This time, even Rainno's eyes went wide.
The little bat in his arms went "poof" and transformed back into human form, lying against his chest with a triumphant grin:
"Gotcha!"
Rainno was stunned for a moment, then understood—this little thing had, through repeated attempts, figured out the pattern of his Supernatural Ability. It knew that he would only be teleported away when he made that final step, so just before reaching the end, it simply refused to let its feet touch the ground, transforming into a little bat instead and flying straight into his arms.
Rainno smiled knowingly. Who would have thought this little thing wasn't just persistent, but clever too.
"Not bad." He tilted his chin at Fufu. "Alright, you win. Go on, what do you want?"
Fufu, delighted that he was actually talking to him, scrambled up and announced loudly: "Now it's your turn to catch me!"
Then he turned, jumped off him, and went "pitter-patter" running out of the Star Chart Room.
Rainno was dumbfounded. Wait—what kind of request was that?
He was a former Blood Clan general, the founder of Twilight Group. Did this little thing have any idea how many young people would kill for his favor, would kill to hear him say those words "What do you want?"
Even if this one was a cub, didn't he have anything he wanted? Snacks, toys, or anything else—Rainno could understand all of that. But asking to be chased… what kind of request was that?
Still a little fool, after all. Rainno pursed his lips.
He sensed the cub had already run to the castle's main hall and was hiding with great ceremony.
Rainno raised an eyebrow, deciding to humor the cub a little longer.
But of course, he wasn't actually going to go chase him. Rainno reached out a hand, and a Spatial Rift split open in the air before him.
The next second, the cub tumbled out of it and landed back in his arms.
Being teleported again startled Fufu. He stared wide-eyed for a moment, then his face twisted into anger.
He kicked his legs, jumped down from Rainno's arms, and pointed at his father on the sofa, shouting: "You cheated! You have to find me yourself!"
Rainno found it hilarious: "Find you? Do you think I'm that free, to play games with a little kid like you?"
The cub got even angrier, stomping his feet on the ground: "But I caught you just now! I chased you for so long!"
Rainno's expression froze. He remembered how the cub had been drenched in sweat from running to catch him, and felt a twinge of guilt.
But that wasn't his fault either. The cub had chosen to run on his own; it wasn't like he'd asked him to.
Who said that just because the cub ran himself ragged, he had to play along? No way.
Rainno snorted, turned to the side, and settled into a more comfortable position, draping his long legs over the armrest of the sofa. He picked up his wine glass and took a sip: "Cheat or not, I'm not playing. I don't have time for kid games."
Fufu was even more furious, hopping and shouting: "Then I'll tell my brother! And Uncle Uther too! I'll tell them all you cheated!"
Rainno scoffed: "Isn't your brother my son too? What's he going to do about—"
He froze mid-thought.
Wait. No, no, no.
If he told them, wouldn't they all know that he'd been secretly playing with the cub when no one was around, and even cheated at it?
No way. No way.
He had previously told Hickson and Uther to his face that Fufu was just a little pet, and that if Fufu ran around and disturbed him, they shouldn't blame him for being rude… Yet the moment he turned around, he was playing with the little one. Didn't that make his earlier words sound like a load of hot air?
A vein pulsed on Rainno's forehead. He never imagined that one day, he'd be wrapped around the paw of such a tiny little cub.
But in the end, he could only grit his teeth, sit up, and look at Fufu. "Alright then, go hide again."
Fufu's anger instantly turned to joy. He shouted "Yay!" and ran out of the room again.
Actually, it didn't matter where he went—as long as he was still within the ancient castle, Rainno could sense him no matter where he was.
He felt the cub trot down the corridor, enter the castle's reception hall, and hide himself there.
But afraid of being accused of cheating again, he pretended not to sense anything, strolling leisurely toward the area where the cub was hiding.
When he got close, he deliberately made his footsteps loud so Fufu could hear him approaching—yet just as he was about to enter the reception room, he turned a corner and stepped into the adjacent room instead.
He walked a loop inside, then came back out and entered the room across the way.
Only after circling through all the rooms near the reception hall did Rainno finally walk into the correct one.
He slowed his steps, pacing unhurriedly through the room, muttering softly under his breath: "Where is it? Where did it hide?"
In truth, the cub was hiding behind a large vase right by the door—Rainno had spotted him the moment he walked in. But he deliberately pretended not to see, circling around the room.
