Little Cotton Jacket and Rebellious Son

This statement was highly damaging, and equally, extremely insulting.

But Katherine was telling the truth.

Yesterday, Katherine had already told her foolish younger brother that Lake would be coming tomorrow and instructed David to behave himself and not run around.

And the result?

As soon as night fell yesterday, David had gone to Craven’s place.

Katherine didn’t feel like going to that chaotic estate, so she could only settle for the next best thing and see if she could cover for David a little in front of Lake.

But the cover-up failed as soon as Lake arrived.

"Then why didn’t you tell me he was strong?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"…"

Katherine spread her hands and said to David in the confinement room, "Besides, you idiot, even if I had told you, would you have believed me? Dad always said that actions speak louder than words. Haven’t you thoroughly understood Dad’s strength this time?"

Did this even need to be said?

Emilia’s attitude towards Lake.

The attitude of the vampires in the castle towards Lake.

Wasn’t it obvious enough?

They didn’t live in some remote wilderness. There were so many vampires outside. If they paid a little attention, it wouldn’t be hard to discover that the ordinary people kept by those female vampires outside had no say whatsoever.

And then look at Lake?

Emilia treated Lake like a lover.

The vampire servants in the castle treated Lake like their master.

So.

Did this need to be said?

Anyone with eyes who paid even a little serious attention could understand. Even if their Dad exuded the aura of an ordinary person from head to toe, inside and out, he was definitely not ordinary.

Wasn’t the current situation proof of that?

Katherine blinked her eyes. "But I must say, Dad’s physique is really great, not a bit of excess fat. And when he was beating you, he looked so cool."

David’s face turned dark. "Then you’re saying I was deceived? How was I deceived? If anyone was deceived, it was him deceiving me."

Katherine snapped back to attention, looking at her foolish brother, and mockingly said without any pretense, "Calling you stupid, and you still won’t admit it. You were used by that Craven guy, you idiot."

"What?"

"Who do you think you are? Craven is the second-in-command of the Vampire Council, after all. Don’t you know how he treats you? It’s like you’re his own son, always calling him ‘Uncle.’ Dad always told us when we were little that anyone who is excessively attentive to us is either a thief or a traitor!"

"I am…"

"You are nothing! Don’t you know our situation? To the outside world, we’re adopted children of Mom and Dad. You’re a peasant, you are…"

Katherine said impatiently, then looked at David suspiciously. "You didn’t reveal our secret about not being afraid of sunlight, did you?"

This was the story Katherine and David had been taught since childhood.

Their unified story to the outside world was that they were adopted children of Emilia, as vampires couldn’t give birth. Moreover, Emilia had strictly educated them not to go out during the day, even if they could.

David paused for a moment, then shook his head. "Of course not."

He thought Lake was an ordinary person and didn’t respect him, even feeling some disgust. However, towards Emilia, who had always protected and doted on him, he was still obedient in major matters.

This was because David knew that if he exposed them, it would cause big problems.

Especially after five days, when Emilia would step down and be replaced by the bloodthirsty and brutal Marcus. If Marcus found out their secret, they would likely be sent directly to a laboratory.

Hearing David’s confident reply, Katherine still rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did, you idiot. Craven is already suspicious. Otherwise, why would he be pampering you every day like he’s got honey on his lips?"

David frowned. "Craven?"

Katherine shrugged. "I can’t be bothered to talk to you anymore. I’m tired. Think about it yourself. Having a foolish brother like you makes my heart too weary. Why don’t you provoke Dad a little more, so he just kills you directly? Then I can have all of Dad’s love."

David couldn’t help but say, "You already have all his love, and I’m his biological brother."

Katherine shrugged. "No, now it’s at most ninety-nine percent. The remaining one percent is yours. Also, I don’t want to admit to having a foolish brother like you; people will laugh at me."

After saying that.

Katherine flicked her blonde ponytail and quickly left the bunker.

As she left.

She deliberately forgot the bottle of potion she had brought, which could help vampires quickly heal all kinds of internal and external injuries, leaving it at the entrance of the confinement room.

David, who was bruised and battered and lying on the bed, stared blankly at the potion left outside and blinked his eyes.

Three days later.

It was evening again.

In the castle square.

Lake stood with his hands behind his back, his expressionless gaze fixed on David, who stood opposite him, his imposing aura completely gone. "Come on," Lake said calmly.

David couldn’t help but swallow.

For the past three days, after finishing her own matters, Katherine had appeared at the door of the confinement room to verbally abuse David and, coincidentally, tell him a short fable about Lake.

It had to be said that people only truly started thinking again when they were struck by someone or something they had always looked down upon.

Like the attitude of the vampire maid towards Lake in the castle.

