Her acting was pretty convincing.
A trace of mockery flashed in Molly's eyes as she observed the situation. She had noticed that the maid had deliberately targeted her. However, the fear the maid was now showing seemed genuine. After all, they were all just a bunch of maids raised by vampires, unfamiliar with the dangers of the outside world and only aware that disobeying their masters could result in being sent to a farm.
They had never hurt anyone before and didn't know how to hurt others. Even though they had acted under Anna's instructions, seeing someone get injured because of them still left them at a loss for what to do.
Molly could see through it clearly, but the fact remained that she had been injured. Looking down at the maid from above, Molly noted that her arm had stopped bleeding. Satisfied with the amount of blood lost, she controlled her muscles to halt the bleeding, although it looked like she had bled quite a bit. After observing the human maid for a moment, Molly finally spoke, "Take me to the infirmary."
This was the outcome Anna wanted, and Molly was curious to see what kind of person this doctor, who supposedly treated humans equally, really was. She also wanted to find out what they were up to.
The human maid, reminded of Anna's instructions on how to handle the situation, quickly stopped crying, got up from the ground, and nodded. "Yes, I'll take you to the infirmary. The doctor can heal you!"
When the maid mentioned the doctor, her expression was far from that of someone who had been treated equally. The vampires nearby had an interesting reaction too—there was a flash of disdain in their eyes. Molly pretended not to notice and followed the human maid toward the school.
The small building where the infirmary was located was one of the few places servants were allowed to go, and it wasn't marked as a restricted area on the map. The human maid led Molly to the door and knocked. Shortly after, the door opened, revealing another human maid.
Her eyes were dull, and there was a lifelessness about her. Molly quickly caught the strong scent of blood on her. Being sharp-eyed, Molly noticed a bandage on the maid's neck. Clearly, the smell was due to her being regularly fed upon.
So much for Anna's claims about the kind doctor; it was evident now that they were lies.
Having brought Molly here, the maid found an excuse to leave, saying she had more work to do and promising to make it up to Molly later. She hurried off, leaving Molly in the care of the other maid, who led her upstairs. The small house was simple, with just two floors. The first floor was for rest, featuring a living room with a fireplace that took up a lot of space. There was also a kitchen and dining area.
Upstairs, the space was divided into several small rooms. The maid knocked on one of the doors, and when it opened, Molly saw the room was lit, revealing a vampire in a white coat. Molly was sure the light was turned on just for her since she hadn't seen any lights on in the building from outside.
The doctor was a young male vampire—not a low-level one, but certainly not of noble rank, just an ordinary vampire. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and a gentle, warm smile, making him seem quite trustworthy. But Molly didn't miss the fleeting look of greed and ambition in his eyes as he glanced at her arm.
He clearly wanted to drink her blood and was confident he would get the chance.
Molly made this assessment as she approached.
The maid left once Molly entered the room. Molly was certain that there were no living quarters downstairs; the sitting room's sofas showed no signs of recent use. So where did that maid stay while downstairs? Did she just crouch in a corner, or did she stand still behind a door?
Either way, it was clear that the vampire doctor in front of her wasn't as nice as he appeared.
His voice was warm, "You're hurt? How careless! Let me take a look."
Without saying a word, Molly approached the doctor and held out her arm. To Molly's surprise, the doctor didn't immediately try to drink her blood but instead carefully cleaned the wound, applied some medicine, and bandaged it up. His voice was low and comforting, "The wound isn't too bad. Keep it wrapped like this, and come back to me in a few days to change the bandage. If you get hurt again, you can always come to me."
He seemed like a perfectly ordinary doctor. But Molly didn't believe she had misjudged him. After expressing her thanks, she left the small building. Not long after Molly departed, another maid emerged from the shadows and knocked on the door. It was none other than Anna.
