After the opportunistic vampire men left, some of the vampires who were on good terms with Adele gathered around her. Adele was quickly becoming a rising star in the social scene, stirring up intrigue and discussions. The dresses and cosmetics produced in her territory were highly sought after by both major and minor nobles.
At the White family's banquet, it was inevitable that the conversation would turn to the latest stories published in the White family's newspaper. Someone asked Adele, "Miss Black, what do you think about this situation?"
Adele was clever; no matter what she truly thought, she never let it show. She merely sighed with feigned regret and said, "Sudden wealth blinded that vampire's judgment. It would have been better if he had found a more prudent way to purchase blood."
Her words left many of the gossiping vampires unsure how to respond. Then Adele shifted the topic, "But is blood really that expensive now? I've always used blood produced on my own farms, so I'm not very familiar with the prices outside."
Since Adele had asked, a helpful young lady was quick to offer an explanation. "Miss Black, your farm's blood is of excellent quality, so you don't need to buy from outside, but blood prices have indeed been rising steadily over the years. A few months ago, the bank further categorized the quality of blood, making the top-tier blood even more expensive."
"Is that so?" Adele feigned surprise. "I noticed that the purchase prices have been decreasing. I thought the selling prices would be lower too."
"That's not the case at all. It's because the selling prices have dropped while the purchase prices have increased that many nobles are finding it difficult to meet their tribute payments…"
Sensing the conversation was drifting into sensitive territory, Adele subtly redirected it. "Perhaps it's a matter of rarity; top-quality blood should indeed be matched with a high price."
Her comment about "rarity" did nothing to quell the murmurs. Instead, it sparked even more discussion. The conversation soon evolved into questioning whether the top-tier blood supply was dwindling, leading to its increased cost.
"But we haven't reduced the amount of top-quality blood we're supplying."
"So where is all that blood going?"
No one answered that final question because everyone knew the truth: the blood was going to the Elder Council, offered up to the Elders they revered. Additionally, another pressing issue loomed—did the bank even have enough blood? Blood was vital for the nobles. With so much being offered to the Elder Council, there was naturally less left for everyone else.
The nobles sold their blood to the bank, thinking they could exchange it for money and buy it back whenever needed. But now, it seemed the bank's blood supply might be running dangerously low. This realization made the nobles determined to rush to the bank and buy blood before it was all gone.
Adele played a significant role in steering the conversation in this direction, but she didn't do anything too overt. She merely nudged the conversation in a certain way. Her tone and words made it seem like she was on the side of the Elder Council. She even interrupted anyone who spoke too harshly about the Council.
When people thought of Miss Black of the Black family, they would consider her a model noble.
After the ball, Adele returned to Spark Farm, still buzzing with excitement. "So, how did I do?" she asked, seeking praise.
Molly was quick to respond, "Adele, you did wonderfully."
Adele expected a reward for her efforts, and Molly, though usually generous, held back on giving blood, which made Adele think she was being stingy. But for everything else, Molly didn't hold back. When Adele asked for kisses, Molly would oblige until Adele was dizzy with affection. When Adele wanted pleasure, Molly kept her in bed for two or three days.
But Adele still wanted blood. She pouted, "Molly, I only drink your blood. If you don't let me have any, I'll starve. Synthetic blood doesn't really work for me. You're the only one whose blood I can drink."
Adele wasn't lying, but Molly, ever the mischievous one, replied, "Not quite."
"I remember when I was eating that hot pot dish, you ate a piece of blood pudding. Even though it was so spicy it numbed your mouth afterward, you still ate it." Molly's memory was impeccable; she hadn't forgotten a single detail.
Hearing this, Adele froze. Indeed, she had eaten blood pudding that one time. But! But that shouldn't count! And it was just that one time!
Molly gave her a look that seemed to say, Adele, you're not pure anymore. This made Adele furious. She threw herself onto Molly, pummeling her chest with her fists. Although Adele's punches were harmless to Molly, Molly still shielded her chest.
"Molly, what are you doing?"
Molly mumbled, "Nothing."
After being lovers for so long, Adele had developed a knack for reading Molly's usually expressionless face. Adele's gaze fell on Molly's chest, and Molly subconsciously puffed it out.
