"Are you certain she’s asleep?"
Mara lowered her head towards the head witch.
"Yes," Mara said. "She fell asleep about... two hours ago. I checked and she was still sleeping about thirty minutes ago."
The head witch Nessa snorted. "You may go now."
"But— " Mara frowned. "The King told me to stay here and— "
"This is the Priestess’s words. It’s either that or— "
"Alright. Alright. I will leave," Mara looked like she was about to cry. "I’m leaving."
Seeing her disappear from the dark, Nessa snorted. "Coward."
"What are we going to do now?" The woman next to Nessa asked.
"What else? Once they are done, we are going to ask her to follow us." And it didn’t take too long for them to receive the signal. The casting has been done! Without knocking, they walk inside Ava’s room and immediately found her on the bed, sleeping soundly.
"Hey..." Nessa tried to shake Ava’s shoulder. "Hey!"
"Aren’t she supposed to wake up after that?"
"She’s a powerful witch," Nessa said. "But there’s no way she was prepared to fight the poison inside the food and the spell." Of course, Nessa was only confident about this matter because Mara told her that Ava ate the food that they gave her earlier.
"Hm?" Ava opened her eyes, confused. She looked at the two women in front of her.
"Get up and follow us," Nessa uttered. "No need to change your clothes."
In response, Ava got up without saying anything. Seeing this, the maid next to Nessa let out a surprised gasp.
"Let’s go," Nessa said. Nessa and the witch left the room with Ava behind them.
"Head Witch it’s a bit cold, are you sure it’s alright for her to walk around wearing her nightgown?"
"Who cares about that?" Nessa hissed. "If anything, this is just a light punishment for actually seducing the prince!"
"But— what if she would suddenly get sick and— "
"You think a simple cold could make a witch sick?"
"I— " The other witch named Rinah just lowered her head and eyed the silent Ava who still looked confused.
After a few minutes, they finally arrived at another floor where the witches who serve the kitchen stay.
"Wait here," Nessa said as they stood in front of a wall made of what looked like some stone walls. After casting another spell, the wall slowly shifted into a door.
She opened the door and started walking on a narrow pathway that could only fit one person. The dim bulb from the pathway ceiling gave them enough light to let them see at least ten meters of what was ahead of them.
After so many twists and turns, they finally arrived at another door. This time, the door opened on its own, revealing a few other women inside.
"Priestess... she’s here." Nessa bowed towards Ulva.
"Good."
"Are you sure she’s..." One of the witches approached Ava and stared at her face then she said, "Turn around."
In response, Ava turned around.
"Remove your clothes."
"Antonette, I don’t think that’s— "
"Shhh... I just want to make sure that— " Antonette stopped speaking when Ava started undressing without even blinking an eyelid. She removed her nightgown.
"That’s enough," Ulva said when Ava was about to remove her underwear.
"Priestess, I was just— "
"We only have a few minutes. Now, are sure that the spell worked. You may leave us alone."
The other witches immediately left without saying another word.
"Tomorrow, you won’t remember anything about this," Ulva said. "As a woman and a fellow witch, it pains me to see you being treated like this but— you brought this to yourself. You seduced a prince and became his only witch. Now, the others are angry. I cannot really control other witches’ emotions, can I?"
Ava only blinked in response. Just like earlier, she still looked lost.
"Tell me... why did you come here?" Ulva asked.
"I am looking for Matthew," Ava answered.
"Why?"
"Matthew left me inside the mourning pits. He said it would keep me safe. But it has been months since I lost contact. I was worried."
"Worried?" Ulva snorted. "Why worry for your lord? You are nothing but his servant."
"Matthew loves me," Ava answered.
"Love? You believe the next Lycan King loves you?"
"Isn’t that why he chose me?" Ava had a shy smile on her flushed face.
"Chose you?"
"Yes. He could have any witch that he liked but he picked me. That and he told me he want me."
Seeing Ava’s face turn redder, Ulva sighed. It turned out that Ava was just a love-sick fool. Was this really the case? She decided to probe more.
"So when you were at the Mourning pits, who took you in?" she asked.
"Oh... It was Baba who arranged it."
"Are you telling me that Matthew sends you inside the Pits to hide you? Aren’t you aware that you will forget whatever it is that happened in the pits?"
"I was there to become stronger. Matthew said so."
"He wanted you to become stronger?"
"Yes. Baba thought I was weak and that Matthew doesn’t deserve a weak witch like me. So, she told Matthew to send me to the Pits. That b*tch must have thought I would die inside that place. Well, guess what? I lived."
The anger in Ava’s eyes was too real.
Ulva squinted. Was it really this easy?
"One more thing..." Ulva uttered as she handed Ava a dagger.
The latter stared at the dagger before looking at Ulva in confusion.
"I want you to stab yourself," Ulva said.
Without any hesitation, Ava accepted the dagger. However, just as she was about to stab her stomach, Ulva said, "Stop."
Ava complied.
"It seems that the spell was indeed a success." The absence of hesitation from Ava’s action was just too much for it to be acting. "You can put on your clothes."
Like a good puppet, Ava gave the knife back and put her clothes back on.
"Tell me about your mentor," Ulva said when Ava finished putting her clothes back on.
"I don’t know his name."
"His?"
"Yes. He is a powerful witch. But I couldn’t see his face."
"Useless," Ulva muttered. "Alright. I will call you tomorrow night. For now, go back into your room."
Ava nodded.
After a few minutes, Ava was already back on her bed, sleeping.
Seeing her asleep, Ulva left her room and teleported inside the King’s room. She couldn’t wait to tell him, that Ava fooled everyone! Ava came here to look for Matthew!
That woman was only pretending to be confident in front of her! Ava led them to believe that she had something when she actually had nothing!
Infuriating!
"Your Majesty..." Ulva bowed at the man who was still drinking what looked like a blood-red wine. Of course, Ulva knew that the liquid inside the King’s cup was blood. Fresh blood.
"How was it?" King Josiah asked without looking at her.
"I believe that Ava didn’t know where Matthew is. The woman actually schemed to come here to find Matthew."
As expected, the King clicked his tongue.
"Are you sure that the spell can be trusted?
"Yes, your majesty. I did a series of tests and I even asked her to kill herself. She did so without blinking an eyelid."
"And you think she is really here because she’s looking for Matthew?"
"Yes. I believe, Matthew actually sent her to the Pits, expecting that she would die."
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