"Yours?" I ask, feeling turned on but confused.

Zhan shakes his head, "Well, not yet. Not officially. But soon."

His words don't help. "Zhan ge, you are not making any sense," I say, pulling away, and stepping back, lest I embarrass myself by revealing my hard... to control situation.

Sometimes I miss being a girl.

"You said that you were turned into a man, yes?"

I nod.

"What are the chances of you turning back into the princess?"

I had always presumed that if I were to break the rules (which I had done by revealing Weredra's name), I would turn back into a girl. But that hadn't happened. "I don't know," I reply honestly. "Do you want me to turn back?"

His brows crease for a moment, "It doesn't matter. As long as it is you, it doesn't matter."

What the fuck is that supposed to mean? How can that not matter to him? 

"Zhan ge, you realize that I might turn into a different gender, right?"

"I know." He chuckles, throwing his head back, leaving me a bit agitated.

"Zhan ge, how... Mph!" Zhan places his lips on mine. It's just a touch. Before my mind can register it, it's gone.

No! Continue. Please! 

As if reading my mind, he leans in again. His arm snakes around his waist, pulling me close. He strokes my cheek before tracing my lips before tilting my chin up. "May I?" He asks as if I had not assaulted him with kisses just moments ago.

I nod, and he kisses me again. Shamelessly, I part my lips, hoping he will take advantage of the situation, but he doesn't. He smiles into the longer but chaste kiss and steps away. I chase his lips with mine, but he shakes his head and puts his finger on my lips, "YiJun," He breaths, "I told you I am not a saint. You keep offering yourself so freely." and tracing my lips once more, he adds. " I won't be able to control myself.

Thump Thump Thump.

Shut up, heart! Stop trying to expose me. 

Zhan looks at the door, "Now let us go find Meimei...By the way, was she the one who turned you into a man?"

I nod.

"Why?"

"Because I wished for it."

Zhan gestures me to go on, and I do, "I sort of saved her. It might have been a test, though, so I can't be sure. Then she told me that she could grant two of my wishes and when she granted them, I turned into a man."

"What did you ask for?"

I tell Zhan everything that had happened leading up to when I had saved his life almost four weeks ago. As I finish, I see a goofy smile appear on his lips. "Why are you smiling? Doesn't any of this freak you out?"

He shakes his head, "No. It doesn't. However, I have one question."

"I just told you magic was real, and you have just one question!?"

"There is only one that matters."

I nod, "What is it?"

"Am I the love of your life?"

I don't understand him. Had he not paid attention to what I had told him?

"Do you see anyone other than yourself here?"

Zhan shakes his head; I continue, "Then you are it. But why are you asking me all these questions? Have you perhaps regained all of your memories?"

He nods. "I have." He says, and holding my hands in his, he continues, "YiJun, promise me that you will continue to love me no matter who I am." He says cryptically; my heart sinks.

Was he a murderer? An assassin? Or worse, was he a loyal TuCheng soldier sent to capture me? 

I look into his eyes and immediately discard the first two possibilities. Even so, nothing could be worse than falling for someone loyal to TuCheng. But then again, if he was, then why hadn't he blown my cover? Was it possible that after falling in love with me, he had had a change of heart?

Taking a deep breath, I agree, "I promise to love you in this lifetime."

"Great!" I hear a familiar voice exclaim. It's Weredra in her child form again. She is standing in front of me, bouncing on her toes. "Now tell him." She orders Zhan, smiling from ear to ear.

Zhan grasps at her sudden appearance but schools his features in record time, "Welcome back, Meimei. I am sorry if my reaction hurt you." He requests, bowing to her. 

 Weredra waves her hand in front of her face, "I forgive you. Now tell him. Tell him who you are."

Zhan nods and drops a bomb, "I am Wei Zhan, the crown prince of TuCheng."

"What!?" I exclaim, surely I must have heard wrong. How could this sweet, sensitive man be the womanizer (with the smallest dick in all the lands) I had heard about since I had turned sixteen!? The man whose illegitimate children were spread all over TuCheng! The man who was only interested in drinking and bedding women? There had to be some mistake. Maybe the consequence of the revealing Weredra's name was not me changing back. I think the side effect was for him to start hallucinating.

"Zhan ge, "

"YiJun, I think I can guess what you might have heard." He pauses, "Nothing good, I am sure." He adds, sighing softly. "You must have thought that you were on your way to marry a monster. Am I right?"

I nod. But stay silent. To be honest, I did not know what to say. I had run away to avoid getting married to Zhan but had ended up not only rescuing him but falling in love with him as well!

Great! Just Great!

"YiJun, will you let me explain? Will you hear me out before hating me?"

I don't hate him, I realize, and am about to voice my thoughts when Weredra pulls my sleeve and interjects, "Junior gege, I think you should. After all, he has been nothing but nice to us." 

She had a point. I nod, giving Zhan permission but just then, Weredra's eyes narrow. She pulls me to bed, "Someone is coming." She whispers, blowing out the candle.

No sooner than we hit our respective beds than the door is thrown open.

It's Bai Luo. He peeks inside and turns, "All three are here, Master."

 Weredra moves, "Luo gege?" She calls in a sleepy voice.

"Yes, it's me, child."

"I have finished all my chores, I promise." She says, leaving the bed and swaying a little as she makes it to the door. "Did I not do them well?" I hear her ask Luo sweetly.

"Did any of you leave your quarter tonight?" Lung Chi's voice drifts over to me, confirming my doubts. He was still not convinced that no intruder was lurking around the house. 

 I can't see Weredra anymore, but I can hear her.

"Master, I left the quarter tonight."

"What!? Why? What did you see?"

"I... I.. " Weredra stutters.

