The neighboring old man’s rooster crowed at the top of its lungs, its sharp cry shattering the morning silence.
Baining sprang out of bed like she had been launched by a switch.
She moved as fast as a lightning bolt, her pajama hem fluttering with a gust of wind.
Why was she so nervous and hurried?
Needless to say, she wanted her newborn “daughter” — no, the Pops she just gave the First Embrace — to see her, the “newborn mother,” the moment he woke up, like a chick seeing the first thing it spots after hatching!
Baining felt delighted, imagining her two sisters’ reactions.
Surprise?
Shock?
Jumping in rage?
Or burning with envy?
Whatever!
She had secured the first-mover advantage.
The other two little brats couldn’t possibly be as bold as her to turn Pops into their “daughter,” right?
Please, the sisters were his biological daughters, raised by him from infancy.
How could they have such rebellious thoughts?
Only she, the Vampire Queen who had lived for over 100 years, dared to disguise herself as a baby and lurk by his side.
Considering Lü Erlu’s care for them monsters, she had specifically bestowed this “First Embrace” upon him as a blessing.
It was time to give her two stupid sisters and her dear Pops an earth-shattering surprise!
Baining crept to Lü Erlu’s door and pushed it open, a smug grin on her face.
‘Wait, did I open the door the wrong way?’
She closed the door and opened it again.
The scene inside was exactly the same.
Her smile froze, and Baining felt completely stunned, her mind going blank.
She stared at the bed.
Her beloved Pops wasn’t sleeping there.
Instead, Ziya was kneeling by the bedside, her face buried in her arms, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.
What happened?
Her gaze swept over the sheets, and her heart sank when she saw a small pile of white ash.
‘Don’t tell me…?!’
‘No no no no no no no!!!’
The morning light filtered through the curtains, landing right on that pile of ash.
This scene triggered a horrifying suspicion.
As a member of the newborn Vampire Imperial Family, Pops didn’t have enough Sunlight Resistance!
‘Did the sun burn him into ash?!’
‘Not that! Anything but that!’
Baining felt like a knife was twisting in her heart.
The thought that she had caused this made her feel even more devastated.
Tears fell like strings of broken beads.
“Waaaah, Pops! I killed you! Waaaah!”
“It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have turned you on a whim in the middle of the night…”
“And I even forgot to pull the curtains tight for you…”
“I’m so stupid! I’m just a big idiot who ruins everything! Waaaaah…”
Ziya must have discovered Father had “passed away” early this morning and was hiding here crying.
The more Baining thought about it, the guiltier she felt, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
“I’m sorry, everyone… My good sister, and my favorite Pops…”
Baining couldn’t hold back anymore.
She collapsed beside Ziya and wailed at the top of her lungs.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
The two little ones’ cries echoed in the room.
It was heart-wrenching.
“?”
Ziya was crying hard when she heard a matching sound next to her.
She looked up in confusion and saw a white-haired head dripping with tears and snot.
‘Wait, what the hell are you crying for, Sister Baining? You’re the culprit…’
“Ziya… I’m so sorry…”
The dignified Vampire Queen of over 100 years was now bawling in front of her sister, her face a mess of tears and mucus as if she had committed the greatest crime of her life.
“Uh… that… Sister Baining, you don’t need to cry that hard…?”
Seeing Baining cry so pitifully, Ziya actually stopped her own tears first and spoke with a dazed expression.
“I killed Pops with my own hands! I… can’t I even cry?! Waaaaah!”
Uttering those words made Baining’s wailing go up another eight octaves, nearly blowing the roof off.
“What? Father is dead?”
Ziya froze.
“Yes! Waaaah! Look at that pile of white ash on the bed! I have to gather it quickly. Maybe there’s still a chance to revive Pops…”
Baining cried while carefully reaching out, trying to gather the white ash into her palm.
Ziya was completely speechless.
It turned out her older sister had misunderstood.
However, seeing her so heartbroken served as a tiny punishment for her sneaky behavior last night.
Seeing Baining still deliriously collecting the ash, Ziya couldn’t bear it and decided to tell the truth.
“That, Sister Baining, actually those ashes… are just the residue left behind when Longjiu condensed energy from the air to cast a Teleportation Magic Circle…”
“?”
Baining’s crying stopped abruptly.
A giant question mark seemed to float over her head.
Tears still clung to her eyelashes, making her look a bit dazed.
“Then… that means… Pops…”
“Yeah, right. You guessed correctly this time,” Ziya said, shrugging.
“Longjiu kidnapped him. She probably took him back to the Dragon Imperial Palace to show him off.”
“…”
Baining let out a long sigh of relief.
It felt as if all her strength had been drained as she slumped onto the bed, completely unbothered by the white ash covering her.
“It’s good that Pops is okay. It’s good he’s okay…”
She muttered to herself, her voice filled with the relief of a survivor.
‘Oh? Sister Baining calmed down so fast? As expected of the Vampire Qu —’
Just as Ziya was about to praise her in her mind, she was slapped in the face by Baining’s sudden, earth-shattering roar.
“Aaaaaah! Longjiu! How dare you! You actually dared to kidnap Pops!”
‘And… you made me lose so much face in front of Ziya! Longjiu, just you wait! You’re going to get it!’
Baining gnashed her teeth in rage, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white.
Beside her, Ziya watched her sister’s face darken instantly.
She could almost smell the thick anger permeating the air and couldn’t help but shrink her neck.
‘It’s over, it’s totally over. Longjiu and Sister Baining are like fire and water now. Ugh, what am I going to do…?’
Ziya glanced secretly at the fuming Baining and then imagined Longjiu’s fearless personality, sighing inwardly.
‘Everyone… do I… do I still have a chance to compete for Father?’