Chapter 12 - Small wound

[Jasmine -> Molly]

Yuanhang eagerly began to examine the corresponding documents. As he read, he kept gasping in amazement, mumbling, "I see, I see."

The method was actually quite simple: it relied on thermal expansion and contraction to create gaps. In practice, it involved heating the statue with a torch and then dousing it with cold water. While it might sound absurd, considering that some of the even more outlandish methods Molly had proposed in the past had proven effective, Yuanhang found the explanation plausible.

After explaining everything, Molly decided to leave. Before she left, Yuanhang assured her, "I will definitely sow the seeds of awakening on this farm, so that people realize they can no longer be oppressed, and that the vampires are not invincible!"

Hearing his impassioned words, Molly nodded and encouraged, "Good luck."

The human resistance fighters were all exceptionally talented, each capable of carrying out ideological work on their own. Given time, the liberation of human thought was not just a dream. Molly felt a small sense of pride, believing that her grand plan to be remembered in history wasn't too far from being realized.

After returning to her residence, Molly took a bath, basked in the sun, and then went to sleep. When she woke up, it was back to her usual routine.

But during her first meal of the day, Freckle-face approached her with a tray and sat beside her, speaking softly, "Molly, do you have some time later? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

Although she lowered her voice on purpose, to the keen-eared vampires, it was as if she had used a loudspeaker. Molly noticed several vampire eyes briefly light up as they glanced their way, only to lose interest and return to their conversations. Molly thought for a moment and, still curious about what Freckle-face wanted, nodded and agreed to meet later. Then, she picked up her tray and left.

When Molly arrived at Adele's room, Adele was already awake, sipping tea. Normally, Adele didn't need Molly to help with grooming, but today, her usually pristine silver hair was a tangled mess on her head, leaving Adele somewhat at a loss.

Holding out a hairband, Adele requested, "Molly, help me tie my hair."

This wasn't entirely unusual. If Adele didn't sleep well or comfortably during the day, it could result in her hair being in disarray, sometimes even tangled beyond what she could manage. On such occasions, the typically impatient Adele would start pulling at it with brute force, eventually crying out in frustration for Molly to help.

Over the past two years, Adele had stopped shouting loudly for Molly. Instead, she would sometimes raise her voice a bit but mostly waited patiently for Molly to arrive.

Molly took the hairband, picked up a comb, and began to work through Adele's hair. Despite Adele's struggles, her hair wasn't that difficult to manage. Perhaps it was because Molly had done it so many times that Adele had given up fighting with her hair, preferring to leave it to Molly.

With care, Molly untangled the knots, combed through the silky strands, and gathered two sections to tie at the back of Adele's head. She fashioned the black ribbon into a bow, adding a touch of cuteness to Adele's look.

Adele's hair had an exquisite texture, soft and smooth, and it easily yielded to Molly's touch. Molly truly appreciated Adele's hair—it was much better than her own, silky and sleek. It was in stark contrast to Adele's often haughty and stubborn personality; the hair was simply perfect.

Once Molly finished, Adele rose from the couch, picked up a small mirror from the table, and inspected herself. Satisfied, she nodded and set the mirror down, saying, "Molly, you always do the best job with my hair."

That's not entirely true...

Adele's parents had even trained specific maids just to do her hair, but Adele had chased them all out, insisting that only Molly could tie her hair. Molly was quite certain that those maids were far more skilled than she was. During her time in the servants' quarters, Molly had learned that many of the maids were brought to the school because their hairstyling or makeup skills surpassed others, which is why they were kept close by the ladies they served.

It might seem a bit excessive to treat the maids merely as tools, but at least it was better than Adele's reason for keeping Molly around, which was truly ridiculous.

Adele sincerely believed that Molly had feelings for her and harbored inappropriate intentions. Molly had asked Adele several times why she thought that, what gave her such an impression, but Adele would always turn red, look away, and angrily retort, "You know exactly why!"

What puzzled Molly even more was that if Adele truly believed Molly had feelings for her and harbored such intentions, she should have driven Molly far away, ensuring they never crossed paths again. Adele had the power to send Molly off to a farm if she wished.

