The Devil's Cursed Witch

Erlos might look like a mess, but his fall was in fact cushioned by a pile of leaves, thus although it hurt, there were, in fact, no broken bones. Sensing that, the guilty servant groaned as he peeked at his master’s expression, understanding that Draven had caught him running away. With an awkward laugh, he stood up to bow before the King.

“S-Sire, how come you are here? I was just about to return to the palace.”

In response, he only got a glare from those red eyes which then moved up to look at those tree houses above them.

Leeora followed the King’s gaze and said, “I have arranged Ember’s stay in the house next to mine.” She pointed towards the particular tree house with a hanging bridge connected to her own home.

Draven took a glance at that house and then turned towards Leeora after giving a passing look at the human girl who was still hiding by Lusca’s side.

“Are we free-loading the outsiders here?” Draven asked.

Erlos knew that tone. The young elf, who was feeling bad about his pain, now looked at the human girl with a pitiful gaze. ‘Seems like she is going to suffer under him as well. Poor human.’

“Of course not, Sire,” Leeora said. “She is injured at the moment. Once she is better, I will assign her some decent work to do.”

“As long as it is not in the palace, everything could be considered decent work,” Erlos commented, sarcastically pointing out that working in the palace for this heartless king was the worst ever.

“Not a bad idea. Once she is able, put her to work in the palace,” Draven instructed.

Erlos felt like slapping his own month for saying it. Unintentionally, he had pushed that pitiful human into the devil’s den. Promise, he didn’t mean to pull another fellow to suffer alongside him!

“P-Palace, Sire?” Leeora asked as she could not believe her ears that the King had asked this human to work in the palace. Moreover, she had decided to take things slow. She was worried that this girl who seemed to have no social manners nor a bit of education could adjust to the palace environment. She wished to keep her by her side for a while longer.

“Is there any issue?” he asked in a manner where the person in front of him had no other option but to obey him.

Leeora forced out a smile. “What can be the issue? In fact, Ember is fortunate to have the chance of working in the palace.”

Erlos and Leeora exchanged silent gazes that showed pity for that human girl, but they could do nothing in front of the King’s order.

Meanwhile, the human girl whose name was now Ember felt her hands turn sweaty, ‘Palace? Is he talking about taking me back to that place where he lives?’ Her beautiful emerald green eyes were covered with anxiety.

It’s been barely two days since she stayed in Ronan and she had just started being able to talk to a tree spirit. She liked this place more although the palace was more beautiful, but he was talking about taking her back there already?

‘I don’t want to go there! I like Leeora and this place better!’

Sadly, no one could hear her thoughts.

Draven looked at Erlos. “We are leaving.”

The King informed him before teleporting. Seemed like he finally felt a hint of pity for his servant. Erlos got the chance to protect his body with his powers so he would remain fine even after teleporting.

The next moment, the King and his servant disappeared into thin air, causing Ember to blink as she found it familiar.

After thinking for a while, Ember recalled that she had seen some kind of energy traveling at the speed of lightning back when she was staring at the palace from her window. Now, she understood that what she had witnessed before was probably something caused by Draven.

With the scary red-eyed man gone, only then did Ember feel like she could breathe normally. Leeora gently patted her head. “Ember, are you feeling well? Seeing the King must have surprised you.”

Ember didn’t know how to react, so she merely stared at the kind elf lady.

Leeora sighed. “All right, did I not promise you I will introduce Ronan to you? Shall we start touring the city by heading to the plaza? Ronan is quite a small city, but you’re still weak so ride Lusca for now so you will not tire yourself from walking—”

Leeroa and the human girl went on to tour the city, but the news of the King visiting Ronan had spread within the entire city like a wildfire. The King of Agartha was an elusive existence and he rarely openly visited any city. People were curious about his arrival, and many theories were thrown about.

Some said it was to visit the High Elder, while others claimed it was for his personal servant, Erlos. A handful of elves realized that it was just a day after that human girl arrived in the city. Everyone guessed that this human was someone important to the King and he was in the city just because of her.

Unaware that she was gathering attention, Ember found herself immersed in the simple fairytale-like beauty of the forest city. Houses made of living trees, beautiful elves interacting like they belong to one big family, winged people the size of a doll that Leeora called Fae, intelligent animals that could shapeshift into a person, water that moved like they have their own will, fire that doesn’t burn but gives off gentle warmth…these were all things Ember never even dreamed of encountering.

Everything and everyone was in perfect harmony, and Ember felt at peace as she listened to Leeora proudly show off which among the stores sell the best mushroom soup, the sturdiest armour, and the most fashionable dresses. She also recognized everyone who greeted her, knowing whose daughter was having her birthday coming up, which elves were on guard duty for the day or which among the elves could play the loveliest flute music.

It was already nighttime when they reached the border of the city which was a valley. A single ancient tree was proudly rooted near a cliff as if declaring it would remain standing there throughout the ages. It was a magical tree with countless branches filled with glowing fruits that looked more like lanterns than food.

“This is where the wood elf clan’s city ends,” Leeora said as she stopped at the cliff and looked forward. Ember stood next to Leeroa and looked around as she heard Leeora continue, “See those lights? Those are the cities of the other elf clans.”

Ember peered into the darkness, but she could only see dim lights illuminating parts of the forest, but they were too far for her to see the cities themselves. From her position though, it was easy to see the lights coming out of the King’s palace. It reminded her of his words, instructing her to work in the palace.

Leeora noticed Ember’s gaze in the direction of the palace and the anxiety in her eyes.

“Ember?” Leeora called.

She looked at the elf elder, only to hear her say, “Do you like your new name?”

There was nothing to like or not like about it. It was far better than being nameless. These people were not aware, but it wasn’t that she refused to tell them her name. She had no name in the first place. All she had heard throughout her life was one person calling her ‘little princess’ and nothing else.

“You are fortunate that His Majesty has named you. He had done it only once when he named Erlos and now you are the second one,” she heard Leeora continue. “His Majesty is not fond of having people around him, and neither is he good at expressing his feelings, but he is not someone to be scared of. He is much warmer than one could imagine.” Leeora turned her gaze to look at the girl who was trying to figure out what Leeora meant. The elf smiled and said, “I mean to say, there is no need for you to be scared of him.”

Although Ember felt reluctant to agree, she nodded.

“He is the one who saved you and brought you to Agartha. Though I don’t know how bad your life has been so far, I assure you that you will only get to experience better things from now on,”,” Leeora added. “You should be thankful to him for giving you a chance to live a new life.”

Ember found herself staring at the palace once more.

‘He saved me?’

Her encounters with him had been pretty terrible—his scary appearance inside her room when she woke up, the way he tied her up with his powers when he caught her escaping, the way he punished the silver-haired elf by making him fall from the tree house. There was nothing among them that gave her a good impression.

‘But he brought me out of that hellish place…’

All this time, she had been wondering how she reached this magical place. The last thing she remembered was the fire in the mountain and how she was trying to escape it. Though she didn’t want to return to that cave, there were things there that belonged to Gaia that she at least wanted to preserve as remembrance…

There were many things she wanted to ask.

It made her wonder if she asked him, would he answer her?