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The Witch They Bullied Is the Secret Curse Queen
Novelix
Completed
Mara is mocked as the most useless witch in Ravenwood Coven because her black cat seems incapable of killing, cursing, or protecting anyone. But when her sister is trapped in a blood-bound marriage contract that threatens to steal their family’s enchanted herb grove, every powerful spell fails. Only Mara’s cat can break through the ward—by forcing liars to honor every promise they ever made. That is when the coven discovers the witch they bullied has inherited a terrifying lost curse.
Chapters (2)
第1章
I was the most useless witch in Ravenwood Coven.
Other witches raised cats that could kill.
Elder Rowan’s silver cat could smell poison through a stone wall. Aunt Mira’s red-eyed tom could leave a curse in a man’s blood with one scratch. The twins next door had a pair of black cats that could track a thief across three counties.
Mine?
Mine made liars keep their promises.
The whole coven called me boy-crazy.
My father called me a disgrace to witchcraft.
“Mara Vale!”
The storage-room door flew open so hard that dust rained from the rafters.
I nearly dropped the porcelain bowl in my hands.
On the table, my cat Oath lifted her head from a saucer of honeyed milk. She was small, black, and perfectly ordinary-looking except for the thin crimson ring around her golden pupils.
Father pointed at her.
“Put that cat away.”
“She has a name.”
“I know.”
“Then use it.”
His jaw tightened.
“Oath.”
The cat purred.
I smiled. “She likes you.”
“She made Tobias Miller follow you through three villages last summer.”
“He lied to me.”
“He said you looked pretty.”
“And clearly he meant it.”
Father’s eye twitched.
“And the year before that?”
I went quiet.
He pointed toward the courtyard. “The rooster.”
“That was an accident.”
“It spent two weeks trying to marry the blacksmith’s hound.”
“That only proves Oath doesn’t discriminate.”
Father took a long breath, lifted Oath by the middle, and carried her to the iron cabinet in the corner.
“Your sister is getting married today.”
“I know.”
“There will be outsiders everywhere.”
“I know.”
“You are not using that cat on anyone.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
He stared at me.
I stared back.
“…Probably.”
“Mara.”
I threw up my hands. “Fine. But I still don’t understand why everyone praises witches who raise cats that poison people.”
“Because poison is useful.”
“So is love.”
“Your cat does not create love.”
“Details.”
Father locked the cabinet and slipped the key into his belt.
I folded my arms.
“What is so impressive about killing a man anyway?”
He closed his eyes.
I lifted my chin. “Making a faithless man crawl back and keep every sweet promise he ever made? Now that takes talent.”
“Go help your sister.”
He pointed to the door.
“And stay away from the cat.”
I muttered as I left, “One day, all of you are going to appreciate my work.”
I had no idea that day would come before sunset.
My sister Elena sat before a copper mirror while I adjusted the silver branches woven through her dark hair.
Her wedding gown was embroidered with moon-vines, the old symbol of House Vale.
She caught my hand.
“Mara.”
Her fingers were cold.
“I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“I don’t know.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “Maybe everything.”
“Elena, Lucian Voss is handsome, rich, and brought ten chests of gold as a bride gift.”
I straightened one of the moonstones in her veil.
“If he turns out terrible, we throw him off the mountain.”
She laughed despite herself.
“You don’t like him.”
“I don’t judge men by their faces.”
“What do you judge them by?”
I leaned closer.
“How much money they’re willing to spend on me.”
She tapped my forehead.
“You are going to suffer terribly because of a man one day.”
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“I’m too expensive.”
The wedding bells began to ring outside.
Lucian entered Ravenwood’s ceremonial hall beneath an arch of white winter roses.
He wore black velvet embroidered with silver thread and looked exactly like the kind of man women made bad decisions for.
Even Father seemed pleased.
He stepped forward and clasped Lucian’s shoulder.
“Take care of my daughter.”
Lucian did not answer.
Instead, his steward approached carrying a narrow wooden box.
Something in my stomach tightened.
The box opened.
Inside lay a parchment sealed with blood.
Father’s smile disappeared.
“What is that?”
Lucian unfolded it.
“Elena’s marriage contract.”
My sister went still.
“I already signed the marriage agreement.”
“Yes.”
Lucian smiled.
“You did.”
He turned the parchment so everyone could see the blood seal at the bottom.
Elena’s blood seal.
“According to the contract, the moment our marriage is completed, Moonshade Grove becomes the property of House Voss.”
Nobody spoke.
Moonshade Grove.
Three hundred acres of enchanted woodland.
Our herbs.
Our potion crops.
Our medicine.
The land that fed every family in Ravenwood.
Elena tore the veil from her face.
“What?”
She seized the contract from him.
Her eyes ran across the lines.
Then all the color drained from her face.
“No.”
Lucian smiled.
“You should have read before you signed.”
“I thought it was our marriage license.”
“You thought wrong.”
Father grabbed him by the collar.
“You tricked her.”