When he drew near the vase, Rainno could see the cub shrink back, clearly holding his breath; and when he moved away, he caught a glimpse of Fufu peeking his head out, covering his mouth and giggling.
Rainno quietly curved his lips upward, circling the room several times. Once he'd teased the cub enough, he finally walked up to the vase and found Fufu.
The cub was indeed having a grand time. The moment he jumped out, he praised him loudly: "You're so amazing! Found me that fast?"
Rainno couldn't help but chuckle. That fast? You silly little thing.
Fufu then said, "Now it's your turn to hide!"
Rainno was starting to find this a bit amusing himself, so he didn't refuse. He nodded and said, "Alright, you wait here."
With that, he left the room and actually went to hide.
Fufu listened to him walk a few steps away, then couldn't resist leaning against the doorframe, poking his head out to peek. He watched his father's figure walk along the corridor toward the great hall—and then, with a sudden shwoosh, he vanished into thin air once again.
"Whoa…" Fufu couldn't help but gasp in awe.
After that, the castle fell completely silent.
Fufu figured the other must be hidden by now, so he came out of the reception hall and followed the direction Rainno had taken, heading toward the great hall.
Emerging from the corridor, Fufu crawled up to the railing on the second floor and looked down at the scene in the hall. He couldn't help but let out another "Whoa."
There, suspended in the center of the great hall, were three transparent spatial vortices, silently rotating and slowly warping the space around them. From within came a familiar voice, tinged with echo:
"Little one, come find me…"
On the other side, Uther followed Hickson's earlier instructions and went to check on Fufu every half hour.
But when he opened the surveillance feed, he found the children's room completely empty.
The werewolf butler broke out in a cold sweat.
What on earth was going on? The door to the children's room was shut tight—how could the pup have vanished into thin air?!
He hurried to check the surveillance footage.
But before he could even pinpoint the moment the pup had disappeared, he suddenly heard Fufu's voice faintly drifting from the other end of the corridor, along with a familiar "Come find me!"…
Wait, that voice—Uther's heart tightened. He raced through the corridor at top speed, his keen werewolf hearing instantly locking onto the source of the sound: the castle's main hall.
Soon, three hovering spatial vortices came into view in the middle of the hall.
And there stood Fufu, right in front of the vortices, lured by the voice within, stepping into the swirling rift…
Uther stopped in his tracks.
Was this… hide-and-seek?
So in just that brief moment of not watching, the two of them had already started playing together?!
That seemed to be the case. Uther observed silently.
Though Master Hickson had emphasized it repeatedly before leaving, he felt that the head of the household wasn't actually as irritable as he usually appeared—sometimes he could even be quite playful at heart…
And besides, while he'd long known that Master Nosferatu was the pinnacle of combat power among the Blood Clan, with spatial abilities that defied belief, this was the first time he'd witnessed the man suspending such eerie rifts in midair, keeping them from expanding outward or collapsing quickly, instead maintaining a perfectly stable state—and three of them at once, no less.
The werewolf butler quietly marveled. As expected of the head of the household—even playing a game with a four-year-old pup, he took it this seriously. His competitive drive was truly beyond compare.
Uther pressed his lips together, and in the end, chose not to intervene. He silently retreated back into the shadows.
Fufu paced before the three vortices, tilting his head and listening carefully for a long moment. The voice seemed to be coming from the leftmost vortex, so he leaped up and dove straight in.
The next instant, Fufu had passed through the rift and arrived in a completely different space.
He looked around. Beneath his feet were rough stone tiles; above his head was a dim, overcast sky.
He'd been sent outdoors?
But as he scanned his surroundings, he saw no trace of the castle.
Had he been transported somewhere far from the castle? Fufu felt a bit confused.
He looked around again. The place was empty and desolate—one side was a wall with a locked door, and the other side was an old, weathered railing.
He ran to the railing and peered out, letting out an involuntary "Wow!"
Spread out beneath his feet, the castle's rooftop tiles lay tightly packed together, reflecting the distant twilight. The dense forest beyond the castle rustled softly, and a river wound through the trees, barely visible as it meandered slowly into the distance through the amber haze. The once-imposing castle revealed an entirely different side of itself.
It turned out he was standing on the open terrace at the very tip of the castle's tallest tower, overlooking the entire stronghold.
