The Virtuous Dark Witch

Chapter 53

A soft, low chuckle made Elara Dessey freeze mid-movement. She looked up to see Austin Corell standing atop her ancestor's grave, his right hand gripping one wing of the Queen of the Ink-Wing Elves. Having already been stunned by his breathtaking beauty before, she was still struck by how stunning he was—but no longer lost in it.

The captured elven queen had lost all her earlier ferocity. She stared at Austin Corell with glistening eyes, as if she had just found a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

She'd given up struggling. Elara let out a faint, amused smile. Watching the queen's guilty expression, she was immensely grateful that Austin Corell had never set his sights on West Sea Forest. Otherwise, the forest's legend would have been shattered long ago.

Austin Corell held the queen's left wing, swept a quick glance around, then looked down at the grave beneath his feet. His face remained calm, but longing flickered deep in his eyes.

Memories of the past flashed through his mind. Even now, standing above her grave, he still could not believe that Selah Dessey was truly gone forever.

He still remembered the day they first met. She had been hired by a grieving Rozin man whose child had been taken, hunting down an Andros noble who craved the blood of children. He had also been searching for that same Andros noble—though he could not recall the name. They had crossed paths in the Lymein Plains.

She had assumed he was there to save the Andros noble. Without a single question, she summoned the dark spirits of the Lymein Plains to attack him. He had been clever, though; after dodging several strikes, he immediately tore out the noble's fangs. Only then did Selah stop.

Afterward, he asked her why she would help a Rozin kill an Andros. She had been blunt, pulling out a silver coin the size of an adult's thumbnail. Back then, the Moslin Bank had not yet been founded, the Andrea Kingdom was still only a plan, and Selah Dessey had been… barely older than little Elara.

From that day on, Selah Dessey and Austin Corell became friends. He watched her rise to become the Witch Ancestor, and she watched him lead the founding Andros ancestors to build the Moslin Bank and the Andrea Kingdom.

West Sea Forest was land he had granted to Selah. He believed the Andros were too unstable; a powerful force was needed to keep them in check. And that force should be one that felt kinship with humans, so the weak Rozin people could survive in the cracks between powers.

He had never expected Selah to leave so soon. When he learned she had been cursed by the Twin Spirit Curse, he did not worry. In his heart, Selah was invincible. He thought she could overcome anything—including the Twin Spirit Curse, including him.

But he had been wrong. Terribly wrong.

Austin Corell stepped before the tombstone and knelt down. His free left hand gently brushed the dust from the stone. He curled his lips slightly and murmured:

"The little demon snake runs away at the sight of me. It seems you finally realized in the end that the Twin Spirit Curse always comes in pairs."

But why him?

The Demon-Snake Cane had been with Selah for ages. It had developed a faint consciousness long ago, though it had not fully materialized. Then, nourished by Selah's witch power for a hundred years, it gained true sentience. It knew almost everything Selah had experienced.

Meanwhile, the Ink-Wing Elven Queen, wearing the Demon-Snake Crown, looked utterly repentant—though she would have seemed far more sincere if her beautiful black eyes weren't constantly sneaking glances at her "home."

Elara approached. The repentant elven queen sensed her presence and suddenly turned her head. Her delicate little face twisted with grievance, and large tears rolled down her cheeks, turning into thick moonlight before flowing back into her body.

Elara laughed at the sight. She looked at the kneeling man.

"Duke Austin Corell, I know you were dragged into this innocently. But every debt has its debtor. West Sea Forest is also a victim of the Twin Spirit Curse. You cannot assume Selah, the Witch Ancestor, meant to drag you down just because she was cursed."

Yes, yes! The elven queen nodded vigorously, her small mouth moving soundlessly—but that did not stop her from defending her master.

"Selah was a victim too. She didn't mean it. As soon as she realized the Twin Spirit Curse came in pairs, she began checking everyone around her. "

Austin Corell could not hear the queen's words, but Elara could sense them. She had been about to free the elf from his grip, but now she decided to wait a little longer.

The more the elven queen spoke, the more wronged she became. She did not notice Elara withdraw her outstretched hand. She wiped her tears and continued.

"When Selah realized the other cursed person was not from the Dessey Witches, she quickly thought of Austin."

"To confirm it, Selah dragged her injured body all the way to the Andrea Capital to find him. Once she was sure it was him and saw he had no severe symptoms, she chose not to tell him. Selah only wanted him to live proudly and happily, day by day. "

How noble! Elara was almost moved by the sincere friendship between her ancestor and Austin. Were they really just friends? Austin had used West Sea Forest to restrain the Andros. And the Witch Ancestor, after discovering Austin was also cursed, had hidden it from him…

At that moment, Elara felt she needed to readjust her worldview. Above all, she must be extremely careful when choosing friends.

