Chapter 54: The Little Vampire in the Ancient Castle 27

The ancient castle hosting the grand carnival was overwhelmingly lively, and the bustling commotion could be faintly heard even from the top floor.

Yet, at this moment, no one cared; the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

The beautiful youth, newly turned into a vampire, reached out, lifted his delicate little chin, and drew out his tone in a spoiled, petulant whine.

Without a doubt, he was demanding an embrace from the powerful adult vampire.

The two vampires before him stared at Yu Deng without blinking, their long-dead hearts seized by a burning, hammering illusion.

The baby was simply... too adorable.

Clearly meeting for the very first time, a surge of intense fondness and longing welled up from the depths of their hearts the moment they laid eyes on Yu Deng, not to mention the way he was acting spoiled... They were utterly defenseless against such an onslaught.

On the throne, Yu Deng waited a few seconds. Not receiving the embrace he desired, he let his hands drop in disappointment, his voice turning aggrieved and pitiful.

New tears instantly welled up in the corners of his eyes: "Why won't you hug me..."

Y-you?

As it turned out, the scope of this demand for an embrace wasn't limited to just his guide?

The Vampire Prince, acting as his guide, stiffened for two whole seconds. The brain that had been completely scrambled by Yu Deng's cuteness finally regained a sliver of calmness.

Unable to hold back any longer, he reached out a step ahead of Wen Luo, pulling the exceptionally fragile and delicate little vampire—post-the-Embrace—into his arms.

The soft little vampire snuggled entirely into his arms, surrounded by a pure, sweet, and gentle fragrance.

Even after transforming from a human into a vampire, Yu Deng remained just as sweet and fragrant, possessing an overwhelming attraction for vampires.

"Are you still uncomfortable?" Ronald gently stroked Yu Deng's fluffy black hair.

Yu Deng hadn't fully recovered from the intense sensation of the Embrace just moments ago, and he gave a muffled hum: "I don't know how to describe it, it's just uncomfortable."

Fortunately, after being embraced by his guide, that subtle, agonizing feeling faded significantly. He blindly rubbed against the crook of the Prince's neck and mumbled, "Ronald, I'm hungry."

The silver-haired vampire sighed inwardly in his heart.

...His baby was truly too good at acting spoiled.

Yu Deng's bat wings and fangs had yet to manifest. At this moment, biting down against the side of the Prince's neck left nothing more than a faint mark, failing to even break the skin.

Somehow knowing that the little vampire was a very picky eater, Ronald didn't summon a blood servant to deliver food. Instead, he directly slit his own fingertip and slid it into Yu Deng's parted lips.

"Mmph." Yu Deng bit down on the Prince's fingertip, sucking on the overflowing blood. Tasting the Prince's blood for the first time, he found it unexpectedly delicious and quickly immersed himself in feeding.

Standing quietly to the side with his hands folded, Wen Luo, the butler, found the Prince monopolizing the little vampire's attention to be terribly anointing.

Wen Luo reminded him indifferently, "It is the young master's first time feeding, moderation is advised."

The Prince paused for a few seconds, then leisurely withdrew his finger.

"Is the baby sleepy? Do you want to go to sleep?"

Following the Embrace, newly transformed vampires generally fall into a deep slumber to stabilize their powers.

Yu Deng was currently relying purely on willpower to stay awake, but in reality, he was already extremely sleepy.

However, worrying that he might sleep for too long, miss critical task milestones, or miss the node to return to the future, he could only sit in the Prince's lap and rub his eyes incessantly, his eyelids entirely red.

Yu Deng worried, "Will I have to sleep for a very, very long time once I fall asleep before I can wake up?"

"Theoretically speaking, new vampires converted by high-ranking vampires typically fall into a deep sleep lasting anywhere from ten to a hundred years following the Embrace."

Yu Deng nearly went blind with despair: "No way..."

If he really slept for a hundred years, how was he supposed to do his tasks?!

A trace of amusement flickered in the Prince's eyes: "However, if sufficient energy is replenished, the sleeping duration will be drastically reduced."

Seizing the gap to display his presence and utility, the butler chimed in, "Young master, if you wish to wake up tomorrow, I can wake you."

"That happens to be my exact duty."

Ronald: "..." Tch.

"There's no need to go to that trouble." The Vampire Prince rejected on behalf of his little fledgling, "I will watch over the baby."

...

Assurances from the two vampires allowed the drowsy little fledgling to stop forcing himself to stay awake, and he drifted off the moment he closed his eyes.

Yu Deng had been in a daze ever since returning to the past, practically losing all sense of time. He had no idea how long he had slept, but when he finally opened his eyes again, it was already daylight outside.

Ronald was sitting right beside him, flipping through ancient tomes and glancing at him from time to time. Hanging near the head of the bed was a little bat-ball, staring at him with curious eyes.

"You're awake." Ronald scooped up the sleep-muddled Yu Deng, "You've slept for twelve hours; I was just about to wake you."

Still half-asleep, Yu Deng responded, "Oh..."

The little bat-ball tilted its head and watched for a long while before helpfully carrying a fruit over in its mouth for Yu Deng.

Yu Deng lowered his head to look at the little bat-ball, poked it with his finger, and was promptly carried off by the Prince to wash up.

Utterly dependent on the Prince who had given him the Embrace, Yu Deng obediently let himself be taken care of like an exquisite, pretty porcelain doll.

The Vampire Prince derived a marvelous sense of satisfaction from this, standing guard over his fledgling without stepping away for half a day before temporarily leaving to discuss matters with the First Werewolf Chieftain.

