Chapter 67: Warming Up by the Fire
Jasmine’s words opened the floodgates for Adele, who had been holding back her frustrations. “Unbelievable! How could someone like that exist? A little girl, a weakling, yet she tries to use such methods to become my maid, even my blood slave!”
Adele emphasized the word “even” because, in the eyes of vampires, blood slaves were more important than maids or servants. They represented their life source, their sustenance. Moreover, becoming a noble’s blood slave wasn’t easy.
First, becoming someone’s blood slave meant being bound to that noble. No one else could drink their blood, or it would be seen as a challenge to their master. Therefore, vampires were extremely selective when choosing blood slaves, placing great importance on their personal qualities.
Otherwise, if they had to intervene because their blood slave had provoked someone, it would be very inconvenient.
Secondly, blood slaves were treated much better. They were exempt from menial tasks, and some even had servants attending to them. Their only duty was to wait for their vampire master to drink their blood each day.
Finally, not everyone could become a blood slave. Vampires were picky about blood, and most had a strong aversion to contamination. Once a human was bitten by a vampire, their scent would inevitably carry traces of that vampire. Non-blood slaves might be bitten by multiple vampires, especially in less reputable places. And vampires lost their appetite when they smelled the scent of another vampire on their prey. Therefore, a dedicated blood slave had to be untouched by other vampires.
Most importantly, a blood slave’s blood had to be delicious, right? Otherwise, why would a vampire drink from them regularly?
Many humans considered it an honor to be a vampire’s blood slave. After all, they didn’t have to work and had servants attending to them. There were rumors in the Hunter’s Association that the White family head’s blood slave was even served by low-ranking vampire maids, a privilege that even some impoverished nobles didn’t enjoy.
However, most people still didn’t want to be blood slaves. After all, being a blood slave was synonymous with a shortened lifespan.
Constantly being drained of blood would naturally reduce one’s lifespan. Most blood slaves didn’t live past twenty-five. A few might make it to twenty-six or twenty-seven. Even in this world where the average lifespan was short, this was still considered tragically short.
The term “blood slave” held a certain weight among vampires. Yet, many vampires never had a blood slave in their entire lives. The reason was simple: they were too picky and had a strong aversion to contamination. Take the Blake family, for example. There were four vampires in the family, but none of them had a blood slave.
Therefore, Adele considered the little girl’s wish to be nothing but a delusion.
Jasmine wanted to defend the little girl, thinking that perhaps she didn’t fully understand what being a blood slave entailed, maybe she simply thought it meant living a comfortable life… But then she heard Adele say, “Jasmine, if it were you, I would let you be my blood slave!”
Adele had completely shifted from her previous anger, a smile now on her face, her head held high, her expression saying, “Just ask, and I’ll let you be my blood slave.”
But Jasmine refused, “I don’t want to.”
“Eh? Why not?!”
Jasmine answered honestly, “Because blood slaves have short lifespans. The shortest I’ve heard of lived for only a year after becoming a blood slave, dying at around nineteen. Even the longest-lived ones only make it to twenty-five or twenty-six. I’m already nineteen. If I become your blood slave, I might die before you even graduate. I don’t want that.”
Adele was excited by Jasmine’s words. She uncrossed her legs, patted her chest, and promised, “I wouldn’t do that! Those vampires are ignorant of scientific advancements, constantly overexploiting their resources. If it were me, I would definitely take good care of my blood slave, only drinking a little bit each day… or each week!”
Jasmine believed Adele. She was a woman of her word, and since she didn’t drink human blood, she must have strong self-control.
But Jasmine still said, “I still don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
Jasmine didn’t answer, simply turning to look out the window at the snowy landscape. Adele was angry again. She snorted and turned her head away. But after a while, she turned back and looked at the same snowy scenery as Jasmine.
The reason for Jasmine’s refusal was obvious, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t even let Adele have a single drop of her blood, so how could Adele even think about drinking from her once a week? Jasmine had lived for nineteen years, and in those thirteen years, she had only given Adele a tiny bit of blood once, in the previous semester. And even then, Adele had been unconscious.
The carriage arrived at the port, and Adele stormed out. Jasmine followed behind at a leisurely pace. After walking for a while, Adele turned back and grabbed Jasmine’s hand, “You’re too slow!”
