The Devil's Cursed Witch

“Are you comfortable?” she heard him ask over her head. She could feel his chin touching the top of her head as he talked.

“I am.” Ember felt her cheeks heating up some more, her heart pounding faster. ‘What is this? Didn’t he say my scent affects him? Then why is he so close?’

While Ember was internally screaming her panic, her mate had no obvious change in his expression, as if he felt nothing over their intimate position, but only he knew it took a lot of effort to remain unaffected.

The two female servants smiled at the adorable sight of their shyly blushing master and could not help but exchange glances with each other. Erlos, on the other hand, ignored them as if it was nothing. He had seen Ember in his master’s bed so this much was nothing.

As it was earlier, Erlos led the way with his red mare, and Ember’s original horse, the white stallion, was walking along with him. The two Moon Elves followed immediately behind him, leaving the pair of mates at the rear of the group.

As the black stallion started to move, Draven continued to hold Ember’s hands that were holding the reins. He didn’t ask her to let go of the reins so he could hold them directly but continued like that.

Though he could have just teleported with Ember to the palace, he opted for this less efficient way of travel to give her more time to spend outside the palace walls and let her enjoy the scenery.

On the other hand, Ember swore she felt him gently squeezing her hands a little as if trying to feel them. Though his palms were covered with black gloves, she could still feel the heat from them on the back of her palms.

Ember sat like a statue and didn’t dare move at all. Draven sensed it, and thought to ignore it at first, but then he recalled that humans have a more feeble constitution. It would only bring her body aches if her posture remained as such.

“You don’t have to be so stiff. Relax.”

Ember nodded tersely and tried to relax her body, but it seemed so difficult a demand given she could feel his body behind her. Maybe it was her imagination, but her hearing had become so heightened she swore she could hear him breathing.

How could she relax when Draven was so close to her, his comforting scent engulfing her senses at the same time?

‘Why are my senses so sensitive today? I can hear his breathing, I can feel his body heat, I can smell his scent. It’s all difficult—no, impossible to ignore. Is it because the night of the full moon is just a day away and they say the effect of bond gets stronger the closer it is?’

As the group traversed the rolling hills ahead, each passing moment felt like torture to Ember.

Her heart was beating fast along with the growing discomfort in her tummy, and what was supposed to be the most natural act of breathing became a chore.  She tried to hold her breath from time to time to not be affected by his scent, but her effort did not make much of a difference.

Sadly,  her difficulties weren’t merely physical, it was mental as well. All the while, her mind was restless, barely able to make coherent thoughts.

Draven could clearly feel Ember’s struggle as he was suffering no less than her though he was trying his best to appear calm and composed. He knew he had put himself in trouble by being so intimately close with her, but he simply could not stop himself from being greedy. Her scent was simply so seductive that he could not help but give in to it.

‘Her sweet, sweet scent…’

As he subconsciously took in a deep breath, his body inevitably tensed in response..

Ember got alerted as she thought she must have done something to upset him.

“Y-Your Majesty, what happened?”

“It’s nothing.”

She wanted to turn around and see his expression, but it was impossible to do so while on horseback. “If you are troubled by me, I can ride on a separate horse. I don’t want to cause you–“

“It’s just your scent. It’s difficult to resist,” he cut her off.

‘Then, the more reason we should ride separately, right?’ she thought but then her mind wandered to somewhere else. ‘Maybe talking can help to distract us.’

“Your Majesty, can I ask you something?” Ember started, trying to distract her mind from his tempting scent.

“Hmm?”

“What does my scent smell like?”

“Your smell… it’s a sweet yet fresh fragrance, maybe you can say the sweetness of freshly-bloomed jasmines after the first rain of the season mixed with it.”

Ember imagined it and she could not help but feel a hint of satisfaction hearing it. ‘Jasmine flowers sure smell good, but first rain? Ah, that smell of soil mixing with the first drops of rain, they are enough to calm one’s soul.’

“There is a reason why one’s mate smells in a particular way,” Draven said, disturbing her train of thought.

“What is it?”

“I personally like the scent of jasmine. The beast part of me loves the first rain. So you being my mate, your scent satisfies my human as well as beast form. However, though a mate’s true scent isn’t intense in any way, just a whiff of it has a way to stimulate one’s natural instincts.”

Ember remembered that there was a mention of that in the book about mates she read before. “For me, Your Majesty’s scent…it smells like the trees of the forest with a cool tinge to it, like peppermint…?”

After a heavy pause, Draven asked, “What is the reason for the scent of the forest?”

“Umm, in that place where I was raised,” Ember started, her gaze drifting a little as she recalled the past, “the entire mountain was dead–there were no trees bearing green leaves, no rich brown soil, no flowers, no grass, no nothing. Everything was gray and foggy…but if I were to climb the peak of the mountain, I can see a vast sea of green a distance from the foot of the mountain.

“My nanny said it was a real forest, one where plants grow and animals thrive, nothing like the bare trees that surround our cave. Unfortunately, I couldn’t come down since there are villages in the vicinity of that forest.”

Ember momentarily closed her eyes as she recalled those days of longing.

“Back then, there was this jutting rock near the peak where I used to sit, where I could stare at that vast sea of green for hours. I had my nanny describe her experience down the mountain, and I used that to daydream– about birds flying over the trees, those branches with green leaves swaying along the breeze…

“When I came to Agartha…it was the first time I ever found myself in a living forest, and I guess the impact it had on me was mind-blowing. The Forest of the Elves…Ronan…my home there…It was even better than what I imagined, better than my dreams…Maybe because it is what I longed for all these years of my life, I got that as the scent for my mate.”

Draven was unable to say anything as he ruminated over her words and heard her continue, “And as for the smell of peppermint…I will find out the reason behind that scent.”

“Let me know once you do,” was all he could say.

“I will.”