"Can Sunny take a bite?"
Aries looked at the young girl named Sunny in disbelief. Her lips opened and closed, unable to agree or disagree with Sunny's request.
"Tsk. Whoever taught you this level of politeness must be the nicest, rudest, most caring nonchalant devil-may-care jackass." Abel clicked his tongue, pushing himself to sit upright. He pointed a finger at Sunny, waiting for her to look back at him before he continued. "My wife is off-limits, little crumb. The second you sink your fangs into her, chocolates will cease to exist."
Sunny frowned, teary eyes as she looked back at Aries. "I'm sorry."
"Aww... it's fine." Aries's heart softened as she rubbed Sunny's back. However, she couldn't get angry at Abel, as he was simply concerned about her well-being. "He may sound a little harsh, but he didn't mean it that way."
"I meant it."
"See? He said he didn't." Aries ignored him, pinching Sunny's cheek mildly. "So your name is Sunny?"
"Mhm."
"Who in their sound mind will name a child Sunny?" Abel wondered, only to get ignored by Aries.
"I'm Aries." Her smile grew brighter as she motioned her hand in Abel's direction. "And his name is Abel. He's my husband. Care to tell me where your parents are?"
"I don't know. They left Sunny."
"What?" Aries gasped in disbelief, assuming Sunny's parents abandoned her. How could they!?
"Mother and Father went on a vacation to make another baby... that's what Tilly said."
"Tilly?"
"Short for Mathilda." Aries raised her brows and shot Abel a look when he explained. "That child's father is Ameria's son."
"Ameria... your other sister?"
"Yes. That's why she's my..." Abel paused, setting his eyes on the little girl. "She's my granddaughter, apparently."
"Granddaughter..." Aries chuckled awkwardly, biting her inner lower lip.
If Sunny was Abel's granddaughter, then, since Aries was Abel's wife, Sunny was also her granddaughter. Did that mean she now had a nephew who could be older than her, and now a grandmother? Aries wasn't even sure if this child was just a child, or already a hundred times older than her, since Sunny was obviously a vampire.
"How — how old are you?" she blurted out, biting her tongue at the realization. There were many things to focus on, and Aries only realized her question was the least important one.
Sunny raised three fingers and answered, "three."
"Three... years old?"
"Darling, what's with that cautious tone?" Abel's eyes fastened with amusement. "Are you perhaps assuming she meant three decades?"
"Well... I don't want to be rude." Aries shrugged, casting Sunny's silver hair a cursory glance.
"Haha. How cute." He chuckled, snapping his eyes at Sunny. "She's only three years old, darling."
"Oh." Aries rocked her head.
"My brother is nine — ten, I think."
"That's not a bad gap. Your parents surely studied family planning." Abel mused.
"So where are they? They really left Sunny?" Aries asked after several seconds before they get completely sidetracked.
"Mhm."
"How could they...?"
"It's not her parents' fault, darling." Aries frowned when Abel spoke. "They entrust this little child to my sister, but... well, I guess it's their fault. How can they trust Mathilda to look after a child when she can't even take care of herself?"
"Tilly is cool."
"Literally, she is. She's dead from the inside." Abel shrugged nonchalantly. "But you said you had a brother."
"Yes." Sunny nodded and was immediately followed by another question from Abel.
"Where is he?"
"Tilly took her on an adventure." Sunny blinked innocently. "Tilly said I should stay since it's too dangerous for me to come."
"You're lying." Abel's eyelids drooped. "Don't lie to me, especially after taking my precious quality time with my wife."
Sunny frowned, clutching the sheet over Aries's lap. "Tilly said I should stay and observe the situation on the mainland."
"The Mainland?" Aries mumbled. "The land of the vampires?"
"It fell." Her brows rose as she refocused her attention on Abel. The latter was stretching his neck from one side to the other, eyes closed.
"What fell?"
"The royal family." Aries moved her gaze back to Sunny as the latter clarified. "It fell with a boom."
"That's... bad news for us?" she asked awkwardly since Aries already had a hunch, but it was better if it was clear. Sunny nodded.
"The royal family had always protected the Grimsbanne."
"So, they were targeting your family now?"
Sunny tilted her head to the side, causing Aries to furrow her brows as well. The puzzlement in the little girl's eyes brought this unsettling feeling into Aries's heart as if she just asked a silly question.
"The Royal Family had protected our clan... or rather, they were the mediator between us and the rest. And that, we owe them a great debt." Aries slowly shifted her shaking eyes to Abel, only to see the smirk on his face. Her worry was easily squashed down, noticing Sunny smile as if Aries was simply overreacting.
"But without the royal family... I don't see any reason why I need to hold back if they ever set foot in my territory." His eyes glinted with amusement, making Sunny clap with twinkling eyes. "I would like to see them try."
"In other words, it's their problem, not grandpa's! This is why Tilly said I should stay with Grandpa. She said he had many chocolates!" Sunny cheered, showing Abel a thumbs up. "And very rich he doesn't have problems!"
"So, you're the weird kid?" Abel lowered his head to look up at Sunny up close. "You remind me of someone."
"My other grandma?"
"Yes. That woman."
Sunny grinned. "Tilly said if I meet that granny, I should run away as far away as possible!"
"Is she really that dangerous?" Aries mumbled, recalling Abel's warning yesterday. What Sunny said just now sounded uncannily the same as Abel's.
"Mhm! We were all warned about her." Sunny blinked. "That's why I told Pretty Grandma that everyone is on the mainland when I bumped into her."
"You met Marsella?" Abel arched a brow.
"Mhm. When I arrived here. She was angry and..." Sunny rubbed her chin as she tried to recall something. "... Ma — Maganti? I think I heard her say she was going there to meet grandpa."
"What? Abel!" Aries instantly panicked, only to calm down when Abel waved.
"She won't be there. We would've met her if she didn't listen to this little glutton." Abel smiled from ear to ear, facing Sunny. "If I were you, run now. She will disintegrate you if she realized you lied."
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