Beyond the world of mortals was the realm inhabited by divine beings.

Some call it the abode of the gods, others the holy kingdom, but regardless of what the heavens was called, the heavenly realm was depicted as the most beautiful paradise in existence.

In the heavenly realm, there was no concept of night and day. Surrounded by a sea of white clouds, the hundreds of immortal palaces and holy temples in the clear blue sky experienced the eternal grace of the sun.

In one of the palaces, a goddess with a peerless appearance was strolling around a garden filled with sacred trees and immortal herbs, flowers blooming everywhere, each emitting divine light and fragrance that could increase a mortal’s fortune and virtue. Even a single blade of the most common grass in this garden was not ordinary and had been cultivated for at least a thousand years, nourished by divine energy of the heavens.

This garden belonged to Goddess Isis.

At this moment, the beautiful goddess was standing in front of a rose bush, but one could see the flowers were not simple. Each rose petal emitted a different color of light, making it look like a flower made of crystals.

Her delicate hand was mindlessly caressing the roses.

Around her, colorful birds were flying, singing happy melodious songs as if to praise the beauty of the world.  The sweet sound of water could be heard flowing from the small fountain at a distance.

It was a peaceful scene.

Soon after, an angel  arrived in the garden, and she bowed to the goddess after folding her wings behind her.

“This humble servant pays her respect to the Sovereign.”

A gentle voice reached the bowing angel’s ears.

“Have you prepared everything, Petra?”

Isis’s voice was calm as she continued to play with those crystal roses. From her expression alone, no one could tell the deity was getting restless.

An important day had arrived–the day the seal on Sierra’s daughter would begin to unravel.

“Everything is in order, my Sovereign. I came to inform you that my brethren had assembled and we will be departing in an hour,” Petra replied with her head still lowered.

“Make sure to not harm any human. Do not  disturb the orders of the mortal world. The last time, that human turned out to be a White Witch so I was able to make you escape punishment.”

“Thank you for your generosity, my Sovereign.” Petra felt guilty about her mistake. “This servant will make sure I will not cause trouble this time.”

“If you commit an act that will disturb the order of the mortal world, the pantheon will not spare you. Each time you negatively affect a mortal, your divinity will decrease. Divine beings can only touch divine beings–be they human beings or supernatural beings, do not harm the children birthed by that world. You can only touch Sierra and her daughter.”

“I will keep your instructions in mind, my Sovereign. I…” Petra had something in her mind, but she hesitated to say it.

Isis sensed her mood and asked, “What is it, Petra?”

“The reason we mistook that lowly White Witch as a human is because her identity was hidden from us by a spell. If that spell could fool our angels then the one who casted it must not be a mere supernatural being of that world. I have reason to believe that that spell was not casted by Sierra.”

“You mean another divine being is by her side?” Goddess Isis asked.

“Indeed, my Sovereign and…” She stopped her words, not sure whether to say her guess or not.

“Hiding anything from me won’t do any good to you, Petra.” Isis’ voice remained calm, but there was a warning in it which was enough to scare Petra.

“My Sovereign, I personally descended to the mortal realm before, and I felt traces of a vaguely familiar divine power after they successfully escaped. I am your strongest servant but even I feel palpitations from those traces, meaning the divine being protecting them in the shadow has superior strength and status than me. The one helping Sierra is someone using the divine power of the  water attribute.”

At that, Petra sealed her mouth shut, further lowering her bow. She was a mere angel. Though she was of the highest rank, the gods and goddesses of the pantheon were the true masters of the heavens; she dared not speak slander of a divine being higher than her.

The divine being she was suspicious of was the one Goddess Isis hated the most.

Goddess Isis’ hand froze.

Divine power of water?

Someone more superior than a highest-ranked angel?

The Deity of Water!

The divine power surrounding Isis fluctuated, and a breath later, the lovely rose under her delicate hand disappeared into nothingness.

“Evanthe is interfering?” Isis mumbled, her eyes glowing dangerously golden.

Petra was aware of her master’s anger and spoke nervously, “I believe so, my Sovereign.”

“She will not stop crossing my path, will she?” Goddess Isis let out a devastatingly beautiful smile, but rather than awe and reverence, one could feel bone-chilling coldness at the sight of her beautiful face. “Seems like what I did to her previously was not enough for her?”

“What shall we do if we come across the Sovereign of Water?” Petra asked.

“She is not a supernatural being of the mortal realm as well. You are free to harm her.”

Petra felt her palm turning sweaty as she could not imagine being able to harm someone like Evanthe. “B-But she…”

“She had lost her status as the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor long back. She was exiled and even though she still counts as a divine being, the pantheon rejects her existence. She is no longer part of the Primordials now. In the mortal realm, her real strength should be just that of an angel,” Isis said.