It was normal for humans to walk slowly in icy conditions, wasn’t it? Not only did Jasmine think so, but apparently, Adele did too. So, she didn’t walk very fast, and her grip on Jasmine’s wrist wasn’t very tight. But honestly, being dragged along by Adele wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Adele was wearing fawn leather gloves, cold to the touch. After being exposed to the freezing weather for so long, the gloves had become stiff. The sudden contact with Jasmine’s wrist made her flinch. She instinctively tried to pull away, but Adele tightened her grip.
Adele glanced at Jasmine, her expression seeming to say: Don’t be difficult.
She held onto Jasmine’s wrist, leading her through the snow. They soon reached the port. The airship hadn’t arrived yet, but the liaison officer was already waiting. Seeing Adele, he nodded and greeted, “Miss.”
Adele nodded in response.
Jasmine could feel the liaison officer’s gaze lingering on their joined hands after he had greeted Adele. She desperately wished he would say something, anything to make Adele let go of her. Because of Adele’s grip, Jasmine’s wrist was exposed to the cold. Although her strong constitution prevented her from freezing to death, she still felt cold!
But despite Jasmine’s hopeful gaze, the liaison officer simply looked away, saying nothing.
—That jerk!
Jasmine almost gritted her teeth in frustration. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long at the port. The airship slowly drifted towards them, creating a strong gust of wind that blew off Adele’s hood and billowed her cloak. Jasmine, unlike Adele, wasn’t as sensitive to the cold. She was only wearing thick clothes, not a cloak. Even so, when the airship landed and the wind swept over them, she felt chilled to the bone.
As the airship landed, a vampire staff member hurried over, greeting Adele with a smile and instructing other servants to carry her luggage. He said obsequiously that they had prepared a room for Miss Blake. Adele nodded curtly and, followed by Jasmine, entered the airship.
The suite was much warmer than outside. Adele took off her cloak, and Jasmine hung it on a hook. As she turned around, she saw Adele already sitting in front of the fireplace, warming her hands. There was a small fireplace in the living room, with a fire burning inside. A chimney vented the smoke, preventing the room from smelling smoky.
Jasmine thought it was a bit strange to have a fireplace on an airship. If a fire broke out, everyone on board would be doomed. But vampires had magic, so perhaps they had some special safety measures in place.
After warming herself by the fire for a while, Adele finally seemed to come back to life. She moved aside and patted the seat next to her, “Jasmine, come and warm up too.”
“…Okay.”
Adele felt smug, thinking she had done a good deed. But if she hadn’t been holding onto Jasmine’s wrist, Jasmine wouldn’t have been so cold. Still, it was nice to have a fire to warm up by. Jasmine sat down and, after a while, asked, “Miss Adele, can I take off my shoes and socks?”
“! Why would you want to take off…”
Adele turned around abruptly, a look of surprise on her face. Jasmine explained, “My shoes got wet from the snow earlier. I think my socks might be wet too.” Jasmine’s reason was perfectly valid, and Adele wouldn’t make things difficult for her. She nodded slowly.
Having received permission, Jasmine proceeded to remove her damp shoes and socks. As she had expected, her socks were indeed wet. She placed them on top of her shoes and moved closer to the fireplace to dry them.
She had changed into clean socks before leaving, so there shouldn’t be any odor.
After doing this, Jasmine sat back down on the floor.
There was a fluffy rug in front of the fireplace, and they were both sitting on it. Jasmine hugged her knees, her bare feet sinking into the soft rug. It tickled a bit, but the warmth from the fire was comforting. She felt Adele’s gaze on her feet and, feeling a bit self-conscious, curled her toes, crossing her ankles to hide them.
“Miss, what are you looking at?”
Adele was embarrassed to admit it and turned her head away, “I’m not looking at anything.”
Normally, no one would pay attention to someone else’s feet. They were usually hidden from view. Adele had occasionally seen Jasmine barefoot after she had showered, but she wouldn’t have stared at her feet. However, now that Jasmine’s feet were right there in front of her, Adele couldn’t help but look.
Strangely enough, perhaps due to her strong bias towards Jasmine, she actually found Jasmine’s feet quite pretty. But thinking this made her feel a bit perverted. She looked away, her gaze landing on Jasmine’s shoes. Unlike her own mid-calf leather boots, Jasmine was wearing ordinary thick cloth shoes, which would definitely get soaked in the snow.
Maybe… she should find an opportunity to get her a new pair of shoes.
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