Fufu felt his breathing ease as he circled the curved railing all the way around, then traced his steps back, curiously taking in the wondrous view outside.
Once he'd had his fill of looking, a new idea struck him. He wanted to climb over the railing and crawl out—that arched, semi-transparent section of the castle's main hall roof looked so smooth, and he wanted to slide down it like a playground slide…
But the moment Fufu climbed up, he felt the ground drop away beneath him again. The scenery shifted before his eyes, and he was back in the middle of the hall.
The three vortexes still hung before him, and from within came Rainno's mocking voice: "Already worn out? Can you even keep looking?"
Only then did Fufu remember that he was playing hide-and-seek. Of course he wasn't about to admit defeat, so he followed the voice and dove into the vortex on the right.
This time, Fufu felt the light around him brighten. The dim castle scenery was gone, replaced by a crystalline, illusory world.
He looked up, down, left, and right, and found himself surrounded by countless mirrors. Front, back, left, right—every direction, every position was enclosed by layer upon layer of mirrors, with countless Fufus encircling him.
He blinked, and all the Fufus in the mirrors blinked along with him. He waved his hand, and the countless little cubs in the mirrors moved in unison. He took a step forward, and the scenery in the mirrors shifted continuously, sliding through the void.
Fufu walked up to a large mirror and reached out to touch it, but instead of feeling the cool, smooth surface he expected, his hand went straight through into the mirror.
"Whoa!" Fufu's eyes went wide. So these weren't real mirrors at all, but… he didn't know what they were either.
Fufu pulled his hand back and shook it, finding it perfectly intact, so he boldly reached in again. After testing it a few times, he simply dove his whole body in.
The scene around him shifted once more, and Fufu found himself back in the grand hall at the center of the castle, with the three vortexes still floating before him.
Right—he was still playing hide-and-seek.
Without a moment's hesitation, Fufu charged straight into the middle vortex.
This time, Fufu was indeed not transported to some strange place. Instead, he crashed headfirst into a warm embrace.
Fufu grabbed the other's shirt with his hands and said with a laugh, "Found you!"
Seeing this person again, Fufu didn't know why, but he couldn't stop smiling. The other smiled too.
Fufu hopped down from Rainno's lap and said, "Your turn to hide now."
The two of them took turns hiding and seeking, and somehow managed to play like that in the castle for most of the day.
By evening, Rainno sensed a car approaching outside the castle. He checked the time and clicked his tongue: "This kid's right on schedule."
He grabbed Fufu, who was still running around the room in excitement, and crouched down to ask him:
"Didn't Hickson tell you not to come near me?"
Fufu froze, only then remembering what his brother had said before leaving.
Not only was he told not to get close to his father, he wasn't even supposed to go out casually… He'd completely forgotten all of it.
What was he supposed to do now? He'd gone out and played all afternoon…
The cub's guilt was written all over his face, and Rainno understood at a glance.
He lowered his voice and said, "Fufu, you don't want your brother to find out and get angry, do you? It's fine—I can keep it a secret for you."
Fufu's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Rainno nodded, then said seriously, "But in return, you can't tell anyone about coming to play with me. No one at all, understand?"
"Mm!" Fufu raised his head high and nodded firmly.
Satisfied, Rainno waved his hand. "Go on back."
Without a moment's hesitation, Fufu transformed into a little bat, flew out the window, and headed toward Hickson's room.
Rainno watched him fly away, then finally turned aside and said in a low voice, "Come out."
Uther slowly emerged from the shadows at the corner of the corridor and walked up to Rainno.
Rainno curled his lip. "So Hickson had you watching that little thing?"
"…" Uther was at a loss for words. Watching was what you did with adults; with a cub, it was called looking after…
But he didn't argue, just nodded.
Rainno snorted. "You know who your employer is, right?"
"You." Uther spat out the single word.
"Then you know what to do?"
The werewolf nodded.
Satisfied, Rainno gave a slight chin tilt, casually tore open a rift in space, and in an instant returned to his own Star Chart Room.
The wine on the coffee table was barely half drunk. He picked it up and swirled it, suddenly feeling it didn't taste so good anymore.
Rainno tossed the wine aside, lay back on the sofa, stretched, and stared at the pitch-black ceiling. Then, for no apparent reason, he let out a few chuckles:
"Hmph, little thing. Kind of fun, actually."
