The two did not travel far through the snow before Emilia found a sufficiently large tree in the woods. She first used the Tree Hole Spell to create a hollow, then asked Shade:
"Do you have any food on you? Anything will do."
Shade pulled out a handful of cat food. Little Mia immediately poked her head down from Shade's shoulder, while Emilia said helplessly:
"I mean food you can eat. Forget it, no food is needed. Flowers or leaves will do as well."
Shade then took out some of the roses he had yet to give away. The elf took a petal and had Shade drip blood onto it, then dripped her own blood onto it as well before placing it inside the tree hollow:
"Without help from someone who has mastered the Tree Hole Spell, this ritual actually requires a specific astrological alignment. It's terribly troublesome."
Snowflakes landed on her pointed ears, but she shook them off with a gentle flick. She then stuffed several stones picked up from the ground and a dead branch into the tree hollow before sealing it with a spell:
"Just wait about five minutes."
Seeing Shade still holding that red rose with one petal removed, she met his eyes again, her face faintly flushing. If the Outlander still did not understand what this meant, then Galina and the others had wasted a year "teaching" him:
"This is for you."
He handed her a fresh red rose. The Elf Girl accepted it with a slight blush, lowering her head to watch the petals turn beneath her fingers. The white fur collar of her robe concealed her neck and chin, while she wore ordinary brown ankle boots:
"What does it mean when you give me a rose?"
She still did not raise her head