Warm Sun in Winter

Caius did not know whether to laugh or cry in this sort of situation. This little human girl is inexplicably cute.

Why would Caius, the cruel and bloodthirsty vampire king, ever need a child of the human race to protect him? Their difference in strength is too great to even think about. But such naive words can so easily warm Caius' heart.

Micah, who heard this sentence with his super vampire hearing, laughed. He felt that, apart from looking cute, the little human girl is funny, especially when she says such amusing words with such a serious face.

Nevertheless, one could easily feel the solemnity in her words when one saw her eyes and heard her tone.

For a second, Micah didn't know whether he should feel jealous of Caius or not. But it must surely be a lie to say that he did not feel the least bit envious of Caius.

It must be nice to know that someone will always have his back and will always support him in everything. Thinking of this, Micah felt that the four simple words "I will protect you" were something precious to treasure, something to cherish, and something to hold dear.

Caius looked at the little girl in his arms intently, and the look in his black eyes was especially gentle. Below the pair of obsidian eyes were long shadows cast by snow-white eyelashes.

The loneliness that has been hiding in the dark seemed to usher in a ray of light.

"Okay," Caius found himself saying. He removed the hand from Venera's face to hold the little girl's hand in his. "I will need your protection."

From a distance, Micah was dumbfounded when he heard Caius' words. He never expected that Caius would actually answer the little human girl's words this way.

The five words "I will need your protection" only managed to spread goosebumps all over Micah's body.

Was his friend, Caius, actually serious when saying this? This is so unlike him!

Micah could hardly believe it, even if he had seen Caius and Venera's interaction with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears.

Since when was his friend so... passive?

No matter how much Micah was puzzled by the current situation, the Blood Moon rite had to go on.

The vampire nobles that had lined up reached out their bloody hands and drew on Venera's face. Caius gave Venera reassuring pats whenever a new vampire noble took turns drawing on the little girl's face.

Very quickly, Venera's face was fully covered with blood, which was painted by the crowd of vampire nobles. She did not say a word throughout the whole operation, but she did take a curious lick of the blood on her lips. Just a nip and she could immediately taste the blood in her mouth. It was especially bitter and unpalatable on her tongue.

Venera frowned slightly and easily concluded in her heart, "Yuck, blood is not tasty."

Seeing the little girl's frowning appearance, Caius whispered a light "Don't worry, bear with it; everything will be over very soon" in her ear.

"Hmm," Venera hummed softly in return. She does not want to open her lips anymore. What if blood gets caught in her mouth? She will never give blood another chance to do it!

Just thinking about the unpalatable taste made her body shiver in response.

Feeling the little trembling of the little figure in his arms, Caius frowned, and his lips pursed into a straight line in displeasure. He thought that Venera was so frightened that she could only respond lightly, but her quivering body exposed her true feelings. Then he felt inexplicably annoyed.

Why do his vampire subjects move so slowly? Could their old bones no longer support their aging bodies? So what do they eat for hundreds of years?

Caius looked coldly at the vampire nobles taking their turns to continue drawing on Venera's face. His eyes were so sharp as if frost had taken form in the hall. The chilling and oppressive air of a ruler radiating from his body effortlessly pressured the rest of the vampire nobles so that they could not help but speed up the process of the ceremony.

When the last one finished drawing on Venera's face, Caius let out a light sigh of relief.

Venera blinked at Caius, confused by his actions.

Why did he sigh? Could it be that…

"Is Brother tired?" Venera asked.

"It's nothing." The man's words were extremely gentle; his smile was like the warm sun in winter; and his obsidian-like eyes were full of soft light. "Are you scared?"

"No," Venera said, and then a yawn unknowingly escaped her lips. Her eyelids started attracting each other like polar magnets; the tiredness of the day was getting to her. She closed her eyes and buried herself comfortably in Caius' arms.

She looked very similar to a sleepy little kitten. So cute. He did not even mind if the blood on Venera's face stained his luxurious and regal clothes.

"Are you tired?" Caius asked, and a charismatic chuckle left his lips. He lightly tapped on Venera's little nose. "Let's bring you to your chamber."

"Hmm."

Venera hummed again and nodded dully in the man's arms; her voice sounded very soft.

Hearing her answer, Caius walked down the altar and out of the throne room, leaving the cleanup for Micah to settle. He then headed in the direction of his bedroom, which was also their wedding room.

However, Caius did not notice that the blood on Venera's face had turned lighter. Some blood on Venera's face had seeped and melded into her skin.

…

The Vampire King's Chamber

Caius placed his hand on the golden knob of the door that led into his bedroom and turned it. After stepping into his room, he immediately instructed Emily and the other maidservants to bathe Venera and to help the little girl wash off all the blood sticking to her face.