Austin Corell had long noticed the interaction between the little demon snake and Elara. He simply stayed quiet. His intuition told him he was about to get the answers he sought. He lowered his lashes, a faint smile touching his face.

"After returning to West Sea Forest, Selah devoted herself even more to studying the Twin Spirit Curse. When she discovered that the curse would stop harming its host if the soul and body were separated, she immediately began devising a way. The Soul Rope of Shadow was what she created…"

Elara listened intently, quickly piecing together the information with what she already knew.

"When she saw Austin again, Selah noticed the curse had not yet shown obvious signs on him. She boldly guessed that her being alive was suppressing his symptoms. It might also have been related to Austin's natural healing ability."

At this, the elven queen closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and began wailing softly.

"I miss Selah."

"Is she repenting?" Austin sat down on Selah's grave, then released the elven queen's wing. He reached out and took Elara's hand.

"Don't stand. Tell me what she's crying about."

Her left hand, hanging at her side, felt his cool, smooth touch. She unconsciously tightened her fingers around his thumb. Elara felt as if she had just chugged a bowl of sixty-two-proof liquor. Heat rushed to her head. Yet she did not let go of that smooth, fine thumb.

Following his pull, she stiffly knelt down, staring straight at the sobbing elven queen. From the corner of her eye, she spotted little elves peeking from the black mandala flowers, struggling to stay clear-headed.

Austin Corell gently pulled his hand free and smiled at the elven queen.

"If you keep crying, I'll start crying too."

The elven queen acted as if she hadn't heard, continuing to wail.

"I miss Saint Umbra Silverwing too! If she were here, the two of us together could definitely beat sickly Austin."

The cool touch was gone. Elara immediately placed her hands on her knees. Listening to the queen's cries, she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"How did the Witch Ancestor figure out the other cursed one was… Duke Austin Corell?"

Austin Corell's smile grew more obvious at her words.

"Hic." The elven queen hiccuped, and her wailing stopped instantly. She smacked her lips, licked the tears from her mouth, and replied solemnly.

"The Twin Spirit Curse is tied to 'twins.' There's a faint connection between the two cursed people. But Austin's symptoms were faint back then—he felt nothing toward Selah."

"Selah guessed it was him because, after she destroyed one of the Twin Witch souls, she felt furious when the curse descended. She thought: If I'd known this would happen, I would have brought Austin along. Then the Twin Witch Ancestors would all be dead."

So… that was how Austin Corell got caught in it? Elara was both shocked and found it utterly melodramatic. No wonder the elven queen fled at the sight of him. She glanced sideways at the calm, innocent victim, swallowed hard, and chose her words carefully.

"That… the little elf says the Witch Ancestor always had you on her mind, so…"

"Selah and I only thought of each other in one situation," Austin frowned and smiled bitterly. "When there was a force we needed to suppress together."

So he was not entirely innocent, either.

"Selah was cursed after destroying one Twin Witch soul. I was the one on her mind when it happened." The answer made sense.

"Poppy Larissa was cursed after merging the twin souls of her unborn child in her mother's name. The person she cared about most then must have been Benny Larissa. So Benny is the other cursed one."

Elara had studied the curse in West Sea Forest for so long, yet she never imagined it would be like this. Her fingers brushed the black mandala on her Life Ring.

He had found the answer. Though unexpected, Austin Corell was not surprised. The Twin Spirit Curse was strange by nature. But he still had one question.

"Little demon snake… what about Selah's journals?" Why wasn't any of this written in them?"

He did not believe the Dessey Witches would alter Selah's notes for no reason.

That was what Elara wanted to know too. She turned and stared at the nervous elven queen, just like Austin.

The elven queen twisted her small hands, hesitated for a long time, and finally confessed when she realized the two would not let her off the hook.

"Selah didn't do it on purpose. She just thought it was better if you didn't know too much."

"Is that so?" Elara let out a stiff, humorless hum.

"Stop talking," the elven queen pouted and snapped at Elara. "We're on the same side. Selah knew that once Austin found out he was cursed, he would come to West Sea Forest for her journals eventually. So she didn't mention dragging him into it."

She was afraid of revenge, wasn't she? Elara felt a little sorry for the man beside her.

"To keep this secret, Selah suffered so much. She even refused without hesitation when Austin offered to turn her." The elven queen sighed.

"She refused transformation for two reasons: first, to keep her witch power and keep researching the curse. Second, she feared that if Austin drank too much of her blood, it would speed up the curse's damage to his soul and body.

