Chapter 56: The Secret Stash
Adele was already prepared to open her private coffers and reward the servants, but Jasmine, in order to prevent the young miss from failing her internship and ending up in tears at the end of the semester, reminded her, “But Miss, school regulations prohibit using personal funds to subsidize the farm. It’s considered cheating.”
Reminded by Jasmine, Adele’s expression turned serious. “How could I forget such a thing? The rewards I mentioned definitely won’t be from my own money!”
Then what money would she use…
Jasmine wanted to laugh, seeing Adele’s confused expression after her indignant denial. But she couldn’t. It wasn’t because she was afraid of angering Adele, but purely to maintain her ice queen persona. Jasmine always believed that one could lose their head or their blood, but never their character.
Being a chuunibyou required faith. Without faith, one would be out of character.
She coughed lightly and reminded Adele, “Although you can’t use your own money, you can use the farm’s, Oakham’s…”
Jasmine merely mentioned Oakham’s name, and Adele immediately understood. Since Oakham was dead, all his money would be confiscated and become the property of the farm… Adele could even be unscrupulous and claim the secret stash for herself. But to reward the servants, she probably wouldn’t do that. She would most likely invest it all in the farm’s development.
Because Adele was a good girl.
Adele was excited and wanted to rush to Oakham’s secret stash and take all his money. But since she had promised Jasmine a tour of the manor, she could only be patient and explore the manor with her first. As they walked, she couldn’t help but fidget, clearly wanting to run off to the stash.
Jasmine, however, was mischievous. She deliberately walked slowly, occasionally stopping to comment on Oakham’s tacky collection of artifacts, as if they were culturally significant treasures. When they reached the main building of the manor, Adele’s desire to rush to Oakham’s room intensified. But Jasmine held her back.
Along the way, they encountered servants working the night shift. Each servant would stop and greet Adele, but their expressions were vastly different. Some were fearful, trembling as if afraid of being swallowed whole by the vampire before them. Others were grateful, their voices filled with joy. Still, others were overly obsequious, trying to catch the vampire’s attention and become her favorite.
Upon encountering other servants, Adele immediately straightened up, her desire to rush to the secret stash forgotten. She looked dignified and noble, her head held high. When greeted, she simply nodded slightly and continued walking with a confident stride.
In front of others, Adele was truly a reliable young lady.
Jasmine sensed that Adele’s patience was wearing thin and that she was about to explode, so she said, “Since we’ve seen most of the manor, let’s ask Bella and go to Mr. Oakham’s room.” Jasmine said this deliberately. They didn’t actually need Bella to go to Oakham’s room. As expected, Adele shook her head, “No need. I know roughly where Oakham’s room is. And Jasmine, don’t call him ‘Mister.’ He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Not only did Adele know roughly where Oakham’s room was, but Jasmine did too. The place with the strongest smell of blood in the entire manor had to be Oakham’s room. Although the servants had cleaned diligently, a lingering stench of blood remained. It wasn’t a smell that could be easily eradicated. It would probably take a long time to fade away.
And even though Oakham was dead, his terrifying image still lingered in the servants’ minds. Subconsciously, they hadn’t cleaned his room thoroughly, just going through the motions before quickly leaving. So, the smell in Oakham’s room was particularly strong, making Adele and Jasmine’s noses and heads ache.
Adele led the way, Jasmine following closely behind. Soon, they reached Oakham’s room. Adele’s brow furrowed deeply, and she instinctively covered her nose. At the door, she hesitated. The smell of blood emanating from inside was too strong and overwhelming. She didn’t know that Jasmine could block her sense of smell and assumed that the stench was just as unbearable for ordinary humans.
Adele didn’t want to frighten Jasmine. She paused, “Jasmine, you stay here at the door.”
Of course, Jasmine wanted to go in. She wanted to know how much money was in Oakham’s secret stash. But since Adele had said so, and she would surely show it to her later, Jasmine obediently agreed, “Yes, Miss.” Adele opened the door alone. Without the barrier of the door, the stench of blood rushed out, assaulting Adele’s senses.
At that moment, Adele’s face turned green.
Jasmine, standing beside her, saw Adele’s expression and felt a pang of sympathy. Although she had a keen sense of smell, she could choose whether to smell or not. Vampires, however, couldn’t. They could only smell, or smell even more intensely.
