In fact, Molly wasn't very clear about the family dynamics within the vampire clans. After all, she had only been in Blake Castle for thirteen years. In the long lifespan of vampires, thirteen years was fleeting, like a blink of an eye. But for her and Adele, it felt incredibly long, occupying a significant portion of their lives.
What worried her now was that if Adele had indeed wounded Mrs. Blake and fled, Mrs. Blake would surely send people to bring Adele back. If family ties among vampires were weak, they might even hunt Adele down.
After all—the Blake family still had a second daughter. If the eldest daughter was no longer fit, it would be perfectly normal for the second daughter to take over the family responsibilities. Of course, Molly might just have been influenced by all the novels and dramas she consumed in her past life. But when it came to power and interests, she always felt that blood ties didn't count for much.
Adele's biggest issue wasn't that she had hurt Mrs. Blake, but that she would rather hurt Mrs. Blake than get married. This meant that the Blake family couldn't gain any benefits from a marriage alliance with Adele, which was the real problem for them.
The crucial thing was that Molly was very worried about Adele. As the eldest daughter of the Blake family, Adele had grown up in luxury, never experiencing poverty, and she refused to drink anything other than artificial blood. For someone like her to be on the run alone—it was far from romantic.
Not to mention, while vampires were strong, they were also vulnerable at certain times—like during the day.
There were still many hours until dawn, but if Adele didn't want to be caught, she had to avoid vampire villages and find a place to hide. For someone like Adele, with no experience living alone in the wild, this would be incredibly difficult.
Molly had to find her first to protect her.
Molly also knew that once she took action, it would be impossible to hide the fact that she was actually very powerful from Adele. Even so, Molly couldn't just sit by and watch Adele get hurt or even be destroyed. After leaving Blake Castle, Molly resumed her original speed, black threads winding around her body. However, she didn't extend her hair. She was ready to expose herself, so there was no need for extra measures like extending her hair or wearing a veil.
But she still needed to cover her clothes with a layer of protection. After all, the vegetation in the wilderness was dense, and walking through it would inevitably tear at her clothing. Including the clothes packed in her suitcase, Molly only had three outfits, and the one she was wearing was the only maid uniform. Molly didn't want her clothes to be ruined before she even started.
After changing her outfit, Molly lightly stood on the treetop with her suitcase. The wind carried the scent of vampires from afar. There weren't many vampires in the forest, but she could tell that it wasn't Adele's scent. It was likely the scent of Blake family's vampire servants pursuing Adele.
By following them, she could increase her chances of finding Adele.
Vampires were very skilled in magic, so they might have some special tracking magic that Molly didn't know about. She followed the servants from a distance, reducing her scent. From their movements, Molly could tell that they had some special method for tracking, as they moved straight ahead without any hesitation.
After about half an hour, Molly picked up a trace of Adele's scent and realized she no longer needed to follow the servants. So, she put on her mask, extended her hair, and quickly caught up with them, knocking all the vampires unconscious before they even realized what was happening.
Molly moved so quickly that they didn't even have time to react, only seeing a shadow flash before being struck down. Molly's technique was precise, ensuring that she didn't kill them and that they would wake up in about three hours, still in time to return to the castle before daylight.
Just in case, to prevent any loose ends, Molly had disguised herself earlier. Even if one of them accidentally saw her, they wouldn't associate her with the weak and innocent maid Molly from the castle.
Molly bent down and picked up a white orb from the ground. Inside, a drop of crimson liquid was suspended in the center of the orb. When she knocked them out, the lead vampire had been holding this orb.
As the vampire fell unconscious, the orb dropped to the ground. Molly guessed this was the tool they were using to track Adele. Without hesitation, she crushed the orb in her hand. The drop of crimson liquid fell into Molly's palm, and she wrinkled her nose as she sniffed it. It was Adele's scent.
She hadn't expected vampires to use someone else's blood to track them. But then again, they were vampires, and their methods were certainly unique.
Molly didn't plan to use the orb to track Adele herself. After all, she had tested it before—she had no magical talent whatsoever. Even if she had a magical tool, she wouldn't be able to make it work, so she decided it was better to destroy it.
