The Devil's Cursed Witch

“How is the human girl? Will she survive?” Erlos asked the human physician who was busy mixing some herbs on the table.

The poison master grumbled, “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you if I will survive if something bad happens to her?” He continued to pour the contents of the bottles in his satchel towards a mixing bowl. “Her body is not terribly charred but she seemed to be suffocated due to inhaling smoke for a long time and probably caused damage to her lungs. I do not know how effective my medicine will be on her. She is already fortunate to remain alive at this point. She will live though it will take time for her to heal.”

It took a long time for the two female servants to clean the human girl. Afterwards, the poison master started his treatment. The female servants kept going in and out of the room to bring the required things for the girl lying on the bed.

They made her wear a fresh pair of clothes and also changed the mattress cover on the bed which was stained with ash, mud and blood.

Once he was done, the poison master went towards the bored elf who was sitting on a chair with his back facing the bed. “It’s done. I already gave instructions to the maidservants on how to continue the treatment, as well as the list of ingredients for the herbal paste they need to use on her burns.”

The elf servant looked at the pale human covered in sweat and handed him a heavy silk pouch.

The man in white robes opened it and found it filled with silver coins. “Thank you so much, kind sir!”

Contrary to how he looked when he arrived, he left with a large grin on his face over his reward. ‘From now on, I am a physician!’

——

The news of the King bringing a female with him had spread across the palace like a wildfire.

Meanwhile, Draven was staying in his study, passing time by perusing the stack of documents on the side of his desk. With his good hearing sense, he could clearly hear the gossip going around. He tried not to listen to anything but he was starting to feel annoyed.

“Erlos,” he called. His voice was so loud that even a dead-drunk man would wake up from his deep sleep.

Soon after, the long-eared servant entered the study. “Sire, what happened?”

The way Draven called for him, he was sure something terrible must have happened.

“Empty the entire place around my study. Not a single soul around.”

His pointed ears twitched. He could guess why the red-eyed man was in a sour mood, as well as the reason for the order.

“But sire, you want me to tell everyone to leave the palace itself, then who will work?” the elf asked with wide eyes.

“Then tie something to shut those chattering mouths,” Draven ordered.

“Yes, sire.” The young servant left with an obedient expression. But the moment he stepped out of the study, Erlos smiled playfully. “What do you think is easier? To shut hundreds of mouths or to ignore a single person?”

Thud!

Ahh!

A heavy book hit the back of his head, causing him to almost smack face first on the floor. Erlos rubbed his head with a hand. ‘Oops, I forgot he can hear me.’

Erlos scurried away before another item was thrown his way. The man he was serving was a devil afterall.

Soon after, the entire place surrounding the study was vacated. The servants had to leave their work midway and were instructed to continue it once their devil king left the study.

Once everything around him turned silent, Draven leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes. He could control himself from hearing others but when his mind was restless and thinking about something, he had trouble stopping it and needed everyone around him to be quiet.

He was thinking about that frail body that he brought back with him. There were several questions that bothered him, like why he suddenly teleported to that burning forest, how that unconscious body possessed a strength that shouldn’t belong to a girl, much less a human girl, and why he could not use his powers to return to the palace until he picked her up.

Realizing that thinking about them would not yield him answers, he closed his eyes. He was tired after using teleport magic as the distance was quite substantial. He didn’t know where the exact place was, but from how it exhausted his powers, it was somewhere beyond his kingdom or maybe the continent because when he teleported to that place, there was nighttime while in his own kingdom, it was a day time. Not long after, he fell asleep in his chair.