Elara finally understood their friendship. A weight settled on her shoulder. She turned to see Austin with his eyes closed, his soul leaving his body. A sharp ache pricked her nose. She reached to open his collar—and sure enough, the ugly wounds had stopped spreading and were quickly fading.

"Not long after Selah was cursed, the Goddess Selena sent her a dream vision," the elven queen said, her expression softening as she stared at the wounds across Austin's chest. Tears fell from her eyes.

This time, her tears did not return to her body. They fell to the ground, sprouted leaves, and grew into black mandala plants.

The dream showed the seven-petaled blood core of the Sapharaya Mother Tree withering from its crimson center. The Andros, no longer restrained by bloodlines, ran wild, turning humans in droves and besieging West Sea Forest—the last pure land on the Mal Continent. The vision ended with a girl with dark purple eyes standing in the darkness, wearing a crown of black mandalas.

"Until her last breath, Selah was determined to break the Twin Spirit Curse," the elven queen said to Austin's body. "She never gave up on saving you."

She turned to look at Elara. She was different. Perhaps the girl with the black mandala crown and dark purple eyes was little Elara.

Elara looked at Austin Corell, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully despite having no breath. A nameless pain filled her heart. She had seen his immense power at the bottom of the Scorching Sun Pit. Yet such a mighty king was now so fragile.

"Selah had a guess near the end," the elven queen said, relieved to see another spirit lord emerge from the Dessey Clan. Her gaze fell to the Life Ring on Elara's left thumb.

"The Twin Spirit Curse comes because of 'twins.' Breaking it may be tied to love."

"What?" Elara's eyes widened slightly. “Love?”

The elven queen wiped her tears, crossed her arms, and spoke like an old scholar.

"I know the Dessey Witches have been researching the curse's origin and cure. I wanted to tell them, but they couldn't sense my consciousness like you can. If they can't sense me, they can't understand me."

Elara understood what she meant.

"Why do you think it's linked to love? What kind of love?"

"It was only Selah's guess," the elven queen stroked her chin. "Selah believed the curse most likely began with an evil ritual: forcing one twin to devour the other, even though they were meant to love each other.

Devouring a twin sibling is cruel. It is a betrayal of love. Yet the reason they betrayed love was because they were abandoned by it first."

Elara understood.

"Abandoned by love, they were forced by outside forces to devour each other."

The elven queen nodded.

“Yes. Love includes many things—parental love, sibling love, and so on. Twins are forced to merge in the womb because all that love was taken from them. The Twin Spirits see the merged twins as the most pitiful, innocent beings in the world. Everyone who hurts them deserves punishment."

Elara recalled what Benny had said: that as a twin himself, the Twin Spirit Curse did not harm him. That matched the Witch Ancestor's theory.

When Selah first guessed this, the elven queen thought the Twin Spirits must be blind.

“Abandoned by love, so…”

“The one who ties the bell must untie it,” Elara murmured, beginning to understand. “But what love, exactly? Whose love?”

It was still a puzzle—but at least they had a direction.

Cinderaven flapped his wings and strutted out of the carriage. The elven queen heard him and instantly darted onto his back, stamping her small glowing feet.

“Show off… show off! Why don't you wake Austin up then?!”

“Hmph,” Cinderaven could not hear her either. He held his head high, feeling the light taps on his back, and flew toward Elara.

“Looks like she's been disciplined. She's much gentler now.” He hadn't wanted to switch back to Austin earlier, not after that tyrant had kicked him flying.

Elara sat down on the ground. Her soft crimson * blood hair brushed her temples, and her heart fluttered. She propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands.

“What's wrong with your face? It's all red,” Cinderaven landed on Austin Corell's shoulder. “Are your injuries still hurting?”

“Thanks for asking. I'm almost better.” Elara blinked and asked casually, “Does Duke Austin Corell have anyone he loves?”

Cinderaven stared at her with his black bean eyes, thinking hard. After a long while, he replied.

“Does loving himself count?”

Lisandra had always thought he loved Selah, but he had always seen her as a little sister… no, more like a little brother. He never even thought of her as a woman. And Selah felt the same way. Before she became the Witch Ancestor, if she was wronged somewhere, she would drag him along to settle the score.

Selah's partner, Philippe Indra, was the one he had brought back to the Corell Manor. Fiona Dessey was Selah and Philippe's first child.

"That doesn't count." Elara gave up, then refined her question. "Do Duke Alexandra Stirling and the others love Austin Corell?"

Wasn't that a bit hurtful to a bird? Cinderaven scoffed.