Elsewhere, an hour earlier, at the Twilight Group office building.
Hickson had finally finished his work and carved out time to pull up the surveillance feed. One look at the screen—and the sky fell.
The children's room was completely empty. Only a pile of toys scattered messily on the carpet remained. No sign of the cub.
He maneuvered the monitor around the room, switching angles continuously, searching every corner. Finally, he confirmed it:
Fufu was really gone. He had left the room.
Panic hit Hickson. He rushed out of the office, got in his car, floored it, and sped back to the castle at breakneck speed.
The castle was eerily quiet, its deathly stillness no different from usual.
But when he ran back to his and Fufu's room, pale-faced, he found the door properly closed, with no record of it opening in the system.
He opened the door and went in. There was Fufu, sitting obediently on the carpet, fiddling with his Star-pad. The moment he saw Hickson return, he ran over in delight: "Big brother!"
Hickson froze.
He crouched down, felt Fufu's soft curls and little face, and confirmed the cub was exactly as he'd left him—unharmed. Only then did he relax.
"Fufu, what did you do this afternoon?"
Fufu blinked, rolling his little eyes. "Just played with toys."
But the guilt was written all over his face.
On the small table, the little plate of snacks Hickson had left for the cub before leaving was barely touched—that was off.
But Hickson couldn't figure it out. There was a smart monitor at the door, and it clearly showed the door had never opened. How could the cub possibly have gotten out?
Could he have been mistaken?
Right, the surveillance! Hickson remembered.
He didn't press Fufu for answers. Instead, he sat down on the sofa and pulled up the surveillance feed on his Star-pad.
The camera in the room had a smart tracking feature that let it glide around on its own. When there was a living creature in the room, the camera would lock onto it as much as possible; when the room was empty, it would automatically choose an angle that captured as much of the room as possible.
If Fufu had really gone out, there would definitely be a record of it.
But when Hickson opened the footage, he found that every single recording from this afternoon—spanning several consecutive hours—was nothing but black screen. No image, no sound.
Even the part where he'd manually switched camera angles that afternoon was gone.
Hickson frowned.
He certainly didn't think a tiny cub like Fufu could have the ability to tamper with surveillance.
So was it a malfunction? But that would be too much of a coincidence.
Hickson was full of suspicion, but Fufu beside him seemed to think the matter was already over. He cheerfully ate a few nuts at the small table, then looked up at Hickson: "Brother—"
"Hm?" Hickson responded, thinking the cub wanted to play with him.
But the cub squinted his eyes and said, "Brother, I don't want to play today… I'm so tired. Fufu wants to sleep."
Hickson: "…"
No, this was all wrong! Something was definitely off.
That night, Hickson lay awake pondering until midnight but couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, Fufu slept soundly beside him, clutching his arm.
Hickson felt like a helpless housewife on an online relationship forum, left to ask in confusion—
My cub used to love playing with me, but now the moment I get off work, he says he's tired and wants to sleep, showing no interest in me at all.
Has he found another brother behind my back?
But no matter what he thought, the next day, the diligent and dedicated CEO had no choice but to go to work again.
Before leaving, he deliberately checked the surveillance system, confirmed there were no issues, then repeatedly instructed Fufu not to leave the room casually, and to wait for him to come back if he wanted to go out and play.
Only after seeing the cub nod obediently did he feel somewhat reassured. Tucking his briefcase under his arm, he left the castle once more.
After his brother left, Fufu played with the Star-pad for a while like yesterday, ate some snacks, climbed onto his brother's bed and bounced around for a bit, then started feeling bored again.
He lay on the bed, staring at the faint light filtering through the curtains, and his heart itched with curiosity again.
He thought: Brother said it's dangerous outside, but he was playing inside the castle! He wasn't going outside, so it should be fine.
With that thought, he pulled open the curtains again, opened the window, and transformed into a little bat.
He flapped his wings twice, then paused.
Fufu thought for a moment, flew over to the toy basket, dug out his beloved little bouncy ball, grabbed it with his bat claws, and flew out through the gap in the window.
He made his way to the black carved gate again. This time, without any hesitation, he pushed the door open and poked his head through the gap.
Rainno on the sofa opened his eyes, looking at him as if he'd expected this, and gave a slight nod of his chin.
