Two days passed and finally Zhan was back. He could hardly wait to see Yibo. But since the two had arranged to meet in the forest in front of the hut that evening and Zhan still had some time, he decided to go to the hut instead of riding the horse. So he could also recover a little from the long car ride, from which his butt already hurt.

To make it back on time and because he missed Yibo so much, he had spent only a few hours at his uncle's place. He slept a little, talked with his uncle and Yanli, and then started on his way back. Nothing and no one could have kept him there longer. After all, Yibo was waiting, and besides, Zhan had to avoid him being alone with Maxi too often and for too long.

Zhan trusts Yibo. But, even though everyone says he's just imagining things, he doesn't trust Maxi. Sometimes when she looks at him and she returns his gaze, he even gets goosebumps. This is the first time for him. All the Maxis before, he liked very much. Of all the homunculus, they were even his favorites because they reminded him of the girls that only exist in manga in terms of appearance and character.

The first Maxi was even very close to him. She spent many nights at Zhan's side. They were together with the animals, were in the library and sometimes he took her to the small town. It was for him as if she had been his very special little sister, who was even allowed to sleep in his room along as well. And even her followers were always like sweet little sisters to Zhan. But Maxi number 17 he didn't like from the beginning.

And Zhan was sure that it wasn't just because of Yibo. Because Maxi number 17 is about 4 months old now and at the time of her creation, Zhan didn't know Yibo at all.

As Zhan slowly approached the hut, he heard soft voices. Curious, Zhan crept closer and discovered that the voices were Yibo's and Maxi's. "What the hell?" Zhan asked himself quietly and crept even closer to the two.

Zhan now realized that Maxi was jumping around on the bench in front of the hut, chattering happily. To Zhan, it sounded like some incoherent stuff. Yibo stood in front of the bench and looked up at the starry sky, as if he didn't notice Maxi at all.

For a few minutes, he watched the two of them from about 20 meters away. Maxi seemed agitated and Yibo was perfectly calm and alert, as Zhan knew him.

Zhan walked very slowly towards the two, he had not yet been visible to them through the trees and the darkness and he wondered if he should not stay under the cover of darkness and continue to watch the two? But then he remembered that he didn't want to let the doubts start to confuse him again. So he walked on slowly, his heart pounding fiercely.

Just before he could leave the protective darkness, he saw Maxi looking in his direction. She immediately looked away again and continued to bounce around like crazy on the bench until she lost her balance and fell to the side. She screamed at the top of her voice, "Yiboooo...help me." But Yibo only turned to her once briefly, shrugged his shoulders, and let her fall on the hard ground.

Zhan smirked and immediately wanted to show himself. But Maxi obviously hadn't finished yet. She stood up whining and clinging to Yibo's arm. "I thought you were my friend now." She whined.

Yibo shook her loose from his arm and said, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, after our last night, I thought we were even more than friends now. You and I are a couple now, aren't we!" She replied.

Yibo glared at her angrily and grabbed her by the throat with his left hand. He pushed her against the outer wall of the forest hut and pointed his short sword at her throat. "I don't know what you are trying to do here! But I advise you to cut the crap! I have had absolutely nothing to do with you and if you dare to spread such lies, I will kill you! Let's get this straight, I'm Zhan's and he's mine! And nothing and no one else will come between him and me!"

"But..."

"Listen you bitch. If you dare try to come between Zhan and me, I will know no mercy. I'll chop you into little pieces if you dare to lie like that again! I don't care about you one bit. I don't give a damn about you!"

"But you said you loved me and you'd take me to the humans. You said you wanted to live there with me!"

"They must have shit in your brain! When should I have said something like that? If I were to take anyone with me at all, it would be Zhan alone! Only he means something to me! He's the only one I'd take with me anywhere! But you, you lousy piece of shit, are worth nothing to me!" Yibo replied. He raised his arm and lunged with his short sword. Maxi screamed and then she was silent. Because Yibo rammed his short sword into her throat.

Zhan, who had been watching and listening to all this, slowly came out of the darkness and walked towards Yibo. When Yibo noticed him, he dropped Maxi and ran toward Zhan. He wrapped his arms around Zhan and said, "I'm glad you're finally back."

"Mmm, I am too. I see you cleaned up?" Zhan asked, pointing at the lifeless Maxi.

"Ahm sorry. But you were right. She was fake and deceitful. She tried to deceive you with lies and make you think I was unfaithful to you."

"I wouldn't have believed her anyway."

"Are you angry with me for killing her?"

Zhan kissed Yibo and said, "No way. I'm glad she's finally gone."

"Oh thank God. I really couldn't hold back anymore."

"It's all right Yibo. Don't worry about it."

"Mhm. I've missed you so incredibly."

"I missed you too. Shall we go back to the castle?"

"In a minute. Before that, there's something I need to tell you. That's why we were supposed to meet here."

"Right. Then let's go to the bank. I'm sure you're still in pain."

"I'm fine. I just want to tell you now."

"All right. Then tell me."

