The noble couldn’t help it: he laughed under his breath. “That hurts,” he said. “Considering the incredibly weird things you’ve no doubt seen here.” Aidou wasn’t exactly humoured by her assessment, but he wasn’t all that insulted by it either. One thing seemed to remain unchanged between the home he knew and the hospital’s unnatural environment, and it was that those who weren’t vampires found a vampire’s way of thinking somewhat hard to grasp. Simple truths, indeed.

Well, that was all right. Almost like he had a secret. An age-old and poorly kept secret, of course, but his source of strength. Vampire pride.

And even if what he did enclose himself in was sheer pride, what was so wrong with that? It might have put a downtrodden expression on a girl’s face, but Aidou thought it was also what was keeping him from becoming the worn out shell Anise had been worried about only a moment ago. It was also, he was coming to think, what was going to help him smash his pitiful track record.

He put a spoonful of soup in his mouth, assuming by her silence that Anise had given up seeking an answer. When she finally veered onto another topic, Aidou’s initial uncertainty about letting her sit eased even more. Ah, this could go somewhere. “I haven’t, no,” he answered, finding it more expedient to answer both questions at once. He didn’t want to go into detail about how little he’d actually been up to. Anise’s adventures, though… Aidou angled his head and gave her a mild look of scrutiny, absently stirring his soup. “On the other hand, somehow I don’t think you took my advice about staying out of trouble. Have you tried to reach them again?”