The black thread had unknowingly wrapped around the knife blade, and in the next moment, Jasmine vanished from her spot with a speed beyond human perception. When the werewolf saw Jasmine again, she was already standing two meters away.
The human maid stood there quietly, as if nothing had happened. The werewolf was stunned. He instinctively looked at the dagger hanging from the maid's hand—the same dagger he had just used to threaten her. The werewolf's night vision was excellent, even in the dark. He quickly noticed that the dagger wasn't just hanging there; it was suspended in mid-air, held by an incredibly thin thread.
The werewolf was shocked. "What are you?"
Referring to someone as a "thing" was extremely rude...
Jasmine mentally rolled her eyes but politely responded, "As you can see, a human."
The werewolf felt mocked. How could someone like her be human? How could a human be so fast, break free from his grasp in an instant, and even snatch his weapon? He voiced his disbelief: "You're lying! You don't look like a human at all!"
"Please, keep your voice down. You're here to assassinate someone. If you're too loud, you'll alert everyone," Jasmine remarked, increasingly convinced that this werewolf assassin was useless, given that she had to remind him of this.
The werewolf realized his mistake and quickly quieted down. Then he heard the maid say, "Please, take a closer look at me. I am, without a doubt, human."
Jasmine wasn't lying. From head to toe, she looked like an ordinary human: short black hair, black eyes, slightly yellowish skin, even her scent was human.
But the werewolf remained cautious, lowering his voice as he pointed to the thread in her hand. "What is that?"
As a maid, it was basic etiquette to answer a guest's question, so Jasmine honestly replied, "It's my hair."
"Huh?"
"You know, maids aren't allowed to have long hair. It either has to be cut or neatly tied up. I found tying it up every day too troublesome, so I just cut it off."
—Who on earth wants to know such things? Moreover, the werewolf had never had a maid, nor had he ever hired one, so he had no idea about such details. Hearing Jasmine's words, he was utterly baffled. Jasmine, however, quickly moved on to the topic that most concerned him.
"Then, I glued the hair together bit by bit, because my hair is very strong and won't hurt me, making it an excellent weapon." Jasmine raised her foot and moved slightly, and the werewolf lost sight of her. In the next instant, he found the maid standing behind him.
Jasmine tightened the thread around the werewolf's neck. "It's really very useful. I can control every part of my body. Even after cutting my hair, I can still manipulate it, turning it into a sharp blade or a simple rope."
Jasmine was swift and decisive. Within moments, the werewolf could no longer speak. Once she confirmed he had stopped breathing, Jasmine loosened the thread, which obediently slid back into her sleeve. The werewolf collapsed to the ground and, after a brief moment, transformed from a human shape into a wolf.
She found these creatures to be more like monsters than humanoid beings. To Jasmine, werewolves resembled wolves that had gained spiritual power, like legendary beasts. Otherwise, why would they revert to their true forms upon death? Similarly, Jasmine didn't consider vampires human; they were vampires. When they died, they turned to ashes, leaving no human corpse behind.
So Jasmine had no psychological burden when dealing with these troublesome creatures.
She nudged the wolf's head with her foot, finding it incredibly inconvenient. Honestly, if the werewolf hadn't been unlucky enough to encounter her, he might have actually managed to kill a few vampires. But Jasmine wouldn't allow him to harm humans.
Her senses were far beyond those of a normal human; she had already detected a werewolf sneaking into the vampire castle. If he dared to harm any humans, Jasmine would have taken him out immediately.
She picked up the wolf, confirmed no one was around, and jumped out the window, scaling the castle to its top, bypassing the vampires. She made her way outside the castle, found a spot, and buried the wolf. This place was a hidden burial ground where Jasmine had already buried quite a few non-humans.
For example: vampires who had provoked her, soul-snatching demons who had foolishly run into her, and other creatures who had attempted to assassinate members of the Black family, only to end up targeting the wrong little girl.
This place contained the remains of gargoyles turned to stone, wolf corpses, and tattered scraps from soul-snatchers... Any non-human entering this area would likely be scared out of their wits, thinking it was a site the Black family used to display their power. But in reality, it was simply a place Jasmine found convenient for burying bodies.
