When that sudden thought first appeared in her mind, all other thoughts became distant and indistinct, as if they were miles away. Only this idea kept circling in her head like a whirlpool, pulling Adele down, making it hard for her to breathe, and clutching her slowly beating heart with a tight grip.
The voice in her head was right—Molly was hers, from the very beginning until now. The idea of sending Molly to a village to marry and have children was something Adele simply couldn't accept. She had spoken those lofty words so many times that it almost seemed as if she believed them herself.
But in truth, the only outcome Adele could accept was keeping Molly by her side. Deep down, Adele knew that when she realized Molly liked her, she had felt a secret joy. Of course, Molly was her possession, body and soul belonging to her.
These dark thoughts swirled in her mind, but the sense of responsibility instilled in her by her parents since childhood prevented her from imagining a future where she and Molly could be together. Yet, now that her mother had pushed the matter of marriage in front of her, Adele found herself realizing that her feelings for Molly were far from innocent.
She could only be with Molly, just as they had been inseparable for the past thirteen years, and would continue to be so in the future. Adele confirmed this gloomy thought: no matter what, she had to keep Molly tied to her side.
But... what about her fiancé?
This question popped up in Adele's mind. If she were a despicable vampire, she could keep the engagement a secret from Molly, at least buying herself five more years. After those five years, she could make Molly her blood servant, giving her a better life, and explain that there was no love between her and her fiancé, only a cold, pragmatic family alliance.
Among vampires, such arrangements were quite common. Marrying and then having a lover on the side was perfectly normal.
But Adele couldn't do that—she was an honest vampire.
Molly had raised her to be an honest child. She couldn't commit such a deceitful act, and if Molly discovered the lie and tearfully said, "I never thought you were like this, Miss Adele!" Adele wouldn't know how to handle it.
The only thing Adele could think of was to get through this ball first, then discuss with her mother afterward that she didn't need a fiancé. She could uphold the honor of the Black family, but as for marriage and children, perhaps her sister could take on that role—if her sister was willing.
If not... her parents could always have another child.
After all, the White family had three daughters, and the youngest was even a year older than Adele. Surely, it wouldn't be too much to ask her parents to have another child. The more children there were, the better the chances of one of them agreeing to marry and carry on the family line.
As for telling her mother all this before the ball and canceling the event, that seemed impossible. Even if Adele had no intention of participating, there was still the matter of Miss Golden, who was also looking for a match. Adele couldn't ruin Miss Golden's chances just because of her own wishes.
Although Adele and Miss Golden had never gotten along, she wouldn't sabotage her chances over her own situation.
Having thought it through, Adele felt less troubled. She ran a hand through her hair and sat on the edge of the bed, one leg dangling to the floor, with her hands resting on either side to support herself. She now needed to clarify another matter—what exactly were her feelings for Molly?
The turbulent, obsessive emotions she had felt earlier were certainly not the kind of emotions one should have for a maid. In fact, her tangled thoughts even included the idea of making Molly her lover. The thought of turning Molly into her blood servant, but treating her as a lover in secret, while maintaining a facade of engagement with a fiancé she didn't care about, was particularly loud in her mind.
Adele had to admit that she did have those kinds of feelings for Molly. The desire to be with her forever, to never be separated, was always there. This realization made Adele a bit shy. She raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.
She decided she needed to talk to Molly and tell her about her feelings.
But today, her mind was too chaotic, and there was no rush. Besides, figuring out how to approach Molly was another issue. In Adele's mind, it should be Molly who confessed first, saying, "Miss Adele, I've always loved you." Then Adele would accept, and the two of them would be sweetly together.
Just imagining Molly's passionate and heartfelt confession made Adele blush. But her face quickly turned pale as she realized—she had repeatedly told Molly, "There's no possibility between us," "You shouldn't have unrealistic dreams," and "I understand your feelings, but they will never come to fruition."
"Ah..." Adele realized she had made a huge mistake. Molly must have been deeply hurt by her words, probably crying under the covers during the day. Over time, she would have buried her love deep inside, never daring to express it.
