https://youtu.be/lLzoQT1n-Bk

As I entered the big library Zephyr referred to, I saw a person sitting at a table, reading a book, highly concentrating on it. I slowly cleared my throat to which the man raised his head from the book and looked at me with searching eyes.

"Are you Zerav?" I asked and the man stood up before walking toward me.

"You're right. I suppose you must be Irina, I've heard about you from my younger brother, Edgar." 

"Oh, so you both are blood-related?" I asked, curiously and  he replied with a nod before speaking, " Well, are you getting along well with everyone here?"

"Yes, I..." I began but swiftly changed what I was going to tell as I realized that I should not be trusting a man I'd never met before.

"Yes, everyone is so kind to me," I said.

"That's good, then. May I know why you're here?"

'How could you forget, Irina?' I asked myself in disbelief as I realized the real reason as to why I was there. So I slowly organized the books in my hand based on their size and bowed to Zerav before giving them to him.

"Zephyr told me to bring these to you," I said, politely.

"Oh yes, thank you." He replied with a small smile and took the books from my hands.

As he got the new books, he patted the top book cover and looked quite happy, then gestured to me to follow which I did. He explained all the books on every shelf in the library and I noticed that every shelf had labels and was organized as we walked further. 

A grandfather clock stood near the wall next to us when we walked towards a half-full shelf which had the label 'Ancient legends and prophecies.' engraved on it. It suddenly reminded me of the book I was curious about earlier and so I decided to ask him.

"Zerav, is it alright if I come here and read some books?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face at him.

"Well, of course. You can help yourself to any books in the library except the books on this shelf." He said in a firm voice and pointed to the shelf he just arranged, leaving me disappointed. I slowly nodded as I stared at the shelf but still decided to ask something else.

"Zerav, there's something I wish to ask you."

"What is it?" He asked back as he kept his gaze on me.

"Well, an Elf bitten by a vampire turns into a vampire, right?"I asked, hesitantly.

"Hmm yes, as long as they do not die." He replied.

"Then, are there Elves who don't turn into vampires right away, even if they get bitten by one?" I asked again.

"Why, do you know of such a case?" He stared at me silently.

"What? Umm no, I don't. But umm..." I looked quickly at the clock nearby and pretended to wince in horror.

" Oh dear, It's too late, I should get going now. It was nice meeting you, Zerav." I said and was about to move towards the exit when the front door opened and Edgar walked in, keeping his eyes on me before moving them onto Zerav.

"Zerav, Irina, come with me," Edgar said sternly.

'Here goes nothing.' I mentally facepalmed myself before walking outside the room with both of them. 

We were taken to Lucas's room and all the other vampires including Zephyr were there. The atmosphere felt heavy and my eyes wandered to find Eleanor but they didn't.

"Irina's here too. Now tell us what you want to say, Zephyr." Edgar said as he glanced at Lucas and then at Zephyr.

"What's going on? I don't understand." I confessed my confusion and Lucas broke his silence.

"Irina..." Lucas began and I focused my eyes on him.

"Yes?" 

"I heard from Zephyr that you are Lady Zahara's daughter and have got healing powers. How come?" He narrowed his eyes at me and I swiftly glared at Zephy who just stood there calmly, pretending not to notice my presence. 

"Edgar, Zerav, and I have met her back then when the attack took place. And also, you look a lot like her. So that really made it easier and I got to know about you instantly." Lucas continued which made me look back at him in an instant.

"You're saying that you knew from the start?"I asked, a little bit irritated, and he nodded silently.

"Irina, you were an Elf when I first met you but then the scratches on your hand healed immediately, I would like to ask you to tell us the truth," Edgar spoke from my side and I bit my lips in nervousness.

" Well, that sounds like a vampire's doing. Were you bitten by one, Irina?" Zerav asked directly at me.

I stood dumbfounded and thought of all the possibilities that are going to happen if I answer. Still, I knew I had to tell someday, so I decided to tell that Zephyr did it to save me from death. I was about to answer them when Zephyr spoke before I could.

"I did it." He declared and stepped forward.

"Zephyr, don't..." I began but he shot me a look that made me retract at once.

"You did it?! You very well know that Harold forbade us to not drink Elves' blood only for the satisfaction of our desires." Edgar glared at Zephyr.

"Zephyr, don't you have a reason for your actions? I would like you to quit playing around and explain. If not, we might lose a brother today." Zerav said in a low voice.

"You're going to execute me if I don't answer? Well, isn't that frightening?" Zephyr said with a smirk.

"Quit joking!" Edgar shouted and grabbed Zephyr's collar."Don't you know that your attitude is provoking people around you needlessly?" He continued as he had reached the limit of his patience.

"Edgar!" Lucas's voice suddenly boomed in the whole room and I nearly jumped out of my skin because I had never seen Lucas angry so I stared at him in shock.

Having his name called, Edgar got back to his senses and released his hold on Zephyr. Zerav put a hand on Edgar's shoulder to calm him down and he did so though he still gave Zephyr a sharp threatening look while Zephyr just shrugged his shoulders and looked at Lucas as he spoke.

"If you're done with asking me questions, am I free to leave now?" He asked and Lucas gave a small nod. 

