Her mistress had disappeared.
Ruby was shocked when she came to her mistress's room to deliver her lunch and found out that she wasn't in the room. Right away, she went searching the entire house and asked the other servants about it, but she still couldn't find her.
She started to get worried as she went to report this to Lord Arthur.
Lord Arthur was shocked but soon recovered and ordered all the servants to go look for Luluka.
And so, Ruby went out to find some clues.
In the city's streets bustling with people, Ruby was running here and there asking people if they'd ever seen her mistress.
"An incredibly beautiful girl with black hair and bright blue eyes? Nah, if I've ever seen one, I would have brought her home with me already! Gahahaha!" A muscular man on the street laughed boisterously.
Ruby frowned upon hearing this. She didn't wait and continued her search.
Then, she stumbled upon a small stall with a cute vendor girl selling the fluffy-looking desserts.
"Heh? An incredibly beautiful girl with long black hair and bright blue eyes? Ah! I think I've seen her!"
A scene of that beautiful girl smiling at her flashed into the vendor girl's mind, making her start blushing.
Ruby noticed this and narrowed her eyes.
"Do you know where she went?" Ruby asked.
"Well, she came to my stall to buy some desserts, and after that, I think she went that way." The vendor girl pointed.
Ruby nodded her head with a smile. "Thank you."
She then walked in that direction to find some more clues. All the other passersby said that they'd never seen her mistress before.
'But, why is the vendor girl from earlier the only one who has seen her?'
From Ruby's deduction, her mistress must have been disguised herself or at least cloaked herself as to not attract any attention. Otherwise, with how beautiful her mistress was, she would definitely leave a deep impression on many passersby.
Just like the vendor girl from earlier….
Speaking of the vendor girl from earlier, Ruby started to wonder. 'Judging by that girl's reaction, she's definitely seen my mistress before, but… why only her?'
Ruby was deep in thought for a moment until a sudden realization hit her!
Could it be?
Upon reaching this realization, an indescribable emotion suddenly welled up within her. She didn't know what it was, only that it felt unpleasant.
She stopped in her tracks for a while, then she shook her head to clear her thoughts and continued searching.
After a while, she finally reached a quiet area. There weren't many people here, so Ruby was about to go look somewhere else, but—
"Hey, me too. I think I've heard some fighting sounds around here too." A middle-aged man said.
"Right, I was on my way home from work, but then I suddenly heard the sound of sword fights, so I took a detour instead. Maybe it was those gangs of hoodlum fighting each other again?" Another middle-aged man said.
"Yeah, that must be it. Damn those bastards, they always cause trouble…"
Ruby stopped on her track again and looked at the two middle-aged men with wide eyes.
A fight?
Ruby then went and asked these men for more clues, but they also said that they'd never seen her mistress before.
Ruby had a suspicion. Maybe, the fight these men spoke of was related to her mistress.
She didn't wait and activated her skill.
[Enhance Senses]
Ruby's senses became much sharper and more keen. She started sniffing the air around her, and indeed, there was a thick scent of her mistress around here!
But then—Ruby suddenly smelled something that sent her heart dropping down to her feet.
'Is this… blood?'
A smell of blood made Ruby's heart throb for a second, but then she realized soon after that it wasn't her mistress's blood. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth.
Ruby began sniffing again and started following her mistress's scent. After a while, she came to realize something.
'Aside from my mistress's, there are also the smells of some men.'
Then a sudden realization hit her!
Ruby's eyes went wide open as bad premonition crept into her. Her heart started racing really fast.
She sniffed the air again and increased her pace. If what she thought was the case then she needed to hurry!
After sniffing for a while, Ruby started to become impatient. She decided to use her one use per day skill.
[Expand Senses]
This skill would allow her to expand her senses to a 10 kilometers radius. It was a very powerful skill that she'd harnessed during her hellish training.
As Ruby expected, a lot of people's scents in the city kept pouring into her, making it difficult to distinguish. It took her a while to find her mistress's scent again.
She found out that her mistress's scent was far away outside the city, and there were also the same scents of those men from earlier with her!
Ruby's heart increased its race. She was now certain about her suspicion—
Her mistress had been abducted!
Realizing this, Ruby broke out into a sprint!
As fast as she could, she kept running and running and running, following her mistress's scent.
'No. At this rate, I won't make it in time!'
Ruby's heart increased its pace as each second passed by. The thought of losing her mistress to some men pained her heart.
It was at this moment that Ruby realized how much she loved her mistress. All the doubts and conflicting thoughts she'd had before were now gone.
So what if she was a vampire?
So what if she was one of those bloodsuckers who killed her family?
In Ruby's eyes, she was still her cute mistress!
No matter what she was or what race she's from, she was still Luluka von Colbert, the person whom Ruby loved and respected.
A scene flashed into Ruby's mind as she remembered her mistress's words.
"What if one day, I suddenly turn into a cockroach? What are you gonna do about it?"
Ruby now understood the meaning of those words. Her mistress must have been scared that she would hate her if she found out the truth about her race.
'I'm such a fool…'
Now that all her doubts were gone, Ruby started to realize how foolish she was before.
Back then, she was so shocked to find out the truth about her mistress. The shock made her begin to doubt whether her mistress was one of those bloodsuckers she hated so much.
Sure, she still hated those bastards, but her mistress wasn't one of them. Even if they were of the same race, her mistress was still her mistress!
And those who dare to lay their filthy hands on her mistress would face hell!
Ruby's eyes were filled with determination. She began activating her forbidden skill!
[Blood Sacrifice]!
Ruby's heart throbbed as a surge of adrenaline rushed into her body. Violent black aura began to form around her. And then—
*Whoosh!!!*
A violent gust of wind blasted out as Ruby kicked the ground and lashed forward!
Her body began to blur as she moved at a very high speed. It was as if she became a wind herself!
[Blood Sacrifice] was a secret forbidden skill passed down through her family. It was a very powerful skill that would allow the user to increase their strength and speed exponentially for an hour.
Though, this skill was a two-edged sword. In order to use this skill—the user needed to sacrifice part of their life span.
But right now, Ruby couldn't care less about that. The only thing in her mind was to save her mistress.
'Wait for me, m'lady. I'm coming for you!'