Noontime slipped away as quickly as it had arrived.

Adele woke up in her soft bed, stretching languidly with a contented sigh. “Mmm…” she murmured, the sheer comfort almost bringing tears to her eyes.

Sharon hadn’t visited her dreams, nor had she returned to the apartment.

But Adele wasn’t concerned with the whereabouts of the Sequence Ones. She had her own problems to deal with.

She stumbled downstairs, her throat parched. A glass of water, however, did little to quench her thirst.

“…”

She opened the mini-fridge, a standard feature in all vampire dorms, and pulled out a blood pack. It was a low-quality one, intended for Sequence Fives like herself, the bottom of the barrel.

Adele frowned at the murky liquid sloshing around inside the translucent pouch. With a haughty sniff, she tossed it back into the fridge.

Then, she grabbed her phone and sent a message to Celeste.

Adele: *Bring me a better quality blood pack when you come to school this afternoon. Fresh, if possible.*

By now, Adele had fully embraced her vampire identity. Blood was a necessity, a vital part of her existence. Half-vampires might be more tolerant of thirst than purebloods, but they couldn’t survive without it.

Celeste’s response was immediate, her voice eager and breathless.

Celeste: *Of course, Adele! Anything else you need?*

Adele: *Anything else? Hmm… wear a thigh garter. Gotta boost my attack speed.*

Celeste: *…*

Confused but determined to please her master, Celeste hurried over to her closet, searching for a thigh garter. If she couldn’t find one, she would simply buy one on her way to school.

Adele’s wishes were her commands.

………………

Outside the classroom, a lone figure stood in the hallway, her delicate features framed by a cascade of blue silk, her cheeks flushed with a delicate pink, her beauty enhanced by the warm sunlight streaming through the windows.

She was waiting for someone. It was obvious.

When a voluptuous girl with long, golden hair finally arrived, panting slightly from her hurried pace, the blue-clad girl’s face lit up with a smile. But the smile quickly faded, replaced by a playful frown.

“You’re late, silly dog,” she chided.

Celeste simply grinned, her heart filled with a secret joy. She had caught the fleeting glimpse of genuine happiness in her master’s eyes before Adele had schooled her features into a more neutral expression.

Without offering any excuses for her tardiness, Celeste presented Adele with a blood pack, chilled to perfection in her car’s mini-fridge.

Adele’s gaze, however, was drawn to the black thigh garter adorning Celeste’s leg, just above her knee, a tantalizing glimpse of her smooth, pale skin beneath the sheer black stockings.

She hummed in approval, taking the blood pack from Celeste and draining it in a few long gulps.

Then, her brow furrowed, and she looked at Celeste with surprise. If she had been paying closer attention, she would have noticed the slight pallor of Celeste’s complexion from the start.

“Celeste, is this your…?”

Celeste simply smiled shyly, her silence speaking volumes.

Adele’s gaze softened, and she reached out, stroking Celeste’s hair.

“Good girl.”

It was clear that Celeste had sacrificed her own blood to fulfill Adele’s request for freshness. It was a selfless act, one that placed an additional burden on Celeste’s already weakened body.

Adele remembered tasting Celeste’s “deliciousness” just a few days ago.

But for Celeste, her own discomfort was irrelevant. As long as she could please her master, her heart was content.

And strangely enough, the chastity curse didn’t activate when Adele touched Celeste’s hair.

It wasn’t that the curse had malfunctioned. Adele realized that her touch had been purely affectionate, devoid of any lustful intent.

The chastity curse, true to its name, only reacted to physical contact that was fueled by desire.

To test her theory, Adele let her gaze drift lower, towards the thigh garter. The moment her eyes landed on it, a jolt of pain shot through her lower abdomen, traveling down her legs like an electric shock.

“Eep!” she yelped, jerking her hand back, her shoulders trembling.

“Master!” Celeste cried, her concern overriding her usual caution. She had forgotten to address Adele formally.

Thankfully, they were alone in the hallway.

But even if Adele punished her later for her slip-up, Celeste wouldn’t regret it.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer,” Adele said, her voice breathless. “I’m fine.”

She clutched her chest, her heart pounding, her breathing ragged. She was anything but fine.

But she couldn’t let Celeste know about the curse. She didn’t want Celeste, who had finally given up on her rivalry with Hermione, to start a new one with Dorothy.

All her efforts would be wasted.

Besides, Celeste… was her precious dog. She would be heartbroken.

“…I’m going back to class,” Adele said, forcing a smile. “I’ll talk to you later, Celeste.”

“Master…”

“We talked about this. That’s for private… Ugh!”

Adele stomped her foot, pretending to be annoyed, and hurried back to her classroom.

Celeste was truly a handful. But punishing her… it felt wrong.

Who else in this world was as devoted to her as Celeste?

Back in the classroom, Adele was immediately greeted by Tang Linlang’s concerned gaze. Was it Adele’s imagination, or had Linlang been crying? Her eyes were red-rimmed, but her expression was resolute.

Adele offered a cheerful greeting, and Linlang’s mood visibly improved.

Adele had finished the blood pack in the hallway. She didn’t want to reveal her “vampire” side to Tang Linlang. Besides, deep down, she still considered herself more human than vampire.

As she settled back into her seat, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class.

And it was during that class that the homeroom teacher made a surprise announcement. The rest of the day would be dedicated to observing the “ranking battles” at the training ground.

The ranking battles were a major event for upperclassmen, a way to assess their abilities, to determine their place within the hierarchy, and to allocate resources accordingly.

Adele frowned. She remembered Dorothy’s request, her insistence that Adele meet her at the training ground. And the strange smile that had played on Dorothy’s lips…

A sense of foreboding settled over Adele.