Wen Luo, who had been waiting for a long time, instantly appeared and accompanied Yu Deng on a tour of the castle. Sensing Yu Deng's thoughts, he asked, "Young master, are you hoping to join in the banquet festivities?"

"Not really." Yu Deng stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, "Just a little curious. Wen Luo, how long does this celebration banquet last?"

"It lasts for three days."

Yu Deng nodded. A vampire passed by them, respectfully greeting Wen Luo while completely failing to notice Yu Deng.

Yu Deng watched the vampire leave, suddenly realizing that he wasn't supposed to be seen by others.

How was he supposed to explain this to the Prince and the butler? They would definitely think he was acting very strange...

Seeing the little master's nervous expression, Wen Luo immediately knew that their rather dense little master had only just realized his origins were actually unreasonable.

"Wen Luo." Yu Deng wanted to briefly explain his situation, "Actually, I..."

Huh? What was going on, why couldn't he make a sound?

Yu Deng opened his mouth and tried several times, only to find he was utterly incapable of speaking out loud. The little vampire bewilderedly uttered an "Ah," thinking, "How strange."

Looking at the young master, Wen Luo sighed softly, "This is the young master's secret, isn't it?"

Yu Deng nodded.

"Since it's a secret, I shall simply pretend to be unaware." Pausing for a moment, Wen Luo added rather reluctantly on the Prince's behalf, "Presumably, His Highness the Prince thinks the same."

It was better for him to soothe the little vampire on the Prince's behalf than to have the little vampire go running to the Prince himself.

"You need not explain anything to us; regardless of what, you are the young master of the vampires."

Yu Deng blinked, quite satisfied with the butler's thoughtfulness: "That's wonderful, then. Oh right, Wen Luo, I'd like to look around by myself for a while."

Hesitating for a split second, Wen Luo ultimately agreed: "Very well. May I have the little bat accompany you? If you encounter any trouble, you can simply have it notify me."

"Okay."

...

Relying on the fact that others couldn't see him, Yu Deng wandered around the castle at random.

The non-humans participating in the banquet were in high spirits, and the relations among different races could barely be considered harmonious. Furthermore, they didn't seem quite as savage as they were in the dungeon's timeline...?

Filled with questions, Yu Deng attempted to observe clues that could help break the deadlock.

[The baby trying so hard to think is seriously too cute, stop frowning and let mommy give you a kiss.]

[Looks like our wife is going to unlock a brand new ending in this dungeon, too.]

[Plot-focused viewers poking their heads in. The background lore of this dungeon is basically clear now and quite interesting: the Church massacred non-humans, non-humans fought back—feels like it has a core revenge theme?]

[Not just that, isn't there still a blank space in the plot? Waiting for the baby to finish exploring.]

While the bullet comments chattered lively, Yu Deng continued searching for clues. Suddenly, with sharp eyes, he spotted two members of the Knight Squad quietly meeting up. It was Jack, alongside the squad's only female knight.

Pondering for a moment, Yu Deng followed them and found a hidden corner to play the role of an eavesdropper.

"Jack, listen to me, get out of here immediately." The female knight spoke at a rapid pace, "We've all been tricked! We aren't fighting for the commoners and the Pope at all!"

Uncomprehending, Jack asked, "Wait, what on earth is going on?"

The female knight lowered her voice: "We've been in the castle for a day, don't you understand yet, Jack? We were never on the side of justice."

"These non-humans never had any intention of threatening us in the first place; the Pope deceived us and used us fools as cannon fodder... We even slaughtered the non-human children!"

"What?!" Jack was struck with utter astonishment, but recalling various conversations overheard since arriving at the castle, he realized his companion was speaking the truth.

"Also, this is the message my uncle just transmitted to me." The female knight produced a sound-transmitting scroll, "The holy artifact was never capable of sealing the Vampire Prince; it can only transfer the Prince's power into the hands of the Church to resurrect the Pope!"

"The prophet who crafted the artifact seems to have made a minor alteration to it, though I'm unsure of the specifics."

Hiding not far away, Yu Deng barely managed to make sense of it all.

So this holy artifact was nothing more than a scam, meant solely to resurrect that hypocritical Pope. As for its special effect... could it be what sent him back to the past?

Struggling to dredge up memories from the past few days, Yu Deng compared them with the contents of Skeleton Jack's diary... Ah, everything lined up with this plot. So that was what Jack had meant by "hypocritical."

Sensing something, Knight Jack not far away turned his head. Catching sight of Yu Deng's figure, he forced a rather strained smile and vanished from sight alongside the female knight.

Unable to halt this past, Yu Deng lowered his eyes and slowly sorted through the currently known information.

Then now, only a single, most crucial question remained: exactly how had the castle's bloody banquet formed its tradition, and why was this tradition referred to as an unsolvable maze?

"Hey, is that new vampire up ahead? Why are you blocking..." A voice sounded from behind him, abruptly cutting off as Yu Deng turned around.

Young Anders stood behind Yu Deng, completely stunned, staring unblinkingly at Yu Deng with a pounding heart.

Anders at this time was only around seventeen or eighteen years old, very callow, yet his werewolf bloodline still made him much taller than Yu Deng.

"Ah, Ander." Yu Deng recovered his wits and called out.

The tail behind the werewolf instantly began wagging like a propeller, his earlobes turning red as he said in a drifting tone, "Vampire, you actually know my name..."

And calling him like that, too!

Yu Deng felt puzzled: "?" Weren't you allowed to know?

"Ahem, are you troubled?" The werewolf pup clumsily sought a topic of conversation with the vampire at first sight, "Do you want to touch my ears? They feel really nice, maybe it'll help you relax a bit."