EGO POV Yibo

I am now in the so-called castle. Since this vampire Zhan took off my blindfold only when I was already inside, I don't know how this castle looks from the outside or how big it is altogether. Looking out my window, I couldn't see any protective walls or ramparts. Or anything other than woods and fields. I have no idea exactly where we are. It certainly doesn't look like the area where the caves are, since there don't seem to be any mountains.

At the moment, therefore, I assume that we must have passed through some kind of magical portal. I never saw one myself, but know through the Assassin Order that these portals do exist and they work with certain crystals. Well, based on my few observations so far, I assume that we are in some sort of magically generated make-believe world.

Vampires and magic, a thing that now makes me think incessantly of my family chronicle and our curse. I have a very strange feeling about this. Could there be a connection there? In a way, it would be really ironic if I, of all people, am now confronted with the past and the curse.

Because in my family, I'm probably about the only one who has really always believed in this curse. And my brother is the only one who knows that. He thinks I'm crazy because of it, but I don't care. Besides, this curse is also the best excuse for why I don't look for a girlfriend, as my brother had advised me so often.

Even my grandma, who told me this story, does not believe in the curse. However, she always said that after all, she is not a real Wang either. It was my grandpa who came from this bloodline. But he died at a young age, just after my father was born. According to my grandma, it was an accident. According to the police, he took his own life. Who knows which of these is true?

However, I must say, he died shortly after he told my grandma about the family curse. And that's a little strange. I wonder if my grandpa ever really loved my grandma? And I also wonder if my parents are really as happy together as they always pretend to be?

But right now I shouldn't be worrying about that. But rather, where I am here, whether I can really trust this vampire and how I can get out of here again without the crystal for the portal. Whereby I don't even know where exactly the portal is. So I'll have to be careful not to piss off this vampire for a while until I figure all this out.

Well, a break like this in such a peaceful make-believe world might do me some good. Lately, I've really had a lot of orders and hardly a day of rest. And after my last order, well, I guess a break isn't bad either.

When I think of my last order, I still get goose bumps. I was to kill a man who was in possession of some very rare and precious artifacts that he had stolen and wanted to sell. I entered his apartment and got into a fight with this man. Apparently he was prepared that the Assassin Order would send someone.

After a short struggle, I overpowered him and killed him. However, I was seen doing it. A little boy, his son, saw me do it. He screamed like crazy and peed himself in fear. He couldn't see my face. But he didn't have to in order to have nightmares for at least the next few years.

Actually, I should have killed the boy. But I always said I never kill children. I handed the phone to the boy and in a disguised voice told him to call the police. Then I collected the artifacts and left. Sigma was really mad about it and punished me with house arrest and I didn't get any money for this job either.

I guess I'm lucky Sigma didn't report it to the Assassin Order and the kid claimed not to have seen who killed his father.

"Hey Yibo..."

"Say, couldn't you have knocked before you just barged in here? I could have just been naked!"

"Ah sorry. Mhhh, naked then? Well that sure would have been a great sight."

"What?"

"It's okay Yibo. I'm here because I wanted to know if you were hungry?"

"I don't drink blood thank you. I still have some one man rations, I can eat them."

"Blood? I wanted to offer you real food. Our cook prepared some specially. Pork sweet and sour with rice and side dishes."

"Real food?"

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"Then come Yibo." Said Zhan, holding out his hand to me.

"Zhan, I'm an adult and perfectly capable of walking on my own. You don't have to hold my hand."

"Mhhh, but I thought it was so beautiful earlier."

"Earlier, I had no choice. But now my eyes are no longer blindfolded, so we don't have to hold hands."

"Too bad. Well come on then, I'll take you to the dining room."

"Are you mad at me now?"

"..."

"Hey, I'm talking to you Zhan."

"..."

"Listen, we're not kids anymore who are holding hands."

"..."

"Alright, if you don't want to talk to me, then don't."

"..."

"I can play this game too."

"..."

"Then go ahead and keep on silent on me. I don't care." I said. But somehow I did care. It annoyed me!

Zhan walked half a meter ahead of me and for the first time I could see a bit of the inside of the castle. If I hadn't known I was in a castle, I never would have guessed. There are all kinds of comforts here. Not many people probably have as many modern things as there are here.