Lucian did not even flinch.
“A blood seal does not care whether a woman reads carefully.”
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“I won’t marry you.”
Lucian calmly adjusted his collar.
“That is your choice.”
He pointed toward another clause.
“If the bride breaks the engagement, the Vale family owes three times the bride gift.”
Father’s jaw tightened.
“And if we refuse?”
Lucian smiled.
“Moonshade Grove settles the debt.”
The hall fell silent.
Elder Rowan and the others crowded around the parchment.
They tried cleansing charms.
Fire.
Truth salt.
A blood-eating spell.
Nothing touched the contract.
At last Elder Rowan lowered his hands.
His face had gone gray.
“The seal is binding.”
Father looked at him.
“There must be a way.”
“There is.”
Everyone turned.
The elder looked at Lucian.
“The man who created the contract can destroy it willingly.”
Lucian laughed.
“Then I suppose you have a problem.”
Around me, witches who had spent their lives mastering curses and poisons stood helpless.
My sister began to cry.
Father’s hands shook.
And suddenly I heard myself say:
“Why are all of you trying to break the contract?”
Every head turned toward me.
Father closed his eyes.
“Mara.”
I stepped forward.
“If the contract disappears when he tears it up himself…”
I pointed at Lucian.
“Then make him tear it up.”
Nobody spoke.
I smiled.
“My cat can do that.”
第2章
“No.”
Father’s answer came so fast I almost laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
Elder Rowan frowned at me. “This is not one of your childish love tricks.”
“Oath is not a trick.”
“Golden venom couldn’t break the contract,” another elder said. “Your cat can?”
“She doesn’t need to break it.”
I pointed at Lucian.
“He does.”
A few witches actually laughed.
“Mara’s gone mad.”
“She thinks romance magic can save the grove.”
“Maybe her cat will make Lucian fall in love with a chair.”
I glared at them.
“That happened once.”
Father caught my wrist.
“Enough.”
He pulled me behind one of the pillars.
His voice dropped.
“Lucian has already asked questions about you.”
“So?”
“So you are leaving.”
“What?”
He pressed a pouch of coins into my palm.
It was heavy.
Too heavy.
I stared at him.
“This is everything you saved.”
“Take the back path through the northern woods.”
“What about you? What about Elena?”
“Don’t argue.”
His voice was harsh.
His hand was shaking.
“You’re the most useless witch in Ravenwood, remember?”
My throat tightened.
He looked away.
“So be useless somewhere far from here. Don’t stay and become another thing I have to lose.”
Before I could answer, Lucian’s voice carried across the hall.
“Master Vale, why send your younger daughter away?”
Father turned.
Lucian smiled.
“I’ve heard Mara has a talent for love charms.”
His gaze moved over me slowly.
“Once Elena and I are married, perhaps her sister can stay too.”
Father’s face changed.
“You touch Mara and I will cut your hands off.”
Lucian laughed.
“We’ll see who owns the mountain by nightfall.”
An hour later, Father had me locked in the watch cottage at the edge of the northern woods.
Two cousins stood outside the door.
“Mara, he’s trying to keep you safe.”
“I know.”
“Then stop kicking the door.”
“I can know he loves me and still think he’s being stupid.”
The wedding bells began again in the valley below.
I climbed onto the windowsill.
From there I could see armed men blocking the road to Moonshade Grove.
A boy came running up the path.
“Lucian’s men took the herb gatherers!”
I froze.
“What?”
“He says if the wedding isn’t completed before the final bell, he’ll accuse them of trespassing on Voss property.”
“It isn’t his property yet!”
“He says it will be.”
I shoved my coin pouch through the window.
“Open the door.”
My cousin backed away.
“No.”
“All of it.”
“Mara—”
I pulled off my silver bracelet.
“And this.”
“No.”
I yanked the moonstone pin from my hair.
“Last offer.”
His eyes widened.
A moment later, the lock clicked.
I ran.
The ceremonial hall was packed when I reached it.
Elena stood in the center, pale beneath her veil.
Several herb gatherers had been dragged inside with their hands tied.
Two were children.
Lucian stood beside them, perfectly calm.
“Half an hour,” he said.
“Complete the ceremony and everyone goes home.”
Elena was crying.
“I’ll marry you.”
“Elena!”
Father’s shout cracked through the hall.
She looked at him.
“If we lose the grove, we can survive somehow.”
Her voice broke.
“But I won’t let people go to prison because of me.”
Lucian smiled and lifted her veil.
“That’s my good wife.”
I moved through the crowd.
Father saw me first.
His face went white.
“Mara.”
He dragged me behind a pillar.
“I told you to leave.”
“I can fix this.”
“No.”
“Oath—”
“No.”
He shoved the iron-cabinet key into my palm.
I stared at it.
“Take your mother’s things from the storage room and go.”
“Father—”
“Go.”
The final bell began to ring.
I closed my fingers around the key.
Then I ran in the opposite direction.
Back to the storage room.
Back to Oath.
