The Devil's Cursed Witch

Happy with her makeshift clothes, Ember dragged Draven out of the cottage, only to stop at the entryway where she caught sight of a small porch with delicate wood railings. There were even a set of chairs, as if intended for guests to comfortably sit outside while enjoying the weather.

"Oh, I didn't realize this when we were inside that this cottage is built up from the ground. I thought we would just directly step into the grass," Ember said and looked at the set of small stairs attached to the wooden floorboards.

She could not wait to check the surroundings of this sweet little cottage built by the riverside. Since it's near the meadow, she wondered if this cottage had a pleasant view of the dandelions as well.

Ember let go of Draven's hand and hurried to leave the front porch. Draven followed her leisurely with a smile on his lips.

She went down the stairs, turned around to face the cottage and continued to take a step back to get a panoramic view of the place.

"It's…it's so tiny yet so charming," she exclaimed as she went to appreciate the rather simple but tasteful wooden structure.

The small cottage was standing on wooden pillars, raised from the ground, and the front porch extended to surround the cottage and form what seemed like a roofed deck or balcony where one could stay outdoors.

The deck continued on, and she saw there was a door leading to the balcony, as well as another door leading to the kitchen next to the common area where Ember and Draven had a meal.

Aside from the brick slanting roofs and the short stone chimney attached to the kitchen, everything else was made of wood.

"You seem impressed," Draven said as he reached her  side, wondering which part of that common-looking cottage made her react in this manner. "It looks ordinary."

"It's wonderful because it's ordinary."

Ember's smile held a tinge of longing.

"This size, don't you think it's perfect for two people?" Before Draven could answer, she continued, "When I was young, I used to dream of building my own house, just for me and my nanny. A small wooden house, nothing fancy, with an open porch like this where we can spend time watching the scenery around us and enjoying the good weather.

"However, it was nothing more than a child's dream. Not only was the scenery in that mountain full of  dead trees, the wood in the forest were rotten and could not be used to make furniture, much less a house. We had no other choice but to live in a cave…"

"You can have this cottage for yourself now," Draven offered.

"But my nanny is no longer here with me," she replied, her eyes turning moist at the memories. "It will still remain a dream."

Draven put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. After a few moments of silence, she peeked at him and spoke, "Can we just stay here instead of that huge palace?"

He turned his head to look at her. "Do you want to?"

"If it's possible?"

She pointed towards one place near the riverbank.

"There, we can make a garden to grow vegetables for our food. Since we're by the river, we can always get fish. We can rear chickens and other small animals as well. Rabbits, I like them so we can grow lots of vegetables for them to eat as well."

Getting more and more excited, she pointed at the tall tree next to the cottage.

"That tree, we can put a swing on it, like the one in the palace. Oh, and we can also bring Ray with us and put Ray's cage on the front porch. We can have a few more birds as our pets and…"

Ember continued to talk about the various things she imagined for her dream home, and Draven patiently listened by her side, picturing everything she was saying in his mind.

"...and—" She paused mid-sentence, shyly sneaking a peek at his face. He got out of his imaginary world beautifully painted by his mate's words and wondered why she stopped.

"And?"

"And you, me and our future kids can have a happy life here. A perfect family."

Draven was taken aback. "Kids?"

A few days back, she was adamant on not having any kids, and now, she was thinking about them?

"Hmm." She nodded with a faint embarrassed blush on her cheeks.  "Not now, but won't we have any later? I think I will be ready to have kids once I mature and learn how this world works so our kids won't have a naive and silly mother."

Draven found it adorable, calling herself silly. "They will love their silly mother."

"I want to be a wise mother," she countered with a pout.

"You are wise already."

"I know you don't mean it. Don't try to tease me."

"I am telling the truth."

"I don't believe you." She walked away and Draven followed her, a smile still lingering on his handsome face. The more he interacted with her, the less he could help himself from finding each and every action of her adorable.

"Where are you going?" he asked, seeing her continue walking without a direction in mind .

"Wherever," she replied, not even turning to look at him.

Draven continued to follow her. "Shame. I was initially planning to take you to a nearby waterfall but you have other plans."

As expected, she bit the bait. He watched his mate stop and turn to look at him with a suspicious gaze. "Waterfall where?"

"At least not in the direction you are going," he replied, smiling playfully.

"Umm." She looked around and her gaze stopped at the nearby hills. "There?" She tried to listen to her surroundings. "I guess I can hear the sound of water falling from that direction."

"And you say you are not wise?" he asked and reached her with long strides, only to hold her, and the couple disappeared from where they were standing.

When Ember regained her sight, they were no longer in the vicinity of the cottage. They appeared at the part of the hill from where they could see the water flowing along the rocky surface and falling down towards the base of the hill, where a pool of water had formed underneath, and the water was so clear one could see the plants and rocks at the bottom.

The feeling of the cold breeze against her skin, the sound of water falling, and the sight of the water flowing along the rocks, the peaceful beauty of the place stole Ember's breath away. .

"So this is a waterfall? I am seeing a waterfall for the first time!" she exclaimed in awe. "This water, it leads to the river near the cottage, right? Amazing—"

The sight was nothing much to Draven. It was neither the largest nor the most beautiful waterfall in Agartha, but that was not the case for his mate. Ember was as ignorant as a newborn child who got to see this world for the first time. Since nothing beautiful exists within that haunted mountain, even the simplest sights were wonderful for her.

"Can we…can we approach it? I don't want to get wet but just enough to—"

Even before she could complete the line, she was whisked away by her mate, only to reappear at the edge of the pool underneath the waterfall.

Ember clung onto Draven, fearing that she would slip. The ground at the base of the falls were nothing but wet rocks, as water would sprinkle into the air after falling from such a height.

"No, I'm getting wet! Why are we so near?!"

Ember laughed as she held onto Draven. Despite her earlier words, she found being close to the spray of water thrilling. Even Draven was not exempted from getting drenched, and she found the sight of his muscles glistening under the sun to be beautiful..

Like a little girl, she curiously put her hand forward, letting the water spray on her palm, and found the sensation quite ticklish.

"So cold but feels good," she giggled while other hand continued to wrap around Draven so she wouldn't slip into the pool of water by mistake.

"You can let go—"

"No! If I fall into the water by mistake, I might not make it out alive," she complained, only to hear her mate chuckle.

"You'll only die if you drown."

"I'll drown. I don't know how to swim."

"Shall I teach you?"

"Yes? No, maybe next time—"

"Shall we try it now?"

"What? No!" She looked at him in disbelief. No, no, no. I know I can't. This water is too scary—"

"I will take you to the not so scary part then," he said and held her hand to guide her farther from the falls.

Ember's every step was careful as she grabbed his hand like her life depended on it.

After walking carefully along that wet rocky surface at the banks, they safely reached the part of the river where the water was flowing considerably slower.

"It doesn't feel scary here at all, right?" he asked.

"I guess, this part should be shallow," she replied while removing her shoes.

As soon as she stepped on the water reaching her ankles, she playfully kicked towards Draven, spraying water in his direction. She made a face at him. "That's for bullying me earlier. Hmph!"

"Not like this," he stopped her. She looked at him with a puzzled expression, only to hear him say, "Take off your clothes."