Whether the second young lady could get a good night's sleep or not, Molly was determined to have a restful sleep herself.
After Adele announced that everyone could disperse, Molly wasted no time heading to her own room. Unlike Adele, who would undoubtedly have maids to tidy up her room, Molly's room, left unoccupied for a whole semester, would be so dusty that she wouldn't be able to sleep in it right away.
The first thing Molly did upon entering her room was strip the bedsheets and pillowcases, placing them in the laundry basket to soak for a while before washing them clean. She then retrieved a clean set of linens from the closet and made the bed. After finishing this, she gave the room a thorough cleaning. It wasn't until the once dusty room was spotless that she finally sat down on the bed.
This bit of work wasn't enough to make Molly break a sweat, so she remained clean and didn't have to worry about dirtying the bed. She planned to wash the bedsheets and pillowcases once the sun was up, then take her quilt outside to air out.
Just thinking about it—how musty her quilt would smell after months without being aired, and how many dust mites might have bred in it—made Molly's skin crawl. She hadn't even crawled under the covers yet, but just imagining the mites crawling around made her shudder.
Her plan was sound, but before she could sit on the bed for long, before dawn even broke, the head maid called for her. Molly recognized the sound of the head maid's footsteps approaching her door—after being away for half a year, she could still distinguish them precisely.
There was no helping it; she was too familiar with that sound. From the time she came to this castle until Adele left for school, she had heard those footsteps almost daily.
Soon, the head maid arrived at Molly's door, confirming her suspicions. As the head maid stopped, Molly heard a knock on her door, followed by the head maid's voice: "Open the door."
Molly sighed, realizing she wouldn't even get a moment's rest. She got up and opened the door, only to see the head maid's face, which always looked like everyone owed her millions. The head maid adjusted her glasses and immediately reprimanded Molly, "Molly, since you're back, you should report to me first. You've only been away for half a year, and you've already forgotten your manners!"
Faced with the head maid's scolding, Molly invoked Adele's authority, saying, "Miss Adele told me to rest first. I believe that following the young lady's orders is more important than reporting in." Hearing this, the head maid was visibly displeased. "Are you using Miss Adele's words to suppress me?"
The head maid was truly insufferable. If Molly weren't so good at controlling her emotions, she feared she might have struck the head maid, breaking her moral code of never laying a hand on a human.
Molly held back, though her recent time without supervision had admittedly made her more relaxed. She couldn't resist retorting, "Yes, I am. What of it? Are your words more important than Miss Adele's orders?"
Oops, she had accidentally spoken her mind.
The head maid's expression instantly darkened at Molly's unthinking remark, and Molly found it amusing to watch her reaction. The head maid, who was always so stern and serious, now had a face contorting like a clown's mask. Molly imagined that if the other maids who had been bullied by the head maid saw this, they would find it incredibly satisfying.
The head maid glared at Molly, clearly unhappy, but she couldn't argue with what Molly had said. All she could do was grit her teeth and say, "Of course, Miss Adele's orders take precedence, but I am your superior…" Her sentence was cut off by a crisp female voice: "Since Adele's orders take precedence, then get lost and stop disturbing others' rest."
Both the head maid and Molly turned toward the source of the voice. The head maid was shocked, but Molly remained calm, having already recognized the footsteps. The head maid quickly curtsied, "Second Young Lady."
Molly also bent at the waist and bowed, "Second Young Lady."
Behind the second young lady stood a group of low-level vampire maids, as well as one who wasn't low-level, clearly a higher-ranked attendant assigned by the Black family to protect the second young lady until she reached adulthood.
The second young lady, whose head only reached Molly's waist, tilted her chin up proudly, pointing directly at Molly.
—How rude, but since she had just helped her out, Molly decided not to hold it against the little brat.
"Hey, you, human. Go follow my sister's orders and get some good sleep. Once you wake up, come to my room; I have something to ask you."
The second young lady's voice was just as haughty as her demeanor. Molly nodded her agreement, and the second young lady finally gave a satisfied nod, shot the head maid a glare, and then left with her entourage of maids.
