—I'm a cheater.
Jasmine had no problem admitting this. In fact, she was quite proud of it. Ever since her transmigration, Jasmine had this realization. As a transmigrator, isn't it normal to have a cheat?
Especially in a world ruled by vampires, where other races run rampant, and humans are weak—without a cheat, you'd be dead.
So Jasmine readily accepted the fact that she had a cheat. If you ask when she discovered it, it was probably the day she was born. Unfortunately, as soon as Jasmine was born, she was taken from her mother's arms by the vampires and placed in a communal upbringing to eventually become a blood servant—a food source for vampires.
When she learned about this, she accidentally crushed her crib. It was then that she realized she was different.
But Jasmine had no intention of fighting the world as a newborn, so she calmly pretended to be an ordinary baby. The vampires weren't cruel enough to draw blood from a baby—they understood sustainable practices and knew that babies didn't have much blood to offer anyway.
Jasmine was well-fed and cared for until she was six. Other than the fact that her caretakers recorded her condition daily and pricked her finger to take a small amount of blood for management, it wasn't much different from a regular orphanage.
After turning six, vampire nobles would come to the orphanage to select human children they liked to bring home. In a way, Jasmine felt that her orphanage was more like an animal shelter.
Jasmine was indeed lucky; she was successfully adopted. She knew that if no one adopted her, she would be sold to a farm or a bank after turning eighteen to work for vampires. Of course, it wouldn't be ordinary work—it would involve blood extraction.
Jasmine didn't think being sold to such a place would be that bad since she could crush stones into powder with her bare hands by the time she was six. She didn't believe a vampire's arm would be harder than stone. The only thing she feared was: What if vampires had some unknown magical attacks?
Soon, she realized that even if vampires had such powers, the low-ranking ones managing the farms wouldn't be her match. Being adopted was more troublesome because it meant dealing with nobles, who were certainly big shots. But since she was adopted, she'd have more opportunities to gather information and see how strong she really was.
The noble family that adopted her did so because their first child was around her age and would need many blood servants upon reaching adulthood. They didn't just adopt Jasmine; they took in many girls of the same age.
After being adopted, Jasmine was given a name, a rather casual one—"Molly," which could be translated to "Moli," similar to names from her previous life's country. But Jasmine was sure that this wasn't her name in her past life. Rather than adopting a name that was close but not quite right, she preferred to call herself Jasmine.
This also served as a reminder of her identity—as a maid. Yes, this family employed child labor, making six-year-old Jasmine learn how to be a maid, working alongside other humans and low-level vampires to serve their precious daughter. If there were a child protection agency, Jasmine would be the first to file a complaint.
Unfortunately, there wasn't. There wasn't even a human protection agency.
Names didn't matter much to Jasmine; to her, "Jasmine" was just a code name, no different from any other.
Life in the vampire household was incredibly dull. The tasks assigned by the adults seemed exhausting, but to Jasmine, who was a cheater, they were effortless. Among the maids, she was the most efficient, and no task assigned to her was ever left unfinished—even compared to the low-level vampires.
Jasmine lived peacefully until she was eighteen, the age when the vampire family's young lady was supposed to go to school. Jasmine's cheat abilities had also further developed—she discovered that not only was her body different from normal humans, and even different from vampires, but also that the vampires' prized mental magic had no effect on her.
Occasionally, she had to pretend to be controlled, which was honestly quite annoying.
Given the circumstances, the young lady's departure for school was actually a good thing for Jasmine, as the young lady was overly clingy.
"Jasmine! Jasmine, where are you?"
Speak of the devil, here she comes. Jasmine felt that the young lady didn't need to come to the servants' quarters to call her; she could've just pulled the bell cord, and someone would've sent for her, though it might not have been Jasmine.
Jasmine sighed, got up from her seat, and walked out of the servants' quarters, ignoring the other maids' stares. She saw the vampire girl standing in the hallway. The thick curtains had been pulled back, and the clear moonlight spilled into the hallway. The silver-haired vampire in a black Gothic dress looked at Jasmine, a smile forming on her face. But then she seemed to feel it wasn't befitting of her status and promptly huffed.