"They can barely take care of themselves. Austin doesn't need their love."

"I think you're hopeless." Elara stopped discussing the matter with him. She would wait until Austin woke up. She glanced blankly upward, then slowly lifted her left hand, wrapped it around Austin's back, and held his waist.

"Let's go to my grave."

Cinderaven did not notice anything strange about Elara. He kicked off and flew to the last row of ancient tombs, landing beside the half-dug grave.

"You need to dig this bigger, otherwise Austin won't fit." His eyes drifted to Vaelena's tomb. He wanted to go stand on it.

She led Austin to the empty grave and laid him on the flat ground nearby. Elara turned and saw Cinderaven quietly creeping toward her great-grandmother's tomb. She immediately knew what he was planning. She snorted coldly.

"If you dare touch these ancient tombs, I'll stew you alive."

"Crow meat doesn't taste good." Cinderaven dared not move closer. He stood still before Lord Kelly Dessey's tombstone, his wings drooping.

"I wasn't going to touch them. I just wanted to pay respects to an old friend."

"Hmph." Elara did not believe him. She channeled her witch power and continued digging.

"Once I've settled Austin's body, I'm going home. If nothing comes up, I'll leave for Anastas City the day after tomorrow."

"I'm coming with you!" Cinderaven thought Elara was trying to leave him behind. He spun and darted to her feet. "You can't leave me. Now that Austin's body is back, you can't make me stay away from him too long. Otherwise, when you get back, Selah and Vaelena's graves will definitely be dug up."

Elara chuckled.

"Thanks for the reminder." She had planned to bring him anyway.

Once the empty grave was dug, she set up a barrier inside. She placed Austin's body in the barrier, then sealed the grave. Staring at the blank tombstone, she thought about one day lying there herself and felt strangely peaceful. She smiled brightly, then turned to gather black mandalas deep in the forest.

She was gone only half a month. The forest was unchanged, except for fewer rotting fruits and aged mushrooms on the ground. Her second brother's business must be doing well.

After picking enough black mandalas, Elara returned to the ancient tombs.

As always, she offered black mandalas to each ancestor. Finally, she stopped at her grandmother's grave. She had so much to say.

"I left the forest this time and saw my aunt. She didn't disappoint you. She has taken up the Silver Frost Moon Cane again… Anastas City and the Luohe Plains now belong to West Sea Forest…"

Inside the castle, Polina finished eating, helped her Mama clean the kitchen, then immediately boiled water to bathe Diane Dessey and Dana Dessey. Her Mama always worried they would catch a cold, but Polina insisted on bathing them every three days.

"Diane and Dana are still little. All they do is nurse and sleep. They smell fine. Why bathe them every three days?" Vihani knew it was useless to argue, but she wanted to complain anyway.

"They will grow up to be powerful witches just like their aunt, Lord Elara Dessey. If you make them sick, I won't forgive you."

"Lord Elara is indeed a powerful witch, but whether they will be too is still unknown," Polina said. So many things could change as they grew. She had to build good habits from infancy. "Everything starts with the little ones." Not a single day could be wasted.

After David finished sorting the goods to be shipped out of the forest the next day, he went to his mother's room. He saw his father holding a copy of the Book of Witchcraft Initiation, reading softly to the cradle by the bed. A smile touched his face, and his heart felt calm. He glanced at his mother lying quietly on the bed, sorrow filling his eyes.

When the water was ready, Polina had David carry the large wooden basin into the moonlight. Mond knew his two little darlings were about to bathe. He spoke gently to the babies, who lay awake and moved their small mouths.

"We'll stop here for today. We'll continue tomorrow."

He closed the Book of Witchcraft Initiation with a smile and took a glass bottle of Moonlight Dew from the cabinet. David and Polina were ordinary people; they could not cleanse the babies' bodies. Mond knew the Moonlight Dew could not be spared for their future.

Elara had just stepped out of the forest holding a black mandala when she heard Polina's voice. Before she could speak, she heard her say:

"You better remember this. Elara Dessey earned her reputation with her life. It's not something to be messed with or tarnished."

David held little Diane in one arm, listening to his wife's firm lecture, and smiled.

"They can't understand…"

"Don't say that. Words are learned little by little. They'll understand once they hear it enough." Polina washed the baby's armpit. "Elara Dessey will become the most powerful witch on the Mal Continent." If you dare shame her, I'll change your last names. I won't let you stain the Dessey name."

The most powerful witch on the Mal Continent? Elara frowned and smiled, looking down at the flower in her hand. She turned around. To keep her sister-in-law from being proven wrong, she decided to return to the tombs and work hard. She would go home the next morning.