https://youtu.be/BjGEBgQoSwg

When I woke up the next afternoon, I found myself on the bed in my room with Zaphira standing with her paws on the bed. 

"What...happened again?" I asked myself and pressed my hand to my head and tried to remember everything in order.

"Right. I was wounded by that vampire." I recollected back and opened my eyes wide as I checked for the injuries for there wasn't even the slightest trace of the deep wound I had.

"No way... My injuries are healed?" I screamed in fear and shock, at the same time. Zaphira quickly stood alert, staring right into my eyes and I patted her head lightly to calm her down.

"I'm okay, Zaph. It's just that... Zephyr has a lot of explaining to do." I exclaimed in a bitter tone and stood up. 

'Why did you do this, Zephyr?' I thought as I remembered the painful expression he had when he drank my blood. 

'Did you save me, or...'

I sighed and nodded to myself after a while before walking out of the room to find Zephyr. My heart started beating heavily as I found him near one of the pillars in the hallway.

" How are you feeling?" He asked in a relaxed tone, slightly turning towards me.

"What did you do to me, Zephyr?" I asked back with a glare.

"I just tried a certain method to keep you alive." He replied, still calm.

"Tried?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I've never done it before so I didn't know what would happen." He explained and I shrugged my shoulders before opening my mouth slowly.

"I guess it worked, then. Thank you." 

"You're just lucky to have your life back. At the price of becoming a vampire, you will heal much more at a substantial rate than you ever did as an Elf. But Right now, you're somewhere in the middle of being a vampire and staying an Elf." He told me while I stood dumbstruck, completely taken aback.

"Huh? What do you mean?" 

"Well, it turns out you're special. So it takes time for our venom to turn you into a true vampire unless it is what you desire." He looked away and continued, "You are Lady Zahara's daughter, so you should know better." He mumbled in a low voice.

I slowly nodded back to his words and as we talked, I noticed something white in colour passing through my legs to which I jumped back and looked at it.

"Was that Sylvis?" I asked Zephy and he nodded. 

Just then, Edgar came running after Sylvis, annoyed. The sight made me chuckle a little bit but I quickly changed my expression as I saw him getting closer to us.

"Catch her!" Edgar shouted at us and following that, I chased after Sylvis and managed to catch her after some time.

"Be a good girl and don't do that, Sylvis," I said to the cat as she continued scratching my arm while I held her, to which Zephyr gave me a frustrated look. 

"My hand is full of cuts now," I sighed to myself and was about to give her to Edgar when he shook his head.

"I am sorry, Irina. But can you please hold onto her till Lady Eleanor's room? It seems like she's more comfortable with you." Edgar asked me to which I nodded slowly as I eyed Sylvis for any more movements.  She tried to get away but I held her tightly and followed Edgar afterwards.

 We reached a room that was mostly decorated with flower vases and couches and I stared in awe as I surveyed it further. An elegant woman stood near a table and came towards us as she saw Sylvis in my arm.

She was wearing a long gown made of silk and also rich in velvet. It was further covered by a luxurious tunic, containing embroidered lace and gems. Over in all, she looked stunning and irresistible so I couldn't help getting nervous about being in front of her and flushed when she smiled at me all of a sudden.

"Lady Eleanor, we're sorry to keep you waiting. We found her." Edgar stepped forth and gestured towards Sylvis as he spoke.

"Oh thank you, Edgar." The woman replied, still smiling before she looked at me with utter curiosity.

"You are the one called Irina?" She asked and I slowly nodded before speaking.

"Yes. I've lived here for a short while, Lady Eleanor." I said, trying hard to not make eye contact with her.

"Just Eleanor is fine. And, thank you for bringing Sylvis back to me, It must have been hard to catch her." She said and the smile came on her face again.

Something told me in my mind that she can be trusted completely, but I wasn't going to take any chances. So I looked away, with my eyes on her, and said, "Don't mention it." 

I tried to hide my scratched arm when I saw that there wasn't even a trace of it. I figured that Zephyr's venom still had an effect on my injuries and gulped nervously when I saw Edgar's sharp gaze on me. In order to avoid his sharp gaze and frown, I spoke faster to Eleanor so as to leave quickly.

"Umm... Eleanor, I should be getting back to Zephyr, now." 