Fufu held up the ball in his hand: "Do you want to play with this?"
And so, that afternoon, the father and cub ran to the open hall in the middle of the castle and played a game of catch.
Rainno's space-type supernatural power was practically a divine skill in this game—no matter where Fufu threw the ball, he could catch it accurately and toss it back, without even needing to chase after it.
Fufu had never had so much fun before.
By the third day, Fufu listened to his brother's footsteps fading down the hallway, then lay by the window watching him get into the car. Once he confirmed his brother had left, he unhesitatingly opened the window, picked a new toy from the basket, and flew out with it.
Rainno was just too good at playing—his masterful space-type supernatural power had completely captivated the cub, who now wanted to play with him all day long.
Two days later, Fufu grabbed his beloved bubble gun, wanting to blow bubbles with his father. But the thing was too big, and it got stuck when he tried to fly it out the window.
Fufu tried several different angles but couldn't pull it free, so he had no choice but to give up and went to complain to Rainno with a pitiful look.
When the old father heard this, he immediately stormed over to Hickson's room with the cub in tow, personally opened the door, and let the cub go inside to retrieve it.
As the head of the household, he held the highest authority in the castle's intelligent system, and the commands Hickson had set could be altered at will.
He could even make the system generate a set of false feedback to deceive the other party.
He had heard that Hickson had actually locked Fufu in his room and wouldn't let him out. He was thoroughly displeased and canceled all the restrictions Hickson had set up, letting Fufu come and go as he pleased, go wherever he wanted, and not pay any mind to what his old-fashioned brother had to say.
From then on, whenever Fufu ran out to see him again, he no longer had to crawl through the window—he simply went through the front door.
But no matter how happily the two of them played together every afternoon, when Hickson's work hours rolled around, they would still tacitly return to their own rooms, close the doors, and pretend they had never seen each other at all.
Hickson was completely unaware of this. He seemed busy lately, busier and busier. At first he only went to work in the afternoon, but then he started leaving early in the morning, and on this particular day he didn't even come home for lunch. He called and told Fufu to grab some snacks to tide himself over.
Fufu hung up the phone and happily pulled out his snacks.
But then he thought for a moment—Rainno probably hadn't had lunch either… So he emptied out his little toy basket, filled it with a basketful of snacks, and carried it to the Star Chart Room.
When he reached Rainno's room, he dumped the goodies onto the table and showed them off one by one:
"There's jelly, dried fruit, Nutrient Solution, and chips and chocolate too—they're all tasty. Here you go!"
But to his surprise, Rainno looked at them with disgust. "You're eating this for lunch? What's Hickson doing?"
"He's busy." Fufu bit open the plastic seal on his strawberry jelly.
Rainno wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell of sunlight. "Busy, so he lets you eat this?"
He called Uther over. "What's the little one having for lunch? Did Hickson tell you anything?"
Uther shook his head.
"He didn't say?" Rainno couldn't believe it. "He's really just eating this?"
Uther nodded.
"Ha." Rainno laughed in exasperation. He sat up and yanked Fufu to his feet. "Alright, alright, stop eating. What's there to eat in this? Daddy'll make you something good."
He first ordered a few ingredients online with express delivery, then had Uther drive out past the Castle Barrier to pick them up.
Once the ingredients arrived, he opened the packaging, took them into the kitchen himself, and washed and prepared each one. Soon he had made cod fillets, mushroom rice, and beef stewed in red wine. Each dish was small in portion, together forming a well-rounded children's meal with a variety of flavors.
Adult vampires lacked a sense of taste, so most of them weren't much of cooks. But Hickson and his siblings' mother, Isa, had a sense of taste, and Hickson and the others had also had taste when they were young. Rainno used to cook for them all the time back then, honing his skills so that even after he lost his sense of taste, he still knew exactly what to do at every step and exactly how much of each seasoning to add.
It was just that after Isa left and the three children grew up, it had been a long time since he'd cooked with his own hands.
Fortunately, he'd built a solid foundation back then. The process was a bit rusty, but the results were still quite satisfying.
Fufu ate with great relish, praising every dish enthusiastically. Rainno sat across from him, drinking his wine contentedly, thinking: See? This is what a youngling should enjoy eating.
He had eavesdropped on Hickson and the others talking before and learned that Fufu was a vampire who loved fruit.