But Adele hadn't done that. When Molly asked her why, unlike her earlier question about why Adele thought Molly liked her, Adele simply flew into a rage and stormed off.

Molly figured that Adele probably had a "first attachment syndrome" because Molly was her first maid, handpicked by her.

Molly recalled when Adele's parents had brought her to the training facility to select a servant. Adele had immediately set her sights on Molly, who stood there with an indifferent expression. The facility's manager had warned Adele that Molly was the most unruly child there, but Adele had insisted:

"I want her."

And so, Molly was taken away by Adele and given the name "Molly."

No matter who it is, there is often a special attachment to the "first" of anything, which is likely why Adele treated her this way—or so Molly thought.

Coming out of her reverie, Molly watched as Adele grabbed her school bag and headed off to class. Molly tidied up Adele's room, cleaning every corner, including the bathroom, where she found several strands of Adele's silver hair. She gathered the previous day's laundry into the hamper and took it with her as she left.

Returning to her own room, Molly washed her clothes. She left the small items to air dry in the bathroom and hung the rest on the balcony. Once she had finished, she made her way to the agreed meeting spot at the end of the second-floor corridor, where no one was likely to pass by.

The moonlight spilled through the windows, illuminating the corridor, making it almost as bright as day despite the absence of any lights. Freckle-face wore a hesitant expression, though Molly couldn't help but think it seemed a bit contrived. Molly was a patient person, and since Freckle-face Anna wasn't speaking, she remained silent as well.

The silence stretched between them until Anna finally bit her lip and spoke, "Molly, aren't you curious about why I wanted to meet with you?"

"I am curious."

Molly answered honestly. If she weren't curious, she wouldn't have agreed to meet Freckle-face in private. Anna, caught off guard by Molly's straightforward response, was momentarily speechless. It wasn't what she had expected at all.

But she quickly composed herself and continued, "Actually, I came looking for you several times during the day, wanting to ask if you needed any help. But each time I knocked on your door, there was no response. During the day, were you...?"

Anna was almost certain that Molly wasn't in her room for long periods during the day, but she left her words vague. Her statement wasn't precise, so Molly's first instinct was to deny it: "I've been there the whole time; I just slept too deeply and didn't hear you knocking."

"You said...!" Anna's expression clearly indicated that she wanted to accuse Molly of lying, but she bit back her words, taking a deep breath and eventually saying, "You might be right."

Watching Anna's changing expressions was quite entertaining.

Molly had a bit of a mischievous streak, and seeing Anna's face shift through several emotions before settling back to its usual calm, she added with a tone of concern, "If you ever need help, you should definitely let us know. You're strong and can handle the other vampire maids, but if they gang up on you, it might be too much. If you need help, just ask, okay?"

"Okay."

Their conversation ended there. Two days passed, and during that time, Molly stayed put, curious to see what Anna would do next. However, it wasn't Anna who made a move but rather another human maid who had a somewhat amicable relationship with Molly. This maid, holding a small paper-cutting knife, stumbled slightly and fell toward Molly.

In that moment, Molly knew that Anna had likely orchestrated this, wanting to injure her, thinking that if she got hurt, she would go to the school doctor to treat the wound. Molly could have easily dodged, or even used her muscle control to make her skin as tough as steel, rendering herself invulnerable.

But Molly was curious—curious about what Anna and the school doctor were planning, so she chose to take the cut. She deliberately controlled the movement, allowing the knife to lightly graze her arm, leaving a small scratch that immediately began to bleed.

The wound was minor, and the bleeding wasn't severe, but the sight of it immediately drew the attention of every vampire maid nearby. Their crimson eyes locked onto Molly's arm.

The knife had torn through her thin sleeve, slicing the skin beneath, and blood was still flowing.

Vampires were extremely sensitive to the scent of fresh blood, and Molly's blood, in particular, had an extraordinarily enticing aroma. Just the scent of it was enough to indicate that it was a rare delicacy. The vampires' mouths began to water, but seeing that the blood belonged to a human maid they usually looked down on, they quickly turned their heads away, pretending they hadn't noticed.

The human maid who had accidentally cut Molly began to cry, "What do I do? I didn't mean to..."