The following day.

Maxwell entered the ritual room and examined Ivy's face. She was still sleeping soundly. "My dear Ivy... I'm taking you back to your room now," he murmured.

He carries Ivy's sleeping form in his arms.

They disappeared from the ritual room and reappeared a minute later inside Ivy's room. He placed her body in the bed and touched her head gently. "Wake up now, Ivy..." he whispered into her ear.

One minute passed.

Ivy finally opened her eyes, she blinked twice and stared at him.

Maxwell smiled. "How are you feeling now, my dearest Ivy?"

Ivy smiled. "I'm fine. I'm feeling thirsty, c-can I have a water, please?" she said.

"Sure! I'll get you a water," Maxwell said and went to the table in the corner and poured water from the porcelain pitcher into the glass. He brought it to Ivy's side. "Here's your water my dearest," he said.

Ivy sits upright from the bed and brought the glass to her mouth. She finished drinking the water in one go. "I need another one glass please..." she said.

"Sure, I'll get the pitcher for you," he said and took the pitcher from the table and poured water into the glass.

Ivy drinks the water in one go. "Thank you," she said.

Maxwell took the empty glass from her hand and put it back on the table.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

Ivy nodded her head. "Yes! But I'm feeling hungry, so hungry!" she moaned.

"I know, just bear it a bit. I'll go outside to get you some food, okay?" Maxwell said.

"Thank you," Ivy smiled sweetly at him.

Maxwell grinned. He lowered his head and planted a kiss on her lips. Then he looked into her eyes...she's smiling still...not an ounce of anger can be seen from her eyes. He was ecstatic. When he kissed her again and plunged his tongue deeper into her mouth Ivy responded to his kisses. His heart exploded in happiness. She's finally his!

They kissed passionately for a few minutes.

Then Maxwell tore his mouth away from her. "Let's continue our kissing session later my dearest. I'll go out to get you food first," he said and left the room.

A few minutes later.

Maxwell returned to Ivy's room holding a food tray. He put the tray on the table and beckoned to her. "Come here my dearest...eat your meal now," he told her.

Ivy got up from the bed and walked towards the table and sat on the chair. She took the dishes from the tray and put them on the table. She picked up the plate and spoon and began putting foods on the plate.

Maxwell watched her eating her meal with gusto.

She glanced at him. "Why are you not eating? Join me!" she invited him.

Maxwell shook his head. "Nah, I'm not hungry. You eat all the food and take a rest after you are done eating. I'll come back later. We're going somewhere tonight," he said.

"Okay, I'll finish all these foods, they are delicious," she raved.

Maxwell walked, heading for the door, he opened it and left the room.

Ivy was left in the bedroom eating the delicious foods unaware that her mind and memory has been altered already.

~

Outside.

Maxwell gathered his brothers in the room where they usually conduct their meetings.

"Let's get ready for tonight," he said. "Tonight, I will release five hundred monsters and three hundred dark shadows," Maxwell informed his siblings of his plan for tonight.

"Why release three hundred dark armies only?" asked Xenon.

"Yeah, why not five hundred?" seconded Lothaire.

"I decided that we should only release three hundred dark shadows for tonight because I want to know if they can also defeat the dark shadows easily. Let's see the result first, we can always increase the numbers in the coming days. After all, this is just a dry run," he explained and defended his decision.

"Okay fine, since it's our first time releasing the dark shadows, let's see and evaluate the result first," Xenon finally agreed with his brother's decision.

They looked at their other sibling who was silently listening to them.

"Whatever," said Lothaire in response to their silent inquiries.

"Okay. Let's discuss the two of you going out of the castle to observe how the enemy fights. Make sure you stick to our agreement. Don't approach or attack the enemy, don't attract their attention. You are out there to observe... not to fight. We must know their weaknesses so that we can find a way how to defeat them and bring them down to their knees. Do you understand my plan and intention, brothers?" he asked them, looking at their faces.

The brothers were silent for a moment.

"It's important that you will abide by my rules. I only want your safety, brothers. There will be a right time to fight them head-on, but tonight is not the time for that. Tonight is for observation and learning about the enemies' weapons so that we can come up with a better plan on how to defeat them in their own game. Got me, guys?" said Maxwell.

Lothaire nodded his head. "I understand!" he replied.

"I got you!" Xenon spoke.