Nonsense! How could a vampire possibly love fruit?
He must have never had anything good, with such limited experience. Hmph, who knows how that boy Hickson has been raising him.
Anyway, he figured that once the cub tasted real food, even if the little one couldn't get used to drinking fresh blood right away, he definitely wouldn't give fruits a second thought anymore.
At the thought, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth—I mean, Hickson was just a brat of three hundred-something years old himself; what did he know about raising cubs? If you really wanted to raise a child, you had to rely on him.
Fufu's cheeks were puffed full as he chewed, endlessly praising how delicious it was. Rainno's lips curved upward at the praise, and he couldn't help but press further: "How delicious is it?"
Fufu froze for a moment, seeming at a loss for words.
He swallowed hard, tilted his head in thought, and then said: "Even more delicious than strawberries!" He hesitated, then pinched his fingers together to gesture, and honestly added: "Just a tiny bit less delicious than mangoes."
Rainno nearly spat out his mouthful of red wine, coughing for ages before he caught his breath, and asked Fufu in disbelief: "Strawberries? Mangoes? What's so good about those things?"
Fufu blinked his eyes: "They're tasty."
This little thing really liked fruits, huh? Rainno simply couldn't understand.
Although he wasn't entirely sure how good his cooking was right now, it couldn't possibly be compared to fruits, could it?
After eating food he'd cooked, the kid still preferred fruits—what kind of quirk was that?
Rainno looked at Fufu with a complicated expression, but Fufu was completely oblivious and added another line: "But big brother said I can only have one small plate a day, and I can't eat more."
As he said this, he looked at Rainno with an expectant face, his meaning clear without words.
"Huh?" Rainno's attention was immediately diverted. Sure, it was a bit odd for a Blood Clan cub to love eating fruits… but weren't they just fruits?
It wasn't like the kid wanted to eat live humans—why was Hickson being so stingy?
What was wrong with his son eating a few more fruits?!
So he pulled out his Star-pad again and waved his hand grandly: "Come on, let's see what you want to eat? Daddy will buy it for you!"
"Okay!" Fufu immediately ran over and climbed onto his lap to look at the shopping interface.
One daddy and one cub browsed for a long while, and Fufu said his favorite fruits in order were mangoes, strawberries, and grapes.
Rainno laughed and said the kid had no taste, then ordered one of every premium natural fruit in the supermarket, and asked Fufu again: "Anything else you want to eat?"
Fufu thought for a moment, then pointed his little finger at the wine glass on the table:
"I want to drink that."
"Huh?" Rainno hadn't expected the cub to be so wild, and casually replied: "Kids can't drink that; that's for adults."
But Fufu had been eyeing it for days, so of course he wouldn't give up so easily.
He immediately pouted and started acting cute: "I want to drink it! Daddy, grape flavor… I want to drink it!"
That call of "Daddy" made Rainno's heart bloom with joy, his whole head feeling dizzy.
Drink! He could drink it all!
But of course, he wouldn't give the cub alcohol. Instead, he opened the beverage section, picked out a bunch of juices in various flavors, and placed the order along with the fruits.
When the items arrived, Rainno washed the fruits and also got Fufu a goblet filled with grape juice. The two of them drank and clinked glasses together, having a grand old time.
Rainno didn't mind at all the scent of sunlight wafting from Fufu's cup.
So what if it smelled a bit off? His cub liked it.
He was instead delighted that Fufu's preferences were so unconventional—truly worthy of being his son!
Only after Fufu had finished his grape juice and was seriously tackling the big mango he'd bought did Rainno regain some semblance of composure.
He coughed twice and warned Fufu, "Um, about this afternoon—don't you dare tell your brother."
Fufu, his mouth stuffed full of mango, mumbled his agreement.
After one small mango, Fufu couldn't eat another bite, yet he still clutched the mango pit, reluctant to let go as he sucked on the lingering fruit flavor.
As he sucked, a thought suddenly struck him. He turned to Rainno and asked, "Do you know how to grow mangoes?"
Rainno raised an eyebrow, quickly catching on to what the little one was getting at. He thought for a moment.
"With our climate here, mangoes would be a tough sell. But strawberries should work."
Fufu's eyes immediately lit up. "Really?"
Rainno's heart melted at the sight of the cub's delighted expression, but he still pretended to play hard to get. "You want to grow them?"