"Out with it, child!"

I can't take it anymore. I sit up. "Weredra, Bai Luo, what's happening?" I ask and limp outside to join Weredra. "You are hurt, Master Lung. What happened?"

"Mask!" He yells and looks away. I immediately cover my face with the rag I used while in his house. 

Meanwhile, Zhan wakes up too. "What is happening?" He asks and wears his mask before joining me, "Is the wound hurting?" He asks, wrapping his arms around me before looking at Lung Chi and gasping. "How did this happen!?"

For a moment, Lung Chi's eyes traveled to where Zhan is holding me before fixing Weredra with an angry gaze. "Don't make me wait. Out with it. I won't repeat myself."

Weredra starts brawling. "I am sorry for feeling thirsty, Master Lung. I swear I drank only a cup of water." Humongous tears stream down her cheeks as she tugs at the hem of Lung Chi's robes.

"What?" Lung Chi asks, looking bewildered.

"I was really thirsty... I- wanted to ask YiJun gege, but he had already hurt himself at the baths, so I decided to do it myself." She wipes her runny nose on her sleeve.

"Weredra! Why didn't you ask me? What trouble did you cause?" Zhan falls in with the lie.

"You looked more tired than usual today. You even gave me your share of soup."

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Lung Chi yells and immediately winces. "Just tell me what you saw."

"I saw the water reserve and drank a cup... Then I filled some more in here in case- " Weredra elaborates, lifting the now full water sack.

"Stupid girl, did you see anything other than water reserve."

Weredra contemplates for a moment and then nods, "I heard weird noises coming from outside, so I stepped out for a second to check. But there was no one there."

Lung Chi closes his eyes and leaves a shaky breath, "Is that it?"

Weredra nods.

Without another word, Lung Chi leaves with Bai Luo helping him out to the hall.

"No one is to leave the mansion tomorrow." The guard who had accompanied Lung Chi barks before turning away and leaving.

Weredra closes the door. "Let's go to bed. Talks will have to wait till tomorrow."

Agreeing with her, we call it a night. 

 The next morning, we wake up to a loud, continuous knock on the door.

Zhan opens the door to find the guard from the night before glowering at us. "Why are you still asleep!? I told you not to leave the mansion. Did I allow you to slack off!?"

After making sure that we were not slacking off, the guard had left us with instructions that kept us busy for the better part of the day with different chores.

Weredra was put to work cleaning the floors and staircases while Zhan went to the stables. I somehow had ended up in the kitchen chopping vegetables.

All in all, we, Zhan, and I had not found time to talk at all. That didn't stop me from missing him and wondering what he could say to put my apprehensions at ease.

During the servant's afternoon meal break, Bai Luo had joined me for and told me not to worry about my siblings. He had a strange glint in his eyes as he had left me to attend to other house matters.

Come evening, the royal guards arrived. Unexpectedly, however, the pedophile from two nights ago had tagged along with them.

Lung Chi had promptly dismissed all of us and escorted him to the entertainment hall reserved for the visiting nobles and officials.

Shortly after, the guards had started searching the mansion, spilling water over all our hard work by trashing the place and leaving the spotless surfaces littered with muddy boot prints.

By the time the guards were done inspecting, the sun had set. Lung Chi commanded all his staff to gather in the main hall. It was there, standing shoulder to shoulder with the other servants and staff, that I saw Weredra and Zhan looking tired and drained.

The two for them spotted me immediately. Zhan gave me a small smile, and Weredra waved her tiny hands at me, just like an excited child.

I look at the familiar faces. These were the people I had been sharing the mansion with for the past three weeks. I wonder why all of us were here at this time of night.

Soon enough, I get my answer. Barely minutes later, the young pedophile is standing in front of us with Lung Chi, who is looking uncomfortable.

"This is all of them." Lung Chi informs, pointing at us.

The young noble walks closer and looks at each of us one by one; when he comes face to face with me, he titles his head, "Why is he wearing a rag on his face?"

"He was has a very inconvenient curse placed on him." Lung Chi offers. 

 "Really. That's interesting." The pedophile approaches me, "Show me your face, boy." he orders.

Despite knowing that there is no way in hell that he would be able to recognize me, I still can't help but feel apprehensive. However, I decided it was best to do as told and remove the rag from my face.

The man smiles and reaches for my face, but before he can touch me, Lung Chi jumps in front of me. "My apologies, young master, but I won't do that if I were you. The boy's curse is highly contagious."

"Contagious?" the man repeats; Lung Chi nods. "Him and his brother were both unfortunately cursed. If you find them attractive, there is a chance that you might get sick." He explains vaguely.

"I take it that you have experienced it first hand." The pedophile smirks and walks away, shaking his head. The rest of the inspection goes smoothly.

After a quiet dinner, as we return to our room, my mind is buzzing with questions. "Weredra, I need to know what they are talking about in Lung Chi's room! Can you please retrieve the cloak?"

Weredra shakes her head, "He already left. I think it's safe to presume that you are out of danger." She purses her lips and continues, "I did overhear Lung Chi tell Bai gege that he will be busy tonight. I saw a messenger deliver a letter to him in the afternoon. I think he is planning to meet the queen."

I nod, recalling what I had heard them say the night before. They were probably going to meet tonight.

"YiJun, what is the matter?" Zhan asks, reminding me that he owed me a few explanations as well.

Ignoring Zhan, I look at Weredra, "Can you give us some privacy, please?" I request, and she nods; a moment later, she disappears in a cloud of smoke.

With only two of us left in the room, I turn to Zhan, "Zhan ge," I start but don't finish, for, the very next second, he backs me up against the wall and puts his lips on mine.

{Word count: 2356}