In the following years, Adele steadily advanced her plans, only returning home during the Blessing Festival, while spending the rest of her time on the farm, even during the coldest winters.
Molly noticed Adele's hard work, and it wasn't without reward. The number of Daili Farms had reached sixty-eight, and the human resistance had quietly integrated into various farms, becoming part of the system. Their attacks on vampires had lessened, and Adele noticed that her parents complained much less during her occasional visits home.
Adele still remembered when she returned home in her third year and overheard her mother complaining: "Ah! Those damn human resistance fighters! They've taken down our third and fourth strongholds, as well as the Gordon family's second and sixth strongholds!"
The lower the number, the more important the stronghold was to the family, as it provided significant resources and wealth. Losing such strongholds was something Lady Black found intolerable. She would even complain to Adele: "What's wrong with those human resistance fighters? Why are they always targeting the Black family? Even the Gordon family is suffering, but other families aren't hit as hard!"
It wasn't entirely true; for instance, White's Nocturnal City, a highly valued stronghold, had also been taken down. Adele suspected that Molly's connection might be the reason the resistance focused on the Black family. With her skills, Molly could have easily accessed her father's office to gather intel.
Adele felt a bit guilty, but her enraged mother didn't notice. Over the past few years, however, the resistance had mostly ceased such attacks, allowing the Black family to catch their breath.
In contrast to the stalled resistance attacks, humans' living conditions had improved. With Adele earning more each year, to the point of making many members of the Thirteen Clans envious, they began to emulate her methods, changing policies to allow humans to work during the day, with a schedule closer to 9-to-5 and five-day workweeks.
Initially, they didn't want to let humans have so much rest, thinking, "Why should they sleep while we're awake?" So they introduced the 996 schedule, making humans work overtime. But this didn't work out; overworking didn't produce better results than Adele's schedule.
They also noticed that well-rested humans produced blood with a better taste than those who weren't. Of course, if vampires were smarter, they might have devised a system even more advanced than Adele's.
But unfortunately, vampires were a race skilled at destruction but not invention, so they eventually caved in and adopted Adele's work schedule. This also allowed the concept of private ownership for humans, previously unsuccessful in the House of Elders, to gain traction.
Although humans were still exploited, the efficiency of Adele's system led to faster improvements in human living conditions than the resistance's slow liberation efforts. The vast majority of humans experienced better lives because of Adele's policies.
Even the Commander had to admit that top-down reform was faster than bottom-up change. But this was only superficial; only bottom-up reform could shake the foundation. So the human resistance didn't stop building its strength, training children with magical talents, planting sunflowers on a large scale, and stockpiling weapons.
Everything was progressing smoothly, and it was now time for Adele to graduate. Over the past six years, Adele had been the undisputed top student every semester, with Miss Gordon always trailing behind as the perpetual runner-up.
Notably, Miss Gordon did indeed get engaged to Master Green. At the graduation ceremony, Master Green attended as "Miss Gordon's fiancé." Faced with a much younger peer, the ladies were very curious, and some of Miss Gordon's friends teased the young master.
The young master was still the same proud type as before, and seeing Adele reminded him of the time she had dismissed him at a banquet. Though it had been years, the memory was still fresh, so he snubbed Adele with a cold snort and turned his head away.
The other ladies, who admired Adele for being the top student, were unimpressed by his attitude, leading more of them to join in the teasing. Before long, the young master was reduced to tears and ran off crying to find his fiancée, Miss Gordon.
Miss Gordon, feeling helpless, hugged the young master. To her, he was more like a younger brother than a fiancé. Moments earlier, Miss Gordon had been boasting to Adele, but now Adele mocked her for looking like a nanny, leaving Gordon at a loss for words.
When it came time for the student representative speech, Adele once again took the stage. She spoke, as she often did, about how the system she had implemented could benefit the vampires. Her classmates, who had already started applying the system on their farms, had reaped the benefits and fully trusted what Adele was saying.
It wasn't just students in the audience; their parents were there too. Many had implemented similar systems in their territories, but some still found Adele's ideas far-fetched, believing there was no need to give humans such benefits. They continued using the old methods, making humans work and rest on the same schedule as themselves. Even though they realized their family's development had stalled due to their stubbornness, they refused to change.
Adele couldn't care less. She concluded her speech with: "I hope that in the days to come, we can build an even brighter future." Molly, who was secretly hiding in the rafters, applauded along with everyone else, but only she knew that Adele's final words weren't meant for the vampires in the audience but for her.
She also hoped that one day she could stand before everyone and openly applaud Adele.
The graduation season was often bittersweet, but it meant little to vampires. Their lives were so long that these six years were just a brief interlude, easily forgotten. Adele returned to her territory to continue her work.
Yes, after all this time, Adele had connected the nearby farms into one large area. After reporting to the House of Elders, it officially became her territory.
Many vampires couldn't understand Adele's actions, as she had chosen a remote northern region. The winters there were particularly harsh, a place vampires disliked. So even though it was a large area, no one was envious. The only thing that caught their attention was the immense wealth Adele had extracted from this barren land.
The human resistance had sown the seeds of hope in this land, and they had reaped the rewards. Here, they were treated equally, with many finding love and starting families. Newborns were even being born on this land.
For vampires, this was an act of rebellion. All human infants were supposed to be taken away at birth, raised in care facilities, and brainwashed from a young age to become vampire servants. But Adele hadn't informed any care facilities, allowing the children to stay with their parents and enjoy family life.
Adele's territory wasn't without its challenges. She knew her father had spies, and the House of Elders would have planted some as well. She didn't bother rooting them out because, when the time came, they would reveal themselves.
Like now.
Adele received a letter from the House of Elders. They requested her presence to report on her territory, curious about why she hadn't supplied any human blood over the past six years. Of course, the livestock blood from her territory was of excellent quality, and the humans there were healthy and lively. It was common knowledge that the blood of such humans would be delicious, so they wondered why Adele hadn't provided any.
Adele had no interest in exploiting the weak, so she never offered human blood. She knew the House of Elders had other reasons for summoning her, possibly aware of the newborns in her territory.
Faced with the letter from the House of Elders, Adele had no choice but to go to the vampire capital to report. Molly, however, tried to stop her. She didn't want Adele to go. The House of Elders was composed of the oldest, purest-blooded members of the Thirteen Clans, each with unparalleled power and the greatest authority in vampire society.
One misstep could lead to Adele's execution.
But Adele said, "Molly, you'll protect me, won't you?"
Molly was momentarily stunned, then nodded, "Yes, I will protect you."
Adele was such a pure-hearted girl—when Molly was weak, Adele would protect her, even at the cost of her own life. When Molly was strong, Adele would trust her, even if it meant risking her life.
How could Molly not be moved by someone like Adele? Her eyes were filled with love for Adele, and she was determined to protect her, even at the cost of her own life.
Molly didn't know how strong the elders in the House of Elders were, but she knew how strong she was.
As a transmigrator with such an overpowered advantage, there was no reason she couldn't handle a bunch of old vampires.
With this in mind, Molly packed Adele's luggage. In the blossoming springtime, she and Adele set out for the House of Elders. Of course, Molly's trip wasn't just to protect Adele; she also wanted to gauge the strength of the House of Elders, preparing to take them down if necessary.