The Devil's Cursed Witch novel Chapter 195

“She is my mate, and even if she suffers, it is none of your concern. She suffers, she dies or whatever, that has nothing to do with you.”

“Do I need the King’s permission to have the right to be concerned? Are you treating her not as a person but as an object you owned?” Morpheus enjoyed the murderous expression on Draven’s face. “Tell me, how can I not be concerned about her when she smells so good? I simply cannot stop myself,”

Draven gritted his teeth at the evil words he said, “You don’t deserve to be her friend.”

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“You know better than me whether what you did is wrong or not.”

But Morpheus was unrepentant. “So tell me, what did I do wrong?”

Seeing him continue to provoke him, Draven’s last patience snapped.

Another reason Draven let Morpheus be with his mate was not only because Ember needed a friend, but due to his lingering guilt for Morpheus himself. He felt guilt over how his past mistake ruined his former comrade, and that was why he allowed their friendship. For the first time, he witnessed the shapeshifter show interest in something aside from his revenge.

“I thought your friendship with her might help you out of your obsession for revenge. I thought you won’t at least break her trust in you, but you simply don’t deserve it…”

Morpheus coughed out blood and started to laugh in disbelief.

“So Your Majesty was making up for the loss of my family and my loneliness by letting me borrow his mate…? Do you hear yourself? Do you honestly–ah!” He spat out the blood from his mouth and continued, “Hah…You sure are so funny, Draven…you got me…”

Morpheus broke the invisible power pinning him to the wall and fell on a single knee as he gasped for breath. He was mumbling words in between each gasp, and Draven had no problem catching what he was saying.

“…I wonder why did I even stop? I should have just… gone ahead with it…tsk…sad that she stopped me, I did not try to seduce her… But now I really regret it. With little push, she would have felt it impossible to resist me… When someone is in heat, they tend to lose their mind…”

Crash!

Once again, the badly battered body of the shapeshifter was thrown against the side of the mountain, and this time, Draven didn’t stop with just one or two–he threw him, again and again, using his powers.

It only ended when Morpheus’ body broke through the rocks and ended up sliding inside a random cave, his body leaving a harsh trail of overturned rocks on the ground. His entire body was covered in blood and he looked like he had no strength left in him.

“Haa…it hurts…but not enough…”

Morpheus heard steady footsteps echoing inside the cave, the sound getting louder as it approached him, and he slightly turned his face to look at the furious Draven glaring down at him.

Despite having his entire face covered in blood to the point he’s nearly unrecognizable, he still smiled at him, the trademark lopsided smile he wore that felt especially mocking on his face.

“Is that it…? But…am still alive…tsk…You still can’t kill me…?”

Morpheus’s body was already in such a miserable state, but that did not stop him from continuing to provoke Draven. The once proud warrior was panting, many of his ribs broken, and he could barely open his eyes, his ash grey hair dyed red with his own blood, yet the broad grin on his face remained.

“If this…all… you got, Your Majesty–cough!”

Blood was pooling on the ground underneath his body, but there was not a tinge of pain on his face. He even seemed entertained by the situation.

“…her lips…sweet…should have…kissed her…more…”

It was as if the world had become white for Draven, and by the time his senses returned, Morpheus was no longer on the ground and there was a new gaping hole on the walls of the cave.

Draven took slow strides towards where he could hear the shapeshifter’s gasps for air. Upon entering the hole, he found himself in another cave, one that looked like it had been someone’s residence at one point in time.

It was the cave that belonged to Morpheus’ sister, and the man’s already weak body was sprawled on the ground. He seemed to have collided against the shelves, causing the shelves to topple over and the things on them to scatter around him.

Draven bothered with nothing else other than that half-dead eagle letting out amused chuckles amidst his groans of pain. He continued to walk forward, but just after a few steps, he stopped as his black boots nearly stepped on an item that looked familiar to him.

A pendant necklace made of colourful woven threads.

Draven looked at it and gestured with his fingers for it to fly into his hand. The small circular pendant was made of redwood, and a pair of large wings were carved on its centre. It was an identity token, and Draven knew who it belonged to.

A young woman as radiant as the sun, long hair like silk spun out of gold.

The images of her innocently smiling face flashed in front of his eyes, and it was as if the sounds of her giggles echoed in his ears. But in a split second, those images and sounds were replaced by her face crying in grief, her lovely voice broken as she sobbed and begged.

Those were memories he had long buried in his mind. Draven closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to put them back in place, but the more he tried to ignore them, the heavier the weight in his chest became.

Draven looked around the cave which he had turned into a mess, but as his gaze landed on the familiar items inside, the more the memories he tried to bury turned vivid. The paintings on the wall, the decorations on the side, and the things scattered on the ground, all of them triggered a particular memory of their owner.

No matter where he looked, every inch of that cave reminded him of its owner.

“Don’t… touch…” he managed to say, “…give it…back…you monster…” Morpheus struggled to keep the last strand of his consciousness when he recognized what Draven was holding. He tried to crawl towards Draven, his broken arm reaching out to get from him that pendant necklace.