Chapter 15: Quite Good
After being invited into the living room and seated on the sofa, the doctor’s human maid brewed black tea, adding several sugar cubes to the cup. When the maid presented the tea to Adele, Adele thanked her but had no intention of drinking it.
The doctor probably thought Adele was too arrogant and picky, refusing to even touch tea that didn’t meet her standards. However, in reality, Adele wasn’t that particular about the quality of the tea. She simply didn’t want to drink tea with sugar cubes. The doctor’s sugar cubes were infused with human blood, perhaps even the blood of the maid standing before her. Adele couldn’t bring herself to consume it.
Adele was extremely selective about blood. She wouldn’t drink anyone’s blood except Jasmine’s and had been surviving on artificial blood until now.
“Miss, is there something I can help you with?”
“Hmm…” Adele nodded. “Yesterday, my maid was injured. She told me that it was thanks to you that her wound was treated. I came here specifically to thank you.” Adele was usually polite, maintaining her arrogance even as she expressed her gratitude. Her words were humble and courteous, but she sat on the sofa with her back straight and her head slightly raised, a very haughty posture.
Even though the Blake family was at the bottom of the Thirteen Clans, their status was equal. Adele didn’t need to bow down to anyone except the Council of Elders, which gave her the capital to be arrogant. Just from Adele’s demeanor, the doctor knew that this young lady was no ordinary declining noble, yet she had brought a human maid with her.
There could only be one reason for this: she was very fond of that human maid’s blood. It wasn’t surprising. The doctor had smelled that sweet blood yesterday. Even though it had dried and coagulated on her arm, he could still detect its fragrance. If he could get his hands on it, he would definitely keep her by his side at all times, so he could savor her alluring blood whenever he pleased.
The doctor also realized something else: this noble young lady wasn’t just here to express her gratitude. He saw her impassive face and her brilliant scarlet eyes. All vampires had red pupils, but this young lady’s eyes were exceptionally bright. In the dark room without any lights on, her eyes seemed to glow faintly.
—She was here to warn him…
“I heard that you will also be changing her dressings. Thank you for the trouble.”
The doctor forced a smile. “You’re welcome.”
This vampire was of high status and bloodline, far above him. But she was just a newly matured young girl. If it were a hundred years later, the doctor probably wouldn’t even have the courage to meet her gaze. Adele stood up and looked at the tea on the table, expressing her gratitude once again. “Thank you for the tea as well.” With that, she turned to leave.
The doctor’s human maid instinctively followed behind to see her off, preparing to close the door after Adele left the house. However, as she reached the doorway, Adele turned back, her scarlet eyes fixed on the maid. The maid froze, trembling under that gaze, which reminded her of the times when the doctor had drained her blood.
Adele raised her hand slightly, covering her nose. “Perhaps you’re facing some difficulties? If someone is forcing you to give them your blood against your will, you can report it to the school administration. I believe the school rules prohibit non-consensual blood-drinking.”
The maid trembled and lowered her head. “Please, go slowly.”
Adele left the house. She disliked the maid’s scent, the heavy stench of blood that also carried a strong sense of despair. It made Adele feel as if her blood was a coagulated black liquid, viscous and filthy. But even so, Adele had still spoken those words.
Undoubtedly, Adele was too young and therefore somewhat naive. The school rules prohibiting non-consensual blood-drinking were aimed at students and were meant to protect the relatively weaker ones. Vampires not only fed on the blood of other races but also engaged in cannibalism.
At school, the teachers would prohibit such behavior and stand up for the weaker students. But if the victim was a human… what did it matter to them? They wouldn’t shed a tear even if a human died. However, if a human’s master complained, the teachers would mediate and demand compensation from the offender.
Adele didn’t know that after she left, the doctor, feeling threatened, took out his anger on the maid. He beat her, whipped her, and drained her blood mercilessly. He bit his nails, filled with resentment. “A newly matured vampire dares to speak to me like that! It’s just a human maid, yet she dotes on her so much and even came to me to complain?! What does it matter even if I play with that maid to death? I’ll just pay some compensation!”
He seemed to think of something and muttered to himself, “No… no… I can’t kill her. Her blood is too sweet. It would be a waste not to use such a human for blood-drinking… She’s still a freshman. I have six years to savor this delicacy…”
The doctor thought about Jasmine’s blood again, the sweet taste lingering in his mind. He composed himself and looked at the maid lying on the floor with lifeless eyes, disgust filling his gaze. “Go get Anna! Lowly human, you can’t even do anything right. You didn’t even bother to investigate who her master is!”