Jasmine didn't like non-humans, and she certainly didn't like vampires, but Adèle was an exception. She had never harmed any humans—Adèle was a good girl. For such a non-human, Jasmine wasn't heartless enough to ignore the girl's fate.
Most importantly, Adèle was her employer, providing her with food, shelter, and a place to stay. Jasmine felt obliged to protect her employer, and without Adèle, Jasmine wasn't sure where she would find another long-term benefactor who was easy to get along with and hadn't harmed any humans.
After hiding her shovel, Jasmine returned to the castle and went back to the servants' quarters to continue her work as if nothing had happened. The maids in the castle had a lot to do: cleaning, laundry, cooking, mending clothes, and so on. Fortunately, tasks like gardening were handled by specialized servants.
Overseeing the maids was a woman in her fifties who had served the family for over forty years. Jasmine didn't particularly like her because, despite being human, the housekeeper's mind had been utterly enslaved by the vampires. In her eyes and heart, nothing was more important than the vampires. She even showed favoritism towards the lower-ranking vampire maids over the human ones.
But Jasmine knew this wasn't entirely the housekeeper's fault. The vampires' long-term brainwashing played a significant role. However, the housekeeper always seemed to pick on Jasmine, like now.
Jasmine was sewing a handkerchief when she heard the housekeeper's stern voice: "Jasmine!"
Jasmine turned to see the housekeeper storming towards her, her shoes clacking loudly against the tiled floor. When the housekeeper reached her, Jasmine put down her work, slowly stood up, and assumed a perfect maid's posture, softly asking, "Madam, how can I help you?"
"Why weren't you in the room just now? I've been looking for you for a long time!"
—You're just playing dumb...
Jasmine knew the other maids must have already told the housekeeper that Adèle had called for her, but she still used this as an excuse to trouble her.
"As you can see, I was summoned by Miss Adèle."
"Even so, you should have informed me first! You shouldn't disappear when work needs to be done!" The housekeeper scolded her, but then suddenly felt a chill. Jasmine saw the change in her expression and realized she had unintentionally let her killing intent show. The housekeeper should be grateful she was human—if not, given how often she harassed Jasmine, she would have already ended up in the burial ground out back.
Jasmine was principled. She wouldn't kill people; she couldn't do such a thing.
Humans in this world were already pitiful enough. If she didn't help, they might suddenly go extinct one day. Jasmine had put in a lot of effort to protect humans, so she felt a deep frustration when they made things difficult for her. Just as she was struggling to suppress her anger, the housekeeper continued with her orders: "Miss Adèle will soon be leaving the castle to go to school. We must prepare her belongings and select suitable maids to accompany her."
As she said this, the housekeeper gave Jasmine a disdainful look. "Some people shouldn't get too full of themselves just because the young lady likes them. Only vampire-born maids are qualified to accompany the young lady to the noble school. Jasmine, surely you don't think you can go to the noble school to serve her, do you?"
"Of course not."
In fact, she was thrilled. Without the young lady clinging to her all day, Jasmine would have much more time to do what she wanted instead of constantly hearing "Jasmine, Jasmine" being shouted. Just thinking about the life she would soon lead without Adèle made Jasmine want to smile, her usually expressionless face almost cracking with joy.
Because Adèle would be leaving for school in a few days, Jasmine had been particularly tolerant of her lately, helping her organize many things with a good mood.
Meanwhile, the maids' luggage had also been prepared. Jasmine even took the initiative to load Adèle's and the accompanying maids' belongings onto the car's roof, securing them with waterproof covers. The old car's trunk didn't hold much, so some items had to be placed on the roof rack.
Jasmine was ready to wave goodbye to the young lady and enjoy her newfound freedom, but to her surprise, Adèle pulled her into the car.
"?"
Jasmine couldn't help but show her confusion. The young lady's delicate face was right in front of her. "Jasmine, I just can't stop worrying. Father says humans have been restless lately... I can only feel at ease if I keep you close."
Wait... Is it possible that humans are restless because of this little maid right here?
Jasmine was stunned.