Ambitious Man Without Power

Lake watched the little padded jacket flying and bumping around the carriage, and quickly rescued it.

"It hurts!"

"…"

Little padded jacket Katherine rubbed her forehead, as if trying to make the non-existent bump disappear. Her eyes were teary, looking pitiful.

Lake pretended to take away the bamboo dragonfly. "Then I don’t want this thing anymore."

Katherine blinked and, with a whoosh, once again used her arm-hugging technique, wrapping her arms around Lake’s right arm and giggling, "I like it very much, thank you, Daddy."

Lake shook his head helplessly, looking like he had no way to deal with Katherine.

So…

Daughters are better after all.

Obedient.

Sensible.

Affectionate.

By the way, what does Skye look like when she’s being affectionate?

Uh…

Lake thought to himself, then quickly shook his head.

Soon.

The train arrived at the ancient castle.

However.

Katherine looked up at the ancient castle faintly visible in the distance, sniffed her nose, and said to Lake, "Daddy, Craven is up there."

Lake hummed in response.

Inside the ancient castle.

Craven, wearing a black trench coat and with medium-length shaggy hair, was paying respects to Emilia.

Craven hadn’t visited her for about four days since he last returned, which made Craven feel a bit uneasy.

"Elder."

Always in the Valkyrie’s stance before enemies, and always dignified and elegant before strangers, Emilia, with a blank expression and a cold tone, interrupted Craven. "David has been grounded by his father."

Craven frowned. "But David has already joined the Death Walkers."

According to the rules of the Death Walkers, any Death Walker who joins cannot leave without permission. Death Walkers obey the commands of the Executive Officer. Emilia is the Executive Officer, but with Marcus about to seize power, all major and minor affairs have been temporarily transferred to Craven.

Craven’s meaning was clear.

Emilia, who was about to fall into slumber, had already resigned, and David’s father had no right to question David’s whereabouts after he had joined the Death Walkers.

Emilia did not speak, her gaze deep as she looked at Craven standing before her.

Craven was not from Emilia’s lineage. Although Craven was converted by a vampire under Marcus, Emilia had been aware of Craven’s ambition for the past century.

But…

Ambition without strength is at most the act of a clown.

Moreover.

Craven did have management capabilities. Although Craven incited his foolish son to challenge his father, Lake showed no reaction, and Emilia would not overstep her bounds.

Although Emilia didn’t know what Lake was planning, based on her understanding of Lake, anyone who dared to offend him would be killed by Lake without hesitation. Even his own son was almost killed. Would Craven survive well?

Was that possible?

Emilia’s gaze shifted upwards, looking towards the main gate of the ancient castle.

Craven’s expression changed, and he also turned to look at the main gate of the ancient castle.

"Daddy."

Little padded jacket Katherine smiled sweetly, then, without any concealment, cast a look of disgust at Craven, who was standing in the hall with lustful eyes on her. She then said to Lake, "I’m going back to my room."

Lake hummed in response.

His gaze thoughtfully fell upon Craven in the hall.

Last year, when Lake came and learned that Craven had been provoking his foolish son, he had wanted to kill the guy. But considering the events of this year, Lake had only slapped him a few times.

He thought this guy would have backed down.

Unexpectedly…

An ambitious man.

Lake’s evaluation of Craven was the same as Emilia’s. However, an ambitious man with only ambition and no strength, even if called an ambitious man, was the kind of ambitious man who dreamed during the day.

Craven looked at Katherine, who was leaving, and Lake, who was entering, and said to Emilia, "Elder, I’ll be going now."

Emilia did not speak.

"Wait a moment."

"…"

After Lake walked in, he stopped Craven and gestured for him to sit down.

Craven was about to politely decline.

Boom!

An aura, rolling like the scorching sun, erupted from Lake’s body.

Craven’s eyes widened.

This…

Lake’s tone was casual, leaving no room for doubt: "Sit!"

Craven was silent for a moment before sitting on a chair near Lake.

Lake sat down opposite Craven, took a glass handed to him by Emilia, his favorite Bourbon, and took a sip. He shook his head and chuckled, "Did you come looking for David?"

Craven hesitated, his mind racing: "Yes, David is a Death Walker…"

Lake interrupted him directly, putting down his glass, his voice hollow, "I returned home four days ago. David went to your place. When he came back, he told me I wasn’t fit to be his father. He even said he felt disgusted by the very blood of mine flowing within him. Craven, do you know how I replied to him?"