When we arrived at the dining room, there were two servants there. One was the cook and one was a woman serving the food. I was amazed to see the two of them. They are quite small and I noticed their strange pupils. Zhan spoke to the two and then sat down on the other side of the long table. He smiled at the woman who addressed him as young master as she handed him a glass of warmed blood.

"Are these humans that work for you?" I wanted to know.

"No. They are not humans. They are homunculus. My father created them. They used to look like demons. But over the many years, he managed to perfect them. They look like humans. But they are not." Zhan explained.

"Mhhh, not human?"

"No. They do not possess a heart. They are magical helpers with a lifespan of about 3 years."

"And your father created them?"

"Yes. He was a mage before he was turned into a vampire."

"Um, how exactly did that happen? Do you know?"

"Mhm, I know it. A woman he loved lied and cheated on him. He caught her once and she claimed she didn't do it willingly. She promised him she would never go back to that vampire count and stay faithful to him. But that was a lie. She continued to meet with the count, who at some point announced that they would soon be married. My father believed it was against the will of his beloved and wanted to save her. He went to the count's castle to talk to him. But he reacted differently than expected. He attacked my father and bit him. When his beloved came, he had to listen to her promise her eternal love to the count and then he saw them kissing. With his last strength he cursed them both. When the count threw my father out of the window, the village doctor, who was also a vampire without anyone knowing it, found him and saved my father by giving him some of his blood to drink. They both left the village and retreated into the wilderness, where he taught my father everything and trained him to be a doctor. That's also when my father learned that this doctor was one of the Powerful Vampires who can even walk around outside during the day. Well, at least since that day my father hates humans. Whereas he doesn't like the vampires either." So it's just as I thought. Damn, what am I going to do now?

"He cursed them both?"

"Yes. However, he always regretted it after he met my mother. He wanted to take back that curse because he didn't want to punish her innocent descendants."

"But?"

"But in order to take back that curse, he needs a special pendant that he had on his necklace at the time. He touched this pendant when he cast the curse. So he needs it to be able to undo the curse with it. But unfortunately he lost this pendant back in the castle when the count grabbed him and then threw him out of the window. He has been searching for this pendant for many years. That is why he travels a lot. Every time it is announced that an old pendant has been found somewhere, he sets out to see if this is the pendant."

"Could it possibly still be in this count's castle?"

"Unfortunately, no. After the Vampire Order punished the Count with death for attacking a human, everything that belonged to his property was collected and sold. And my father assumes that his pendant was also sold. But to this day, it has not reappeared."

"So did your father forgive this woman?"

"No. He spoke the curse then out of anger. And he wanted to punish her and her descendants. But when he met my mother and fell madly in love with her, and then she became pregnant with me, he was still angry at that woman. But he did not want her descendants to be punished for what she did. Nevertheless, he hated humans because they showed him nothing but rejection and hatred as soon as they learned that he was a vampire. More than once, they also tried to kill him."

"I see. And even though he hates all humans, he wants to remove the curse on this woman's descendants?"

"Mhm. That's been his wish since then. And he also promised it to my mother. She told him that she wished he would take the curse off that family."

"I guess your mother still likes people, doesn't she?"

"Yes and no. Of course, she has had bad experiences with them, too. But she is also fascinated by them and admires them."

"Why does she admire people?"

"Well, it's not that hard to guess. Humans can go out in the daytime, even when the sun is shining. They can see sunrises and sunsets. They can eat all kinds of food. The world of humans consists of many variegated colors. The world of vampires consists only of dark colors. Brown, gray and black. We can only see color variety in pictures, and even those tend to be a dark matte."

"Well, I guess that's how each species has its advantages and disadvantages."

"Exactly. And my dad is still working on finding a cure that can turn a vampire into a human. Or at least allow a vampire to be able to live just like humans. He just wants us to have more freedom."

"I can understand that."

"Um Yibo. You should eat now before it gets cold."

"Mhm. Thanks. Enjoy your blood." I replied.

I really am in the house of the man who brought the curse on my family. I haven't seen him yet. But I will surely meet him soon. I am honestly very curious about him. However, I think it's better if I don't tell him that I belong to the bloodline of Flora Wang.

Although he wants to break the curse, who knows how he will react when he finds out that I am a descendant of the woman he has to thank for making him a vampire. She really messed him up back then!