Molly also guessed that there might be a traitor within the Blood Clan, willingly acting as a spy for the outsiders. Otherwise, how could those outsiders have boarded the airship? Not only did they manage to board it, but they also knew that someone from the Black family of the Thirteen Clans was on the ship.
It was clear that they had prior knowledge, with a specific target in mind—to take Adele's head.
Molly flipped through the rest of the letter but found no further details. The head of the Black family indicated that nothing more could be extracted, and the white werewolf had already been imprisoned. They would continue to try to extract more information from him. After reading the letter, Molly didn't linger. She put the letter back in its place and restored the head of the Black family's mechanism to its original state.
Having done all this, she debated whether to return to her room or head to the dining room to eavesdrop on what the father and his two daughters were discussing. She decided to head to the dining room. The Black family's castle was enormous, and the dining room was spacious as well, filled with various objects, making it easy for Molly to find a hiding spot.
She quietly crouched behind a suit of armor, silently listening to the conversation between the father and daughters in the dining room.
Before Molly arrived, they hadn't actually said much. The head of the Black family believed that one should focus on eating while dining, without speaking unnecessarily. Although Molly didn't know where the head of the Black family got this strange rule, he adhered to it strictly. Thanks to this rule, even though Molly was late, she didn't miss much of their conversation.
It was only after dessert was served that the head of the Black family wiped his mouth and began to speak. He didn't like small desserts, even if they were infused with blood. But his two daughters were still young and naturally enjoyed such things. While they ate, the head of the Black family began his usual talk.
"Adele, why are you still drinking synthetic blood? That stuff is just a worthless trinket, tasteless and devoid of nutrition. I can't understand why you continue to drink it. You must know that if the other clans hear that you've been drinking synthetic blood for a long time, the Black family's reputation will be tarnished."
He was blunt, immediately voicing his disapproval. But in reality, he was quite a decent father. Though he was dissatisfied with Adele drinking synthetic blood, she had continued to drink it happily for many years, and no one had really stopped her.
Hearing her father's criticism, Adele lowered her head.
The younger daughter, on the other hand, immediately tried to defend her sister.
"Father, Adele also took first place at school this term!"
Hearing the younger daughter speak, the head of the family's expression softened a bit. He even let out a proud huff, "Of course, Adele is my daughter. It's only natural she took first place. That fool Golden will surely be unhappy knowing his daughter lost to mine."
Why were the Black and Golden families on such bad terms? That had to do with the lady who was absent from today's dinner—the head of the Black family's wife, Adele's mother, and the Golden family's lady. To put it simply, the current head of the Golden family, Adele's aunt, disliked the man who had taken her sister away.
And when the head of the Black family was courting the lady, he had been given a hard time by the Golden aunt.
Over time, the animosity between the two families grew to the point where even the Elder Council of the Thirteen Clans had to step in to mediate. Looking at the interactions of the older generation, it was clear that the relationship between Adele's generation was relatively better.
As for why the lady was absent, given Molly's years of working at the Black family, it was likely that she had returned to her parental home. The reason was probably that the sister-obsessed head of the Golden family had been speaking ill of the head of the Black family, and the lady had gone back to mediate, while also visiting her niece.
Molly always thought the Thirteen Clans were quite chaotic, especially when it came to bloodlines. The Thirteen Clans were such a small group that, to ensure everyone remained pure-blooded nobles, intermarriage within the Thirteen Clans was inevitable. Over time, they had all become close relatives. For instance, Adele's grandmother was from the White family.
The situation was similar with the Golden family. The Thirteen Clans had developed to the point where they were all closely related.
Molly also wondered why, despite the close intermarriages among the Thirteen Clans, there hadn't been any children born with genetic defects. Could it be that the Blood Clan's genes were so dominant that only the good traits were inherited, with no harmful mutations?
Molly knew that one day, Adele would have to marry a member of another family within the Thirteen Clans. And as the eldest daughter and the eldest child in the family, she would need to marry someone into the family, while her younger sister would likely be married off. In this regard, Molly felt that the Blood Clan was quite progressive. At least when it came to choosing an heir, there was no preference for males over females; strength was what mattered.
The head of the Black family had initially considered making the younger daughter the heir and marrying off the elder daughter. This was because the elder daughter was not ambitious and had been drinking synthetic blood all her life. While he didn't dislike her because of this, he was clear in his heart that without drinking fresh blood, Adele would likely suffer from malnutrition and wouldn't be able to compete with other children.