Molly hadn't actually left; she had noticed Anna following her the whole time. After turning a corner at the end of the path, Molly leaped up the trees and made her way to the second-floor window of the small house. Like a cat, Molly landed on the tree branch without making a sound, not even causing the leaves to rustle.
Hidden among the branches near the window, Molly remained undetected. Her sharp hearing allowed her to listen to the conversation inside, even through the walls.
The doctor's voice, which had been so gentle before, now sounded greedy and sinister, revealing his true nature. He said, "That human maid is called Molly? Her blood smells so sweet; I can hardly wait to taste it. But there's no rush; everything must be done slowly. Only when a human willingly offers their blood does it taste the best. If her accidental spill smells this good, imagine how sweet it would be if she willingly bared her neck for me to drink..."
The tone of his fantasies made Molly's skin crawl. If she weren't curious about what would happen next, she would have liked nothing more than to snap his neck right then.
He continued, "My dear Anna, you did well this time. Her blood is indeed as exquisite as you said."
Ah—so Anna was involved after all.
Molly thought, her expression blank. She had suspected some connection between Anna and the doctor, and now it was confirmed. Anna brought vulnerable, ignorant humans to the doctor, who tricked the girls into willingly giving up their blood, while he protected Anna in return.
As a young vampire, and not a low-level one at that, the doctor naturally held more power than the fledgling vampires in the servants' quarters. Not only was he an adult and a higher-ranking vampire, but he was also a teacher at the school. Even a maid favored by the White family wouldn't want to provoke him.
These reasons alone explained why the White family's maid showed deference to Anna.
If Anna was doing all this just for the vampire's protection, it was truly disappointing. Molly despised humans like this, who, like the head maid in the castle, were traitors to their own kind, aiding the enemy. Although Molly disliked such people, she wouldn't harm them simply because they were human, but she would exclude them from her protection. If they were targeted by vampires or other creatures, she wouldn't lift a finger to help.
Of course, if Anna tried to make a move against Molly, that would be a different story—Molly would consider it self-defense.
Anna spoke, "Thank you for your praise. It was my duty."
However, something in Anna's tone caught Molly's attention. Anna didn't seem to be acting entirely of her own will. Her voice lacked any real emotion. Molly found this strange and decided to keep watching. After a short while, Anna left the small house, and as she descended the stairs, the maid from before began to close the door. There was a rare flicker of emotion in the usually lifeless maid's eyes.
"Anna..."
She called out to Anna, as if she had something to say, but Anna cut her off, "I'm going back."
Anna left without looking back. Molly followed her all the way to the servants' quarters, where she saw Anna approach the maid who had deliberately cut her. The maid looked guilty, and when Anna arrived, she spoke in a trembling voice, "Anna... I hurt her... She bled because of me..."
"Calm down, it's all part of our plan!"
Oh? There's a plan?
Molly's interest was piqued. Just then, someone passed by, so Molly quickly clung to the ceiling, holding herself against the wooden beams. The people inside also heard the footsteps outside and fell silent. The maid who had cut Molly noticed nothing as she walked to her room.
After a while, when everything had quieted down, Anna suddenly opened the door, looked around, and, seeing no one, returned to the room. The conversation resumed, though much quieter this time. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to hear it, but Molly, still hanging from the ceiling, flipped down silently to the floor, landing without a sound.
See? The ceiling is the safest place. After all, most people don't look up, and in the dark, ordinary people would never spot her.
Once inside, Anna continued discussing their so-called plan with the other maid. Molly was surprised by what she heard. Before Anna could leave the room, Molly returned to her own and went over what she had just learned.
Anna wasn't just trying to offer her up to gain favor with the doctor. She had a bigger agenda. Molly had overheard Anna saying, "Only she—only if she gets her blood sucked by the doctor and angers Miss Black—can the doctor be punished and made to pay the price! If we're lucky, we might even get him kicked out of the school!"
Molly had just returned to her room when she heard footsteps outside. A moment later, there was a knock at her door.