The Virtuous Dark Witch

Chapter 6

At eight in the morning, a four-wheeled carriage, bathed in the morning light, slowly rolled toward the edge of the forest under the gaze of Mond and his two sons. Elara leaned against the carriage's rear window and waved goodbye to her father and brothers: "Go back inside. We'll be back soon."

"Safe travels," Mond felt reluctant and worried, but he didn't dare show it too much—afraid of annoying his mother inside the castle.

Merlyn Dessey and Thea Dessey, sitting on either side of the carriage in their finest clothes, were also in bad moods. Both stared patiently at the ugly crow standing motionless on the low long table, their expressions full of disgust. Under their disdainful stares, the ugly crow remained dull and stupid.

Two old horses pulled the carriage to the edge of the forest. There was no road ahead, but the old horses didn't stop—they dragged the carriage straight forward and crashed into a thick tree. Elara, leaning against the window, felt her vision go dark; the castle disappeared, and the carriage was now traveling on a path in the forest.

She glanced at the plants on both sides of the path, closed the window, and sat up straight. She felt a little down about leaving home.

Merlyn tore her gaze away from the black crow and turned to the listless little one: "I don't mind you bringing this thing, but why do you have to keep it in the carriage?" The entire carriage now seemed to reek of disgusting bird droppings.

"It came with me, so it should be where I am," Elara reached out and touched the black crow, then pulled a handful of corn kernels from the treasure chest beside her. "I've never seen you before. Are you new here?" She pinched a kernel of corn and held it to the black crow's beak.

The black crow stared at the corn kernel for a long time before reluctantly opening its beak.

Thea looked at the black crow and felt it seemed like it had just woken up. "Elara, did you dig it out of a bird's nest?"

"Of course not!" This was a serious slander against her character. "Do you think I'm someone who forces birds? It got this chance to come with me all by itself…" Elara looked closely at the black crow—it had no other features besides being dull. "Cinderaven fought its way here."

"Cinderaven?" Thea chuckled and gently poked the black crow's wing with her finger. The originally dull crow instantly jumped aside, its feathers standing on end. Its two black bean-like eyes fixed on Thea, and it made a threatening cooing sound.

Elara reminded her: "You're invading its space. It has dignity too."

Merlyn frowned, a hint of doubt flashing in her brown eyes. Thea, however, found it amusing: "Elara, can you give it to me to play with for a few days?"

"Well… that might not be a good idea," Elara grabbed the crow—now acting like a fighting c**k—and pulled it to her side. She smiled foolishly at her aunt, then lowered her head and threatened the crow: "Behave yourself, or I'll make you fly behind the carriage."

To be honest, this crow was strange. Before yesterday, all the crows she had summoned had shiny, smooth feathers. After all, the West Sea Forest was huge, and there was no shortage of insects, berries, and more. But yesterday, this "refugee" had appeared.

At first, she hadn't paid much attention to it—even though its feathers were dull and looked like they'd been chewed by a dog, she just thought it had flown in from outside the West Sea Forest.

But this morning, when she opened the window, it landed on her windowsill in the blink of an eye—as if it had been waiting for her. And it turned out it really had been waiting. That surprised her.

The crow's raised feathers slowly lay flat, and it stopped cooing. It returned to its previous dull state.

Thea found it even more interesting. She pulled out a gold coin: "Elara, aunt will trade this gold coin for it, okay?" For some reason, this crow gave her a different feeling—especially the moment her finger had touched it, that strange feeling had reached its peak.

Elara's grip on the crow loosened slightly. Her eyes uncontrollably fell on the gold coin, and she struggled internally: "Aunt, do you only want this one crow?" I'll tell you—there are countless crows in the West Sea Forest that are smarter and more agile than Cinderaven. I can get you a whole flock."

As soon as she finished speaking, Elara gasped—her hand was sharply pecked by the crow, and a small piece of skin curled up. Now she really wanted to get rid of it.

"I don't want any others, just…"

"Keep this crow with you," Merlyn, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly interrupted Thea. "If it wants to leave someday, don't stop it."

“Sister…”

Merlyn looked at Thea and asked coldly: "Do you have a problem with that?"

Of course she did! But facing her sister's cold face, Thea backed down. She shrugged: "No."

Aunt had no problem, but Elara did. She watched the money she was about to get slip away, so she put aside her reserve and said: "I'll keep this one, but I'll find you a fat, strong crow. Still one gold coin—no extra charge."

The carriage fell silent immediately. Merlyn stayed out of the deal and closed her eyes to rest. Thea silently put away the gold coin and pretended to look around, muttering to herself: "Where are we now? I wonder if we can get out of the forest before dark?"

It was hopeless. Elara looked down at the dull-eyed black crow, her heart aching. She said seriously: "Cinderaven, you owe me one gold coin."

They had entered the forest at sunrise and emerged as the sun set in the west. The two old horses wandered eastward, picking at tender grass as they went. The three people in the carriage didn't urge them. After about an hour, the old horses—probably full—finally broke into a slow trot.

Outside the West Sea Forest was a vast green plain. It was nearly dark, and wisps of cooking smoke could be seen in the distance. Most of the Rozin people working outside had finished for the day and were heading home—it wouldn't be safe to stay out any later.

"Polina," a young blonde woman walked out of the kitchen carrying a basin of freshly baked black coarse bread. "Dinner's ready."

"Mama, look!" A little girl with two braids, wearing a gray linen dress, stood by the fence and pointed at the fast-moving carriage in the distance. "It came from the West Sea Forest."

The blonde woman's expression tightened. She hurried over, took the little girl's hand, and pulled her inside. "It's getting dark. We should eat and rest." She put the bread on the table, then took a small piece and stuffed it into the little girl's hand. "Eat this first. Mama will go lock the kitchen door."

Polina held the black coarse bread tightly with both hands and nodded obediently: "Okay." The smell of wheat filled her nose, making her mouth water. When she saw the young woman go out, a look of regret flashed in her blue-gray eyes.

She shouldn't have mentioned the West Sea Forest—it would make Mama think of the things she'd made up earlier to get them to move. Now, Mama was almost convinced that she could communicate with the Sun God Apollo. If she really had that ability, why would she come to the West Sea Forest?

Polina took a small bite of the black bread and sighed. Let the misunderstanding be—it was all to save their lives. In a month, the Andros progenitor Austin Corell would be resurrected near Anastas City. By then, the village where they had once lived would become Austin Corell's meal.

In the book, her mama hadn't escaped.

Yes, the world she was living in was actually a book—a story about a beautiful love between a mortal and a vampire. Fortunately, she wasn't the female lead. And the reason she had chosen to bring her mama to live outside the West Sea Forest was because of Elara Dessey.

Elara Dessey—the most powerful Dark Witch in the history of Mal Continent. No, not just a Dark Witch—she was the most powerful Witch in Mal Continent's history.

If the female lead, Roxane Mullin, was favored by heaven, then Elara Dessey was heaven's chosen child. Unlike Roxane Mullin, who was born a Rozin Person, Elara Dessey identified more as a human. She would also be one of the few powerful beings in Mal Continent who would treat Rozin people as humans in the future—probably because of her father.