The moon was bright tonight, but there were also many clouds, layering over each other and blocking the moonlight. The forest, already dark, became even darker without the moon's glow. But at this moment, the clouds silently drifted away, allowing the moonlight to once again touch the earth, and it also illuminated Molly.
Adele had never felt that Molly was so unfamiliar. She didn't even know how to start a conversation. The two of them fell into silence, neither speaking for a while. Molly's gaze dimmed a bit, and she was about to lower the hand she had extended toward Adele.
Although Molly often called Adele a little fool, Adele was actually a smart and perceptive person. Just by seeing the look in Molly's eyes and noticing her movements, Adele realized that Molly's heart had sunk during this brief silence.
She didn't want Molly's heart to sink, so her body moved faster than her mind. Almost instantly, Adele stumbled forward to stand in front of Molly, then took hold of Molly's hand. She said, "Alright, let's elope."
Even though she didn't understand why Molly had become Lady Dawn, there was one thing Adele was sure of—Lady Dawn was very strong.
Hearing Adele agree, Molly's mood lifted considerably. She thought that the first thing they should do was find a place to stay; this broken tree hollow wasn't going to cut it. The hollow could only fit Adele inside—what, was she supposed to stand outside and talk to her? And when daylight came, staying in this broken tree hollow would be very dangerous for Adele.
The hollow clearly wasn't sealed. Even though the forest was dark, sunlight would definitely seep in. If the sunlight slipped through the cracks and hit Adele's skin, it would burn her, leaving scorched marks. And getting sunburned was never a pleasant experience for a vampire.
When they sunbathed that Okhan guy, he screamed so horribly; it must have been unbearable. Molly certainly didn't want Adele to endure such torture, so she planned to take Adele somewhere safer to stay. After briefly explaining this to Adele, Molly, under Adele's incredulous gaze, reached out and scooped Adele up in her arms.
Holding Adele felt as light as holding a feather, even though Molly also had a suitcase in her other hand.
Suddenly being picked up, Adele was clearly flustered, but the fact that she was being "princess carried" by Molly washed away her questions, leaving her cheeks flushed. Adele whispered, "This is Molly's first time carrying me like a princess…"
"It's not the first time."
"!" Adele froze, unable to resist looking up at Molly, only to hear Molly say, "After you passed out during the first semester, I carried you like this too."
—That doesn't count, since I have no memory of it.
After lifting Adele, Molly didn't waste any more time. She gently leaped onto the branches, moving swiftly through the treetops, which was much faster than walking on the ground. This was a skill Molly had perfected over thirteen years of sneaking out. To keep her balance, Adele had to wrap her arms around Molly's neck.
At this moment, Adele's mind was filled with questions, and she felt completely dazed. She never imagined that Molly could be Lady Dawn. But now wasn't the time to ask, so she swallowed her questions. Instead of questioning Molly, she focused more on the feeling of being held in Molly's arms.
In her heart, Molly had always been a frail human girl. Adele always thought Molly wouldn't be able to carry her since she was on the plumper side, her weight perfectly balanced at 50 kilograms—definitely not a weight that Molly could hold.
Adele thought that even if Molly could lift her, it would be a shaky and precarious effort. However, Molly carried her as if she were holding a kitten, effortlessly. And Molly's embrace was so warm and soft. Humans were naturally warmer than vampires, and in this cold winter, with the wind rushing against Adele's face as Molly moved quickly, Adele couldn't help but want to snuggle into Molly's arms.
Molly's warmth made Adele want to stay there forever.
Molly's speed was astonishing. In just half an hour, she had reached the floating port and quickly passed through it. Within an hour, Molly had left the Blake family's territory.
This was Molly controlling her speed; if she had been alone, she could have left the Blake family's territory in fifteen minutes. She was just that fast. Worried about Adele being cold, Molly even wove a blanket from threads to cover Adele.
Her destination was clear: to find a hotel in a lawless area for Adele to stay. Of course, a lawless area also meant chaos, and there might be some non-humans who would try to rob a wealthy-looking vampire noble during the day.
