The Devil's Cursed Witch

None of the females knew what Erlos was doing as he kept the items he bought using his spatial magic, and thus he was carrying nothing in his arms.

“Miss, do you want to buy anything?” Clio asked.

Ember looked around. However, instead of the shops or stalls, her gaze landed at the couples walking around. Ember noticed all the females were holding beautiful flower bouquets in their hands.

“Those flowers look good. Where can I get them?” Ember asked.

“I will check,” Clio said as she left to see where she could get those for her master but none of the nearby shops had them.

After a while, she returned. “Miss, those flowers are not for sale. Those are personally made gifts between mates. Outside the city, there is a flower valley where the males will pick flowers and arrange a bouquet, and as part of tradition practiced within Nimer, they give it to their females on the day of the festival.”

“Ohh,” was all she could say. “Never mind.”

Continuing to walk ahead, there were food stalls as well, and the moment they entered the street, delicious aroma filled the air.

“Miss, would you like to try the local food of the White Tigers? The most popular food they offer are roasted meat, and they are put on sticks so you can eat them while walking.”

“While walking?”

“Yes, look at that couple there, Miss. You can see them walking hand in hand, while the female lets the male take a bite of the meat. Isn’t that romantic?”

Ember imagined herself holding roasted meat and feeding it to Draven…and the image looked funny. She could not help but giggle. “I’d like to taste one then.”

Reya went and bought a stick for each of them. Ember found the taste fascinating, smoky with a deep and rich peppery flavor. In the end, she had to ask Reya to buy a couple more and while eating, they walked towards the plaza of the city where the place was filled with music and couples seemingly doing their tribal dance.

She happily watched it, enjoying the festivity. She had never seen such a lively scene in her entire life. Even in Ronan, she had never seen such a big crowd have fun like this, and the atmosphere was thrilling.

For a moment, she wondered if Draven was having as much fun as her, and she turned her head to look behind her.

‘Where is His Majesty? Did we get separated?’

She looked around to see if Draven was among the crowd but he was not. She was sure he was following her with Erlos up until they reached the plaza. Though he kept a distance between them, she was aware of his presence but he seemed to have left.

Disappointment took over her mind but she brushed it off easily.

‘I shouldn’t be greedy. He allowed me to go have fun outside and it is more than enough.’

The large plaza was crowded not only by the merrymaking residents of the city, but by visitors from other territories like Ember, some were pulled to join the dance by the friendly locals. Ember witnessed a number of local males inviting females who had no partners to dance, and vice-versa. It was easy to distinguish the females as outsiders by their attire, as the local beastmen favored revealing clothes made of striped fur regardless if they were male or female.

‘I hope no one approaches me…’

As Ember watched the folk dance accompanied by lively music dominated by hand drums, once in a while, she would turn around to search for Draven but she could not see his tall form anywhere.

She could only see the silver-haired elf standing some distance from them, keeping an eye on them while letting them enjoy themselves.

‘Since Erlos is nearby, His Majesty should be nearby too, right? Maybe he has to step away for a bit and will return…’

“Clio,” Reya suddenly called out, “I think those young beastmen are approaching us?”

“Oh no, one smiled and waved at us. He must have thought of inviting us to dance.”

Her servants were flustered, and Ember, not wanting to dance as well, decided to move away and evade the invitation. In their attempt to move among the crowd,  Ember could help but turn her head and look around for Draven once more.

However, her boot was caught on a small protruding part of the ground  and was about to fall forward but…

A pair of strong hands held her at the shoulders, and as her body was pulled upright, she felt a muscular chest against her back. A strange feeling crept inside her chest as she immediately got away and heard the person saying with obvious irritation.

“Clumsy female!”

“Miss, are you alright?”

Her servants, who noticed Ember was about to trip, were half a second too late and only held her after she moved away from the owner of the irritated voice.

However, her mind was not on them.

‘Clumsy?’

This word was taboo to her. Hearing it from a complete stranger made her feel even worse. Ignoring her servants’ concern, she immediately turned around to confront the person who called her clumsy.

And then she froze.

“What is a human doing here?” she heard him say with narrowed eyes.

Seeing the scowling man, not a single word came out of her mouth.

Silky white hair falling below his broad shoulders, fierce amber eyes with a sharp gaze, a small scar on his left eyebrow, making him look aggressive and always ready to fight…

It was an appearance that could only be described as a predator, a hunter by nature. The man was tall, so tall he was towering over her and her servants, and beneath the open vest made of white tiger hide, several deep scars could be seen on his muscled chest.

One could say he was dangerously attractive, a sight to behold, but his beauty was like that of a wild animal who was only fascinating at a distance. Make a wrong move and he could easily rip your throat apart.

The two servants recognized the white-haired man and bowed. “Greetings, Warrior Logan.”

Ember, who was still in the middle of regaining her composure, stepped back so that her two servants were placed between her and the man.

‘A warrior? No wonder he looks scary.’

Tiger beastman named Logan merely passed his gaze at the elves before fixing his sight at Ember, more precisely to the crimson mark at the side of her neck.

“You shouldn’t be without your mate.”

Before Ember could say a word, another person came to intervene, deftly inserting himself between Logan and Ember’s group.

“Warrior Logan, good to see you here. I didn’t expect to see you amidst this festival.”

The White Tiger recognized Erlos and knew the chatty elf was Draven’s servant. He heard Erlos continue, “This is Miss Ember,  and I believe you must have heard of her. She is the King’s mate. As for Sire, he has gone somewhere but he will be back soon.”

‘So she is Draven’s mate.’ His frown deepened. ‘That irresponsible Dragon left his marked female by herself.’

Logan stared down at the green-eyed human; however, to his surprise, he discovered her looking back at him with hostility. He didn’t know that she had offended this human by calling her clumsy.

“Look after her,” Logan said to Erlos and turned to leave.

“Of course, that is why I am here.” Erlos let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Logan leave. Other than Draven, Logan was one of the people he was wary of.

“Who is that?” Ember asked. She noticed that her two servants were intimidated by that tiger beastman. In her memory, they only behaved like this in Draven’s presence.

“Miss, that man is White Tiger Logan, one of the best among this generation’s warriors in the kingdom and the next leader of his clan.”

“He seems dangerous,” Ember mumbled and her servants nodded in agreement.

Erlos didn’t deny the claim as well. He could understand why Ember made that remark. Despite his good looks and achievements on the battlefield, not a lot of people were willing to approach him. He was infamous for his harsh and frigid personality, and as such, everyone was wary of him, including the elders of his clan.

Unknown to her, Ember’s last words fell into Logan’s ears and he frowned, his thick white brows knitted together.

‘Beast or human females, all females are alike. Pathetic.’