, but that was only because you were meant to be in Agartha. This must be the place where you truly belong, where not only are you accepted as you are, but you are also hailed as its queen."

Ember laughed at Erlos' kind words. "Perhaps. I am happy with where I am and what I have now. Though if I am going to be honest, sometimes, I feel guilty."

"Guilty?"

"That only I get to enjoy this kind of happiness. I might have suffered, but Gaia who raised me suffered more than I did. She deserved to be here too, to be happy with me."

"Wherever she is, she must be glad to see you doing well."

----

Roughly an hour after Ember and Erlos left Honeyharbor City, Draven appeared in front of Cornelia's residence. Her servants rushed to inform Cornelia about the arrival of the King.

The Head of the Witches was surprised. It was so unlikely of the King to visit her personally; as per convention, whenever he needed her service, he would always summon her to the palace.

'Is he not aware that Miss has already left the city or there is something important?'

Cornelia was about to personally welcome the King from the entrance when she found him walking into her study. She curtsied in a hurry.

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

Draven accepted it with a nod and heard Cornelia, "Please have a seat. Servants, bring in tea for His Majesty–-"

With one hand raised, gesturing there was no need, Draven sat in the armchair of the lounge area within the study. Cornelia sat on the couch directly opposite him, a wooden table in between them.

He directly went to the point. "I came to ask about an important matter of your people."

"About my people? Did something happen, Your Majesty?"

"I remember that every witch, regardless if they belong to a coven or not,  gets a vision when a new Queen is about to be born?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. To some, it appears in their dream, while to others, it comes in the form of a revelation or divination. Even the weakest warlocks will get a vague stir in their souls. It's a natural phenomena of the world communicating to us, and the stronger the witch, the more detailed their visions are."

"Then, was there any such vision after Evanthe left Agartha?"

Cornlia felt a little conflicted but she decided to be honest. "There was such a phenomenon roughly two decades back."

"Twenty years ago..."

"Hmm," she agreed, her expression complicated.

"Then? Where is the new Queen of Witches?" Draven asked.

"No one knows," Cornelia answered helplessly.