—Classic tsundere.
Jasmine couldn't help but mentally comment. The young lady, Adèle, the most beautiful treasure of the Black family, was a textbook example of a tsundere. Her character was so classic that Jasmine couldn't even dislike her.
Upon seeing Jasmine, Adèle quickly approached and asked, "Jasmine, have you seen my hairband? The one that matches this outfit. I just can't find it." Jasmine knew which hairband Adèle was talking about—she was sure she'd seen it earlier that day before falling asleep.
Jasmine nodded, "Miss, I'll help you find it."
Adèle hummed in response and turned to head back to her room, with Jasmine following expressionlessly. In the vast castle, no one else appeared in the hallway. Adèle's elders were always elusive—Jasmine had once spied on them and found that they spent two-thirds of their lives asleep. Adèle, being a young vampire, was more energetic and preferred to stay awake and run around.
The night and the hallway were perfect settings for a horror movie.
Jasmine followed Adèle to her room and found the hairband in the closet. It wasn't hard to find, especially for someone with Jasmine's extraordinary memory. But the young vampire always seemed to forget things, and seeing Jasmine easily locate her hairband made her sigh, "Only you, Jasmine, know where all these things are. I can never find them."
Adèle sat on the soft stool in the closet, her crimson eyes fixed on Jasmine. She seemed awkward but was honest, saying, "Jasmine... I want your blood."
Jasmine remained expressionless and solemnly refused Adèle's request, ignoring her plea.
Jasmine was well aware that she had been adopted to feed Adèle, but despite this knowledge, she still found the idea of being drained of blood unsettling, so she always refused Adèle's requests. Adèle pouted; if it were any other vampire being refused like this, they'd be furious, but Adèle was different. In the end, she simply huffed in frustration, not truly angry.
All this time, Adèle had only ever drunk synthetic blood, never tasting a drop of human blood—a rarity among vampires.
Seeing that Adèle didn't need anything else, Jasmine prepared to leave. However, just as she was about to go, Adèle quickly grabbed her sleeve.
Adèle looked at Jasmine pitifully, like a helpless little puppy.
"Ah! Jasmine! Don't go! Can't you stay with me for a while?"
Jasmine coldly replied, "No, unlike you, Miss, I have many things to do."
The little puppy whimpered, but still didn't let go of Jasmine's sleeve. She was so clingy that Jasmine sometimes didn't have time to do her own tasks. The good news was that Adèle would soon be going to school, and once she left the castle, Jasmine would have much more personal time.
Adèle, still clinging to Jasmine's sleeve, even leaned against her, snuggling close for a while. Finally, after Jasmine urged her, she let go. Before Jasmine left, she stubbornly declared, "One day, I will taste your blood!"
—If it's based on strength, you'll never get the chance in this lifetime.
Jasmine mentally retorted.
Turning to leave, Jasmine was about to return to the servants' quarters to continue working, but unfortunately, just as she neared the room, someone emerged from the shadows and held a knife to her neck. Jasmine instinctively raised her hands, signaling that she was harmless.
She tilted her head to get a better look at the person behind her. To be precise, it wasn't a human, but a werewolf. The moon was particularly bright tonight, and it would be full in a few days, meaning this was when werewolves were at their strongest.
The werewolf wrinkled his nose. "Human, where are the Black family vampires? Don't tell me you don't know—I can smell their stench on you!"
The werewolf's sense of smell was indeed sharp, but threatening her was useless. Jasmine calmly replied, "I only know where Miss Adèle is, not where the others are." Of course, she was lying to the werewolf, but it fit her character better.
The werewolf didn't quite understand and frowned, pressing the knife closer to Jasmine's neck. She could feel the sharp, cold blade.
"Then take me to her! To that young lady!"
Jasmine's hand moved slightly, and a black thread quietly fell into her grasp—make no mistake, the unlucky one here wasn't her, but the werewolf.