Angus shrugged, making a helpless gesture as if about to reveal the truth.
Roderick and Abaniel stared at him intently, their attitude suggesting they wouldn't agree to this marriage no matter how he tried to justify it.
But Angus lowered his voice, as if speaking in code: "To be honest, I didn't force Miss Jiang Yan. On the contrary, it was Miss Jiang Yan who brought me here. I was studying in the human world, and she mistook me for a human."
Roderick and Abaniel didn't understand what he meant, but then Angus hinted further: "Miss Jiang Yan seems to have a particular fondness for humans. A few days ago, a human girl who accidentally stumbled into the Vampire Clan was also brought back to the castle. At this very moment, they're sunbathing together on the top floor."
Roderick summoned a Blood Servant to inquire, and the servant confirmed the truth of this information.
"But Miss Jiang Yan has never been this friendly with a vampire before, right?" Angus analyzed logically.
Roderick's expression changed slightly, while Abaniel, being more impulsive, spoke directly: "We don't interfere with our little darling's emotional freedom. We'll support whatever she likes."
"Then I'm also within that range," Angus said with a slight smile, looking very confident.
Roderick spoke up: "But you're not human."
"Oh," Angus drawled, then calmly said in the face of Abaniel's expression of having caught hold of something: "About an hour ago, I told your little darling the truth."
Angus shamelessly stirred up trouble, pointing at the chair Abaniel was sitting on, and said, "Then, she kissed me right here."
Abaniel's eyes widened instantly, his bottom feeling as if it was on fire.
Angus said nonchalantly: "She might have just been momentarily captivated by my looks, and will probably get bored of me soon. And I also support her emotional freedom."
Angus's implication was that Jiang Yan's interest in him was just a passing novelty, and that he could accept Jiang Yan having other romantic experiences...
Even the strictest of elders couldn't find words to refute this. They looked dazed, supporting each other as they went downstairs to deal with official matters.
This topic was temporarily concluded.
The previously eloquent Angus abruptly retracted his magnanimous expression, coldly got up and went upstairs, retrieving the white little bat from under Zheng Xiaojie's desk.
"What are you doing?!" Jiang Yan was still angry, her words puffed with indignation.
Angus held her tiny foot with one hand, while the other hand's fingers gently stroked the soft fur on her head, bringing the little bat back to his own room.
Thanks to Jiang Yan's thoughtful arrangement, the floor-to-ceiling window in the room faced the sun. At this moment, a few rays of light filtered through the interlacing branches of the towering trees outside.
Angus, covering the light-fearing little bat in his hands, walked over and closed the curtains.
Then, he let go, placing the little bat on the bedside table, and lazily flopped onto the bed.
The door was locked tight, and Jiang Yan didn't know how to open such a complex lock, so she couldn't sneak out even if she wanted to.
The little bat stood expressionlessly on the cabinet, with only its black bean-like little eyes quietly rolling around. It had a kind of eerie cuteness.
Angus didn't know why, but he always found her cute. Perhaps the vampire race's nature had activated late in him, and only now did he experience what those romantic vampires called love, falling into an uncontrollable infatuation.
Jiang Yan was contemplating the feasibility of fighting with Angus to vent her anger, then taking over his position as lord, and conquering the human world.
But Angus propped his elbow behind his head, looking over with a quiet and gentle gaze: "Little darling, I didn't mean to deceive you."
His tone was casual, but Jiang Yan saw in his eyes a sincerity that perhaps even he hadn't noticed.
Love without self-awareness.
But Jiang Yan wasn't about to forgive his earlier deception just because of their past affection. The matter wasn't exactly trivial, though not entirely serious either.
Jiang Yan was mainly bothered by the fact that she had treated him as a weak human, when in fact he was a vampire old enough to be her ancestor.
The little bat flapped its wings, mumbling: "So annoying."
Angus swore he hadn't known how to coax people before, but after meeting Jiang Yan, he suddenly became naturally adept at it. It was as if some instinct had been awakened.
He cupped the little bat between his two hands, explaining at length for the first time: "I went to the human world to understand their culture. To avoid having my identity discovered, I mimicked human growth, changing my form gradually from a child... Who knew that you would take a liking to me when I was so small."