Like how even Amelia, his mother, dared not provoke Lake when he was furious.

Lake’s expression remained unchanged as he spoke again, "Come on, I’ll give you a chance. Make your move. If you can beat me, you’ll be my father from now on. If you tell me to go east, I won’t go west. If you can’t beat me, it’ll be the same as three days ago: I’ll break your legs and lock you up again!"

Being stupid wasn’t a big deal.

Having one stupid son was one thing, but even if he had five more, Lake wouldn’t care. He could afford to raise them.

But…

Being so stupid that you’d be used by others, and even attack your own father? Lake would rather not have such a stupid son. He was going to kill him sooner or later anyway, so killing him now would save him a lot of trouble later.

David snapped back to attention, hearing Lake’s dismissive and contemptuous words. A surge of anger rose within him as he looked at Lake.

"Go, little brother!"

"Shut up."

Amelia directly tapped her daughter, who was watching the excitement with glee, on the forehead. She strongly suspected that Katherine genuinely wanted her own brother to be killed by their father with a single sword strike, so that she could gain her father’s 100% affection.

She already had 99% affection, and she still wasn’t satisfied?

Katherine rubbed her forehead and stopped talking. Instead, she made encouraging gestures towards David.

"Make your move!"

"Ah!"

"Roar!"

David roared, his fangs bared. His speed was even faster than last time. In an instant, he appeared before Lake.

But.

Lake leaped into the air on the spot. His right leg seemed to transform into a dragon. After a dragon’s roar, with a loud bang, David was sent flying backward with the same speed he had used to charge forward.

With a boom.

Lake stepped forward with his right foot, instantly appearing above David, who was being blasted backward. His right foot descended like a massive axe.

Boom!

David slammed onto the bluestone floor. The immense impact caused several of the bluestone slabs to crack once more.

Mastered Ancient Martial Dragon Claw Hand.

All four limbs could transform into dragons.

"Get up!"

"…"

Lake’s expression was blank as he stretched his neck, looking at David, who was groaning on the floor. "Didn’t you want to challenge me? You thought I wasn’t qualified to discipline you? Come on, beat me, and I’ll call you Dad!"

How did his son, who was fine just a moment ago, turn into a rebellious son?

Lake was starting to understand. Although there were signs last year, it was merely teenage rebellion at most. But this year, he had directly become a disobedient son.

"Go, little brother! Get up, you can do it! Believe in yourself! Dad is just an ordinary person, go on, take care of him."

"Thump!"

"Ouch!"

Amelia grabbed Katherine by the back of her collar and, with a whoosh, threw her next to David. "You’re cheering so loudly, why don’t you go up yourself? Your dad is just an ordinary person, and you’re more capable than your brother. You go."

Lake looked at his "little padded jacket" with a smile as she was thrown into the arena.

Katherine flashed a sweet smile and, with a whoosh, appeared beside Lake, hugging his right arm. She said to Amelia, who was in the main hall, "I’m Daddy’s little padded jacket, the most thoughtful one. Daddy would never hit me."

Amelia chuckled coldly. "Lake, your own daughter has been bringing him healing water every three days. She hasn’t listened to a single warning you’ve given."

Lake looked down at his little padded jacket. "Is that true?"

Katherine shook her head. "That’s not true. Have you seen me giving David healing water?"

Lake shook his head and looked at Amelia. "Do you have any proof?"

Amelia rolled her eyes.

What is favoritism?

This is it.

One was telling blatant lies, and the other was a doting father who, when his daughter was young, wished he could hold her twenty-four hours a day.

Amelia looked directly at David, who was struggling to get up from the floor. "Alright, apologize to your father. Don’t be a pawn for those idiots anymore."

David trembled all over, trying hard to stand steady.

The Ancient Martial Dragon Claw Hand is a top-tier Shaolin martial art, characterized by its supreme Yang energy and extreme hardness. This was with Lake holding back; if it were an ordinary vampire, Lake’s single strike would likely have resulted in a fate similar to being exposed to the sun.

Otherwise, Lake wouldn’t have chosen to exchange the [Mastery Card] he got from the last lottery for the Ancient Martial Dragon Claw Hand before coming here.

Katherine winked hard at her younger brother, Apologize, my foolish brother.

She was weary.

After all, he was her own brother. Although Katherine was very sharp-tongued towards David, acting as if she wished their father would just chop him up, her brother was already so foolish. If she didn’t show him more care, wouldn’t he truly become foolish to death?

Did Katherine really think she was flirting?

It was a plan she’d made with Emilia. They intended to use this method to get Katherine involved, then leverage her "little padded jacket" advantage to calm Lake down.

Lake was well aware of this.