Back to the present...

"So what you're saying is... You want me to give 100 milliliters of my blood to the princess every single day?" Roland wore an incredulous expression.

Harker sighed. "It's what she needs to stay human."

"Why, Hark..." Roland was still in disbelief. "The recommended time between blood donations is a minimum of 3 months. The maximum blood you can donate per session would be less than 500 ml. And yet you expect me to lose 500 ml of blood in just 5 days, and keep going?"

Harker rubbed his face. "I know it's not possible. So I was hoping that you know some people from the institute—"

"No, I am not going back to the institute. Hark, you know that they only see me as a lab rat. And they won't accept money to get precious blood from the other RH null patients they're studying. They want you to give something valuable for their studies too in return."

The reason why Roland had so many puncture wounds when he was young was because of the Biotechnological Institute of Terminal Malady, Afflictions and Conditions. BITMAC was a foundation built by the MacBheata family that studies rare and severe illnesses, mutations and abnormalities around the world.

The MacBheata was Angela's family, Roland's fiancee. Not only did he hate what the Institute did to him when he was young, he hated encountering Angela and her family if he visited there.

Harker thought about it, then had an idea.

"What if... What if I give them a sample of my Shapeshifting cells?"

His friend rose up from the sofa where they were having this conversation. They were in the living room while Princess Jinzhu was being taken care of by Dr. Rothstein.

"Are you serious? I thought you were trying to keep this a secret—"

"They will never know it was from me." Harker said. "I just need to separate the genetic code that would lead to identifying that I was the owner. Or better yet, I will transfer my Shapeshifting cell to a chameleon, and claim that it came from a mutation that this animal experienced!"

"You're taking too many risks! You saw how the princess barely survived the transfusion, how would you think a small chameleon would survive something extreme like that!?"historical

"I don't care how many risks I have to take! I need to help Princess Jinzhu, she got this far! I will do whatever it takes to get the justice her family deserves!"

Roland kicked the chair. "Sweet mother of... What happened to you, Hark!? How can you be so irrational like this!?"

His friend left the room in fury. But Harker would not let him walk out again this time.

"Roland.... Please. Please help me. While I try to get a successful transfusion to give a sample to the BITMAC, you would have to give your blood to the princess. I promise it won't last longer than a week."

His friend sighed, pushing his hand away. "That's not the problem. I don't care if I bleed to death for your sake. But I don't want you to get in danger that even I could not fix or help you with."

"I won't." Harker promised and gave him a hug. "Trust me on this."

Roland could only relent to his friend's wishes. "Just... Be careful. And if you encounter Angela, just ignore her. Also try not to kill too many chameleons while experimenting."

Harker chuckled. "I will, I love my little buddies too much."

And so, they got to work. First thing was to wait for Princess Jinzhu to recover and try the transfusion again. Of course, she will experience the pain of the transformation, but only for the last time.

After transforming from mermaid to human, she received RH null blood for her Shapeshifting cells to replicate from Roland.

The rich blond also bought her the best and most fashionable women's clothing at that time. He became fond of dressing her up as a little kid would dress a Varvie doll.

"How much longer do you guys need to just dress her up?" Harker frowned from the other side of the door. "It's taking tooooo long."

"Well, you try helping up a girl who can't walk to dress up in a blue Valenciaga trumpet dress and 4 inch stilettos. We're doing our best here." Roland answered back.

Harker pouted but not from jealousy, only impatience. Most guys would not trust another man to dress up a girl he likes. But Roland was an exception as he had no interest in Princess Jinzhu and would never betray Harker in any way.

Eventually, the 'Ben doll' went out of the door. No, if Princess Jinzhu was Varvie, he would be more of her nagging older twin brother.

Roland rubbed his hands excitedly. "Close your eyes first, I'll help her to walk out the door."

Harker raised an eyebrow. "Do I really have to?"

"Just do it, Hark!"

Harker reluctantly closed his eyes. He waited for a while until Roland finally said. "Ok... Open them."

He blinked. Princess Jinzhu walked out and she looked completely different from when he first met her. She was already beautiful in her natural mermaid form. But now that she had her hair curled, had a little bit of make-up to accentuate her best features, and wore clothes that suit her perfectly...

She was more like a goddess now.

The trumpet dress made her waist's curves even more visible, and she looked like something unreachable. Models have nothing on her ethereal appearance.

She looked a little uncertain and asked softly. "How do I look, Harker sir?"

"You look... good." Was all Harker could mumble.

Roland smacked his forehead. "Hark, I know you're a virgin, but you should still learn to compliment women better. I should teach you a thing or two on the Art of Flirting."

Harker quickly tried to shake off his daze. "Sorry.... You just... You look perfect, Princess Jinzhu. I don't even have the words to express it."

She smiled. "It's okay, I could tell from your voice that you mean it. Thank you. I wish that I would be able to pass enough as a human and behave properly at school."

Harker's eyes widened. "School!?"

"Yes. I would be changing my appearance to look a bit similar to Roland and disguise myself as his cousin. That way I could have an excuse to visit you two a lot while looking for Mr. Xi's associate."

She really did transform before his eyes to mix her features with Roland's. She now looked even more like his twin, a complete feminine version of him.

Roland smiled enthusiastically. He bowed with a flourish like a show host.

"Ladies and gentlemen, say goodbye to Princess Jinzhu from South China. And say hello to Mina Murray, my younger cousin from Boston, Massachusetts!"