The goddess finally turned to look at Petra, as if something had picked up her interest.please visit pαпᵈα-:)ɴᴏᴠᴇ1.co)m

“His Majesty the King of Heaven made a decree back then. Though we are not allowed to deduce her life in the mortal world after she left the heavenly realm, I have reasons to believe that you know what she has been up to so far.”

Petra shivered in fear at being caught red-handed. “A-Apologies, my Sovereign. When I found traces of her powers while following Sierra, I became curious to know if that was really her.”

“So, you only followed her after that and not before that?”

Petra understood she could not hide anything from her master. “Forgive me! I was just curious to know what she was doing after she was exiled. But…I didn’t look into her life often. Only twice did I break the rule.”

She fell on her knees in front of Goddess Isis.

“I have sinned! Punish me, my Sovereign!”

Goddess Isis had a gentle, even doting, expression as she looked at the trembling angel.

“My little Petra, you have been loyal to me for so long. Do you think I will punish you for a small mistake of satisfying your curiosity? Immortality is dull and monotonous, and I will not find fault for you having a harmless hobby.”

Petra’s trembling stopped as gratitude filled her heart.

“Thank you for your generosity, my Sovereign!”

“Hmm, thousands of years should have passed in the mortal realm since she was exiled. Why don’t you entertain me, my servant? I am curious to know what kind of pitiful existence that arrogant Goddess had been reduced to.”

Petra felt relieved to hear Isis’ amusement and spoke humbly, her head still lowered while kneeling.

“After the Sovereign of Water was exiled to the mortal realm and her divinity was stripped off her, she roamed the lands as a witch…

“The second time I deduced her situation, I found that she empathized with the supernatural beings and created a kingdom with them.”

Goddess Isis lifted a hand to cover up her smile.

Pitiful, so pitiful! Ah, Evanthe. Your life had been so amusingly pathetic!

In the eyes of the deities, the supernatural beings were inferior beings akin to savage beasts, only slightly more preferable than the ant-like humans.

Petra continued, “When I next checked, she left that kingdom and mingled among the humans.”

“Humans?” Goddess Isis laughed. “How befitting. She is indeed worthy of living with those humans. Such a disgrace to the heavenly realm! Such a disgrace to the Heavenly Emperor!”

Seeing that she made her master happy, Petra could not help but say more, “And she married a human, some young king of a human kingdom.”

This shocked the goddess.

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“Indeed, my Sovereign,” Petra replied, “and the human she married is the reincarnation of that human boy who caused her to get punished by the heavens.”

It was an even bigger surprise for Isis. “Fate truly loves to play tricks.”

“Yes, my Sovereign. But the Sovereign of Water no longer has memories of her life in the heavenly realm.”

The musical laughter of the goddess filled the garden, causing the birds around her to merrily chirp in harmony. It was as if the sunlight became more dazzling, and the mood more delightful..

“The most cherished daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, the loveliest flower of the pantheon, the one who was meant to be worshiped as the Mother of All Creation until the end of time seems to be living a blissfully satisfied life as a lowly witch and humble wife to a human!

“Alas, if she is happy with her current life, then we should bless her wishes.” Isis shook her head, but amusement danced within her eyes. “I wonder how disappointed the Absolute must be with his daughter.”

Petra slowly lifted her head, glad and relieved that she could finally make her master happy. She heard her master continue speaking.

“How I wish that woman will regain her memories and see how she has turned into a lowly creature, bringing shame to the heavenly realm. She could only have an illusion of happiness because of her ignorance. What a disgrace.”

The goddess smiled at Petra.

“If you come across her, don’t hesitate to harm her. Though she is punished by losing her divinity, she is still a threat.”

“Yes, my Sovereign.”

Bowing her master, Petra left while Isis had that evil smirk on her face.

‘After I let that Evanthe leave so easily, I never thought I will get another opportunity to get back at her. Evanthe, you arrogant Goddess, you should have stayed away from the matters of heavens but seems like you have not learned enough from your last mistakes. I wish I could return you your memories if not for the rules of heavens which stops me from doing so. But I wish you to regain them and realise how you have shamed your father, the heavenly Emperor. After this, there is no way back for you here. Not your father nor the King can help you now.”

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A/N- A novel In Arlan and his runaway betrothed has been released on webnovel app. The third book of “Devil and Witch” series. Once again and Dragon and Witch- a young black witch, who I have mentioned before in this novel.

Title- The Devil’s Betrothed.

It is the entry for WSA 2023 contest. I wish all of your support once again as this can be the last WSA I am participating in. Let’s get a Gold this time, I believe we can. <3<3

You can find the novel in my webnovel author profile or you can simply search the title in webnovel app.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.