Molly hadn't expected to resolve everything in just a day or two, which was why she had informed Adele that she would be away for a while. If it were just a day trip, there wouldn't have been so much to worry about. She was prepared to spend several days at the research facility, but the only real concern was the maid she had knocked out.
No problem, Molly was confident that communication could solve most issues—it was all about using the right approach.
When she returned to the maid's room, the maid had already woken up, but Molly had tied her up before leaving, taping her mouth shut, so she couldn't make a sound. Molly had used her silk threads to suspend the maid in mid-air, making her look like a trapped butterfly, pitiful and frightened. When she saw Molly enter, she made a small noise to get her attention, still thinking Molly was just another maid.
Molly felt a little guilty as she explained, "I'm sorry, but I'm the one who tied you up."
The maid froze in shock, unable to believe that a fellow human had done this to her. Molly gently raised her hand, and the silk threads slowly lowered the maid to the ground. When the maid's feet touched the floor, she couldn't stand upright and collapsed onto the floor, trembling.
This reaction was understandable; anyone who had just gone through what she did would be terrified. Molly walked over and crouched down in front of the maid, awkwardly trying to help her up. The maid flinched at first but then, fearing to anger this powerful stranger, allowed herself to be supported by Molly and led to the bed.
Molly pulled up a chair and sat across from the maid, explaining the situation.
"Here's the thing—I'm Dawn, a member of the Human Resistance. I need to borrow your identity for a while, and I hope you'll cooperate…" She rambled on, giving vague explanations. The maid, already dizzy from fear, could only grasp that this person in front of her was the infamous Dawn, the bane of countless vampires who were eager to kill her.
To be honest, the vampires had initially tried to suppress news about the Human Resistance and Dawn. While communication in this world was fast through magic stones, the majority of ordinary humans, who had no access to such stones, were stuck in medieval times. Messages took months to reach their destinations, and with most people illiterate, it was easy to control what information spread.
But the Human Resistance had gradually established outposts in vampire strongholds, and with deliberate effort, they ensured that more and more humans learned about the resistance and Dawn. Although most humans outwardly scoffed at the resistance, calling them foolish, many secretly wondered when the resistance would come to save them.
The maid had similar thoughts. Even though she lived in one of the most human-friendly cities, she still couldn't escape the oppression of the vampires and lesser vampires, making her yearn for salvation.
But the way this salvation had arrived was nothing short of bizarre.
Molly didn't care; she used a combination of reason, emotion, and threats to successfully convince the maid to side with her. Once Molly was sure the maid wouldn't betray her and would help her, she said, "Now I'm going to remove the tape from your mouth. It might hurt a little."
Molly carefully peeled off the tape, which wasn't easy to remove. For Molly, it wasn't too difficult; she could use her silk threads to help lift the tape. Still, the maid's lips were left red and sore.
Rubbing her face, the maid softly asked, "Dawn, if I hadn't agreed, would you have killed me?"
Molly was busy retrieving her silk threads. She hadn't put them away earlier to make her threats more convincing. She turned around and replied, "Of course not. At most, I'd have knocked you out and sent you away."
The maid stared at Molly for a while, eventually realizing that she was telling the truth.
Molly didn't harm humans unless absolutely necessary. Even the annoying head maid back at the castle hadn't met her end at Molly's hands. So, why would she harm this maid who hadn't done anything to her?
For the next few days, Molly stayed on standby, waiting for word from Barbara. At night, she lay on a rooftop, staring at the stars and thinking about Adele.
By now, Adele should have just woken up. She could dress herself just fine, but what about her hair? In the farm, unlike in the castle, there weren't any lesser vampire maids to help her comb through her silky hair. The maids here had never attended to her before and wouldn't know how to manage her beautiful locks.
Once she was awake, she'd probably make herself some tea. Could Adele manage that on her own? Then again, Molly's tea-making skills weren't much better—there were at least ten farm maids who could brew better tea than she could. They'd even managed to make a tea-based drink that Molly had casually mentioned, and it tasted delicious.
It was better than the tea Molly had back in her previous life. After all, the tea leaves were top-quality, the kind that would fetch a fortune per gram in her past world. Using them to make tea would be considered a waste by any tea connoisseur.
The milk was also fresh, not some powdered substitute. The farm kept a good number of cows, both water buffalo and dairy cows, all of which were well cared for to ensure their blood quality remained high. Healthy cows produced better-tasting milk. The milk had a bit of a strong smell, but boiling it at high temperatures, as they did in this world, took care of that.
The maids had even asked Adele to help with this, knowing that Molly wanted to drink the tea. Adele became a living heating tool, using her magical flames to boil the milk and kill any bacteria.
Following Molly's instructions, the maids eventually brewed a rich, flavorful milk tea, sweetened to perfection. In short, it was delicious.
However, tea leaves were expensive, so the maids only made the tea on special occasions.
So, someone else would likely handle the tea-making; Molly didn't have to worry too much. After tea, Adele would probably dive into her work. Adele was a true workaholic, always busy with something. Even back when she was confined to her room in the castle, nearly on the brink of a breakdown, she distracted herself with work.
Without Molly dragging her outside to enjoy the flowers or take a walk, Adele might immerse herself so deeply in work that she wouldn't move at all.
Molly couldn't help but feel concerned for Adele as she thought about this. She also wondered if Adele was taking care of her hair properly after her morning bath. Without Molly there, would she dry her hair thoroughly? If she went to bed with damp hair, would she suffer headaches later in life?
Her thoughts wandered as she stared at the moon, and she couldn't help but miss Adele. Molly sighed, finally admitting to herself that she missed Adele. Perhaps they had been together for too long, and now, after being apart for just a short while, Molly's heart was already filled with longing.
She had guessed correctly, for the most part, though there were some differences. When Adele woke up that evening, she stretched lazily and looked at the space beside her. Adele hesitated for a moment, brushing her hair back behind her long, pointed ear, and couldn't resist reaching out to touch the empty spot beside her.
Before sharing a bed with Molly, Adele had been used to sleeping alone in the center of her soft, spacious bed. But since confirming her relationship with Molly and sharing a bed, Adele had gotten used to sleeping on one side, leaving space for Molly, even when she wasn't there. Now, with Molly absent, Adele couldn't shake the habit.
Once a habit forms, it's hard to break.
The empty space beside her on the bed mirrored the emptiness in Adele's heart. Sighing, she got up to wash and dress. These were things she was used to doing alone, even before she and Molly shared a room. Adele had always been one of the few vampires who preferred to handle things herself.
It was when it came time to make tea that Adele hesitated. She didn't want any of the maids to do it; in her heart, no one made tea better than Molly. Adele didn't realize that this was what people called seeing your lover as perfect.
But with Molly absent and tea still needing to be made, Adele tried her best to replicate Molly's method. It wasn't too difficult; this world didn't have electric kettles, so hot water was boiled in a central boiler and distributed to everyone.
Adele had no idea where the boiler room was or how to get hot water from there, so she simply used her magical flames to boil a kettle of water, which she then poured into the teapot. Mimicking Molly's past actions, she followed the process step by step.
Vampires had an incredible memory, and Adele remembered every detail of Molly's tea-making process. The red tea leaves steeped in the pot soon turned the water a beautiful amber color. Adele picked up the teapot and slowly poured the tea into a cup. After adding some artificial blood sugar, she took a seat and smoothed out her dress before taking a sip.
Then she realized it wasn't as good as Molly's tea.