But with Molly there, any non-human trying to cause trouble for Adele would only bring trouble upon themselves. Molly arrived at her destination before dawn, and before entering the area, she carefully wrapped Adele in a black cloak, making sure not to let anyone see her face.
And right in front of Adele, Molly transformed back into the famous Lady Dawn. Adele gave Molly a strange look, as if to say: "Oh, so you're not hiding it from me anymore, huh? You're just doing it in front of me now?"
Molly pretended not to notice Adele's look. After all, Adele had already come with her, so it was no time to be shy. After finishing her transformation, Molly took Adele's hand and led her into the lawless area.
This area had a name that clashed with Molly's identity: "After Dusk," implying that night was coming and everyone could start to get lively. It clashed directly with Molly's name as "Lady Dawn" among the human forces. However, Molly wasn't tyrannical enough to destroy a place just because its name clashed with hers.
Adele followed Molly, her gaze falling on the hand holding hers. Molly's body temperature was higher than Adele's, given that Adele was a vampire, naturally colder than humans. Even though spring was near, the weather was still filled with the chill of winter.
Adele didn't like winter, but if she could hold Molly's warm hand, she didn't mind it so much.
When Molly first revealed to her that she was actually the human powerhouse Lady Dawn, Adele was completely stunned, too shocked to react normally. For a moment, she even thought Molly might be playing a joke on her.
But when Molly held her in her arms, Adele felt Molly's strength and speed. In that moment, Adele understood that even if Molly wasn't Lady Dawn, she was certainly not weak. Molly was strong, much faster than Adele, and even after carrying her for so long, her breathing was steady—no sign of strain. This proved that Molly was truly powerful.
Adele couldn't quite process how she felt about Molly being a strong fighter, but she wasn't worried that Molly would harm her.
Because Molly had told her long ago not to bully the weak. Now, Adele was weaker than Molly, so by Molly's standards, she would never hurt her. Molly was a good girl, and she had always upheld the values she had shared with Adele.
Of course, there were conditions to that, and bad guys didn't count. But Adele was a good kid, not a bad one. So Adele was certain that Molly wouldn't hurt her. For a moment, she wondered, If Molly is so strong, why did she stay by my side?
Many normal thoughts crossed Adele's mind, like: Because she was in Blake Castle, the Blake family of the Thirteen Clans. As a human resistance leader, hiding in the castle must mean she had some ulterior motive. Maybe she was gathering intelligence, or maybe she was planning to take down the whole family one day.
But then she thought, If that were the case, why stay with the Blake family? Even Adele, with her pride, had to admit that the Blake family was the weakest of the Thirteen Clans. Why stay with them? Even if she couldn't join the White family, going to the Golden, Green, or Yale families would be better than staying with the Blakes.
And if it was really for gathering intelligence, why stay with her, accompanying her to school, to the distant Spark Farm? Even though Adele wanted to bring Molly along, if Molly had shown any signs of illness before or after departure, Adele couldn't have forced her to go so far.
In other words, Molly chose to stay by her side voluntarily.
In Molly's arms, Adele sorted everything out, and after eliminating all other possibilities, only one answer shone brightly in her mind: Molly truly likes me. Yes, what other reason could there be?
Adele's face flushed. She had always known that Molly liked her.
With this realization, Adele felt a bit proud. Look, Molly had hidden in the Blake family for so long, and no one had noticed anything unusual. But the moment she heard Adele had run away, she immediately rushed to find her, even revealing her power and identity.
Wasn't this the best proof that Molly liked her?
With this thought, Adele let go of the burden in her heart. She never had any negative opinions about the human resistance; she even saw them as a group of brave warriors. Adele could step outside her own perspective to consider the situation. She knew that one day, humans would inevitably rebel.
This was a historical inevitability. As long as the oppression exceeded what people could bear, the oppressed would eventually rise and wield their swords against their oppressors. As the ones doing the oppressing, there were only two possible outcomes—maintaining their rule or being overthrown.