"Oh yes. I am sorry to have you take your time for this. Perhaps you could join me for a cup of tea someday?" She asked with a small pout.

'How can I resist that, seriously.' I thought.

"I'll be looking forward to it," I exclaimed with a smile to which she clapped her hands together in glee.

"Great, then. Farewell." She said before Edgar and I bowed our heads and left the room. 

On the way back to the hallway, Edgar stopped in front of me and raised his eyebrows. I tried hard to avert from his gaze but failed miserably.

"Explain." He insisted.

"Explain what?" I asked, pretending to be confused.

"This." He said and grabbed my arms which had scratch marks.

 I knew it wouldn't end in a good way if I made him angry. So I figured that I had to tell him the truth. But, I couldn't bring myself to give away that Zephyr did it.

"Oh, this... Actually, my father is a half-vampire so I inherited some healing powers from him." I replied, trying hard to speak in an innocent tone.

I also knew that he wouldn't buy it but to my felicity, he said nothing and stared at me for a short moment, while I took secret glances back at him, trying hard not to give away myself. And as we stood still there silently, Zephyr came walking towards us, keeping his eyes on me.

"Irina, you have a job to do. So, come with me now." He glanced at Edgar and continued, "Lucas wants to talk to you, Edgar."

"Hmm... Well, I have a few things to tell him too." Edgar glanced at me as he walked away to the farther part down the hallway.

  Zephyr and I watched him for a while, keeping sharp gazes on him as he walked further. Then I sighed to myself before turning to face Zephyr.

"What was that? What did he get to know?" Zephyr asked.

"Nothing," I replied, silently.

"Define nothing." He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, the scratches I had on my arm healed quickly because of your venom, and Edgar saw it. He asked me how they healed, and I lied that my father is half-vampire, so I inherited his powers. I guess he didn't buy it." I said, looking down.

I knew Zephyr would get mad at me so I stood still, waiting for him to blame it all on me. However, he said nothing and was lost in thoughts to which I looked up at him in surprise, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"You're stupid, you know? He remarked slowly.

"Thanks," I replied.

"It's alright though. Lucas and Edgar won't kill you or anything. But you could have told him I did it, rather than making out a lie which you already knew was useless." He said.

"But I thought--"

"Never mind that now." He cut me off and continued, "Anyway, don't let this get into your head, everything's gonna turn out just fine." He told me and nodded to himself.

"I hope so." I sighed again and we stayed quiet for a while before he broke the silence in a casual tone.

"Listen to me. There are a few ancient books in that corner. Take them to Zerav in the library and... well I guess I'll see you afterwards." He said as he pointed out to the corner of the hallway.

"Alright." I nodded and was about to ask again when he left me in a quick flash.

"Hey wait, Zephyr! Who is Zerav?!" I shouted in the direction he left but got no response.

"Ugh, he's so self-centred," I said in amusement as I walked towards the corner to get the books. 

One of the book's titles caught my attention and it read, 'Zahara and the lost prophecy.' I was about to open the first page when I heard someone coming up the stairs. So I collected all the books in my hands and faced the sound.

 Lionel came from the stairs and smiled as he saw me. I thought of my regret and quickly shrugged off the thought as I remembered Zephyr's words, and smiled back at him.

"Hi Lionel," I called.

"Hi, is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, well it's just that I can't seem to find the library," I replied to which he said nothing back and stood still, gazing at the books I held.

 I looked at the books and then at him, wondering what made him stay still because it was so not like him. I was about to ask about it when I remembered Zephyr's words again.

 'Let him be as he is.' He had said.

 So I decided I would ask about the whereabouts of the library rather than bringing up his sudden change of behaviour.

"Oh Lionel, can you please tell me where the library is?" I asked, to which he quickly diverted his gaze from the books and onto me before nodding.

"Come with me, I'll show you." He said as he started walking towards the opposite side of the hallway.

I followed him as he walked and reached a place I'd never seen before. A long passage went through a cutting between the wall and we walked through it. And soon, there was a bright light coming from the end of the passage that we moved forward to. A lamp stood at the doorstep we came to and Lionel stopped there before turning to look at me.

"This is the library." 

"Oh. Thank you for taking your time to bring me all the way here," I said, promptly and he smiled back.

"It's fine. I suppose I'll see you around?" He asked and I gave him a small nod before he nodded back and we parted our ways.