“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The neighbor’s rooster crowed at the top of its lungs, its sharp cry piercing the morning silence.
Bai Ning’s “start” switch was flipped.
She sprang from the bed like a projectile, her movements so fast they were a blur, the hem of her pajamas whipping up a small gust of wind.
Why was she so nervous and hurried?
It went without saying!
Naturally, she wanted her newborn “daughter”…
—No, her father, whom she had just given the First Embrace.
She wanted him to see his “newborn mother” the moment he opened his eyes, just like a newly hatched chick!
Bai Ning felt smug, unable to stop herself from imagining the reactions of her two younger sisters.
Surprise?
Astonishment?
Stamping their feet in rage?
Or perhaps being green with envy?
Whatever!
She had seized the initiative anyway!
The other two little girls couldn’t possibly be as bold as her, daring to turn their father into their “daughter,” right?
Please, those sisters were biological daughters whom Father had raised with such hardship since they were infants.
How could they have such rebellious thoughts?
Only she, the Vampire Queen who had lived for hundreds of years, dared to go undercover as a baby by Father’s side.
Considering how Lyu Erlu looked after them — monsters that they were — with such devotion, she had specifically bestowed the gift of the “First Embrace” upon him.
It was time to give her two stupid younger sisters and her dear Father an earth-shattering surprise!
Bai Ning tiptoed to push open Lyu Erlu’s door, a self-satisfied smile still hanging on her lips.
Wait.
‘Is the way I opened the door wrong?’
She closed the door and opened it again.
The situation in the room remained exactly the same.
The smile froze on her face.
Bai Ning was utterly stunned, her mind going blank.
She stared fixedly at the bed.
Her beloved Father, whom she had been longing for, wasn’t sleeping soundly there at all. Instead, Ziya was kneeling on the edge of the bed, covering her face with her arms, her shoulders shaking with agonizing sobs.
What was going on?
Her gaze swept across the sheets and landed on a small pile of white ash.
Her heart plummeted.
‘Could it be?!’
‘No no no no no no no no!!!’
The morning sun peeked through the curtains, falling right onto that pile of white ash.
This scene triggered a hair-raising suspicion in Bai Ning’s mind.
As a newly born vampire royal, Father had absolutely no resistance to sunlight!
‘Was he turned to ash by the sun?!’
‘That kind of thing! Anything but that!’
Bai Ning’s heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
The realization that this was all her fault made her feel as if her intestines were being torn apart.
Her tears fell like pearls from a broken string.
“Waaaah, Father! It was I who harmed you!”
—
“It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have turned you on a midnight impulse…”
“And I even forgot to pull the curtains tight for you…”
“I’m so stupid! I’m just a big idiot who’s good for nothing but ruining things! Waaaah…”
Ziya must have also discovered Father’s “departure” early this morning, which was why she was hiding here and weeping.
The more Bai Ning thought about it, the more guilty she felt.
She wished she could find a hole to crawl into and die.
‘I’m so sorry… my good sister, and my most beloved Father…’
Bai Ning could no longer hold it in.
With a *thud*, she collapsed beside Ziya and joined her in crying out loud.
“Waaaah—”
The wailing of the two little ones echoed in the room.
It was heart-wrenching, a sound that would make anyone’s heart ache.
“?”
Ziya, who was in the middle of her vigorous crying, suddenly heard the same kind of wailing beside her.
She looked up in confusion and saw a white-haired head next to her, tears and snot flowing freely.
‘Wait, what the heck are you crying for, Sister Bai Ning? You’re the culprit…’
“Ziya… I’m so sorry…”
The dignified Vampire Queen who had lived for hundreds of years was currently weeping and wailing in front of her sister, her face covered in tears and snot, as if she had committed the greatest sin of her life.
“Uh… that… Sister Bai Ning, there’s no need to cry so tragically, is there…?”
Seeing Bai Ning crying so pitifully, Ziya actually stopped her own tears first and spoke with a bewildered expression.
“Father was killed by my own hands! I… Can’t I even cry?! Waaaaah!”
Saying those heart-stabbing words out loud caused Bai Ning’s crying to jump another eight octaves, nearly blowing the roof off.
“What? Father is dead?”
Ziya was stunned for a moment.
“Yes! Waaaah, look at that pile of white ash on the bed! I have to hurry and collect it. Maybe there’s still a chance to resurrect Father…”
While crying, Bai Ning carefully reached out her hand, wanting to gather the pile of white ash into her palm.
“…”
Ziya was completely speechless.
It turned out this sister had completely misunderstood.
However, seeing her look so heartbroken, it could be considered a small punishment for her act of secretly seizing the initiative last night.
Watching Bai Ning, who was still deliriously trying to collect the ash, Ziya ultimately couldn’t bear it and decided to tell the truth.
“Well, Sister Bai Ning, actually that ash… is just the residue left behind when Sister Longjiu used a teleportation circle and condensed the energy from the air…”
“?”
Bai Ning’s crying stopped abruptly.
It was as if a giant question mark were floating over her head.
Tears were still hanging on her eyelashes, making her look a bit dazed.
“…”
“Yes, exactly. You guessed right this time,” Ziya said, spreading her hands.
“He was kidnapped by Sister Longjiu. She probably took him back to the Dragon Imperial Palace to show him off.”
Bai Ning let out a long sigh of relief. It felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body.
She collapsed limply onto the bed, completely ignoring the fact that she was covered in white ash.
“As long as Father is okay, as long as he’s okay…”
She murmured to herself, her voice full of the relief of someone who had just survived a disaster.
‘Oh? Sister Bai Ning calmed down so quickly? As expected of the Vampire Que—’
Just as Ziya was about to praise her in her heart, she was slapped in the face by Bai Ning’s sudden, earth-shattering roar of fury.
“Aaaaah! Sister Longjiu! What gall! How dare she kidnap Father!”
“And… she even made me lose so much face in front of Sister Ziya! Longjiu, just you wait! I’ll make you pay for this!”
Bai Ning gnashed her teeth in rage, clenching her fists so hard her knuckles turned white.
Beside her, Ziya watched her sister’s face instantly turn dark.
She could practically smell the thick aura of anger permeating the air and couldn’t help but shrink her neck.
‘It’s over, it’s completely over. Sister Longjiu and Sister Bai Ning are like fire and water now. Waaaah, what am I going to do…’
Ziya peeked at Bai Ning, whose anger levels were off the charts, and then imagined Longjiu’s fearless personality.
She sighed silently in her heart.
‘Everyone, do I… do I still have a chance to compete for Father?’
—
End of Dream Chapter One.