Adele almost fainted from the stench, but the thought of the seed money for the newly named Spark Farm, her “Jasmine Farm No. 1,” kept her going. She gritted her teeth, wrinkled her nose, and walked in. She scanned the room and found a large wooden chest locked with a padlock. Adele used her fire magic to melt the lock and opened the chest. Inside, it was filled with jewels, antiques, and an iron box. The iron box contained a bankbook from the vampire bank. Adele opened it and gasped at the number she saw.
Spark Farm was just a small, remote farm, but Oakham had saved up a lot of money, equivalent to three years’ worth of Adele’s allowance.
Adele took the chest and quickly left the room, dragging Jasmine back to their suite. Only after taking several deep breaths by the window did she finally relax. That room was truly unbearable for a vampire.
After calming down, Adele showed Jasmine what she had found, emphasizing the amount in the bankbook.
She had intended to show Jasmine how corrupt Oakham was, but she didn’t know that Jasmine was heartbroken.
Jasmine had actually considered stealing Oakham’s secret stash while Adele was asleep. After all, she was poor, and countless members of the Human Resistance Army needed food and resources. It was impossible for her not to be tempted by money. But then she thought, if Oakham didn’t have a secret stash, it wouldn’t make sense. And she knew that even if Adele took Oakham’s money, she wouldn’t keep it for herself. Instead, she would use it for the farm’s development, improving the lives of the humans on the farm and at the manor.
Taking from the people and using it for the people was a good outcome.
At that time, Jasmine had felt noble, thinking that there weren’t many people with such high ideals. But she hadn’t expected Oakham’s secret stash to be so much money! So much! She had imagined that Oakham would have a lot of money, but she hadn’t expected this much. Now, it was hard to say if Jasmine could maintain her noble ideals.
But no matter how much she regretted it, the money was already in Adele’s hands. She could only comfort herself: It’s fine.
Adele was the Blake family’s eldest daughter, after all. She wouldn’t be easily swayed by money. This was Oakham’s life savings, but to Adele, it was just three years’ worth of allowance. She put the bankbook aside, planning to have the liaison officer withdraw some of the money in a few days. Instead, she took out the jewels and cash from the chest and started organizing them.
Oakham must have treasured these items, as they were very clean. Although they inevitably carried a faint scent of Oakham’s blood, it was still tolerable to Adele.
After organizing everything, Adele began implementing her plans. First, she would reward the manor servants. Then, she would hire a professional construction team to improve the living conditions of the farm workers. The current few houses were definitely not enough.
While Adele was busy, Jasmine prepared black tea for her, this time with sugar cubes. Adele, having overused her brain writing her plan, was feeling hungry. This time, she didn’t ignore the tea but sipped it slowly. After making some progress with her plan, she remembered, “Jasmine, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? You haven’t eaten anything since last night. Aren’t you hungry?”
Jasmine wasn’t hungry, of course. With her physical constitution, she could probably go a month without eating or drinking. But the allure of food was too strong for a foodie like her. She nodded readily, “I’m hungry.”
Hearing Jasmine’s “honest” answer, Adele felt a bit embarrassed, “There have been so many things happening these past two days that you haven’t even had a proper meal.” She even cursed Oakham, who was now nothing but ashes, “It’s all that damn Oakham’s fault.” But to be precise, Oakham wasn’t the main reason. It was Adele.
Last night was one thing, but the reason Jasmine hadn’t eaten during the day was that they were sharing a room. If she had moved around, Adele would have woken up, and it would have been awkward if another misunderstanding like the shower incident occurred. And tonight, Adele had been dragging her around everywhere, so Jasmine hadn’t had time to eat.
But judging from Adele’s tone, she was probably about to tell her to go eat, and then she would be able to enjoy a delicious meal.
The thought of finally getting to eat lifted Jasmine’s mood considerably. Her entire aura seemed brighter. However, to her surprise, Adele said, “Then go eat, Jasmine. I’ve finished writing for now. I’ll go with you.”
Wait… she was going to eat in the servants’ dining hall. Why did Adele want to go with her? If Adele went with her, the other humans in the dining hall would probably lose their appetites. It would be awkward for her to be the only one enjoying a hearty meal while everyone else stared at them.
But Adele’s mind was made up. In the end, Jasmine had no choice but to take Adele with her to the servants’ dining hall.
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