After destroying the magic tool, Molly kindly arranged the vampires neatly under a large tree. She had considered whether or not to kill these vampires. After all, in Molly's mind, there were no good vampires except Adele. She had killed hundreds of them, so adding a few more wouldn't matter.
But if Adele's situation wasn't as bad as she imagined, then her actions would only make things worse. Out of consideration for Adele, Molly decided to spare these vampires.
Arranging them took a bit of time, but Adele's scent was still in the air. As long as she followed it, she should be able to find her. Molly was confident, but when she followed the scent, she found only a torn piece of cloth stained with a few drops of blood.
The cloth was tied to a branch, fluttering in the wind, spreading Adele's scent far and wide. Molly was sure that the blood on it was put there by Adele herself. From the orb she found with the vampire search party and this torn cloth, Molly deduced that the orb was used to track Adele's blood, not her exact location.
And by hanging it on a branch, the scent could be carried away by the wind, making those pursuing her believe Adele was in that direction.
When they realized they had been tricked by Adele, they would be furious. Adele was truly a clever child, just as Molly had raised her to be. But it did create a bit of a problem for Molly.
Fortunately, it wasn't too big of a problem, especially since Molly was the one who raised her—and Molly had some tricks up her sleeve. The scent in the wind indicated that Adele's scent was strongest nearby. When she was younger, Molly had told Adele while they were playing hide-and-seek, "The most dangerous place is the safest place."
That time, Molly had hidden under Adele's bed, and when Adele couldn't find her after searching for a long time and was about to cry, Molly crawled out from under the bed.
Adele remembered everything Molly had told her very clearly, and she would definitely put it into practice during this escape. So—Molly guessed that Adele was nearby. After searching carefully for a while, Molly found Adele in an old tree hollow among the nearby bushes.
Adele had even used planks and a pile of grass to block the entrance of the tree hollow. After confirming Adele's location, Molly didn't hide herself this time and made a sound. The sound clearly startled Adele, putting her on high alert and creating a tense atmosphere.
Molly said, "Miss Adele, are you inside?"
Molly couldn't see Adele's expression at the moment, but she guessed that Adele must be very surprised because she shouldn't be here at this time, in this place. In Adele's mind, Molly should be in the castle, maybe eating, maybe working, and upon hearing news of her, she might be particularly sad, particularly shocked.
Adele had imagined a thousand things Molly might be doing, a thousand thoughts she might have, but never did she imagine Molly would appear in front of her. But Molly's voice was unmistakable. Adele wondered if the person outside was some sort of mimic or an expert in illusions.
But what if it really was Molly… If she had been forced by the vampires to come to her as a last resort to make her surrender, what then? It was so dark outside, the environment so harsh—how much had Molly suffered to get here? With such thoughts in mind, Adele hurriedly scrambled out of the tree hollow.
And then she saw… Lady Dawn standing there with a suitcase.
Adele did look quite disheveled at the moment. As Molly had said, even for someone skilled, moving through the forest would inevitably result in their clothes being snagged by branches. The quality of clothing in this era wasn't very good, with most of it made from soft fabrics. And Adele's clothes, being expensive, soft, and delicate, were easily torn. Not to mention she had torn a piece of fabric herself, making her clothes even more tattered.
Her hair, which Molly had carefully arranged, was now a mess due to crawling through the tree hollow, and she even had leaves stuck in it.
Molly seemed to have seen Adele in a disheveled state many times, especially this past year—too many times.
She also noticed the strange look in Adele's eyes as she gazed at her. Molly knew it was because she still had her long hair and veil on. Perhaps the young lady was thinking, Could Lady Dawn be so powerful that she can even mimic someone else's voice?
—Ah, that is indeed one of her skills. While she couldn't imitate others, she could make her own voice unrecognizable.
Molly withdrew the threads around her. The black threads retracted into her sleeves, her long hair shortened, the veil fell away, and her maid uniform was revealed. Watching this sudden transformation, Adele's suspicious gaze turned to one of shock.
She had never connected Molly with the human resistance leader Lady Dawn, not even when Molly's sneaky behavior was highly suspicious. She just wouldn't make that connection.
Then she heard Molly ask her, "Miss, I'll ask you again—will you elope with me?"
Molly: Will you elope with me?
Adele: No.
Molly: Oh.
One day later,
Molly: Will you elope with me?
Adele: …