"What do you mean by that?!"
Lady Black's state seemed a bit unstable, and Adele wasn't sure which of her words had struck a nerve. Lady Black was a proud woman, and Adele only lowered her head to her parents because they were her blood relatives.
Moreover, Lady Black should know that Adele had been raised by her own hands, instilling in her a pride greater than anyone else's. So Adele abandoned any pretense of mother-daughter harmony and became increasingly confrontational. "Mother, I don't want an eight-year-old boy, who isn't even an adult, to be my husband. To be precise, I have no plans to marry right now, especially not to someone I could never love."
"Frankly, Mother, you care more about the future of the Black family than about my feelings. But I don't like it, and I'm not ready to enter into any marriage. So, Mother, why not put this matter aside for now? When the time is right, the right person will naturally come along."
Her words enraged Lady Black, who lost all composure and shouted, "You don't like it?! So what if you don't like it?! Do you think this world runs on what you like or don't like? No matter how unwilling you are, you will still have to marry and have children with a suitable person—even if that person is an eight-year-old child! Adele, wake up!"
Adele pressed her lips together, choosing not to argue further. The result was being placed under house arrest, ordered to reflect in her room and not allowed to leave until she had done so.
Each exit from her room was guarded by her mother's maids, those skilled in combat rather than low-level vampires. When Adele returned to her room, she sighed, relieved that Molly wasn't there, which meant Molly wouldn't be locked up with her. At least Molly was still free.
Then, a twinge of regret followed—if she hadn't sent Molly away earlier, would that mean they'd be locked up together? For Adele, who had just realized her feelings, the thought of being close to Molly all the time was enticing. Being confined together wouldn't be so bad.
But, alas, there was no such opportunity.
In fact, before Adele had been brought back, Molly had been in Adele's room, but sensing the arrival of many unfriendly people, she had quickly slipped out onto the terrace. Hidden in a dark corner, she watched Lady Black's personal maid command the other servants to surround Adele's room, confirming that Adele had likely quarreled with Lady Black.
But since it was just confinement and nothing more, Molly returned to her own room.
The next evening, while eating in the dining hall, she overheard some vampire maids whispering. "Did you hear? Last night, Miss Adele had a big fight with the Lady—really intense."
"What were they fighting about?"
"Who knows? But it seems to have something to do with last night's ball. Apparently, Miss Adele really didn't like the young Green boy, so she argued with the Lady, and it got pretty heated."
Only then did Molly realize that after returning to the ball, Adele had another confrontation with Lady Black. Both of them were proud by nature, and Adele had grown up. Like a young eagle whose wings had fully formed, it was inevitable that she would eventually clash with her parents.
Molly ate her meal, not particularly concerned, since Lady Black hadn't harmed Adele. Even human mothers and daughters often had fierce arguments over small things. Molly still remembered how, when she was a child, her mother would serve her stir-fried bamboo shoots if she did something wrong.
And worse, she would sometimes pull out a belt for a harsh lesson.
Compared to that, Adele's punishment of being locked up was nothing.
At first, Molly thought nothing of it, sneaking around to check on Adele's condition. Adele seemed fine, and although she was confined, Lady Black hadn't done anything to her. Adele even had the leisure to continue working on the next phase of the Spark Farm project.
In fact, she had meticulously detailed the advantages and disadvantages of the shift system and had the maids deliver the report to her father.
A few days later, Adele received her school report, showing she had ranked first again last semester—a remarkable achievement. But by then, Molly had begun to sense something was off—Lady Black had apparently decided not to provide Adele with any synthetic blood.
It was well-known in the castle that Adele only consumed synthetic blood, and the maids wouldn't forget to prepare it for her. Lady Black was also well aware of this, so it wasn't a simple oversight but a deliberate decision by Lady Black.
Molly vaguely understood what Lady Black intended to do. Over the past few days, she had been busy sneaking around, eavesdropping, and finally managed to catch Lady Black discussing what had happened with the head of the family. By then, Lady Black had regained her composure and coldly repeated what she had said that night.
