Kai was startled when he heard the approaching footsteps. When he saw Alz walking over in the distance, fear started to leak from his eyes. He struggled to get up but couldn't seem to muster strength into his legs.

"W-What?" Kai asked in a strained voice while backing off, but he wasn't nearly as fast as Alz who was walking, so it didn't take long before Alz reached him.

"Here, get up." Alz said as he extended his hand out towards Kai.

Kai shot a look of hesitation and distrust at him, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed onto the hand. After Kai grabbed onto his hand, Alz pulled him up in one smooth motion, helping him back to his feet.

Kai stumbled slightly before he regained his balance and immediately stepped away from Alz, looking at him with grudgeful eyes. However, there was also some confusion in his expression, not knowing why Alz returned to help him up.

"I'm sorry." before Kai could think deeper into it, an apology entered his ears.

Alz bowed to Kai and apologised in a sincere voice, having reflected on his actions. No matter how bad his mood was, he felt bad for taking it out on an unrelated stranger. After reflecting on his actions earlier, he decided to right his mistake before he regretted it.

Kai's eyes slowly widened in surprise, but something unexpected happened then. Tears gushed out of his eyes and trailed down his cheeks as he started to bawl loudly, his wails echoing across the garden.

Alz was stunned by his sudden outburst, starting to feel some regret towards the decision to return. He silently stood by the side waiting for Kai to calm down, but the crying didn't seem to be waning anytime soon.

At this point, Alz felt like turning around and leaving, but he was held back by his own sense of responsibility. If it were any other elf who caused this, he would have turned tail without doubt, but it was him.

"Do you want to hear a story?" as the crying kept going on, Alz finally decided to pull out his ultimate weapon.

"A S-Story?" indeed, Kai soon stopped crying, looking curiously towards Alz as he asked.

Seeing that Kai finally stopped bawling, Alz finally felt relief wash over him. As long as he managed to get Kai's attention, this was basically already over. He had the confidence in his stories to hold his attention throughout, distracting him from the earlier incident.

"Yeah, a story." Alz replied with a gentle smile and sat on the field before patting lightly on an empty spot beside him. Kai hesitated for a moment, but his curiosity ultimately won over and he went up to take a seat there.

"Once upon a time, ......"

And thus, the storytelling begun.

Alz spoke of a tale of swords and magic, the work of fiction that had gotten him hooked on stories. This was a story that he had read multiple times back then, one which he could vividly recall every scene within.

Initially, he had only planned on sharing a short segment to stop Kai from crying so that he could leave in peace. At the beginning, he described any foreign terms they encountered so that Kai could understand.

However, as he went on, he slowly became immersed in the plot, losing himself in the story. Alz stared blankly at the empty space ahead, his eyes no longer focused on the world before him.

At some point in time, the initial motivation no longer mattered and what was meant to be a short session continued on for hours.

As he went on, Kai's eyes shone brighter and brighter as he stared at Alz in wonder, brought into a different world through his words. The world of the story unknowingly formed a connection between the two, synchronising their emotions.

During happy times, smiles naturally formed on the pair's lips. At sad moments, they shared their grief with tears. At tense moments, they clenched their fists and cheered the heroes on in their hearts, hoping they would pull through.

When he finally reading out the entire book, Alz's mind slowly returned to reality with a mild sense of loss. After feeling this sensation, Alz's lips began to curl into a genuine smile, showing no signs of the anger and agitation he had before this.

The storytelling had ended up healing himself instead, bringing him back to his usual state of mind. He was about to get up and resume his work, but he suddenly felt something warm coming from his side, rapidly turning his head over.

A huge face immediately entered his vision, startling him for a moment. Alz immediately pedalled backwards with his hands as his thoughts began to clear, recalling the reason he was doing this in the first place.

Kai was leaning in closely to Alz, staring intently at him a bright sparkle in his eyes. Gone was the fear in him, overpowered by the excitement that ran through his body. He had never heard or read any stories as engaging as this, as though he was transported to a whole new world.

