The Devil's Cursed Witch

On one side, Isa had regained her consciousness after receiving treatment from a healer. As one of the two survivors from inside the barrier, her life was prioritized by Halifax in order to fish out the details of the situation from her once she stabilized.

As if she didn't care about her surroundings, she began to cry, wailing loudly like a little girl. She sat on the ground, and though her body was no longer bleeding, her face remained pale and unwell, as if there was a fundamental damage to her body that mere water-attributed magic could not handle.

The current leader of the Divine Fox Clan, Lord Ailwin, hurried to thank the elf healer before asking for some alone time with Isa.

He was shocked to see her in this state. WIth a guess in his heart, he kneeled in front of her and reached out to check her pulse.

"Dear spirits, you...!"

Her cultivation was damaged!

Worse, it was not caused by an external force, but self-inflicted!

The most eligible Divine Fox expected to grow all nine tails, the successor of Divine Fox Aldis and future hope of their race had lost one tail out of her three tails!

"Isa, what have you done?"

With a pained expression, the young lady looked at him, her eyes still shedding tears. "It's...It's all my fault."

She looked like she would collapse any moment.

Lord Ailwin had no option but to carry her blood-covered body in his arms and take her back to the Divine Fox Clan. She was in a terrible condition, and if treatment was delayed, she could lose her life any moment. Losing a tail not only meant damage in cultivation--it could also kill the fox, as their tails were related to their souls. He could only order a clan member in a hurry to inform Halifax that they would be heading out first.

Upon hearing the tragic news, Moon Elf Yula hurried to the palace straight from the Netherfields, bringing with her some of the palace servants who were able to return at a moment's notice.

When she arrived, Halifax was relieved to turn over the situation to her. After all, though he was the most senior council member, he was still an outsider.

The elderly elf dared not overstep his boundaries and order people around to manage the things within the palace, especially regarding the unresponsive King and his mate. The most he could do was calm the people who were beginning to stir in anger, blaming Ember for killing the Commander.

At this moment, Halifax had ordered everyone else to disperse and leave the palace, leaving several warriors to guard and protect them from outside. Only  Draven, Ember, Erlos, Leeora and Cornelia were left within the ruined garden.

Yula didn't have the heart to say anything to the King so she first went to Leeora. She checked on Ember who was lying on the ground, held in Leeora's arms.

From what she sensed, Ember was merely unconscious. "Elder, we have to take Miss inside the one of the rooms."

The condition of the palace was horrible, but only one wing of it had been damaged. The other half was in livable condition.

Leeora got back to her senses and nodded.

Yula signaled the servants to carry Ember back to her chamber. Once Ember was taken back, she then placed her hand on Cornelia's hand. "Lady Cornelia? I believe you need to rest as well."

With her teary eyes, the witch stared at Yula, and she heard her continue, "Why don't you rest in one of our guest rooms? I can see you have exhausted your powers."

Cornelia staggered to her feet, and when she found Draven being unresponsive, she didn't know what to say to him. She had never seen their king appear this weak and helpless before. Neither Yula nor Leeora wanted to step forward as well.

Erlos merely stood by Draven's side, accompanying his grieving master in silence.

Indeed, it was grief.

Erlos had long known grief after losing his entire clan from the massacre. That was why for him, every creature, every individual he met, was someone he cherished like his family. This was the same for Morpheus.

Though Erlos always argued with Morpheus, it was out of his tough affection towards him and not hate. Kind of like having a favorite brother; he simply always took the side of his master and opposed Morpheus.

Maybe of all Draven's aides, he was the one who understood his master best. The kind of friendship two divine beasts had, the truth behind their frequently happened fights--it was all due to their brotherhood that was cruelly twisted by fate.

"Sire?" Erlos finally called him.

But there was no response.

Erlos felt conflicted, but he did attempt to convince the man to go back inside the palace to rest and recuperate. Though the King was not seriously injured, his mentality was not stable. It was still better for him to rest inside a room, instead of staying here in the garden.

