With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

What kind of person was Adele? Molly knew all too well. Although Adele treated her and the other maids in the castle differently from her parents and younger sister, at her core, Adele was a young woman raised according to the template of a noble vampire heiress.

She was proud and dignified, and while she certainly held an unusual affection for Molly, she still maintained the arrogance of a master. She never refused Molly's care and fundamentally did not see Molly as an equal.

Because of this, Molly had always believed that no matter how differently Adele behaved compared to other vampires, she would eventually become just like them. But Molly never imagined that one day, Adele would risk her life for her, for another human, in a fight against another vampire.

Adele had truly risked her life. In terms of physical strength and skill, she was no match for the doctor. On top of that, she had to protect the weaker human. Without such a desperate effort, that maid would have been drained by the doctor, who would then have gained the strength to defeat Adele.

Yet the result had been mutual destruction—Adele was gravely injured, and the doctor was also severely wounded. Although the doctor had managed to stand up and appear strong, Molly knew it was just a facade. He had used the last of his strength to try to hypnotize her, hoping to regain his power by drinking her blood. In reality, if the maid had had the courage, she could have easily killed the doctor.

—All she had to do was stab the doctor's heart or cut off his head.

Molly glanced at Adele with a complicated expression. While she was lost in thought, Adele briefly regained consciousness. Seeing the familiar ceiling, she let out a slow sigh, visibly relaxing. Her crimson eyes shifted to Molly.

In that moment, her eyes brightened, gently glowing in the dark night.

"Molly, you're safe... that's such a relief..." The proud young lady managed a small smile. She still looked weak, and her smile was a bit forced, but it was clear she was genuinely happy.

Molly nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked the question that had been on her mind, "Why... did you protect that human maid?" It wasn't that she thought the human maid wasn't worth protecting or that Adele's life was more valuable. She was simply puzzled as to why Adele would protect her.

Adele blinked, and without much thought, she replied, "Because you said it yourself—those who are strong must protect the weak. With great power comes great responsibility."

Molly fell silent. She had indeed said those words. Molly had an excellent memory, and she remembered even the trivial events from twelve years ago. But she hadn't expected Adele to remember them so clearly. Was it because vampires naturally had good memories? Or was it for some other reason... Molly couldn't be sure.

She found it hard to face Adele because that famous line was something she had lifted straight from a movie. At the time, she had thought to herself how cool she must have sounded, saying such profound words to the young and impressionable Adele. Now, thinking back on it, it felt like an embarrassing moment from her past.

But Adele had remembered it so vividly. Over the years, Molly had often jokingly said, "Adele, you're the master, so you have to protect me." But she had never actually expected Adele to protect her. More often than not, it was Molly who ended up protecting Adele.

But Adele didn't know that.

As Molly remained silent, Adele started to feel drowsy again and was about to drift back to sleep. Just before her eyes closed, she mumbled something softly. If it were anyone else, they might have missed Adele's words, but Molly's hearing was sharp, and she heard her clearly.

Adele said, "And if I protect others like this... maybe someday, if Molly is in danger... someone will step forward to protect her too..."

Molly looked at Adele as she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. This time, it wasn't unconsciousness but normal sleep. Her breathing was deep and steady. A vampire's heart rate and breathing were naturally slow, almost imperceptible, which contributed to their long lifespan. Now, it showed that Adele was well on her way to recovery, using sleep to heal.

Her long eyelashes rested on her eyelids, making her look like a sleeping beauty, albeit one who was a bit disheveled, with blood and dirt covering her body.

Adele's words had stirred something in Molly.

Adele was different. She was unlike any other vampire. She had compassion for the weak, a desire to protect them, which was something no other vampire possessed. She wanted to protect Molly, and because she wanted to protect Molly, she had also protected the human maid, fighting with all her might.

But in this world, Adele was the only vampire who would act this way. If Molly were just a helpless human facing danger, no other vampire would come to her rescue.

Molly sighed softly. "Idiot."

She turned and went to prepare a bath, filling the tub with hot water and mixing in cold water to get the temperature just right. After washing her hands thoroughly—especially her right hand—she carefully lifted Adele and carried her to the bathroom.