After finishing, she explained to the family head, "The child has grown up and no longer obeys us, but we must establish our authority in her mind and remind her that her parents are still not to be defied. First, we must correct her refusal to drink blood—she cannot continue being so willful. If others find out that the eldest daughter of the Black family relies on synthetic blood rather than real blood, it would damage the family's reputation."
The head of the Black family was initially hesitant. If he had wanted to correct Adele, he would have forced her to drink blood when she was still a child. But he had never made her drink blood all these years. However, his wife's reasoning made sense, and now that Adele was openly defying them, even refusing to consider marriage, she had crossed a line for him.
"Then do as you say," he agreed.
In the end, his decision sealed Adele's fate—she would have to drink blood.
After Lady Black left, Molly emerged from her hiding spot. As she returned to her room, she pondered Lady Black's words. She had said, "So what if you don't like it? Do you think this world runs on what you like or don't like?" Lady Black had repeated this phrase without emotion, as if it were a statement of fact, though her choice of words had been quite forceful. It was clear that she had been highly agitated when saying it.
Molly thought that Lady Black was so angry because Adele was rebelling, doing something she had never dared to do.
Molly appeared to be just an ordinary, newly adult human girl, but she had lived a long life in her past one, even though she had died young by most standards. Added together with her current life, she was middle-aged. She could understand Lady Black's mindset and why she was so upset.
Because—Lady Black had never been able to rebel.
The vampire society was structured in such a way that, despite the Thirteen Clans seeming so high and mighty, their personal freedoms were limited, even in matters of marriage. Whether male or female, they were expected to marry the partners chosen by their elders to continue the bloodline. Their personal desires mattered very little in these arranged marriages.
This was why many vampires, even after marriage, were likely to have affairs and keep lovers on the side. It wasn't uncommon for both partners in a marriage to be unfaithful.
Under Molly's influence, Adele disliked this marriage system and believed in the idea of a lifelong, monogamous relationship. Such an idea was unthinkable among vampires, who couldn't even muster the courage to rebel because... generations had lived this way.
Lady Black, despite her age, had never grown, and though she had ten or twenty times Molly's years, she wasn't necessarily more mature. Molly might have been childish at times, but she wasn't immature—she understood things clearly.
Molly felt that Lady Black resembled a character from an old movie she had seen, a mother who, like Lady Black, couldn't accept her daughter's desire to break free. These women weren't unloving; they just knew that in this world, rebellion was futile. Moreover, a small, spiteful part of them thought, I had to endure this, so why should you have a way out?
They became part of the oppressive system, suppressing those who wished to defy it.
From the start, Molly had found vampire society fascinating. Although they were a different species from humans, once a social hierarchy formed, their behaviors and thought patterns were remarkably similar to those of humans in certain historical periods.
Feudal, ignorant, backward, and full of oppression.
Molly was sure that even if she had been reincarnated as a vampire instead of a human, she would still have been an outcast. Under her subtle influence, Adele had also become a solitary soul among the vampires.
This time, Lady Black was furious with Adele, determined to correct her refusal to drink blood. She stopped the delivery of synthetic blood and instead sent up dishes soaked in blood. Molly had seen blood-covered steaks, high-quality human blood in goblets, and sugar cubes made of solidified blood.
Lady Black intended to force Adele back into the role of the obedient daughter she once was, but Adele's pride, which they had nurtured themselves, meant she would never yield to such methods.
Adele neither ate nor drank. The carefully prepared meals remained untouched outside her door.
Molly knew that Adele would grow weaker in this situation. How long could vampires go without eating? Molly hadn't calculated it, but since they could sleep for a year, lowering their food needs to the minimum, they might be able to go a month or two without eating anything.
But the problem was, Adele wasn't sleeping. Every night she was awake, and when Molly sneaked in during the day, she saw the documents still spread out on her desk.
Faced with Lady Black refusing to feed her...
Molly thought: This is child abuse!