But then, they saw Draven standing up from his place. The very next moment, he disappeared. Nobody knew where he went.

He said nothing where he was going and simply disappeared. Everyone understood Draven needed alone time. He probably wouldn't be returning anytime soon.

With the King gone, Yula and the rest focused on Ember.

"Lady Cornelia, shall we lead you to a guest room to rest?" Yula offered.

The red-haired witch shook her head. "I don't need it. I have potions with me. I think I need to see Miss Ember first."

Leeora interceded. "It's fine. I can check her condition by myself. You do look like you need to rest."

However, Cornelia stubbornly insisted. Yula and Leeora could only give in.

Though exhausted, Cornelia went to see Ember along with Leeora. Ember was laid in her bed. Her entire chamber was in a good state, though the objects on the shelves and tables were still scattered here and there. Though her wing in the palace survived, it was only the structure; the insides were still a mess. A handful of servants were doing their best to fix the room and tend to Ember.

When Cornelia looked at the unconscious Ember, her expression was subtle.

'Did she really kill Morph? How did she get that divine weapon? Why did she do that...?' Her body trembled as her heart grew heavier and heavier. 'Why did she lose control of herself? Isa was there as well. Did she get into a fight with her? But then...why kill Morph? No, in the original vision, it was His Majesty...'

"Lady Cornelia?" Yula called her out, which brought her back to her senses.

The witch could not help but resent the one who caused this destiny. But she had her suspicions. She had interacted with Ember, and she had a good grasp of the human girl's character. She could see Morpheus had feelings for Ember, and though not romantic, Ember had good feelings for Morpheus as well.

So then, why did this tragedy happen?

For now, till the entire truth was out, Cornelia could only keep it to herself and do her duty towards the King's mate. If Ember had indeed committed a crime, then she would get her just punishment once things were sorted out.

Both Cornelia and Leeora checked on her.

Cornelia  informed Yula, "Her body is merely burdened by the sudden outburst of her powers which her body was not used to. However, though she has no injuries, she won't be waking up soon. Her body will need time to get used to her strength. I will send some potions that will help alleviate the fatigue on her core. Make sure she takes them along with her meals when she wakes up."

Leeora also promised to send herbs which they could feed Ember while she was unconscious.

Yula promised to follow their instructions. Leeora then asked, "Where are Ember's personal servants? Aren't they with their master? Or did they go to the Netherfields to mourn?"

"You mean Clio and Reya? Those children stayed behind with Miss," Yula responded. "Both of them are being treated. They were found hurt and unconscious at the moment."

"Hurt?"

"I am not sure exactly what happened, but they were found at the outskirts of the garden. Miss' powers must have affected them, but I don't believe Miss would deliberately harm them. We will know everything once the two regain their consciousness"

"What about others? Was there no one else in the palace before the explosion?"

"All the servants aside from Reya and Clio left to mourn," Yula answered. "Commander made arrangements for young warriors to guard outside in case the humans caused trouble, but even they are unconscious as well."

"So none of the witnesses can tell what exactly happened here?" Leeora spoke in disbelief.

"Young Lady Isa seems to be in life-and-death condition," Yula informed her. "If I am not wrong, she has lost a tail."

Four lives lost, one life at the brink of death, and a human who seemed to have caused these all.

These sounded too unreal. They didn't even want to imagine what kind of turmoil this would cause the kingdom once people learned that a human was in the center of it all.

To think so much had happened in just a small fraction of time, no one could derive what had happened. All they could do was wait for at least one of the witnesses to wake up.

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A/N- The third book of "Devil and Witch" series has been launched today on web app. It is a story of Dragon and a new queen of witches- A black witch, who I have mentioned before in this .

Title- The Devil's Betrothed.

It is the entry for WSA 2023 contest. I wish all of your support once again as this can be the last WSA I am participating in. Let's get a Gold this time, I believe we can. <3<3

You can find the in my web author profile or you can simply search the title in web app.