However, I decided to barge in as I didn't want anybody to hold a grudge against each other. So I moved forward and blocked Zephyr's way out.

"What do you want?" Zephyr asked me.

"I'm not going to let you leave till I clear out everyone's doubts about what exactly happened," I said, firmly.

"No need for that."

"Yes, there is, you saved my life and I don't want you to be misunderstood by everyone." I stared right into his eyes.

"...Fine." He said and put on a tired expression, figuring that it was useless to stop me.

I turned towards the others who were watching us keenly and sighed to myself before opening my mouth slowly.

"Please listen, everyone. The way you accuse Zephyr of something he didn't do is completely wrong. Zephyr didn't drink my blood for his desires. Honestly speaking, I don't know if I would be standing here alive if he didn't save me." I said and glanced at Zephyr who stood there leaning against the wall.

"Save you?" Edgar repeated.

"Yes, he saved me. From a painful death, if I may add. And I don't know what kind of a person he is to you but for me, I believe he has a kind heart though he acts stubborn on the outside." I said, firmly and everyone including Zephyr stared at me in surprise to which I just shrugged back.

"I don't know what I just heard but if that's true, I'm sorry Zephyr," Edgar said, still looking surprised.

"Yeah, whatever," Zephyr replied.

I slowly smiled at them both and nodded to myself before turning to Lucas who moved forward at me at the same time with a stern look, making me shrug my shoulders again. 

"Irina.."

"Yes, Lucas?"

"I do understand what happened now, Irina. I really do, but I want you to be careful." He remarked silently.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked back, confused.

"It's just that you were bitten by one of us. And once bitten by a vampire, you can turn back into an Elf only if you drink Rosapast's evening dew within ten days."

'What?!' I screamed in my mind.

"Oh." I gulped slowly and figured it was better to tell them the truth.

'I have to.' I told myself before opening my mouth to tell them my true purpose for coming here. I hoped that they could help me, so I didn't leave anything and Zerav was the one to speak after I finished.

"To save your sister hmm? That's not something you could easily tell people, honestly." He nodded to himself as he continued, "Well if you need any help Irina, please don't hesitate to ask us."He said with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied with a slight nod and turned to the others who just stood there, staring at me and then at Zephyr. It made me kind of uncomfortable to have all the attention so I turned to go.

"Well, I hope everyone understands now. If you have, I'm going back to the library if that's fine?" I asked, looking at Zerav as I spoke.

 Lucas gave a small nod at me then at Zephyr but I was so embarrassed that I fled the room quickly, not waiting for Zephyr. However, once we were in the hallway, he just walked past me without even glancing at me and I figured he may be irritated with me so I chased after him.

"Zephyr, wait up!" 

"Can't you be quiet for once?" He asked back as he turned around with a sour look.

"I just wanted to know," I spoke slowly.

"Know what?" He narrowed his eyebrows at me.

"Well, I wanted to ask you if what Lucas just said was true."

"Yes, it is. With that being said, you can go drink the dew now. It's evening, as you can see." He exclaimed.

"I know but..." I began and sighed to myself before continuing, "I'm thinking that I might need vampire's blood to save my sister," I said silently.

"If you turn into one of us, you won't be able to turn back. You understand that, don't you?" He asked and I gave back a faint smile.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He stated firmly before he started to walk off again.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" I demanded as I stared at his back.

"Get some rest. Your wounds may have healed but you still lost a lot of blood. It would be annoying if you collapsed while on duty." He said with his back turned to me.

"I'm fine," I said, firmly and started to walk along with him.

However, the second I said so, I felt dizzy and started to fall. My body was going to hit the floor when Zephyr was in front of me in a quick nick of time and picked me up with his strong arms. His scent tickled me near my ear and my heart started to beat faster.

"I thought you said you were fine?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"Th...thank you. I'll be more careful next time... And I guess I'll stay in my room for the rest of the day." I tried to move away from him but I didn't have any strength left in me.

"There will be no next time." He declared quietly as he wrapped his arm around the back of my knees and started walking.

"What do you mean?!" I almost shouted and the sound echoed through the hallway.

"Don't shout in my ear. If you don't want me to drop you, stay quiet."He said coldly as always, but I couldn't help noticing something. 

I realized that he was careful not to hurt me with his sharp nails when he picked me up. His walking speed was also a little slower than usual and I couldn't help but smile a little. Although his face remained blank, his actions confessed that he was actually concerned about me.

"You're hard to understand, Zephyr," I whispered.

However, he pretended not to hear although I did see his lips curved into a smile. I felt a strange throbbing in my chest as I was enveloped in his arms and I slowly closed my eyes as he carried me all the way to my room.

When we got inside my room, Zaphira whined uneasily as she saw me and I smiled slightly in assurance. Zephyr walked towards the bed and carefully put me on it, careful not to hurt me in any way.

"Try not to move." He advised and I nodded slowly.

"Thank you."

"Hmm... You should take some rest, I'm leaving." He whispered and left the room after giving Zaphira a light pat on her head, which surprised me. I guessed she was too because she stared at him even after he left.

'After he left, she quickly came by my side and got on the bed, leaning close to my chest. My eyes turned droopy as seconds passed and I glanced at her once again before drifting off into a deep slumber.