Poor Molly, she must be suffering.
Perhaps because of Adele's rejection, Molly no longer dared to confess her feelings to her openly. Adele regretted being so harsh, knowing that now Molly probably wouldn't confess to her at all.
But for Adele to confess... she knew she couldn't do it. Her face turned an even deeper shade of red as she imagined herself confessing to Molly. Would she have to follow the romantic clichés from novels, take Molly to a secluded corner, push her against the wall, and say, "Human, I like you"?
That would be far too embarrassing!
Adele's face was so hot that it could have boiled water! She waved her hands in the air, trying to dispel the thoughts from her mind. There was no way she could do something so embarrassing. As a noble vampire, she couldn't bring herself to do such a thing. It would be much more fitting for Molly to confess first.
Adele thought about it and decided to talk to Molly about it. But two days later, when she was ready to approach Molly, she found that Molly wasn't in the castle. Adele was stunned and immediately sought out the head maid to ask where Molly had gone.
The head maid respectfully replied, "Miss Adele, Molly fell ill a few days ago. She left for the village at the foot of the mountain the day before yesterday to recuperate. She's expected to return to the castle the day before the ball."
"She's sick?"
Adele was a little surprised, but then she understood. Unlike her, who almost never got sick, Molly was an ordinary human, and it was natural for her to fall ill. Ever since they were children, Molly would occasionally get sick. It didn't happen often, maybe two or three times a year. Molly hadn't been sick in nearly a year, so Adele had almost forgotten about it.
The castle's policy for dealing with sick maids was simple: send them to the village below the mountain with some medicine and let them recover on their own. If they got better, they were expected to return to work immediately; if not, that was the end of it. So every time Molly got sick, Adele worried about her.
But ever since childhood, whenever Molly fell ill, the family wouldn't let Adele visit her. One reason was that Molly was in the village at the foot of the mountain, not in the castle, and the vampire maids didn't feel comfortable letting Adele go there alone. Another reason was that, although humans and vampires didn't share many diseases and vampires had strong immunity, Molly was still sick, and it wouldn't be good if Adele caught something, so no one would allow her to visit.
As she grew older, Adele wanted to visit Molly when she was sick, but Molly's illnesses became less frequent, and Molly herself didn't want Adele to see her in that state. Her usually indifferent eyes would dim, and she would softly say, "I don't want Miss Adele to see me like this."
Adele understood that humans often looked haggard and much less attractive when sick, and that was probably why Molly didn't want her to see. Besides, based on past experiences, Molly's illnesses weren't very severe, usually just a cold or fever, and after a few days, Molly would return.
Eventually, Adele stopped worrying as much and simply waited for Molly to recover and come back. But at this moment, Adele desperately wanted to see Molly, to tell her how she felt. However, her mother's maids called her over, and with the ball fast approaching, her mother had many tasks for her.
These included trying on dresses, memorizing the names of all the guests, and remembering the names of eligible young male vampires. Although Adele had resolved to tell her mother after the ball that she didn't intend to marry, she still had to go through the motions for now, so she focused on reviewing the guest list and documents.
No, she didn't plan to tell her mother that she wanted to be with Molly—that would be absurd. While Adele was an honest vampire who didn't like lying, that didn't mean she was inflexible. A well-intentioned lie was sometimes necessary.
For example, telling her mother she was committed to a life without marriage rather than revealing her desire to be with Molly. After all, she was still a growing vampire, not yet strong enough to confront her parents, who were cunning and experienced vampires. The most crucial thing was that Adele didn't yet have the confidence to protect Molly from her parents.
While her parents wouldn't harm her, at worst grounding her and giving her a stern lecture, if they found out about her and Molly, they would definitely take action against Molly, ensuring she wouldn't live to see the next moon.
Adele couldn't bear the thought of losing Molly because of her own recklessness. So yes, she would lie. A well-meaning lie could be forgiven.
But right now, Molly was still in the village recovering, and Adele couldn't help but sigh, wondering how Molly was doing. Ever since realizing her feelings, Adele couldn't stop thinking about Molly.