Craven’s eyes narrowed slightly. He tried to explain, "Sir, I didn’t…"

Lake interrupted him again, a chilling smile playing on his lips, "On the first day, the day my foolish son returned, I broke both his legs."

He pointed to the angel fountain statue in the plaza outside, which was broken in two: "See, that’s what my foolish son hit after I sent him flying."

Craven opened his mouth, then wisely chose to remain silent.

Lake glanced at the statue and continued, "Three days later, his legs healed. Do you know what I did then?"

Killing intent surged.

Even Craven, under Lake’s undisguised, overwhelming killing intent, found it difficult to bear.

Vampires kill a lot?

Heh.

Even more so.

Frankly speaking, since Lake joined the army until now, the number of people he had killed, while not exceeding Emilia’s, was at least enough to crush Craven in terms of quantity.

Not to mention, the killing intent on Lake’s body was forged in actual battle.

Even without activating Dragon Claw Hand, the battle-hardened killing intent radiating from him was something Craven, relying on his advantages as a Vampire, could not compare to.

Lake’s expression was blank as he pointed to a broken section of the ancient castle: "The second time, I asked that unfilial son if he found my bloodline disgusting. He said no, so I killed him directly…"

Craven looked up.

Lake took a sip, glanced at Emilia, and then chuckled as he looked back at Craven, "Almost. If Emilia hadn’t protected that unfilial son, I wouldn’t have brought him back from Mephisto. Oh, you might not know who Mephisto is, but you should know the Lord of Hell, right? After that, I confined that unfilial son to the solitary confinement room for a month to reflect. I even told Emilia that if she dared to visit him, I would kill her too!"

Cold sweat beaded on Craven’s forehead.

The intense battle-hardened killing intent and the emotionless voice pulled him out of his calculated state of mind, leaving him with only unadulterated fear and unease.

How could this be?

Thirteen years ago, when Emilia publicly announced with the two children in her arms that they were adopted children of her and her husband, Craven had felt something strange.

Because Emilia’s nature was too cold; it wasn’t the type of personality where female vampires would find someone to dote on them.

So…

He became interested in Lake. His intuition told him that those two children weren’t adopted by Emilia, but were her biological children?

The reason?

Every time Craven came here to report his work to Emilia, the century-old administrator, he could read in Emilia’s eyes when she looked at Katherine and David the undisguised, even hundreds of times amplified, love that human mothers have for their offspring.

This was normal.

Emilia was converted by Marcus before she was married, so naturally, her love for her son and daughter, whom she had waited for for hundreds, almost thousands, of years, far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Afterward.

When Craven met Lake, he became even more certain that Lake was no mere human pet.

Something was off.

Craven had a plan, but Lake’s appearance caused him to lose control of the rhythm of his plan. He knew nothing about Lake. He had even sent people to secretly search for Lake, but every time Lake got off a plane, he would vanish as if he had evaporated into thin air.

This year, his plan was nearing its implementation, so he had to take a risk and manipulate David, corrupting David and brainwashing him into believing that humans were merely their blood food. He was trying to get David to help him test what Lake relied on. At the very least, he could use this to create dissatisfaction between David and Emilia. With a little persuasion, he could win David over, and with some effort, he could gain a loyal Death Walker whose strength was not inferior to Serena’s.

But…

This plan seemed to be going differently than he had imagined.

David’s legs were broken.

David was almost killed.

This…

Craven listened to the cold, almost mocking voice calling out to him. He looked up and met Lake’s gaze. Lake was staring at him, his eyes as deep blue as the ocean with a flash of lightning.

Lake suddenly smiled, his eyes as calm as a gentle sea. He said to Craven, "Right, Craven, what did you come here for this time?"

Craven snapped back to attention, trying to calm himself. "The awakening ceremony is the day after tomorrow. I came to ask the elder about some matters regarding the ritual."

Lake nodded. "Have you finished your consultation?"

Craven said he had, then stood up again and addressed Emilia. "Elder, I’ll be going back to prepare for the awakening ceremony now."

Emilia gave a silent "Mm."

Craven glanced at Lake. Seeing that Lake had nothing more to say, he quickly turned and headed for the castle gates. The moment he stepped out of the hall, Craven realized his back was already drenched in sweat.

Soon.

Craven disappeared through the castle entrance.

Lake chuckled. He would die, no doubt about it. However, killing him now would be detrimental to the plan.

Emilia walked over, her eyes flashing with an unusual light. "What are you plotting?"

Lake embraced Emilia and smiled. "I think you’d better not go to sleep. Otherwise, when you wake up and see that I’ve killed David, you’ll want to fight me."

Emilia: "…"