Seraphina’s Pitiful Indifference and a Blood Crisis

That evening, as dusk settled.

“Seraphina, someone is looking for you.”

Just as Seraphina had anticipated, the dorm supervisor appeared at her door.

“You have three minutes! Tidy yourself immediately and wait by the back entrance!”

“Yes.”

Seraphina replied timidly, doing her best to appear frightened.

‘These people… they could have just said someone was looking for me. “Within three minutes”… are they afraid I won’t know it’s Claire Krieg?’

Empty-handed, Seraphina left her room, concealing herself beyond the railings.

She glanced left and right, confirming no one was around, then began to work on her appearance.

Her pristine maid uniform was torn. Seraphina felt a pang of pity.

The existing bruises were deepened. Cardo personally orchestrated this.

Shedding her shoes and ripping her white stockings, Seraphina stood barefoot on the meadow, vigorously ruffling her hair.

“Oh, it’s raining, perfect!”

“I suddenly have an idea that will make you look even more pitiful.”

‘What idea…? What the—no, what are you doing?’

“Hehe… of course, it’s to make you seem even more pathetic~”

Controlling Seraphina’s hands, Cardo plunged them directly into the muddy water, thoroughly soaking them before smearing them over her body.

White stockings, maid dress, ruffles… everything became stained with grime.

‘Hey, hey, hey… not my hair, right? Long hair is a pain to manage…’

Seeing Cardo’s hand about to touch her hair, Seraphina desperately resisted.

“Ah, Seraphina, if you don’t even have the resolve for such a small sacrifice, how can you accomplish great things?”

Under the heavy pressure of her divine consciousness, Cardo exerted force, and Seraphina’s hair was instantly caked with mud.

‘Ugh… now I finally understand why action movie heroines close their eyes…’

‘This feeling of being forced to get dirty is truly unpleasant.’

“Alright, alright,” Cardo quickly performed the final touches on Seraphina’s face, hearing the distant clatter of hooves. “‘Cinderella,’ ‘The Injustice to Dou E’… pick whichever is most pitiful, act the part, and don’t disgrace the vampires!”

“Okay…”

‘But Cardo, I have a question.’

This question had been lingering in Seraphina’s mind for a long time.

“What?”

“—Cardo… why do you know about ‘The Injustice to Dou E’?”

Unlike widely known fairy tales such as Cinderella, the story of ‘The Injustice to Dou E’ is not universally recognized; it requires a certain understanding of Chinese culture.

“—I’ll tell you about that another day.”

Her eyes darted away. Clearly, Cardo was not keen on answering that question.

“—For now, focus on playing your Cinderella!”

Seraphina’s plan was straightforward.

‘Since you intend to ensnare me in your gentle embrace… I will go with the flow, make myself appear more pathetic, and try my best to ignite your protective instincts.’

‘Then… I’ll employ the ‘pitiful indifference’ tactic, pretending to be heartbroken by you. I won’t ignore you, nor will I be enthusiastic; I’ll simply be cold… denying you the response you desire, driving you into a frenzy!’

‘Damn… this is such a manipulative move…’

‘But there’s no other way. You were the insidious one first, my dear Miss Claire Krieg~’

Emerging from the bathroom, Seraphina felt completely refreshed.

Phase one was complete. Next, Claire Krieg should be making her move.

“Seraphina!”

As expected, Claire Krieg, disheveled, quickly followed Seraphina out of the dormitory door.

“Uh… you just had a bath. If you don’t keep warm, you might catch a cold… Shall we go to bed?”

‘Heh heh, so the offensive has begun? Then it’s time for me to enter phase two.’

“Don’t be so reserved, my bed is…”

“Thank you for your kindness, but… it’s not necessary, Miss Claire Krieg.”

“Huh?”

As if startled, Claire Krieg’s eyebrows froze in place.

“It’s quite late, and I wouldn’t want to trouble you…”

She deliberately refused, politely creating distance. Her aim was for Claire Krieg to perceive her (feigned) inner fear, to see the pain she had endured today in her life as a maid…

And how that pain was slowly pushing her away.

“If there’s something you wish to say, please do so quickly.”

“This… Seraphina… I…”

Evidently, confronted with this unexpected turn, Claire Krieg was completely flustered.

