Vincent followed Mireth as she held his hand. His gaze stayed on her back before he began observing his surroundings.
Both of them walked on a well-made pathway that led deeply into the elven community.
The tall trees were beside it. But what was special about them is that many of those trees had swirling staircases that led straight to the top where elegant buildings were carefully built.
"Humans don't have such settlements?" Mireth suddenly asked upon noticing Vincent's gaze on the trees.
"No. At least, I hadn't seen anything similar," he honestly replied.
Mireth added with a smile, "My father helped in their creation."
Her words slightly surprised Vincent, "Does he have high status here?"
"High status? What do you mean?" She became a bit confused.
Her reply also baffled him.
'Do elves not have a clear hierarchy system?' he wondered.
Mireth then added, "If you mean who is the leader here, then this is definitely the High Elder Vaelorion that you spoke with. But our elven community operates a bit differently than humans. At least from what I saw."
"Does this place have a name?"
"Yes. Elvish communities are always called after the forest main tree's name which they decided to settle around. The Red Maple community. Do you remember that big maple tree with red leaves?"
"That odd one that was used as a barrier to hide this elvish community?"
"You're right."
"Very useful. But how can a tree possess such power?"
"Sacred trees are always ancient. They've gathered essence since the day they sprouted."
"When such a tree manages to reach a certain age, the amount of accumulated energy finally transforms them."
"Quite mystical. Do all such trees work as a concealment barrier?" he asked.
"No. Though they all develop a unique passive ability, some sacred trees start to have defensive abilities while others offensive. Our Red Maple managed to develop a defensive one, which helped our community to stay safe for hundreds of years."
"Only elves can control this ability or…?" he asked.
"Not all elves can do it. One first needs to get the tree's recognition."
"..." Vincent was stunned.
"Do you mean the tree is… conscious?"
Mireth didn't reply and only mysteriously smiled, making Vincent even more curious.
At this moment, Mireth stopped.
They stood in front of a tall wide oak.
Mireth gently held his hand before her beautiful eyes moved towards him.
"We arrived."
Vincent looked up and saw at the top, amidst the lush green leaves a building stood.
"Let's go," Mireth breathing was somewhat fast as she led Vincent onto the swirled staircase.
Vincent calmly followed.
As they went higher, the scent of oak leaves became more intense. It was quite pleasant.
Arriving at the top, Mireth pushed the door open, but didn't enter.
Instead, she turned towards Vincent.
Her face slowly became redder as she waited for something.
Vincent was a bit confused by her reaction.
'Does this… another strange ritual?'
He moved his gaze towards the house and slowly passed the entrance.
When Mirth saw it, she took a deep breath, her heartbeat intensified and a bright smile emerged on her gorgeous face.
After taking a few steps into her home, Vincent slowly looked around.
There wasn't much furniture inside.
'Quite minimalistic, but cozy.'
Suddenly, his heart shook as he felt a soft sensation on his back and then witnessed two almost otherworldly hands appear from behind as they stopped on his chest.
"Mireth?"
But she didn't reply.
"Mireth… I don't know why you're suddenly doing all of this. You barely know me. Just because I decided to rescue you, it's not the reason for you to give yourse-"
"That's not the reason. I'm immensely grateful that you rescued me and my older sister from that place, but it is still far from enough."
Vincent was confused and curious, "Then…"
"I know who you are."
"..." Her words stunned him.
"What do you mean?"
Suddenly, Mireth's hand moved towards his heart.
"Your heart is beating faster than usual…" She slowly made him turn around.
Mireth took his hand and placed it at her heart while deeply staring into his black eyes.
"Do you feel it too?"
"..." Vincent felt her powerful heartbeat.
He hastily closed his eyes and recalled Alisia as well as theirs first sleep together which instantly calmed himself a bit.
"Mireth… do you think you're doing the right thing?"
Mireth stared at him with her otherworldly eyes, "I was never so sure in all my 64 years of life…"
"..." Vincent was lost for words.
"When I first saw you, I didn't fully understand it, but as I spent more time closely observing you, the more assured I became."
"On what?"
"You're… not human."
Vincent inwardly trembled, but still stayed calm outside, "Explain."
"You're actually one of us, right? Well, partially."
"..."
"How can you… be so sure?"
Mireth smiled, "I had long ago made a spiritual oath that I will explode my soul and my body rather than let myself be defiled by a human."
"Humans cannot be trusted."
"They are vile in nature and can betray you at any moment when they find it beneficial."
"You might not know, but to us, every birth of an elf is a day of grand celebration and every death is a day of great grief."
"A female elf can give birth only once in her life, and only at a certain moment, so our population is extremely small."
"Every new life is cherished and protected."
"Yet, a lot of my kin have suffered because of humans."
"..." Vincent did not spoke.
"I'm not alone in thinking like this as all elves make similar spiritual oaths when they grow up."
Mireth suddenly leaned her face closer to his, slowly brushing her nose at his, "Though you're a human… you're different. I can feel it."
"When I'm close to you, I can sense my blood reacting to yours for some reason. Right now it is the same. Can you too?"
"..." Vincent still didn't reply, but this didn't discourage her.
Her face became redder. He could smell her fragrant breath.
Vincent's eyes trembled as he felt somewhat intoxicated, "I will be completely honest with you."
"You can tell me absolutely everything," she gently replied. Her lips almost touched his. Her beautiful eyes deeply stared into his.
"I already have a… lover."
Mireth's eyes widened for a moment and her heart skipped a beat, but soon it turned to normal.
But contrary to his expectation, the next moment, she did something that shocked Vincent.