Ivan later led Ana outside the forest and surprised her yet again with another spectacular view. She was in awed as she stood near the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast land of Elfiro. There were no roads and highways, no billboards and skyscrapers like the ones back home. Instead, the beauty of untouched nature lay before her eyes. From afar, tall mountains surrounded the land. A river could be seen, trailing towards the side of one village. At the foot of one mountain, another cluster of trees stood, forming another wide forest. In front of it was a vast meadow that looked vaguely familiar to her.

Ivan pointed a finger towards the forest. "That is where you came from. That is where the portal to your world is."

"Oh," she managed to say, momentarily breaking her eyes away from the breathtaking view. The portal was very far from where she stood right now. It would take probably two days to get there on foot. But if she knew how to ride a horse... "Why did you show it to me? Aren't you afraid I will try to escape and go home?"

"You already accepted to marry me. I have placed my trust in you that you will not go against your word."

Right. She already agreed to marry him. She gazed up at Ivan, who was staring ahead, looking extremely proud of his beautiful kingdom. She could learn to like this place. And maybe, soon enough, she could really learn to like this elf. She was already attracted to him. Not to mention she already felt and accepted he was her mate.

She took a step away from Ivan and lay down on the grass. She closed her eyes and let the warm sun caress her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" she heard Ivan asked.

"I'm just enjoying the sun while I still can," she answered. "When I will pass my transition, I will never be able to do this. See the sun. Feel its warmness." She felt Ivan dropping low beside her, and when she took a peek with one eye opened, she saw him sitting on the grass, one knee drawn up while he stretched his other leg in front of him. He rested one arm on his knee while his other hand was planted on the grass close to her arm.

A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips and she resumed closing her eyes and basked underneath the glorious warmth of the sun. Both of them remained silent for a moment longer, until Ana felt Ivan looming over her, blocking the sun.

"Ana," she heard Ivan started. "About that -that male human you are affianced with in your world..."

"Affianced?"

"Betroth with. I want you to sever your ties with him. I want you to break your relationship with that man."

Ana's brows furrowed. Sever ties? What was he talking about? She opened her eyes and saw the seriousness on his face. "Break my-?" she was about to ask him to further explain when she realized what Ivan was referring to, and fits of laughter suddenly burst from her.

Ivan gave her a scowl. "What's funny?"

"You!"

"I don't recall ever saying anything that would deem funny."

"I can't believe you fell for that!" said Ana in between chuckles.

"Fell for what?" Ivan was looking at Ana with impatience.

"About him, Xian Lim. He was never my boyfriend. He doesn't even know I exist! I just said that because you annoy the hell out of me."

"I could throttle you for your insolence."

Ana smirked. "Well, it doesn't change the fact that I fooled you."

Ivan leaned in closer to her. "As Prince of Elfiro, it is my duty to deliver a sound punishment to you for lying to a prince."

"And what punishment would that be, oh great and mighty Prince of the Elves?"

"I think a kiss would be a very reasonable punishment," Ivan answered, his lips curling upwards.

Ana's smile left her lips and her eyes went wide when she saw Ivan's true intentions gleaming in his eyes.

"And I don't think we need to wait after the wedding to consummate the marriage."

Ana suddenly bolted upright and scooted away from Ivan as possible. "No! Don't you dare come near me, elf. I will not have sex with you here in an open field."

"I already made sure no one will disturb us while we're here."

"You -you perv!" She clutched the openings of her cloak together. "I am not an easy woman!"

Ivan gave her a smirk. And Ana was surprised when Ivan lay down on the grass, placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "And I can't believe you fell for that."

"You!" Ana fumed. She crawled towards Ivan and pounded a fist on his chest. Ivan opened his eyes, swiftly snatched Ana's wrist and pulled her towards him, causing her head to fall on his chest.

"I woke up early to bring you to this place," he said. "Let's sleep for a brief moment." He closed his eyes but he never let go Ana's hand. Instead he settled it on his chest.

Ana adjusted her head on his chest and said, "Uhm, okay." She closed her eyes and let Ivan's steady heart beat lulled her to sleep.

Half an hour later, Ivan woke Ana and they both rode back to the castle. When they were approaching the castle, Ana gazed at the huge palace that stood at the middle of the capital town of Elfiro. The town was surrounded by thick gray bricked walls, and within the town another wall stood erect, confining the huge silver castle inside. The gates to the inner walls opened, and Ivan motioned for the horse towards the palace courtyard. Fronting the courtyard stood the palace entrance. A wide intricately designed archway supported by gold columns greeted her eyes. Earlier this morning, she had the impression that Ivan led her to the back exit of the palace. She was not sure -it was still dark that morning. But now that the sun was high above, and considering that it was really her first time to see the castle from the outside, she couldn't help it but admire the majestic structure that beheld her eyes.

