The Devil's Cursed Witch

3 chapters

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Ember did not mind being left alone as all her focus was on the rabbits. She had seen plenty of wild ones back in the forest around Ronan, but their furs were mostly darker and they were too quick to hide in the bushes as soon as they spotted her.

Meanwhile, the rabbits inside the fenced area were snowy white and round and extremely chubby, peacefully nibbling on the leaves on their feeder racks.

'So cute!'

She tried to touch the one nearest to her, but it hopped away before she could reach it. When she tried again, it ran away from her.

"Here, little rabbit. I'm a friend. I won't do anything else. Just let me touch you at least once," she coaxed, even putting some of the leafy greens on her palm to bait it to come nearer. "Here, here, little rabbit."

However, the rabbit avoided her, jumping away, causing the other rabbits to flee away from Ember. This caused her to be more motivated.

"Little rabbit, this friend is not scary—"

She followed the naughty rabbit she was targeting to catch, going as far as to enter the fenced area. But the moment she did, the rabbit jumped over the fence and fled towards the flower field.

"Wah! No! Come back!"

Ember could not help but follow the rabbit blindly, worrying that it might trample the flowers being cultivated carefully on the field.

However, the naughty rabbit disappeared from her sight among the rows of flowers.

'Where did it go?'

She looked around, trying to spot the fluff of white among the green leaves and colorful flowers… and realized she had reached the patch of land where the white flowers Morpheus warned her about were cultivated.

'Did that rabbit enter this field? Morph said it's dangerous.'

Loitering on the periphery, she tried to search for the rabbit but could not see it. After some time, she noticed movements among the white flower shrubs.

'Oh, no wonder I can't see it. It really went there. What do I do? What if something happens to that rabbit? What if it eats a flower? Morph mentioned that the scent is dangerous, then how worse would it be if it's eaten? I need to get the rabbit back before it gets hurt…but…'

She looked at those flowers gently swaying along the wind.

'I guess I need to hold my breath.'

Ember took a deep breath before entering the white flower field, not knowing she was not capable of holding her breath for more than a minute and this much time was not enough to find the rabbit. The moment she reached her limit, she ended up inhaling more than she should.

After a while, Morpheus returned to the fenced area where the rabbits were kept. He looked around but there was no sign of Ember.

'Where did she go? I told her to stay here.'

His majestic wings stretched open behind him, and with a single flap of his wings, he flew above the flower valley to spot the disobedient human girl probably carelessly playing around the field. With a quick sweep from the sky, his sharp eyesight immediately found his target.

'This little female really needs to be punished for sure!'

From above, he saw the girl lying in the field of white flowers with her arms spread out. She was smiling with her eyes closed, as if she was taking a leisurely afternoon nap.

'Unbelievable!'

He gritted his teeth and flew down as fast as he could. He held his breath before landing by her side to get her out from there. As soon as he carried her in his arms, he took off towards Baruel's cottage.

The moment he landed in the courtyard of the cottage, Baruel's wife, the elf called Reese, came towards them. She gasped upon noticing Ember in Morpheus' arms. Her eyes were closed and her face looked flushed.

"Commander, is Lady Ember alright?" the woman asked.

Baruel, who was also alarmed by his flashy arrival, hurried towards them as well. "What happened, Commander—"

"She is intoxicated by the scent of the Glass Mist Flower," Morpheus replied, referring to those delicate white flowers that could make people lose their minds. "I found her in the field and don't know how long she had been exposed to their scent. We need to treat her."

Both elves panicked. Though this little accident would not kill Ember,  as the King's mate had to face this within their territory, they feared how the King would react once he learned of this.

"Please bring her inside, Commander," Reese said as she led their way inside the cottage. They were brought to the guest room.

Morpheus placed Ember on the simple bed. The human girl was smiling the entire time, as if dreaming of something good, and was not aware that because of her others were having a headache.

"Commander, can you estimate how long Lady Ember was exposed to the Glass Mist Flower?" Baruel asked.

Morpheus counted how long it took him to deal with the matters within the storage house.

"Around ten to fifteen minutes, I guess."

The elf couple had their foreheads creased.

"Even five minutes is too much for an elf. We had an incident just yesterday and the last bottle of antidote was used…" Baruel mumbled, but then, his wife cut him off.

"It's fine. I remember collecting the freshly harvested ingredients in my personal workroom. Do not worry, we can just make a new batch of antidote."

She signaled her husband to follow her and she spoke to Morpheus, "We will be back with the antidote, Commander. We have it at our residence in the city, so please be patient. It will take a little while to bring the medicines from the city home and create the potion."

"She is human, and her body is frailer. Make sure to put that into consideration when you produce the antidote."

"Thanks for the reminder, Commander. My wife is a good potion-maker. She will surely take care of Lady Ember," Baruel assured before following his wife, leaving the shapeshifter alone with the unconscious human.

As time slowly trickled, Morpheus found himself staring at Ember who was still smiling in her sleep. He paced around the room, shaking his head, sometimes frowning, sometimes sighing, unable to remain seated.

After some time, he approached her and pulled one animal hide to cover her body. Seeing her remain blissfully asleep, he kneeled next to the bed, his eyes unable to pull away from her smiling face.

"Are you having a good dream?" he murmured, his voice tender.

His hands moved on their own to move the messy hair strands away from her face. Only then did he notice there was dirt on her hair and clothes from lying on the ground. He pulled out the tiny dried leaves stuck in her hair.

"No matter how much I warn you, you always end up doing what you should not do. When will you learn to listen?" His gentle gaze lingering on her beautiful face, his fingertips gently brushed the delicate flushed skin of her cheek.

As if hearing his words, Ember struggled to open her heavily lidded eyes. With her blurry gaze, she observed the person in front of her.