“It’s quite alright. As the mistress of this manor, you needn’t be reserved in front of a mere maid.”

This was a counterattack, deliberately highlighting the ‘status gap between them,’ making the class division Claire Krieg had actively created the most natural barrier between them.

“Please speak quickly.”

This combination of tactics would naturally lead Claire Krieg to believe that Seraphina’s current change in attitude was a direct consequence of her own actions.

“No!”

Her eyes reddened, and tears welled in their corners; Claire Krieg could no longer maintain her composure.

“Seraphina, we are friends, not mistress and maid…”

Clutching Seraphina’s freshly changed nightgown, Claire Krieg looked at her, almost pleadingly, with tear-filled eyes.

“Please, don’t be like this…”

‘Ah, is she about to cry?’

Seraphina hadn’t expected her offensive to be quite so devastatingly effective.

‘Perhaps I should rein it in a bit… it wouldn’t be good to break her.’

“Of course, we are friends…”

Gently stroking Claire Krieg’s golden hair, Seraphina’s tone softened, becoming a little more human.

“So, please, tell me your request.”

“I just… wanted to properly reward Seraphina.”

Tugging at the collar of her nightgown, which she had hastily failed to secure, Claire Krieg still hesitated to voice her true intentions to Seraphina.

“So? Shall we go to bed?”

Releasing her collar, Claire Krieg silently took Seraphina’s hand, gently swaying it as a wronged little girl might beg her mother for forgiveness.

“Alright.”

Even recalling all the sorrows of her two lifetimes, Seraphina couldn’t suppress the smile playing on her lips.

Anti-Claire Krieg Operation, Phase One: Victory declared.

****

Meanwhile, thousands of miles north of Krieg Manor.

“Lady Evra… the blood bank is in crisis again…”

“Huh? If there’s no blood, get it from the hospitals! Can’t you even handle such a minor matter?”

Within the central palace of the Land of Elves, a female elven attendant handed a procurement report to Evra, who sat on the throne.

“The truth is, the East City Hospital’s stock is completely depleted, and the West City Hospital is urgently procuring blood from external sources…”

“What’s the problem? Just buy it!”

“Please hear me out. The world’s largest blood supplier… the largest blood bank supply in the world, since the Scarlett family ceased operations a few days ago, the only entity capable of supplying blood across the entire continent now are the hospitals under the human Krieg family.”

“What’s wrong with humans? Buy it!”

“Humans aren’t the point. The point is, taking advantage of the lack of competitors, they’ve raised the price by a full five times…”

“Look here…”

Evra took the attendant’s hand and looked at the purchase amount at the bottom of the report… her eyes instantly widened.

“How much? How much?!”

“One point eight million?”

“It’s in black and white, the money has already been transferred…”

“Those damned beasts.”

Evra angrily shook the armrest of her throne.

“However… none of this matters.”

“By the Life Goddess, as long as I can get Sevilya back, and that damned ‘sister’ of hers… I can accept anything, I can accept anything, boohoohoo!”

Evra could only swallow this bitter pill, silently enduring the loss.

Meanwhile, deep within the royal palace, in a room no one could find.

“Lady Iqiyah… you’ve already consumed twenty thousand milliliters from this one. Please show some restraint.”

“Gurgle, gurgle… glug... I want to drink!”

As the head of the Scarlett family, Iqiyah was naturally well aware of the Scarlett family’s cessation of operations and the chain reactions it triggered.

Therefore… even though she was bound by ‘restraints’ and imprisoned within this room, she still possessed methods to weaken the elves and the Life Goddess.

Thus, she intended to drink voraciously!

‘Heh heh… you damned elves, just watch me drink you into poverty!’

Another bag of plasma consumed, Iqiyah wiped away the residue from her lips, then gazed at the sky beyond her room, at the pristine snow piled outside her window, and towards the warm, humid south.

‘Seraphina…’

In the depths of her heart, Iqiyah called out to her beloved, over and over again.

‘The situation is critical… but I am fine here.’

‘I know you are few in number and weak…’

‘So, I don’t want you to rescue me; I only ask that you protect yourself… Seraphina, you must remain safe and sound!’