Molly bathed Adele, combed her silvery hair, and washed away all the bloodstains. Human blood was indeed the best tonic for vampires. Earlier, when Molly had seen Adele, her abdomen still bore the marks of the doctor's claws. Her blood had dried, but now, after cleaning away the bloodstains, all that was left was smooth, unblemished skin.

Molly wrapped Adele's freshly cleaned hair in a towel, dried her body, and dressed her in a bathrobe. She then placed Adele on the sofa outside, returned to the bedroom, stripped the bed of its dirty linens, replaced them with fresh ones, and finally moved Adele back to the bed.

Molly sat by the bed, gently drying Adele's hair strand by strand. After finishing, she went to the living room, filled a hot water bottle, and drew the curtains to ensure no light would enter the room at dawn. She then whispered a quiet "goodnight" to Adele before leaving her room.

When Molly returned to her own room, carrying the dirty laundry, including the soiled bed linens and clothes, the night was still dark. However, in the darkness, Molly heard faint sounds of commotion. She wasn't surprised. The disturbance at the doctor's house had been significant, and even if no one had noticed immediately, enough time had passed that a patrolling vampire should have discovered the scene and reported it to the administration.

But Molly acted as if nothing had happened. She first examined Adele's clothes. They were so torn and tattered that they were beyond repair. If an ordinary person from this world had found them, they might have tried to patch them up, as long as they hadn't completely fallen apart, and continued wearing them. But Adele was a noble young lady, far too dignified to wear something with even the slightest tear, let alone something so shredded.

The bed linens, on the other hand, were merely stained with the dirt from Adele's body. They could be washed, dried, and reused.

Molly even took the time to go to the dining hall for a meal. After all, as the saying goes, "you can't fight on an empty stomach." Adele had drunk her blood, which was especially delicious and of high quality, so it should provide her with enough energy for quite some time. There was no need to worry about Adele getting hungry.

She ordered a bowl of mushroom chicken soup, served with two pieces of pumpkin and some bread, and sat down to eat.

Around her, she could hear the occasional chatter of other maids. "Oh my God, did you hear? It seems a vampire was killed."

"Who was killed? How could that happen?"

"Shh—I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else. It seems it was the school doctor. My master just returned to the dormitory and called for me. I overheard her complaining that because the doctor was killed, they're investigating to find the culprit. They even pulled the teachers into the investigation, so classes are canceled, and all the students have returned to their dormitories."

Vampires acted quickly, and it was no surprise that everything had already been arranged. Their approach made sense. After all, the doctor was an adult, high-level vampire, not quite of noble status but close enough. Such a vampire wouldn't be easily killed, so it was natural to suspect another vampire of similar or higher rank.

Given this, it made sense to focus on the teachers.

As for these two maids, they were trying too hard to appear discreet. In a cafeteria filled mostly with low-level vampires, their conversation was nearly loud enough to be heard by everyone around them. The whole "I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else" bit sounded like nonsense to Molly. It wasn't believable at all.

The reason they were having this conversation openly instead of in private was likely to show off that they had access to information others didn't, and to flaunt how favored they were by their masters. Although Molly thought it was silly, it was normal for low-level vampires to act this way.

After finishing her meal, Molly took her tray to the disposal area and left. Back in her room, she sat on her balcony for a while, leaning back in her chair and gazing up at the sheets and bed linens she had hung out to dry. She slowly thought about what she needed to do next.

To be honest, her handling of the situation hadn't been perfect. She had been impulsive and distracted by Adele's injury, which had shaken her composure. Ideally, she should have staged the scene to make it look like the maid had already been killed and that she had never been at the scene. Instead, she had simply left with Adele and had even left the maid's fate in her own hands.

The incident had occurred during the vampires' class time, and apart from a few teachers who didn't have classes, most could be quickly eliminated as suspects. Once the remaining teachers were investigated, it would soon become clear that they were not involved. The investigation would then move on to the older students, and eventually, they would notice something unusual about Adele.

It was only a matter of time before Adele was discovered.