The Devil's Cursed Witch

Inside the King's study, Draven was sitting in his armchair behind the desk with his usual cold expression, while Erlos was standing next to him with an expectant gaze. The young elf was aware of the identity of the newly-arrived guest as he was one of Draven's aides, and he was curious about this  Divine Eagle who was said to be working for a human kingdom.

When Melion announced his arrival and entered the study, the elf's eyes immediately landed on the mysterious guest from Megaris who was at the rear of the group. Because of the person's long and loose-fitting attire, it was impossible to distinguish anything about his features.

The Wind Fae and the two shapeshifter scouts bowed to Draven first.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," Melion started. "We have brought in the distinguished guest from the human kingdom."

Draven slightly nodded his way before his red eyes took in the sight of the outsider who was wearing a hooded robe.

The guest moved the hood of his robe back, revealing his entire face.

A silent shudder went through Draven's heart.

'Truly...Myra's...'

It was the face of a handsome young man with fierce golden eyes and golden hair, an appearance that easily resembled another face in Draven's dust-laden memories.

Unaware of the feelings his appearance caused, the owner of that face bowed to him as well to show courtesy.

"Aureus, the royal envoy from the Kingdom of Megaris, greets the King of Agartha."

Draven's gaze remained fixed at him, his complicated feelings making him unable to calm himself down. For so long, there had been no news of Morpheus' sister, and the first clue he found was about this young man whose strong resemblance to her could only mean one thing.

However, to the others inside the study, Draven's silence gave them intense pressure, and thus, no one made a single noise until the King of Agartha closed his eyes and let out a silent sigh.

Draven then gazed at the guest once more and accepted his greeting. "You may rise. I believe the journey was not tough for you, Aureus."

"It was challenging but I love to face challenges, King of Agartha," Aureus replied, his voice polite but not servile.

After all, although Draven Aramis was also a king, he was the king of a different kingdom. Aureus had stayed in the Royal Palace of Megaris long enough to understand that foreign envoys represent the dignity of the king they serve; thus, there was no need for him to act overly courteous to another king.

However, though the young Divine Eagle looked relaxed on the outside, he was not as calm inside. The moment he saw Draven Aramis, this man with hair as black and eyes as red as his master's and even the essence of his powers was similar to him, Aureus could not help but wonder why this man gave off a similar vibe to his master...

Draven looked at Melion who understood the King's silent signal and looked at the two scouts. "You two are dismissed."

The two scouts excused themselves after bowing to Draven. Erlos, who was next to the King, did not even look at them leave as he was busy observing Aureus, comparing him to Morpheus. The young eagle looked like the child of the sun god, and he was so shiny it was almost blinding. Morpheus's feathers were of a beautiful ash-grey colour, yet compared to this young eagle, it was truly dull.

Erlos could not believe his eyes that he was seeing the golden Divine Eagle of this generation. Not only were the color of their feathers, eyes and hair different, even the vibe they gave off were hard to compare as well. It was difficult to imagine Morpheus and this Aureus were blood-related.

'And yet he serves humans?' Erlos could not help but look down on him. 'What happened to his pride?'

"You can speak your business, envoy of Megaris," Melion stated as he stood beside Draven. "For what reason did your king send you to Agartha?"

"I am here as per the order of my king, the King of Megaris, Drayce Ivanov," Aureus stated politely. "He awaits the reason as to why the King of Agartha has sent his people to search for the Queen of Megaris, the one you refer to as the purple-eyed woman. Given that the two kingdoms have never had any interactions before, he believes there is a valid reason for this particular action."

Draven's red eyes did not move away from Aureus the entire time he was speaking, and even until he finished stating the reason for his visit, those red eyes never wavered from him.

In that span of silence, a hint of nervousness appeared on the young eagle's face.

"Have a seat," Draven offered after a while.

Aureus obediently sat in the chair in front of him with a sigh of relief.

"I have no animosity or ill will towards the Queen of Megaris. I do not even know her identity and that is why I had to send my people all over the continent to search for a purple-eyed woman," Draven informed him.

"As it concerns my queen, I would like to know the reason," Aureus commented.

As he needed the cooperation of Megaris, Draven didn't find a need to hide anything. "My mate, she often has visions and she sees a purple-eyed woman in it. It troubled her a lot and we believe there is a connection between my mate and the purple-eyed woman."

Aureus didn't look surprised as his master, Drayce Ivanov, and he had talked about various possibilities and had drawn various conclusions before Aureus left to visit Agartha.

The young eagle said nothing and put forward his hand as a sealed scroll appeared on his hand. "I would like you to take a look at this, King of Agartha."

Without needing a command, Erlos walked forward and accepted the scroll from Aureus. He opened it and laid it flat on Draven's desk. Erlos was shocked to see what was there but Draven was not.

The scroll had the portrait of a woman drawn on it. As Draven stared at the portrait, he heard Aureus continue, "Since your intent is to look for a woman, then my king believes it only fair for us to seek your cooperation to do the same. He wishes to know if such a woman exists in your kingdom."

Draven moved his gaze from the portrait to Aureus. "Seems like the King of Megaris had already understood the situation."

"He believes there are no coincidences in this world."

"The woman in this portrait is my mate," Draven admitted without a change in his expression.

Aureus had high expectations for this woman to exist in this kingdom, but he didn't expect her identity to be the King's mate. That meant the green-eyed woman in the portrait was the Queen of Agartha.

====

A/N- For the readers who might wonder who is Drayce Ivanov, the King of Megaris- He is the male lead of the first book of the series "Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son."