Fufu immediately pounced over, tugging at his shirt and nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes, yes!"
Rainno tilted his head. "Call me Daddy, and I'll grow them for you."
Fufu didn't hesitate. "Daddy!"
Rainno's grin stretched so wide he couldn't close his mouth. "Say it again."
Fufu hugged him directly, acting cute. "Daddy—Fufu wants strawberries!"
Rainno's heart bloomed with joy at the embrace.
He'd never actually grown strawberries before, but he could learn.
He first searched online for methods on growing strawberries, had Fufu pick the most appealing one, scraped off the seeds, wiped them clean, then grabbed a shovel and a bucket and took Fufu out to the yard to sow them.
In recent years, Rainno had barely even left the house. So when he stepped back into this courtyard, he even felt a hint of unfamiliarity.
The yard was overgrown with weeds and scattered dead leaves. Aside from a few withered rose branches, there was no trace of what it used to be.
Rainno only glanced over before quickly looking away, but he still couldn't help recalling the past.
He remembered many years ago, when his wife Isa had just moved in, how she'd frantically cleared land in the garden to plant flowers, even making him help haul away the weeds, saying that even a vampire's garden should have flowers.
Back then, he'd been lukewarm about it, telling Isa it was pointless—there wasn't even sunlight here, nothing would grow.
In response, Isa had slapped him hard on the back. "Straighten up! So what if it won't grow? If it dies, plant new ones. Now get to work!"
In the end, they'd actually managed to get a few plants to survive. A miracle, really.
But now she was gone, and the roses had all withered.
As Rainno stood there lost in thought, he suddenly heard a crisp little voice beside him. "Daddy, where do we plant them?"
He snapped back to reality and saw Fufu holding the strawberry seeds, looking at him with confusion.
Rainno forced a faint smile, reached out to ruffle Fufu's head, and had the cub step back.
Then, using his Supernatural Ability to tear through space, he severed all the weeds in the yard, cutting them into neat pieces a few centimeters long, while the severed portions were all transported to the small woods outside the castle and discarded.
Fufu had already grown used to his spatial ability, but seeing so many weeds vanish in an instant, he couldn't help opening his mouth and letting out a "Wow."
After trimming the lawn, Rainno walked over to the flower bed.
The withered rose branches inside leaned crookedly, tangled with one another, like a painting both hauntingly beautiful and eerily strange.
He paused mid-motion, ultimately deciding not to clean it up. Instead, he turned around and tore through space once more, carving out a clean patch of land a few meters square beside the flower bed.
Then, with Fufu by his side, he loosened the soil with a shovel, moistened it with water, and officially began planting.
Rainno poked holes in the ground with the shovel while Fufu dropped seeds in, covered them with dirt, and watered them.
When they were finally done, he sat down with Fufu at the edge of the field to rest.
Fufu's little hands were covered in dirt, and his face was smudged with soil, but he was still beaming. He hugged his knees and stared intently at the freshly planted mounds, not blinking—as if afraid that if he looked away for even a second, the strawberries would sprout on their own.
"Daddy, how long until the little strawberries sprout?"
"I don't know. Probably a few days."
"A few days…" Fufu blinked a few times, as if thinking of something wonderful, and broke into a smile. "Then Fufu will come check every day!"
He thought for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and ran to the lawn to pick up small twigs.
"What are you doing, Fufu?"
Fufu clutched a few small branches, crouched in front of the mounds, and crossed them as he stuck them into the soil. "I'm building houses for the little strawberries so they can rest well."
Hah. Rainno chuckled. The kid really knew how to keep himself busy.
Fufu was like a diligent little magpie, running around the yard, gathering suitable twigs from all over.
Rainno watched for a while, then suddenly spoke. "Fufu."
"Hm?" Fufu stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him.
"Fufu…" Rainno hesitated, then said it anyway. "What if they don't sprout?"
Fufu blinked, looking a bit confused. "Huh? Why?"
"…" Rainno was momentarily at a loss for words. "Because of sunlight, water… or sometimes there's no reason at all. Things you plant just don't always sprout."
Fufu tilted his head and thought for a moment, then smiled. "Then we'll plant new ones with Daddy!"
Rainno froze completely, hearing an answer that was exactly the same as Isa's all those years ago.
If it doesn't grow, plant again… He suddenly realized that even the way Fufu smiled was so similar to that person.