"Zhan, I've been thinking a lot these past few days. And in the process, I've realized one thing. I love you and I just want to listen to my heart. I don't care about anything else. I just want to be with you for all eternity. Even though everything happened so fast with us and we still don't really know each other, I know that I love you and I never want to be without you again. I don't care about all the problems I've been thinking about. I'm sure if you help me, we'll get this sorted out too. The main thing is that we are together and stay together. And, well, I don't want to go back to the humans either. I want to stay with you, if I may."

"Wow Yibo, that was unexpected. But yes, of course you can stay. Of course I will help you with any problems. I love you very much and I want you by my side always. I've never felt this way about anyone before and I want nothing more than to spend eternity with you."

"So you're going to make me one of yours yes?"

"Is that what you really want? Because you know that can't be undone."

"I want to."

"Then we should tell the council. We can't do it without their consent."

"How about we tell them immediately tomorrow?"

"You're in that much of a hurry?"

"Yes. I know exactly what I want. And I want you and to be one of yours."

"Mhhh, maybe that could even happen sooner than we think. So with the approval. And maybe the problem of how you're going to make money for your parents will be solved right away."

"Mhhh?"

"If they find out you're an assassin, they'll be dying to have you in our ranks. And if you're one of us, you could do a well-paying job or two for the council as a vampire assassin."

"You really love that I'm an assassin, don't you? Your eyes light up every time you say that."

"You're right. I love just the idea that the man I love above all else is a real true fantastic sensational assassin."

"Hearing that makes me a little embarrassed right now. But somehow also proud that you see me with such eyes and even like it."

"I just have one last important test to take."

"Which one?"

"The curse is easy to solve."

"I see, and how?"

"You, you understand me?"

"Yeah sure. Why do you ask?"

"Could it be?..."

"What?" Asked Yibo. But then he fell silent as suddenly a strange feeling spread inside him and stepped out of his body. A magical mist of black and purple escaped Yibo's body and then dissipated completely. "What was that?" Yibo asked in shock.

"That, you broke, oh my god Yibo! You broke the curse!"

"What, is that really true?"

"Yes! When you decided to hold on to your feelings and stop letting your supposed problems confuse you, you broke the curse! Just like that!"

"That simple?"

"Yes..." That was as far as Zhan got. For Yibo grabbed Zhan and kissed him so hard that they both fell to the ground.

"I told you ZhanZhan. You will never get rid of me. I will stay by your side forever and you by mine. From now on, you are all mine and I am all yours."

"Yes Yibo."

"And I will not allow anyone to come near you. For you are my ZhanZhan. Mine all alone!"

"Don't worry Yibo. No one can take me away from you." Replied Zhan. Yibo had tears of joy in his eyes and held Zhan tightly in his arms.

All of a sudden, Yibo felt liberated. All his sorrow and worries disappeared and all that was left was his love for Zhan and his firm determination to stay by Zhan's side forever.

Happily, the two returned to the castle, where Zhan's father was already waiting for them via the magic mirror in Zhan's room. They immediately told him what happened and Xiao Liang explained, "I felt the curse lifted. I felt my power coming back into my body. Congratulations to both of you. And hey, I'll send a message to the council today so they know you two have our blessing when you go there tomorrow and ask for their approval to make Yibo one of us."

Yibo thanked him and Xiao Liang laughingly explained that he was just glad that Zhan had finally found someone who loved him with all his heart. "And I'm glad that you want to officially mate with our son. Once we get the go-ahead from the council, we'll celebrate in a big way."

"Yes, by all means." Replied Yibo.

"How is the search for the culprit(s) going, by the way?"

"Well Zhan, believe it or not, we finally have some leads. But if we're right, that might not please Yibo very much."

"Why?" Yibo wanted to know.

"The culprits have been two vampires and an assassin! And the assassin, according to the medium, is your brother."

"What? My brother? But... could it be that the vampires are Meng Yao and Su She?"

"You know them?"

"Oh, yes. I just didn't know they were vampires. Meng Yao is my brother's boyfriend. Su She lives with the two of them. Supposedly he's Meng Yao's cousin."

"You know what Yibo? When you're at the council tomorrow, tell the council! They will ask you to take care of it since your brother is involved. The only question is, would you have the confidence to do that?"

"Of course. If my brother is involved, I will make him pay!"

"Good, and when the time comes, take Zhan with you. Meng Yao is not to be underestimated. Zhan can handle him."

"I will. I wouldn't go anywhere without Zhan anyway."

"Oh you two are so cute. Always stick together. I'll see you again soon. I have to go on now."

"Mhm. See you soon." Said Zhan and Yibo at the same time and the mirror returned to its origin.

"We will be able to do this. Together we can do anything." Said Zhan to Yibo, who looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Of course we can do it. It doesn't matter if they're two or three men. They're not even close to being a match for us! But for now, let's leave the subject for tonight. Because I plan to put my beloved Zhan to bed now and have a lot of fun with him. Agreed?"

"Absolutely." Replied Zhan with a grin.

No matter what might lie ahead for the two of them, from now on, they would tackle and accomplish everything together. The two were more than sure of that.