Emary sat in a tree branch with her legs swaying. The wind blew against her skin calmly. She channeled nature magic into her palms and grabbed the tree beneath her. The elf grinned, feeling that the tree was healthy.

Elanore flung herself in front of Emary's face. The vampire hung upside down from a tree branch above the elf. The vampire smiled, showcasing her white fangs. Her crimson eyes stared into the elf's.

"What are you doing?" The vampire asked.

Emary sighed and pushed the vampire's face away from hers gently. "I was checking on the health of the forest."

The elf leapt from the tree and started heading back towards the castle. Naturally, the vampire followed after her.

Elanore took a few strides to catch up. "Do you always have to check on the forest? Is this a customary thing for you to do?"

Emary nodded. "It's a part of my daily routine. Though, I thought you would have figured that out by now with how much you like following me. Don't you have better things to do in your room? Or perhaps you should go hunting? You need blood to sustain yourself, right?"

The vampire pouted. "Why are you always acting so coy?" Elanore placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head. "I thought you wouldn't enjoy me hunting. Wouldn't that be a violation of the animal rights or something?"

"You truly know nothing about elves."

"All of my knowledge comes from books I've read. What about vampires? Do you know anything about us?"

The elf shook her head honestly once they reached the castle's hallway. She stopped in the corridor. "I don't know. I apologize."

Elanore's eyes widened, and she pressed her face close to the elf's curiously. "Why are you apologizing?"

Emary sighed again. "I guess it's just a royal habit, and you are a royal pain. By the way, won't you be leaving soon? Don't you have some people that are worried about you?"

Elanore shook her head. "Nope, not at all."

The elf looked at the vampire and frowned. Emary felt confused about the small pain in her chest. She watched the vampire's face become dispirited, and her heart throbbed. Emary reached a hand hesitantly towards Elanore's head but stopped herself.

"Hmm?" The vampire asked. "You were about to pet me weren't you?"

Emary's face filled with red, and she turned away. "I was not! I was just going to move you out of the way, so I can get to my room."

The vampire hopped after the elf. "Well, the truth is I don't mind if you pet me!"

"I wasn't going to pet you!"

"You totally were!"

Emary pushed the vampire to the side as they rounded a corner, but then she heard the shattering of an object. The elf's heart stopped.

She saw a broken vase on the floor. The thing had a red depiction of a dragon, and it looked to be dislodged from a nearby stand.

"Oooh," the vampire said, while looking at the broken pieces. "You are in big trouble, princess."

Emary shook her head, thinking what would happen when the dragoness found this scene. She pictured dragon flames burning her to a crisp and turning the poor elf to ash, and she thought of Bery's sad face when the inevitable tragedy unfolded.

"I didn't do it!" The elf shouted and got to her knees. "You were the one who bumped against it!"

"Hey! You were the one who pushed me!" The vampire dropped to her knees as well and began picking up some of the pieces. Many of them were too small and hard to scoop up.

The elf bumped her head against the vampire's and cut her finger on one of the shards in the process.

Emary looked up with a frown. "Why did you do that?"

Though, the vampire in question looked to be in a trance. She stared down at Emary's finger dripping with blood. Her crimson eyes were narrowed at that point, and the vampire followed the finger like a hungry predator with her gaze.

Emary pulled the finger to her chest, dropping the pieces of vase in the process, and inevitably making a bigger mess. "Don't stare at my finger like some hungry predator."

Elanore turned her head away. "I...I'm sorry."

Once again, the elf felt that throbbing in her chest. She looked at the vampire's sullen eyes. She shook her head and tried to avert her gaze. Don't let this dummy vampire make you feel bad for her!

The vampire reached towards the shattered pieces on the floor. She started scooping them up with her hands and placing the pieces on her shirt. The vampire made the bottom of her shirt into a little bowl for each broken shard, while the elf watched.

"Don't worry about it," Elanore said, "I will be the one to take the blame."

"You what?"

The vampire smiled gently. "Think about it this way. That dragon already expects that I will act up. I can tell her that I tried to steal it, and then I dropped it along the way to my room."

"Why would you do that?"

Elanore shrugged. "For some reason, it makes me feel happy knowing that I can do something like this for you. Even if I will be the one punished, I would do it for your sake."

Emary's face reddened. "You don't even know anything about me…"

Elanore stood up and placed all of the broken shards on top of the stand. "Well, I do know some things about you. It's just as you said earlier. I've been following you around this whole time since we got here."

The elf sighed. "Normally, that is not a thing that people would mention so casually. In most cases, people would be executed for stalking elven royalty."

Emary looked down at her bloodied finger and grit her teeth. She lifted it and wiggled it in front of the vampire. "Just this once. If you are taking the fall for my folly, then I will give you something in return."

Elanore stared at the finger and licked her lips. Even though it was right in front of her, the vampire somehow managed to hold herself back. She closed her eyes and turned her head. "I do not need a pity gift."

Emary frowned and pushed the finger even closer beneath the vampire's nose. "What's the matter? You can't even accept something as small as this? I am a princess who's lived for many years. Something this small is not a bother." The elf pushed her finger against Elanore's lips. "Don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot?"

Elanore took the finger into her mouth.

Emary felt the vampire's tongue press against it, and she felt a tingly sensation. While the vampire suckled on her finger, the elf's heart pounded in her chest. She found herself staring at the helpless vampire in a new light. She looked at Elanore's closed eyelids. She followed the smooth contours of the vampire's face, and her eyes landed on Elanore's plush lips.

The thumping of her heart was relentless. She wanted to pull her finger away from the ticklish sensation, but the vampire looked so happy and content. She was almost like a baby that found something to suck on.

Elanore stopped after a while and pulled Emary's arm from her face. "I hope you realize what you just did."

"I was just giving you blood?"

The vampire sighed and pushed Emary up against the wall. She exhaled against Emary's neck.

Emary felt that same tingle from before run all the way down her body. In all of her lifespan, she'd never felt this feeling. Something strange burned hot in her core, and she had an inkling what it was. Yet, she didn't want to give it the proper name in her head. Lest she fall into depravity.

Elanore sighed and pulled away. She looked at the broken pieces on the small table. "Let's just hope that my death is a quick one."

Once again, Emary felt a pain. The elf shook her head and moved over to the shards. "It's okay. I think I can stitch them together with my nature magic. It might look strange, but there is a chance she won't notice it."

"You would do that? I thought you were the type to not lie about these things."

The elf crossed her arms. "Hmph, and that is where you would be wrong. I lied to a bunch of people to get where I am at right now. I'm currently banished for a year, after all."

Emary channeled her green magic into her hands and placed them on top of the broken pieces. Microbranches began weaving into the pices, and they started coming together.

"Your magic really is as beautiful as you are."

The vampire's comment made Emary's face redden once more, but she clenched her teeth and focused on the task in front of her.

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