Of course, he knew Fufu carried their family's genes. But before, he'd only thought Fufu resembled a young Hickson. It wasn't until this moment that he noticed—Fufu, crouching in the strawberry field, building little houses for the berries, covered in dirt yet beaming with joy—actually looked more like Isa once had.
Rainno's heart stirred, and a powerful intuition surged through him, as if Fufu were Isa's final gift, the last voice she left in this world—
Perhaps it was truly her guiding hand from beyond, leading this child to his side, pulling him out of the dark castle, making him feel like a person again, making him feel alive once more.
At that thought, Rainno's eyes even began to grow slightly moist.
Fufu seemed to notice he was lost in thought and stood up. "Daddy?"
Rainno snapped back to reality, quietly suppressing his emotions, and reached out to Fufu. "Come here, Fufu. I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Fufu's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over. Rainno ruffled the curls on his head and told him to close his eyes.
Fufu squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his little fists in excitement, and said with his eyes closed, "What surprise?"
Rainno wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Wait a little longer, don't open your eyes yet…"
He quickly steadied himself, then focused his attention on the small mound of earth two steps away, the one Fufu had covered with a little house he'd built.
His supernatural ability was Space-type, but in truth, space and time were inextricably linked, so after advancing to the highest level, he could also manipulate time on a small scale—for instance, making a strawberry sprout a little faster.
Fufu kept his eyes closed for over ten seconds, but finally, unable to contain his curiosity, he squinted through half-closed eyes for a peek.
And what a sight it was—at the top of the little mound where he'd just built the tiny house, a faint hint of tender green had already emerged!
"Wow!" Fufu couldn't hold back any longer. He dashed straight over, crouched in front of the strawberry sprout, and stared at it intently.
The sprout continued to grow, pushing out two tiny leaves.
"Wow, Daddy, Daddy… it really sprouted!"
Fufu exclaimed in delight, wanting to reach out and touch it, but afraid he might damage it. After hesitating back and forth, he finally couldn't resist and gently brushed the two tender leaves with his fingertip.
But the strawberry sprout only grew a few centimeters—not even as long as a thumb—before it stopped growing.
Rainno, sitting nearby, silently wiped the sweat from his brow.
He was still better at teleportation and tearing objects apart. This kind of spatial ability extended into the realm of time was truly exhausting—even he couldn't use it too much.
But if it could make the little cub happy, it was worth it.
Fufu crouched in front of the strawberry sprout, marveling for a while longer, when a question suddenly occurred to him.
He looked around, then turned to ask Rainno, "Daddy, why haven't the others sprouted?"
Rainno chuckled inwardly: One sprout isn't enough? You're trying to work your daddy to death?
But he didn't say that out loud. Instead, he said gently, "They're a bit lazy. Give them a few more days and they'll sprout."
Fufu rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Great! When we have strawberries, we'll eat them together!"
Let's skip the eating part… Rainno wiped his sweat again.
He sat down to rest for a while, watching Fufu build little houses over the other mounds of earth, then run back to crouch in front of the sprouted strawberry, lying on the ground to examine it closely. In a flash, he seemed to see, from many years ago, Isa stroking the single rose she'd managed to grow with such difficulty, smiling at them…
In that instant, Rainno felt something that had been lodged in his heart for many years suddenly begin to loosen. Even his breathing grew a little lighter.
Outside the ancient castle, the dusk was a hazy gold, blending with the dark blue sky into a clear gradient. Such a sky had lingered around the vampire castle for over a hundred years, yet this was the first time he felt the twilight was so beautiful.
He smiled too, and stood up. "Fufu," he said, pointing toward a flower bed off to the side, "tomorrow, let's clear that out too and plant new roses. What do you think?"
Fufu tilted his head. "…What are roses?"
Rainno laughed softly. "They're the flowers Daddy loves. Very beautiful, very fragrant."
Fufu immediately grew excited. "Okay! Fufu will help you plant them!"
Rainno scooped up Fufu and kissed him, his voice brimming with laughter. "Good boy. What do you want for dinner? Daddy will make it for you…"
He chatted as he carried Fufu back toward the castle.
But he'd only taken two steps when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind.
Rainno turned around, and found himself face to face with someone who had just come home from work, looking tired, standing at the entrance.
"…"