Chapter 16

When Ansbillis took Oceania away from the museum, he was anxious and paranoid due to the emotional rollercoaster of losing and then regaining her. He drove seemingly aimlessly on the road, but his heart was like a taut bowstring, ready to spring at any moment.

When Zophie appeared, the bowstring snapped.

What had to happen had happened, and now it was time to face the consequences.

But when he arrived with Oceania and the black cat at the Red Sea, his mood suddenly became calm. It was as if boiling water that had been exposed to cold air for too long had finally lost its heat and was starting to cool down and think rationally.

Since things had already reached an irreparable state of badness, why not try to make himself feel a little better?

He had been separated from his lover for so long, why not cherish the present moment?

He had built a house in a place far from the city, where hardly anyone ever ventured within a mile's radius. He purchased the materials and hired people to deliver them to a spot nearly a hundred meters away from the cabin, and then he personally laid the bricks and added the tiles.

One of the workers felt guilty about taking the money and suggested bringing the materials all the way to the cabin's doorstep, and also offered to lower the cost of labor for the construction. Ansbillis refused, saying, "I don't want my loved one to see any other living beings."

Because of this statement, the police came once to verify that he wasn't planning on forming a criminal gang. Ansbillis had to restrain himself for a while before he could finally get rid of them completely.

Once the cabin was built, he personally selected the furniture and decorations inside, mostly through online shopping. Most deliverymen had to make ten calls just to find the place.

"I bought this curtain from China online. The fabric is a bit stiff, and there are loose threads on the edges...but it has the blue and white porcelain pattern you like," he said as he hung up the curtain and then put on the matching tissue box cover.

"The tea set you like is made of porcelain from Jingdezhen," he carefully took it out of the box and couldn't help but complain, "The tea you brew tastes terrible, either too weak or too...never mind, as long as you're happy."

"Oh, and the seller sent a strange tea pad, I don't think you'll use it, so I put it in the warehouse."

After setting up the living room, he carried Oceania to the bedroom.

The bedroom was designed extremely simply, with a copper-yellow mirror on the ceiling facing the bed, surrounded by roses.

"You don't like sleeping on a bed, so the bedroom is designed according to my preferences," he placed Oceania on the rose chair and then started to make the bed himself. As he laid out the sheets, he looked meaningfully at Oceania, even though she didn't give him any response. But his imagination filled in the gaps.

"I wish..." Ansbillis's throat was dry from the torment of his imagination. He rubbed his fingers twice on Oceania's pale lips before sliding them inside, gently prying open his teeth and lightly touching his tongue. The moist sensation awakened his most primal desire and he lifted his lover's chin, leaning in...

"Meow." A cat's meow suddenly interrupted.

Ansbillis froze in his original position, his gaze slightly askew.

The black cat innocently wagged its tail, seeming to ask, "What are you doing?"

Ansbillis reluctantly stuck out his tongue and licked Oceania's lips before letting go of him and picking up the black cat. "Your dinner is cat food."

The black cat let out a miserable cry.

Ansbillis remained unmoved. "If you behave well, I'll mix in some mushrooms." Its taste was just that strange.

The black cat huffed and lay down.

Ansbillis quickly finished its meal and returned to the bedroom. Having missed his opportunity, he no longer had the desire to do anything but simply carried Oceania to the beach.

The sea and sky were all shades of blue, making the world appear incredibly expansive. As a result, Ansbillis's thoughts also expanded limitlessly and he was lost in his musings.

He had never felt old before; age was not an issue for those of the immortal race. However, when he held Oceania, he suddenly envied the limited years that humans had. They lived more earnestly than any other creatures in the world, fearful of time's swift passage. And their future was visible; thus, many people saved the best for last, for that was eternity.

But what about the vampires? No matter how beautiful or profound the present moment was, it would eventually pass and never have an end. No matter how tightly held in hand, there would always be the fear of losing it one day- the future was infinite and perhaps unpredictable.

If his life were limited, perhaps he would have reached the end of his life when Oceania was still in his arms. In that case, they would have spent their entire lives together.

Ansbillis then thought of something else that was bothering him. "Why did you come to me so late?"

Their acquaintance originated from Oceania's unilateral provocation - a claim that was denied by Oceania. In Oceania's own words: "I just wanted to contact my ally in the holy war, and happened to see you persecuting a companion of the Genghis tribe. Out of friendship for the younger generation of the clan, I had to intervene to save him." Little did they know, this would be followed by Ansbillis relentlessly chasing after Oceania, both on land and in the sky.

"If I had known, I should have caught some Genghis kids earlier," Ansbillis recalled the days of pursuing Oceania, his eyes almost teary with tenderness. "Even if I pushed you to a dead end, you insisted on taking an hour-long bath every night before sleeping. When you couldn't find milk, you would sneak into the sheep pen of the rancher in the middle of the night to milk the sheep. Your adherence to your habits is so amusing."

Ansbillis missed every little thing about Oceania, and consciously or unconsciously imitated him when he was not around. At first, it was to find the feeling of having him around, but later he found that it could effectively control his emotions.

He caressed Oceania's soft golden hair. "You just wanted to lure me with these things, right? You are really cunning."

"Okay, you got me," Oceania replied.

"Congratulations," Ansbillis said.

At night, he would accompany Oceania to watch the stars, and only return to the house when the wind was strong enough.

After a few days, Ansbillis found that his memory book was getting thinner and thinner, and he suddenly became dissatisfied. "Look at you, hiding and making it hard for me to find you. How many wonderful memories have we missed together?"

"I will make up for all of them when you wake up," Oceania promised, as Ansbillis stared at him, waiting for his answer.

At that moment, the sea wind roared and the waves crashed on the shore, hitting Oceania's feet. Ansbillis wiped his feet with a handkerchief and said, "I checked the weather, today should be a good day."

Just as he finished speaking, the sunlight was blocked.

In the sky, two fallen angels were fighting with weapons, and the situation suggested that it wouldn't end anytime soon. Ansbillis had already considered this area as his territory, and he didn't like people trespassing, but he also didn't want to get involved in their war, so he simply took Oceania and went inside.

After about an hour, one of the sides in the battle, Zophy, appeared at the door. Ansbillis didn't open the door and instead sent him away with a "get lost." The door continued to be knocked on with an unrelenting attitude.

After fifty minutes, the door finally opened, and Zophy breathed a sigh of relief as he had reached his limit. Ansbillis looked at him coldly and said, "We're about to take a nap."

Zophy took out a bag of blood stolen from a hospital and said, "A present for you." Ansbillis was full of contempt.

"Don't you want to introduce me to your sister-in-law? To avoid any misunderstanding that I'm seeking to repay a favor, I cannot mention the connection between me and your sister-in-law multiple times. When the blood clan took her away to the sealed land, I rescued her and handed her over to the church, which reunited you." Zophy's every word was meaningful.

Unfortunately, Ansbillis was not receptive and said, "I have nothing to do with you, and he has even less to do with you."

"Well then, please let me stay for a few days, seeing as we have no relation," Zophy revealed his purpose, "Recently, something has driven Hell crazy, and all the fallen angels have come to the human world, causing trouble everywhere."

"They're causing trouble, and they found you, so you're the problem. Please keep your distance from us," Ansbillis said.

"Don't be so heartless!" Zophy said pitifully, "Don't you want to know the whereabouts of Count Godwin?"

"No," Ansbillis replied.

As he was about to close the door, Zophy squeezed half of his body inside and said, "Do you want to know Count Godwin's weakness?"