Adele went to bathe. She was a vampire who loved cleanliness. According to Adele herself, spending too much time around other vampires made her feel like their scent of blood would cling to her, and she hated that smell. Going a day without a bath made her uncomfortable.
While waiting for Adele to finish her bath, Jasmine poured herself a cup of black tea and drank it. She didn't need to add sugar, but in reality, she wasn't too fond of the bitter taste of black tea. If she could, she would prefer to add milk and sugar, but in the vampire world, there was no proper sugar, only sugar mixed with blood.
Jasmine didn't want to drink blood, not even artificial blood, so she had to drink plain black tea.
Adele took her time bathing because, as a lady, she enjoyed soaking in the tub. After half an hour, Jasmine got up, cleaned the teacup and teapot, then replaced them with a transparent glass water jug, filling it with freshly boiled water to let it cool naturally.
Once she finished all this, Adele finally called for her from the bedroom. Jasmine placed the water jug down, turned, and entered the room. She picked up a towel from the countertop and walked toward Adele, who was seated on a lounge chair. Jasmine pulled up a chair and sat in front of Adele, then began drying her hair with the towel.
Adele had changed into a nightgown, a silk garment with lace edges that looked exceptionally soft. Her silver-white hair, dripping wet, had soaked part of the nightgown, but Adele didn't seem to mind. Her hair hung over the armrest of the lounge chair, dripping water as she closed her eyes and enjoyed Jasmine's gentle drying.
Adele's hair was of excellent quality—each strand was soft, almost like silk, shimmering with a glossy sheen when wet.
Jasmine carefully dried her hair. It was a time-consuming task, one that often earned Jasmine scoldings from the head maid back at the castle for taking too long. But the head maid only dared to scold Jasmine and accuse her of being lazy, spending so much time on such a task. However, she would never dare to suggest to Adele that Jasmine be relieved of this duty.
After they arrived at the school, where there were fewer tasks to do, drying Adele's hair became the most time-consuming job of all.
Once Jasmine had finished drying Adele's hair, she stood to leave. But Adele caught hold of Jasmine's skirt. Jasmine turned to look at her. The young vampire didn't open her eyes, only asking, "Jasmine, can't you stay?"
"No, I can't." Jasmine's refusal was straightforward. "Unlike you, Miss, I haven't eaten yet. If I sleep without eating, I'll be starving." In truth, with her physical condition, Jasmine wouldn't be affected even if she didn't eat for three days, but she felt that not having three meals a day was cruel for any human.
Upon hearing this, Adele released Jasmine's skirt. "Humans are so troublesome."
Jasmine excused herself and went to the kitchen, where she ate a bowl of mushroom cream soup with fried pork cutlets. After eating, she returned to her room and waited for dawn, as was her custom.
She would take advantage of the time when all the vampires were asleep to sneak to the Hunter Association and see if there were any suitable tasks or check if the tasks she had posted were completed.
This routine was monotonous yet predictable. After ten days, when Jasmine visited the Hunter Association again, she found that her task had been completed. She received a token from the outpost as well as a reply indicating they understood the current situation and that outpost personnel would soon set out for the school to establish a communication point nearby.
The humans didn't know Jasmine's true identity. She only told them that Lady Dawn would be staying in the vampire school for an extended period and that she was working on a plan to deal with the students. There wasn't a need for too many people, given the strict security, but someone was needed to set up a communication station to maintain contact.
Jasmine felt much better after receiving the reply, but looking at the small pile of coins she had saved up, she felt a bit sad—it seemed the day she would need to hand them over to the humans wasn't far off.
Aside from her personal matters going smoothly, Jasmine was still puzzled by little freckle-faced Anna. Over the ten days, Jasmine had managed to establish somewhat friendly relations with the other human maids. But it was only somewhat friendly, not truly friendly. There was a natural affinity because they were all human in the vampire world, but the true reason for the distance was that Jasmine's master was different from the others. She wasn't serving a fallen noble but one of the thirteen prestigious vampire families.
