With her father too busy helping with the matters of the Kingdom, Claudia was given the task to find the secrets to the magical mirror. Yet it was not intentional when Claudia finally broke some kind of spell on the mirror. In fact, she accidentally cut her finger against the sharp surface of the elven symbols engraved on the mirror, where her blood instantly seeped into the engravings.
Afterward, Claudia could only gasp in surprise when the elven letters started to glow blue and the magical mirror finally revealed something unexpected to her. The sight of a Startouch elf standing on the other side of the mirror, who was clearly in the process of fixing his black robe.
At first, she mistook the beautiful elf for a female, but as she scrutinized the tall figure more closely, Claudia realized that the elf was actually male, especially when she noted his chiselled chest with the glowing diamond-shaped symbol at the center of it and the unmistakable hard planes of his elegant body beneath that thin black elven attire he was wearing.
No, the Startouch elf is definitely of the male species. Claudia thought with certainty.
She stared at the tall figure on the other side of the mirror while the oblivious Startouch elf continued to fix the cord of his black starry robe. Realizing that she was gaping at the beautiful elf like a fool, Claudia straightened up and shortly made a move to communicate with the mysterious creature.
"Hello," Claudia said, waving her hand in front of her. "Can you see me?"
The Startouch elf suddenly stopped what he was doing while a frown appeared on his face.
At the elf's puzzled expression, Claudia immediately perked up. She suspected that the elf must have noticed something strange in his side of the mirror.
Brimming with uncontained excitement, Claudia stepped closer and leaned forward until her face was just a few inches from the surface of the mirror, where she was close enough to see the Startouch elf delicate features, his glowing diamond-shaped marks on the high arches of his cheekbones, and his long, snowy white lashes over his beautiful pair of golden irises.
Golden eyes that now seemed to focus on Claudia the instant she pressed her face close to the mirror.
"Hi, there..." Claudia greeted, waving her hand again and grinning widely at the horned elf, who stared back at her with an odd expression on his face.
"Elarion?" The male elf slowly asked in a deep, baritone voice that Claudia instantly found hypnotizing.
Claudia tilted her head to the side as she met the elf's golden eyes.
"No, my name is Claudia," she said to him and inwardly wondered who this 'Elarion' was.
The mysterious elf abruptly fell silent while his expression became a blank mask. He continued to regard Claudia, who started to fidget nervously when the Startouch elf stayed quiet for a long while.
"Sorry, if I wasn't the one you were expecting…." Claudia stated, placing her hands behind her back to prevent herself from fiddling with her fingers as she became more jittery when the elf's expression remained stoic as ever.
There was a tensed silence as the two continued to regard each other.
"I….err...since I already introduced myself to you, I think it's only proper that you extend the same courtesy to me and tell me your name," She said to the silent elf and Claudia immediately bit her lip when she realized that she sounded so presumptuous in that moment.
At her suggestion, the Startouch elf simply arched his brow at her.
"I'm sorry," Claudia blurted out almost instinctively at the elf's haughty expression. "I didn't mean to sound so rude. It's alright if you don't tell me your name...Well, not really...I do want to know who you are. You see...I was given the task to uncover the secrets of the magical mirror by my father so it would be really great if I know at least about you and the secrets you are keep-"
"Calm down, young mage..." the elf interrupted Claudia's nervous chatter. His voice was just as deep and enthralling as she first heard it.
Instantly, Claudia clamped her mouth shut while a blush suffused her face when she noticed the gleam of amusement in the elf's golden eyes and the smirk forming at the corners of his lips.
"If you insist, then I might as well introduce myself to the very mage who remove the first enchantment on the mirror..." the elf finally said and Claudia observed as the Startouch elf pressed a hand on his chest before he bowed towards her.
"My name is Aaravos…" The elf introduced himself while he held Claudia's gaze.
"Oh…" came her soft response as she stared at the Startouch elf with uncertainty.
There was another short pause as the Startouch elf named Aaravos slowly straightened up and dropped his hand from his chest.
"So...Claudia, was it?" The elf asked in a cool but smooth voice. His intense golden eyes fixed on her face.
Claudia simply nodded her head in reply to his inquiry.
"How may I be of service to you, young mage?" came his next question and Claudia watched in complete fascination as the smirk on the elf's lips seemed to widen into a charming grin while the elf's eyes glinted with an unknown emotion that swiftly caused an unmistakable flutter inside her belly.
As her gaze remained locked on the mysterious elf, Claudia instantly felt that she was in the presence of a dangerous creature. Still she failed to recognize the gleam on the elf's golden gaze when he looked at her.
It was Claudia's first mistake. If she had instantly recognized the dark gleam in Aaravos gaze, she wouldn't have ended up straying into a dark path in the future, where a certain Startouch elf became the only light she could see in the darkness.
Her Midnight Star.
Claudia should have noticed the hungry look on Aaravos' golden eyes the first time she met him.
However, by the time she did, it's already too late.