The gentle caress was fleeting as Molly placed her hand on the back of Adele's neck. In the moment when those crimson eyes widened in surprise, she pulled Adele down completely. She didn't use much force, but to Adele, it felt strong. She was yanked down suddenly, her figure stumbling slightly.
In that instant, Adele's teeth pressed against Molly's neck.
Her fangs were less than a centimeter from the swan-like neck in front of her, and her cold breath fell on Molly's warm skin. Molly felt a bit ticklish, like someone was blowing on her neck. Due to the change in position, Molly's hand moved from holding Adele's neck to resting on the back of her head.
Molly looked up at the ceiling. The room was pitch black, with the curtains drawn, and not even moonlight could enter. However, with her vision, there was no difference between night and day. The Black Castle was ancient, and although it had been properly restored and cleaned, the marks of history couldn't be completely erased.
Even without any cracks, the signs of repair were still obvious to Molly's eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a while, realizing that Adele was still frozen, doing nothing. She sighed again, "Adele, drink, but only this time." Molly thought, no matter what Adele said later, even if she begged or pleaded, she wouldn't let her drink her blood again.
This time and the last time were only because Adele might die. With her stubborn personality, Adele might actually starve to death rather than drink a drop of blood.
Molly's voice was gentle and calm. She spoke these words of her own will, and of course, there wasn't a vampire in the world who could put their fangs to her neck without her consent. Molly found it hard to understand vampires' preferences—why were they so obsessed with biting necks? The neck had the carotid artery, and a single mistake could kill a human. In comparison, drinking from the arm, thigh, or finger would be much safer.
Biting the neck to drink blood felt like a beast snapping the neck of its prey during a hunt, perhaps making vampires feel more like hunters.
Molly's mind wandered with these thoughts. She could feel Adele under her hand hesitating for a moment. Her bloodthirsty brain seemed to struggle to process Molly's input. After a moment, she sniffed at Molly's neck like a puppy, inhaling her scent.
She nuzzled against her neck before finally pressing her fangs against Molly's skin.
The sensation of Adele's fangs was strange, like being suddenly jabbed in the neck with an ice pick in the dead of winter. It was an odd comparison, but it was what came to Molly's mind. However, the ice pick wouldn't pierce her neck, while Adele's fangs slowly, gently sank into her skin, creating two small holes.
To be honest, being bitten didn't feel good at all. It was different from the last time when her finger was sucked. This time, being bitten on the neck, Molly experienced what she had asked a maid about long ago—what it felt like to be bitten.
She remembered the maid thinking for a moment, her expression unpleasant, before saying, "How to explain… It's an uncomfortable feeling. I've heard that vampire saliva has numbing and hallucinogenic effects. It hurts a lot when they first bite in, then it turns into a tingling itch, and soon after, your whole body feels weak and numb, like you can't control it. It's like something is flashing in front of your eyes. In short, that feeling of losing control of your body is really unpleasant."
When Adele first started sucking her blood, Molly felt the same way. But her body was too strong, so much so that her natural defenses quickly suppressed the sensation. In the end, the only thing she felt was a tingling itch where she was being bitten.
Molly stroked Adele's head, her hand resting on her tangled hair. Adele's hair hadn't been properly groomed for half a month, and she probably hadn't bothered to bathe, so it had become frizzy and messy, not as pleasant to touch as before. The Adele she had raised so carefully, the proud young lady, had become so disheveled.
Molly gently closed her eyes. She could feel her blood flowing through Adele's fangs into her body, restoring her frail figure. However…Adele was a bit too greedy. All vampires were like this—once driven by blood, they couldn't help but want more.
Especially Adele, whose body was like a desert thirsting for rain. She had never drunk blood growing up, except for the little bit Molly had pitied her with last year. Now, suddenly being able to drink to her heart's content, she wasn't like a mindless beast that would drain Molly dry.
Beasts couldn't tell the difference between a full meal and always being full.
Molly endured for a while but eventually couldn't take it anymore. She tugged on Adele's hair, "Adele, stop." For a moment, Adele considered stopping, but she was too hungry. Even though the pull on her hair stung a little, she still didn't stop.