When Jasmine saw Anna again, she noticed the swelling on her face. Anna smiled and explained that she had accidentally bumped into something, an excuse as flimsy as the ones Jasmine used to fob off Adele. Jasmine knew it couldn’t have been an accident and guessed that it was most likely the doctor’s doing.
It was also possible that it was her own master’s doing, but based on her observations over the past month, her master seemed to value Anna and usually assigned her simple tasks. Therefore, the only one capable of such violence was the doctor.
Some time passed, and the wound on Jasmine’s arm had almost completely healed. She decided to go to the doctor for a dressing change. The doctor still had a gentle expression, but the greed hidden in the depths of his pupils disgusted her. As she was leaving, she couldn’t help but ask the maid who had come to see her off, “Do you need help?”
The doctor’s maid was in a terrible state, with even more injuries than the last time Jasmine had seen her. Her eyes were even more lifeless. She was like a broken doll, waiting for the day she would be discarded. Jasmine couldn’t bear to see her fellow human being treated like this, so she couldn’t help but ask the question.
The maid trembled. She pulled at the corners of her lips, forcing a stiff smile. She looked at Jasmine, wanting to say something but hesitating. Her dull eyes held a different kind of emotion, a struggle. She wanted to tell Jasmine that the doctor wasn’t someone to be trusted. But then she thought of Anna’s plan. In the end, she just opened her mouth and told Jasmine, “No, I’m fine.”
But her eyes seemed to plead: Please, help me.
The maid rejected Jasmine’s outstretched hand. Perhaps she thought Jasmine couldn’t do anything. Jasmine looked at her for a moment, then turned and left. If the maid had spoken her true feelings at that moment, Jasmine would have gone to the doctor’s place when daylight came and personally turned him into ashes.
But the maid refused, and Jasmine wouldn’t press the matter. Jasmine would deal with the doctor eventually. After all, he had shown an intention to harm her and was indeed harming humans, using deception to lure naive young girls and inflict even greater harm on them. Jasmine wouldn’t interfere in consensual blood-drinking, but this was clearly not something the maid wanted.
However, Jasmine was waiting for an opportunity. She wanted to see if Anna would awaken on her own. Anna already had a different awareness compared to most humans who served vampires. She wanted to protect humans, and that alone made Jasmine believe she was worth saving. However, Jasmine disliked her methods. She wanted to see if Anna would realize the truth before the doctor made a move on Jasmine and prevent this lost lamb from falling into his trap.
Before Anna, the girl with freckles, appeared, Jasmine encountered Adele first. Adele’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen, and she quickly noticed that Jasmine had changed her bandage. Adele tilted her head. “Is your wound healing?”
She sat on the sofa, her posture somewhat relaxed. The usually upright Adele would unconsciously relax in front of Jasmine. Although she still retained some of her noble demeanor, comfort took precedence in her overall posture.
Jasmine nodded in response to Adele’s question. “I went for a dressing change today. It’s already starting to scab.”
Adele’s mood brightened. “Hmm, is that so?” She changed the subject and asked, “So you don’t need to see the doctor anymore?”
“Not quite. I still need to go for another dressing change later.”
Hearing this, the smile on Adele’s face faltered. She twirled a strand of her silver-white hair around her finger, the smooth strands forming circles around her fingertip. She asked casually, “What do you think of the doctor?”
—Despicable, shameless, vile. A man of his age, deceiving young girls just for a bit of blood, truly heartless and deserving of everyone’s condemnation.
If she were to be honest, Jasmine would have passionately launched into a tirade, verbally eviscerating the doctor. But in front of Adele, Jasmine had to maintain her persona. So she simply said calmly, “The doctor? He’s quite good. He’s very gentle with me and treated my wound carefully.”
Jasmine’s back was to Adele, so she didn’t see the sudden change in Adele’s expression. Although Jasmine’s physical abilities far surpassed those of humans, she was still essentially human, so her eyes weren’t on the back of her head. She didn’t see Adele’s reaction.
However, she sensed a flash of murderous intent from Adele. When she turned around, she saw Adele drinking tea, her expression neutral. Adele put down her teacup and went into the bedroom, preparing to bathe.
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