The Tyrant's Pet

Conan looked everywhere for Sunny, but the little girl just disappeared. It was almost impossible, but they were in the imperial palace and all sorts of things happened in this place. It wasn't impossible if she was a noble vampire. Hence, after an hour of search, Conan threw his hands and gave up. He then returned to the first chancery to start his day and lessen this mountain of paperwork.

"Ahh... seriously," he muttered, massaging his shoulder as he stood by the door. He wanted to cry again at the mess in his office, but he could no longer force a tear out of his eyes. All he could do was sigh continuously at the nightmare right in front of him.

"This... is what I had been dreading," came out another remarked, dragging his feet to the documents scattered on the floor that collapsed when he lost his footing. He squatted down and sighed for the umpteenth time. He still hadn't started, but he already felt drained at just the sight of his room.

Before they left the empire for the Maganti Empire, Conan specifically told Isaiah to make sure he wouldn't return to a mountain of paperwork. But alas, an unexpected visitor arrived and messed everything up for Conan. One should know a day of doing nothing was already immense work to do the next day. They were running an empire, even a small kingdom wouldn't have a day of rest because the lives of every citizen were in their hands.

"I'm going to kill him..." he mumbled grumpily, picking up the documents. But then he paused and wondered. "I received a word last night that His Majesty undid the spell and I should return in the morning. Does that mean the intruder is in custody?"

Conan cocked his head to the side. "If that is the case, then the person should be in the oubliette." He rocked his head, adding his visit to that place later in his schedule to give the person a lesson for messing with the empire.

Conan continued to pick up the documents, pausing once again as he raised his brows. He carefully raised the paper in his hand, narrowing his eyes at the doodle written on it.

"What the...?" he muttered, checking the rest of the documents, only to notice that every document had doodles of stick figures. Sometimes, there would be a clumsy drawing of the sun in the signature area where the seal should be stamped.

"Grandpa..." Conan whispered, recalling all the things Sunny told him.

"Grandpa likes Handsome Uncle because Handsome Uncle is very kind."

"Mhm. Grandpa tossed me inside and told me to fix everything so the Handsome Uncle won't cry so much."

"Handsome and tall Grandpa."

"Handsome Uncle, do you hate being a vampire? Then why aren't you using your vampire senses?"

"You won't ask Sunny if you do."

Conan gasped as his complexion turned pale at the conclusion of his head. There were countless coldhearted officials in the empire, but there was only one person who had the audacity to toss a child into Conan's office.

"Don't tell me... she --" he gasped in horror once more, checking the documents in his hand. His heart sank. "Oh mo! She's the one who did this to me?! And I fed her? That little --"

"How dare she deceive me?" Conan took a deep breath before a loud scream erupted in the first chancery, startling everyone in the area, and they looked in the source's direction. Everyone was already so used to Conan's dramatic nature that they could only shake their head and resume whatever they were doing.

<strong>*****</strong>

Meanwhile, in the forbidden place in the imperial palace. Sunny approached the mansion wordlessly. The air was still, and unlike the inner palace, there was no one around. But it did not bother her as she skipped her steps to the entrance of the mansion.

The main door creaked as she pushed it open. Sunny paused by the door, looking around at the clean and silent lobby. Her big eyes scanned the house interior, being reminded how this house looked exactly the same as Tilly's home on the mainland. Not just from the outside, but also the interior was exactly the same.

The only difference was that the paintings on the wall were blank canvasses. But everything, even the furnitures was the same replica — even the frames of the paintings. It looked like home for the little girl.

"Sunny's home~!" Her sweet, adorable voice pierced the silent air, skipping her steps in. But instead of taking the stairs, Sunny skipped towards the west wing of the mansion. She peeked her head in one of the bedrooms.

"Brother?" she called, looking inside the room. A frown dominated her face when she saw no one inside, and then she headed to the garden. "Mister Fabian?"

Sunny searched the house, calling names she was familiar with, and checking the place where those people would usually spend their time, but to no avail. The house just looked like Tilly's mansion on the mainland with some differences in the room since her family slightly renovated some rooms to suit their tastes.

"Sunny is sad..." she sighed after checking the last room, but instead of a workshop just like her father's, she was met with a normal bedroom. Sunny dragged her feet listlessly until she reached a room on the second floor of the mansion. When she opened it, her big crimson eyes with a green undertone, landed on the person lying motionless on the bed.

"Grandpa," she called in a somber tone, dragging her feet until she was beside the bed. "The house isn't the same as Tilly's house. It's empty."

Her frown deepened, resting her little chubby arms on the edge of the bed, eyes on the middle-aged man in a deep slumber. "Sunny misses everyone." She then reached for the man's arm and tugged it mildly.

"Grandpa needs to wake up so he will help Sunny meet Mama and Papa. Grandpa... wake up now." Sunny kept tugging the man's arms while telling him to wake up but to no avail. The man didn't open his eyes, nor did he answer her request to help her reunite with her family.