Adele couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, Molly. My punches won't flatten your chest!"
The two of them bantered and played around for a while. They weren't in a hurry. After all, these things needed time to brew. Taking down the Elder Council was going to be a long campaign. But they didn't have to wait too long because vampires, despite their long lives, were impatient creatures.
Though they lived for centuries, vampires were not good at waiting. Their behavior reflected this—like rushing to secure marriage contracts as soon as their daughters turned eighteen. It was as if they needed to complete everything quickly so they could finally relax, like hamsters stocking up on food for the winter, content to hide in their burrows.
Perhaps it was a genetic memory from ancient times when they feared starvation, so they still had the instinct to hoard.
In any case, it was no surprise that the headquarters of the vampire bank received a surge of blood purchase orders. Many of these vampires were affluent nobles who walked into the bank with cash in hand, demanding to exchange it for blood. The bank employees, in rural areas, were mostly humans, while in more critical locations like headquarters, they were low-ranking vampires.
These employees had no power to refuse the nobles, so they could only accept the money and hand over the blood. But the problem quickly became apparent. The smaller branches ran out of blood almost immediately, forcing the nobles to travel to the headquarters. However, even the headquarters had a limited blood supply. To make matters worse, the amount of money in circulation now far exceeded the bank's blood reserves.
Adele and Molly had significantly contributed to this situation. The nobles weren't just holding real currency; they also had vast amounts of counterfeit money. The bank's top researchers had planned the annual issuance of currency to match the blood supply, but with the influx of counterfeit bills, it was no longer enough.
When the nobles couldn't exchange their money for blood, they were so outraged that they began to act out of character, abandoning their noble etiquette and crowding the bank's entrance, refusing to leave without their blood. According to Adele's informants, some of these nobles were from the Black family's territory.
Adele knew that without her father's tacit approval, they wouldn't have dared to do this.
Naturally, the bank's security force tried to disperse the crowd, but these nobles were used to flaunting their power. Since most of the security force consisted of low-ranking vampires, with only the leaders being nobles, any confrontation would inevitably end poorly for the security team.
The nobles shed their dignified façades, rolled up their sleeves, and started brawling with the security force. They reverted to a primitive society where power ruled, which was fitting since vampire society had always revered strength. After all, vampires were just beasts dressed as gentlemen and ladies.
With so many nobles causing trouble, the Elder Council couldn't punish them all at once. Instead, they chose to placate the nobles by exchanging blood for those who came to claim it. This reassured the nobles, who had begun to worry that the bank's blood supply was dwindling. But the news published in the following month's newspaper left them anxious once again.
The newspaper announced that due to a system upgrade, the bank would temporarily suspend the exchange of top-quality blood at the end of the month. This confirmed the nobles' fears—the bank was running out of blood, which is why it couldn't fulfill the exchanges. As for where the blood went? Naturally, it had gone into the mouths of the Elder Council.
To be fair, the Elder Council did consume a portion of the top-quality blood. However, the real reason the bank couldn't fulfill the exchanges was that there was too much counterfeit money in circulation, and they hadn't yet realized that a significant portion of the money they received was fake.
In addition to the official newspaper, there was also the White family's newspaper, which covered the situation in much more detail. The White family's newspaper was known for its sharp, biting commentary, and this time, it was especially scathing. The writer, clearly furious about the bank's failure to exchange blood, even went so far as to directly criticize the bank: If the bank couldn't provide the blood, where did all the previously sold blood go? Had he known this would happen, he wouldn't have sold his farm's blood to them.
This sentiment struck a chord with everyone. Initially, many were reluctant to sell their blood. Vampires were greedy and selfish by nature. How could they easily part with the blood they needed to survive? But the barter system was too outdated, and it kept vampire society stagnant for millennia, with little progress from ancient times.
It wasn't until the introduction of the banking system that vampire society made a great leap forward. But all of this relied on the trust they had in the Elder Council, believing that the seemingly worthless paper money could be exchanged for blood when needed.
Now, that trust was crumbling, and the hard-won relationship of mutual trust was unraveling.
Adele and Molly didn't need to do much now; they just had to sit back and watch as events unfolded.