Ivan dismounted from his horse and helped Ana down. He handed the horse's reins to his attendant and he assisted Ana inside the palace.

"Ivan, does this mean I am free to roam outside of my room?" She couldn't help herself from asking. She very much wanted to explore the castle. She wondered how many rooms were there. Would she even find her way back to her room if she wandered the hallways alone? She couldn't wait to have a little bit of adventure.

But Ivan shattered her plans when he said, "No."

"Oh c'mon. You already know I will not leave Elfiro."

"Princess Anastasia, you haven't passed your transition yet. And you are aware that you still cause a little trouble among the males."

Ana halt on her tracks. "But you don't seem affected. How can I be sure that you aren't just telling me this to keep me in prison?"

Ivan whirled around and faced her. "Oh believe me my princess, I am very much affected. I just try very hard not to be." When Ana saw Ivan's hands were clenched in to tight fists on his sides, and the hard look on his face, she knew he was trying so hard to resist her.

I guess my frickin' pheromones are in action again. "I better go and... hide myself from you now," she managed to say when Ivan was still intensely looking at her. "I-uhm-thanks for showing me around... uhm, bye." She turned to one corner when she heard Ivan said, "Princess."

She spun around. "Yes?"

"It's this way," he said, pointing a finger towards the stairs leading to her chambers.

"Oh, right," she said with a nervous giggle. She turned to the stairs where two guards were stationed at the foot of the stairs. "Well, good day Prince Ivan."

"Good day, princess." Then she climbed the stairs, one hand clenched on her heart. Whenever Ivan looked at her like that, as if he wanted to have her so badly, she couldn't help it but feel nervous. After all, it may not look like it, but she was still an inexperienced virgin.

***

Before her evening lessons with Lady Isobel started, both Erien and Lucya were sitting on the cushions they placed on the floor in front of the fireplace, while Ana sat on the chair. Her two lady's maids were very much eager to know how her date with the prince went.

"Well, did something happen?" Lucya asked. The two already threw all formalities outside the window when Ana asked them to treat her as a friend instead of a royal princess. After all, what she needed most were friends and not servants.

"Lucya, nothing should happen until they are married," Erien said. "A high born lady of the elven court most especially should preserve her maidenhood for her husband."

"But she isn't an elf, Erien," Lucya pointed out. "Besides, ladies of the vampire court do not give importance to their maidenhood. After all, what's so important about that flimsy film?"

Erien looked horrified with Luyca's vulgar words. "I cannot believe I am having this conversation with you!"

Ana chuckled while she witnessed her new friends' debate about the importance of preserving one's purity until marriage. But she suddenly smiled when she realized that despite of Erien's and Lucya's difference in views about their way of life, they were starting to recognize each other as friends. A vampire and an elf -two races that had been enemies since before both Lucya and Erien were born. But now, it seemed like the barrier between the two girls broke, and both learned that not all stories they heard about each other's races were true. Ana felt proud. She was, in a way, the cause of her two lady's maids budding friendship. Maybe there really was a point for the betrothal after all. When Ana and Ivan wed, peace between the two races would reign.

After her lessons with Lady Isobel, Ana retired to her bed. The night's lessons with Lady Isobel drained much of her energy. She still did not see the reason why she needed to memorize the history of the different kingdoms in the realm. Why did she need to know about who the light and the dark fae were? Or how the current king of the demon, Damian, snatched the throne when he murdered his uncle, who was the previous king of Heldore? Then there was the vampire court and the politics ruling inside it. Really? What did those got to do with her?

She snuggled on her bed and pulled the quilt over her shoulders. Lady Isobel made her change her sleeping patterns -her day turned night, and her night turned to day. As a result, she always ended up very sleepy and tired after her lessons from evening till the break of dawn. She noticed that either Erien or Lucya forgot to close the curtains, the clouds turning bright orange as the sun was starting to rise. But Ana was too sleepy to get up and closed it herself. So she decided to leave it open and let her eyelids closed as she fell in deep sleep.

Ana woke up when she felt something scorching her foot. It was warm and a little bit painful. She tried to very much ignore it since she felt very lethargic and she wanted to sleep further. But the pain intensified as if hot iron was searing her skin. She winced and sluggishly opened her eyes and saw her foot was peeking out of the quilt. Another sting shot through, and she could no longer bear the pain as she saw the skin on her foot turned red. She let out a loud, terrified shriek as her foot was starting to burn when the sun's light touched her skin.