This information was known because Miss Gordon's maid, out of curiosity, had sought out Jasmine, the maid of another lady from one of the thirteen families. Her first words were, "I thought the Black family's lady would bring something impressive, but it turned out to be a lowly human. It seems the Black family isn't all that, and maybe one day they'll be kicked out of the thirteen families."
Jasmine stared at her deeply and said, "I will relay your words to Miss Black exactly as you've said them."
The maid from the Gordon family was startled. She glared at Jasmine but couldn't find any words to say and had to leave with a huff. She hadn't been granted the Gordon surname, so Jasmine referred to her in her mind as "Gordon's maid" rather than calling her "Miss Gordon's maid" like she did with the maid from the White family.
She might have been favored by Miss Gordon, but there was no need for Miss Gordon to start a conflict with the Black family over her. Although Miss Gordon and her lady often clashed, it was a healthy competition. If Jasmine reported such rebellious words, it would undoubtedly provoke the Black family's wrath.
But Jasmine had no real intention of doing so.
She wasn't a child anymore and wouldn't run to tattle over such a trivial matter.
After Anna had shown a small slip last time, she had been well-behaved recently, doing nothing out of the ordinary. Jasmine's days were dull and uneventful, with the only exciting moments being her bounty tasks for the Hunter Association during the day when she didn't sleep. Time passed quickly, and after about a month, Jasmine finally met the outpost member who had traveled far to reach the school.
Jasmine's appearance was much the same as when she visited the Hunter Association—a black hooded dress, a black-threaded mask covering her face, and long hair cascading down her shoulders, making it impossible for anyone to connect her to her other identity. Jasmine's image was well-known among the human resistance, so she didn't need to declare her identity, but the human before her did.
They met in a farmhouse not far from the school, belonging to the school. The outpost member had replaced one of the ordinary farmers, gaining a small house. In broad daylight, sunlight filtered through the wooden cracks, casting shadows on the floor and the two of them. The outpost member was a bearded man whose name Jasmine couldn't remember.
Western names were just too difficult to memorize! But fortunately, everyone in the resistance had a nickname; this man was called Voyager. It was easy to understand—he had traveled so far, after all.
The moment Voyager saw Jasmine, he immediately pounded his right fist to his chest and loudly shouted the secret code Jasmine had set for the humans: "The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage!"
This gesture came from a popular anime, and the phrase from another. When Jasmine heard him say it, she couldn't help but feel a bit of secondhand embarrassment. At the time, she had thought it was cool and had set it as the code, but as years passed, it seemed more and more cringeworthy.
But years of maintaining a cold and distant persona weren't for nothing. Although her toes curled in embarrassment, she remained stoic and expressionless, merely nodding slightly in response.
"I trust you understand that due to certain circumstances, I will be staying here for an extended period. For that reason, I need a liaison to keep me in touch with headquarters. If there's anything you can't handle, notify me immediately." Voyager nodded solemnly at Jasmine's words.
"I understand, ma'am. Rest assured, I will deliver every message of yours to headquarters without fail."
Jasmine was greatly relieved. She handed over the documents she had prepared. Before arriving at the school, the headquarters' commander had asked Jasmine how to deal with gargoyles.
For Jasmine, the solution was simple—just crush them with her bare hands. But for ordinary humans, it was an insurmountable task.
Gargoyles weren't particularly terrifying creatures; essentially, they were stones that could fly and move. Their eyes contained green flames, which were their soul fire. They certainly looked intimidating, and being made of stone, they were impervious to most weapons, making them hard to deal with. Recently, headquarters had encountered these creatures while preparing to attack a vampire stronghold.
The gargoyles served the vampires, guarding their strongholds, posing a significant challenge. Jasmine had racked her brain, recalling her past life's knowledge of physics and chemistry, and compiled it into documents. However, she had not managed to send them before being brought to the school by Adele. She could have had the Hunter Association deliver them, but there were too many documents to encrypt, and Jasmine couldn't be sure that the messenger wouldn't peek at them.
Of course, it wouldn't be a big deal if they did—after all, it was just information on how to deal with gargoyles, and more people knowing would only mean more forces against them.
But having her work seen before she was ready would be deeply frustrating. So, Jasmine waited for the outpost member to arrive before handing over her manuscript.