"Good! I'll go back to my room to rest. We still have more or less six hours to kill before midnight. You should rest as well and get ready for tonight's event," Maxwell said. He rose to his feet and left the room.

"I'm planning to bring my bow and take aim at the enemy tonight," Lothaire said, his eyes gleaming.

"Forget it! Maxwell told us to observe not to fight," Xenon reprimanded his younger brother.

Lothaire shrugged. "Okay fine," he said.

The men left the room getting ready and excited for tonight.

Inside Ivy's room. One hour after eating her meal, she falls asleep in the bed again.

~

Meanwhile, at the mountain.

Esmeralda was busy inside the prohibited room. Before her mentor passed away, she was able to witness how her mentor mixed all the ingredients to produce such a deadly poisonous power.

It's now her time to carry on her mentor's legacy.

The only problem is that the ingredients need to be replenished soon! She has no idea where to get the roots of the Drilizir Tree, the main ingredients of the poison powder. She will ask Jegun later if he has any idea where to find the poisonous tree at the base of the mountain.

She continues her preparation.

~

At the fruit garden.

Ella noticed that something is hiding behind the banana leaves! She left Agra's side and went to investigate.

When she went to the back of the banana tree, she found her sister Kate and Ramza sleeping soundly.

A smile appeared on her lips. She touched her sister's arms gently. "Sister, why are you sleeping here?" she asked in a small voice.

Agran saw Ella near the banana tree. "Pssst! What are you doing there?" he asked and walked towards her.

Ella looked at him and put her index finger on her mouth to silence him. "You're too loud," she scolded him when he reached her side.

Agran smiled after seeing Kate and Ramza sleeping soundly entangled in each other's arms. "Aww...so sweet!" he murmured.

Then slowly Kate's eyes opened and stared into her sister's eyes. She bolted upright and blushed crimson red. "We fell asleep!" she told them and looked at Ramza who's already awake during that time.

"You kids...why disturb us? Don't you have anything left to occupy your time?" Ramza growled at them.

Ella and Agran smiled.

"Okay, we will take our leave!" Agran said.

"Where are we going?" Ella asked him.

"Go back to the flower garden to watch the beautiful sunset with you," Agran said and pinched her nose.

"Shoo! Scram!" Ramza told them jokingly, grinning.

Kate giggled and pinched Ramza's side.

Ella and Agran left the fruit garden to give the love birds some privacy.

They reached the flower garden and lowered themselves on the wooden bench.

Agran pointed at the sky. "Look! The sunset is beautiful!"

"Yes, beautiful indeed! The sun was slowly fading away," Ella said mesmerized by the yellow-orange color of the sun.

"It's going to turn dark soon. Nighttime is coming!" Agran said. "It's now time to go home," he said sadly.

She glanced at his face. "Why do you look sad all of a sudden?" she asked curiously.

"I'm going to miss you," he replied in a low voice while looking deeply into her eyes.

Ella smiled. "Don't be sad. You're not going to a faraway land. You just go home to the island and you will come back soon to visit me," she reminded him.

"Ah, yes of course!" he responded, his face brightened up.

"Do you think the castle will release monsters tonight?" she asked.

"Maybe... I dunno. No one knows how the minds of those vampire brothers works," he said. "The boys and I will know later in the evening, probably midnight, if the castle will release the monster tonight."

"I hope no more monsters will be released tonight so that the people can finally have peace in their minds and you don't have to keep fighting those flesh-eating creatures," Ella said worriedly.

"Don't worry about us. We are well equipped to fight the monsters," he assured her.

"Don't be so overconfident!" she reminded him.

Agran smiled. "Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it very much!" he said. "I'll be here tomorrow, just in case I can't come here until the afternoon, that means the castle release monsters and we are resting during that time. So don't feel upset if I can't come," he told her in advance.

"It's okay, I understand, no need to visit me here if you're tired," Ella said.

They stay seated close to each other for the next thirty minutes.

Kate and Ramza were approaching their location.

Ramza addressed Agran. "Let's go, little brother! Time to go home!"

Ella looked at her companion. "Take care of yourselves, the two of you," she said.

"We will," Agran responded, wearing a pleasant smile on his face.

"Bye, girls!" Ramza said.

"Bye, boys!" the girls responded in unison.

Ramza activated the portal, and the neon opening appeared in front of them. The men entered it and disappeared from the girl's view.

Kate and Ella entered the house to prepare dishes for dinner.