In the Blood Clan, strength was paramount, and a weak individual couldn't lead a family.
But unexpectedly, Adele's talent was too extraordinary. He received letters from the school, informing him that Adele not only ranked first in theoretical courses but also killed another vampire who tried to steal her belongings. That vampire wasn't some low-level one but a teacher hired by the school with considerable strength.
The head of the Black family had calculated that based on the school's description, Adele shouldn't have been able to defeat the opponent, yet she managed to do so. How could this not be seen as a sign of his daughter's exceptional talent?
If Molly knew what he was thinking, she might have added a line: "My daughter Adele has the makings of an emperor."
Coming out of his praise for Adele, the head of the family also inquired about the incident with the doctor. Adele, knowing that revealing everything would put Molly in great danger, took full responsibility for it herself. Hearing Adele recount everything, Molly guessed that the younger daughter's eyes were probably shining with admiration.
The younger daughter was a true sister fanatic, secretly thinking her sister was amazing, but because of her proud nature, she always spoke in a contrary manner.
The head of the Black family was also very pleased to hear Adele recount the events herself. Adele spoke with humility, saying she was lucky to have won and hadn't expected to defeat the doctor. She even doubted whether she had actually killed him. The head of the Black family took this as a sign of her humility, even praising Adele:
"Not bad, Adele. You not only have great talent but also remain humble, not blinded by a momentary victory." He praised her first, then added, "But you don't need to be overly humble. You should know that excessive humility is a form of pride. Since this is your achievement, you should speak of it openly."
Crouching behind the statue, eavesdropping, Molly couldn't help but want to interject with a "?" She wondered if the head of the family even realized how ridiculous he sounded. What did he mean by "speak of it openly"? Could vampires even be in the sunlight?
But hearing her father's words, Adele felt a bit guilty. She wasn't being humble; she truly doubted whether she had the ability to kill the doctor. But now, it seemed she had to take credit for killing the doctor. One reason was to protect Molly, and the other was that everyone believed it, and she really couldn't remember the exact details of what happened.
The younger daughter then proudly said, "Hmph, it's not that big of a deal. I'll be even stronger than Adele in the future."
The head of the family encouraged her and then began asking Adele about other matters, particularly those concerning the airship. His tone became much more serious, and Molly noticed that this was what the head of the family truly wanted to discuss. The previous conversation had merely been a prelude. It made sense—those questions could easily be answered by the school, and there was no need for Adele to recount them herself.
Recently, only the events on the airship required Adele's personal testimony. Adele recounted everything that happened on the airship, and the head of the family listened patiently, not interrupting her. As the father grew more serious, the sounds of the younger daughter eating gradually ceased as well, eventually stopping altogether.
When Adele finished, the head of the family asked the question that concerned him the most: "Are you sure the one who killed the outsider was a human?"
Adele was momentarily stunned. She didn't answer immediately but instead quietly thought for a while. After a moment, she responded, "Yes, I'm very sure. Her scent was faint, almost undetectable. She had taken measures to mask it. That faint scent, mixed with the strong smells of the surrounding outsiders, was almost indistinguishable."
"But whether by her figure, appearance, or that faint scent she emitted, it was clear she was human."
The head of the family pondered for a while and asked, "But based on your description, that human was almost too strong. Is this really something a human could do?"
Adele answered, "Though I'm also puzzled, she was definitely human. There's no doubt about that."
The head of the family still seemed confused by this answer, not entirely believing Adele. Molly almost wanted to step out of her hiding spot and tell him, "Yes, Adele is telling the truth. There really is a human that strong."
But she couldn't, so she continued to listen.
The head of the family asked a few more minor questions, complimented Adele on how she handled the outsiders, and said that she was worthy of the Black family name. Molly knew that hearing her father say this would make Adele very happy. After all, the Black family was very important to her, and earning her father's praise was enough to make her happy.
Only Molly knew that whether or not the head of the family believed Adele, the mysterious woman on the airship was now etched into his memory. After all, the human resistance had been very active recently. Before leaving school, she even ran into Yuanhang, who excitedly announced that the human army had captured a stronghold of the Golden family, liberating the humans there.
The happier Yuanhang was, the angrier the Golden family became, and the more headaches the Thirteen Clans suffered.