When he noticed that Alz was no longer speaking, his eyes slowly clouded over as his smile started fading away.

"More...?" he asked in a soft, pleading tone as he looked upwards towards Alz with tears in the corner of his eyes. His voice sounded clearer than before, with a brighter tone.

Alz's mouth started to widen slightly, having been caught by off guard by his expression. He had always thought that he already looked very feminine, but now he realised that he had to revise his opinion.

On the other hand, Kai immediately back away in a flustered manner, covering his mouth with his hand as he finally snapped out of the daze. His cheeks bright red as he lightly peeked towards Alz with some worry in his eyes.

An awkward silence dawned between the pair as they kept a short distance with each other, until it was soon broken by an unexpected party.

"Heyyy! Alz! Are you here?" a clear voice echoed from the forest, catching the attention of the pair. Light footsteps and rustling sounds continued to spread from that direction before a familiar figure entered their sights, Maya.

"Oh! Kai! It's been a long time." after exiting the forest, Maya immediately called out to Kai after seeing the pair sitting on the field as she ran up to them in quick steps.

"Maya!" Kai responded with a heartfelt greeting, waving at her with a warm smile.

"You're looking for me?" Alz asked as he looked towards Maya after he cleared his previous thoughts.

Despite being the first elf she called out to, Alz's was blatantly ignored by her as she ran up to Kai instead and started catching up with him happily. They had known each other from when she used to come here often, a close friend from the past.

Several minutes later, right when Alz was about to lose his patience and leave, Maya finally turned to him with a frown.

"Your tribe kept pestering me to come check out on you, so I came. They seemed worried about you so remember to visit them soon." after saying her piece, she turned back towards Kai and resumed their chat.

"Tell them they don't have to worry, I'm fine. Thanks." Alz responded with a bitter face, thinking back to the events earlier in the day. It was no wonder that they would worry with how he had acted.

Alz then began to rise, wanting to leave the space to the two of them. Yet, before he could stand, Kai had noticed him and and quickly grabbed onto his shirt, preventing him from leaving.

"More stories?" he asked while staring innocently at Alz, his eyes blazing with residual excitement.

"Stories? What are you talking about?" Maya casually grabbed onto Alz's shirt as well as she turned to ask Kai with a mischievous smile. Alz stumbled and landed back on the ground, caught off guard by their sudden actions.

"He just told me a story, a fun and exciting one. " Kai answered Maya with feverish passion, going on to describe some parts of the story.

Alz glanced at the two hands stuck onto his shirt before turning a questioning gaze towards Maya, but his gaze naturally went unanswered.

"I don't know any more stories." Alz said while looking at Kai with a straight face, but Kai didn't release his hand.

"Why are you even grabbing me!?" Alz then turned to Maya and asked, but Maya's playful smile only widened more.

Alz started to think of forcefully breaking free of their grips but decided against it in the end.

"I really don't have any more stories." Alz tried to convince Kai again, but it still didn't work.

"Please?" Kai pleaded softly, stubbornly refusing to give up.

"Fun and exciting huh? I want to hear it too!" Maya also chipped in from the side, increasing her pull on Alz's shirt.

Alz fell into a moment of silence, starting to consider it. Truthfully, he did enjoy the peaceful time earlier, and having somebody to share it with didn't feel bad. Furthermore, thinking back to the favours he still owed Maya, he was reluctant to refuse her.

The time before had allowed him to realise how much he had been rushing over the past months, and how important it was to relax his mind every now and then. Hence, binding himself to a commitment here really wasn't too bad of an idea here.

The thought of being able to repay some of the favours he owed Maya was the final decisive factor as he finally came to a decision.

"Fine, but not today. If you want to hear more stories, drop by this field on the fourth days." after he said this, Alz broke off from their grip and stood up, heading back towards his hut.