Molly frowned, then moved her hand from stroking Adele's head to the back of her head, where she very decisively knocked her out. Molly acted quickly and without hesitation. In an instant, Adele collapsed limply into her arms. Molly controlled the muscles in her neck to stop the bleeding from the two small holes Adele had left.
She then picked up Adele and carried her back to her room. The bedroom had changed a lot since she last came two days ago. Back then, it was still relatively tidy, but as Adele's sanity had nearly completely unraveled over the past two days, her room had become a mess, with papers scattered all over the floor.
Molly nudged the papers aside with her toe. After laying Adele on the bed, she bent down to pick up one of the papers, sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked at what was on it and, as expected, felt a bit shy—it was covered in her name.
Molly imagined Adele, struggling against her bloodthirst, writing her name as if it were her tranquilizer. Adele was now unconscious, so Molly let thin threads emerge from her wrist, gathering all the scattered papers and stacking them in her hands.
As expected, each one was filled with her name.
—This is a bit embarrassing…
Molly placed the papers on a nearby table. After some thought, she decided to change Adele's clothes, clean her up, and brush her hair. These were things she was used to doing, having done them for many years. Although she had realized her feelings for Adele, it didn't make her feel any differently.
While cleaning and changing Adele, Molly didn't have any extra thoughts at all.
After finishing, Molly also tidied up Adele's room, spending nearly two hours on the task. Once done, she went to the bathroom, looked at her neck in the mirror. She had short hair, so it didn't cover the two small puncture wounds.
To be honest, the holes were small; Adele's fangs weren't very large. The tiny marks could be covered with a bandage. But there were no bandages in Adele's room, and she couldn't go back to her room to get one. If she left, the maids would likely drag her to Mrs. Black's room immediately.
Molly didn't want that; she didn't want to face Mrs. Black again. She had her own considerations.
Of course, she could choose to heal the wound directly, but without knowing Adele's exact intentions, it didn't seem wise. Molly touched the wound with her fingers—it hurt a bit because it was a fresh wound, and it itched a little. Vampire fangs were no joke.
Molly pursed her lips, then grabbed a fresh towel, undressed, took a shower, dried herself off, and changed back into her maid uniform. After all that, she walked out of the bathroom and saw Adele sleeping soundly on the bed. According to the rules, Molly should now go and report to Mrs. Black, or at the very least, as a maid, she should be lying on the sofa in the parlor.
But Molly was quite human; she wasn't interested in that. Instead, she simply lay down beside Adele, fully dressed. Having slept a lot during the day, Molly couldn't sleep now. Her body was in great shape, and she wasn't easily tired. She just lay there, watching Adele sleep and daydreaming.
After drinking her blood, Adele no longer resembled the beast she had been. Compared to the last time Molly had snuck in during the day, she looked much better now. For one, her slightly gaunt cheeks had filled out, and she even looked radiant as if she had taken some great tonic.
Molly couldn't resist pinching Adele's cheek. Yes, smooth and elastic.
In her sleep, Adele unconsciously wrinkled her nose, looking quite cute. Worried about waking Adele, Molly let go of her cheek. Watching Adele sleep soundly, Molly couldn't help but yawn. It seemed that yawning really was contagious.
Feeling drowsy, Molly drifted off to sleep beside Adele.
Before she fell asleep, she hazily thought that these were the most injuries she had ever sustained in her life. First, she cut her hand and wrapped it in a bandage, pretending to stop the bleeding. Then, she got two holes in her neck that night. She had done all this for Adele—Adele should really thank her.
Whether Adele thanked her or not, Molly didn't know, but she was abruptly awakened by a sharp, loud sound. Groggy, Molly opened her eyes to see Adele sitting on the bed, her face flushed and her expression conflicted as she looked at her. Judging by the time, it had probably only been a night; outside, it was likely a bright, sunny day.
Molly yawned, getting up from the bed, and looked at Adele, "Miss, do you need something?"
"You—you, I…I!" Adele was so flustered she couldn't even form a sentence, looking like a lost girl who had had too much to drink the night before and didn't remember who she had spent the night with.
Molly: ?? I was the one who got pinned down and bitten!
Adele: embarrassed