The head maid bowed until the second young lady was out of sight, then lifted her head, glaring resentfully at Molly. Her eyes seemed to say, What kind of sorcery did you use to make both the young ladies so fond of you?
Molly didn't care what the head maid thought. After all, the current situation was beyond her control. Molly, smiling, said, "You see, that's how it is. Both the young ladies have ordered me to rest, so I have to follow their orders and go back to sleep. We can talk later, ma'am." With that, she closed the door.
She put a little force into the door, slamming it shut in the head maid's face, even causing her glasses to slip down a bit. The head maid's face twisted with anger, but she couldn't vent it. She could only glare at the door as if her gaze could bore holes through it, then fixed her glasses and left without looking back.
Back in her room, Molly waited until sunrise to air out her quilt and sheets. Once the quilt was sun-warmed and fluffy, she brought it back inside, hugged it, and flopped onto the bed, stretching lazily before drifting off to sleep.
Honestly, though her room was small and cramped, it was still where she had slept for so long. Returning here inevitably made her relax, bringing a sense of joy like "There's no place like home." Molly slept until the sun was setting, then woke up, yawned, and got out of bed to wash up.
After washing, Molly headed to the servants' dining hall for breakfast. She had to admit, while the meat quality at school was quite good, the variety of vegetables couldn't compare to that in the Black family's kitchen. The school only had about twenty human maids, and even counting all the human servants, there were only about sixty. In contrast, there were far more low-level vampire servants, so the food was primarily catered to their tastes, with humans often overlooked.
At the Black family estate, however, although there weren't too many human servants, the ratio of humans to low-level vampires was roughly one-to-one. The human cooks in the kitchen also ensured the food was more balanced, with a good mix of meats and vegetables.
The meat might not have been as high quality as at school, but the selection and variety of vegetables were far superior. Molly nearly teared up while eating the long-missed broccoli stir-fried with carrots. This is what humans are supposed to eat. Although she considered herself a meat-lover, humans really couldn't do without vegetables.
Especially… a meat-only diet was likely to cause constipation.
Molly's cheat ability saved her from this issue, but she had overheard other human maids at school whispering, "I think I've been eating too much meat; it's getting hard to poop." When she thought about it, she remembered hearing similar advice in her previous life: eating only meat can cause constipation.
And no matter how good the meat was, eating only meat would eventually become nauseating.
Perhaps because Molly hadn't been seen in a while, her sudden appearance in the dining hall surprised many of the human maids. Some who were closer to her carried their trays over to sit with her and strike up a conversation. "Molly, long time no see."
"Long time no see."
Molly swallowed the carrot in her mouth before responding. Once they sat down, they chatted casually, mostly with the maids asking Molly how life at school was. Molly answered honestly, saying that there was much less work at school, and she had more free time.
Hearing this, the other human maids couldn't help but feel envious. In the castle, their workload was heavy, and on top of their duties, sometimes low-level vampire maids would shove their tasks onto them.
However, Molly didn't mention the bullying by the low-level vampire maids at school or the evil vampire doctor.
Not only were the human maids envious, but the low-level vampire maids nearby were also eavesdropping. They were probably wondering if the young lady would choose a different maid to accompany her next semester… They wouldn't dare try to take the second young lady's place since she was still too young, with over a decade before she would attend school, and she was about to purchase her first personal maid. There was a chance that maid would end up being a vampire the second young lady favored.
Adele, on the other hand, was closer in age to them and didn't have a preferred low-level vampire maid, so maybe one of them could be chosen.
While they were scheming in their minds, Molly noticed the maid who was following the second young lady. The maid also noticed Molly and, without hesitation, carried her tray over. Seeing this, the human maids around Molly quickly picked up their trays and moved elsewhere. They couldn't afford to offend a low-level vampire maid, let alone one who was a high-ranking attendant.
The attendant didn't mind and sat down, issuing an order to Molly: "Hurry up and finish eating. When you're done, come with me to see the second young lady. She has something to ask you and didn't sleep well because of it."
As soon as she finished speaking, Molly heard one of the nearby low-level vampire maids mutter, "Why is it always her?"