Just then, a friend request suddenly popped up on her communication blood crystal. The applicant’s note read: Crassus.
‘Crassus?’
‘Isn’t she the teacher I met in the restroom at Rose Manor last time?’
‘What does she want with me?’
Lorevil was puzzled, but she added Crassus as a friend anyway.
The moment the application was approved, a message from Crassus arrived.
“Hello, Student Lorevil. I am Crassus, a mentor at the academy. You went from dead last to the top ten during this four-day practical training—a truly impressive reversal. I have always admired hardworking students like you.”
Meanwhile, in the office.
After sending the message, Crassus pursed her lips, which were coated in an alluring lip gloss.
A Vampire student nearby, who was currently filling out documents, couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful teacher’s every move.
“I’m very busy here, so hurry up and finish writing,” Crassus said, her attention fixed on the blood crystal interface where she was messaging Lorevil.
Lorevil didn’t plan on entertaining her and was preparing to get up and leave, but Crassus sent another message.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to add you for a while now, but I was afraid of disturbing your cultivation. By the way, I heard your rapid progress this time was all thanks to Mentor Catherine’s diligent guidance? Mentor Catherine is indeed exceptionally capable, but…”
“But what?” Lorevil messaged back immediately.
“But as someone who’s seen a lot, I must give you a warning.”
“I’ve heard that Mentor Catherine has a cold personality and doesn’t easily offer guidance to students. In the past, so many people begged for her advice but never got the chance. You used to pursue her, and now she’s being so warm toward you—could she be trying to use you for something?”
Crassus’s fingers tapped rapidly. She swung her legs, clad in black stockings, under the desk; she was clearly in a good mood.
By saying this, the other party would surely understand. Crassus knew that Lorevil had always hung around Catherine like a fawning follower. If Crassus offered Lorevil a little taste of sweetness, she might be able to turn Lorevil into her own loyal dog.
Besides, how could Catherine possibly be as considerate of others’ feelings as she was?
“Teacher Catherine and I have a normal teacher-student relationship. I think you must be mistaken. If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”
Lorevil frowned. Why did this teacher feel so snide and sarcastic?
‘Is it just my imagination?’
“Student Lorevil, don’t let Catherine’s enthusiasm deceive you.”
“I heard that Catherine’s family has been embroiled in intense internal struggles recently. She desperately needs to recruit promising students to consolidate her position. You are progressing rapidly right now, so you fit her needs perfectly.”
Crassus crossed one leg over the other, her red high heel dangling off her foot and dropping to the floor. Her pretty face grew increasingly excited as she sent the messages.
“You already have such a wonderful wife like Lady Noxia. Lady Noxia is deeply devoted to you. If you get too close to Catherine and it affects your relationship—or if Catherine just throws you away after using you—it wouldn’t be worth it, would it?”
Crassus was well aware that Lorevil was a scumbag; she had even investigated Lorevil’s previous behavior toward Noxia thoroughly.
Most scumbags, after cheating, would look for excuses to blame their wives, thereby shifting the responsibility for the affair.
Lorevil recalled how, whenever she returned home, Noxia would be waiting at the door. Noxia would immediately take her coat and hang it in the closet, and she would show a look of pure happiness just because Lorevil offered a casual word of concern.
The Noxia she knew was just as Crassus described—deeply devoted and a good wife.
It was true that during these few days of practical training, Lorevil and Catherine had been getting quite close.
Lorevil reflected on her actions and lowered her guard slightly toward Crassus for the reminder.
“You’re right, Teacher Crassus. Teacher Catherine did lend me a hand, and that is a fact. However, I want to ask—you mentioned earlier that Catherine’s family is facing intense internal struggles. Is there a specific reason for that?” Lorevil messaged.
Crassus’s excited face froze.
She suddenly felt as if she had thrown a powerful punch only to hit a cloud of cotton.
Seeing that Crassus didn’t continue messaging, Lorevil stopped asking.
If it was an internal family matter, Crassus might not know, or even if she did, she might not have the details.
Lorevil thought for a moment. Over the past three days, Catherine had helped her a lot. ‘I should probably pay her back?’
But Lorevil’s brow furrowed.
She wasn’t sure if she had the ability to help. She needed to find someone to discuss this with—someone who could give her reliable advice and truly had her best interests at heart.
A familiar name flashed through her mind.
***
“Are you saying that the internal struggle within Catherine’s family has reached such a severe stage?”
Madam Sharon sat on the sofa, her long fingers gently pressing against her brow as she frowned.
“Yes. I think someone in her family is colluding with external forces to fight for the right of succession. Catherine being drugged might be related to this as well. Madam, do you have any ideas?”
Lorevil nodded, relaying the fragments of information she got from Crassus along with her own speculations.
Madam Sharon had originally thought Lorevil came specifically to see her—that she had made a special trip to visit. For this reason, Madam Sharon had pushed aside her pending tasks and rushed back to the manor early.
To her surprise, Lorevil’s every word was about Catherine. Even for a patient and graceful woman like Madam Sharon, her heart felt a sharp sting.
‘Catherine… Has Lorevil still not let her go?’
A trace of irritability inexplicably rose in Madam Sharon’s heart.
The reason she had tolerated Lorevil’s pursuit of Catherine before was that she knew her role as a guardian made it difficult to intervene in their personal affairs.
But now, Lorevil was expressing her concern for another woman so bluntly right in front of her.
A sliver of jealousy grew wildly in Madam Sharon’s heart, beginning to gnaw at her remaining logic.
Madam Sharon couldn’t even help but think to herself.
‘If I had intervened earlier, would Lorevil have stopped pursuing Catherine? If I had told her the truth sooner, would she have looked at me a bit more?’
“Madam?”
Seeing that Madam Sharon hadn’t responded for a long time and was only staring at her with a complex expression, Lorevil asked in confusion.
“Catherine’s family does have a connection with a Rank 6 Vampire Archduke, but that’s about it. A family obsessed with power struggles is nothing more than drifting leaves in the water, lacking any foundation,” Madam Sharon explained, suppressing the emotions churning within her.
Madam Sharon exhaled a long breath and said, “If you really want to help her, I can give you a few suggestions.”
“What suggestions?” Lorevil followed up immediately.
“The resources the family wanted to give you before weren’t just for your advancement to Rank 3. There was also a secret intelligence organization called ‘Thorns’.”
Madam Sharon looked at her current expression, the jealousy in her heart deepening, yet she continued anyway.
“Thorns has about 100 people in Holy Blood City. However, because you never took charge of them, they reached the point of near-dissolution this past year due to a lack of pay.”
Lorevil knew about this.
The original owner of the body had embezzled the intelligence organization’s wages to squander them on herself. She hadn’t utilized Thorns’ potential to build an information network.
Otherwise, Lorevil wouldn’t have received only vague news from Crassus, leaving her completely ignorant of the specifics of the Catherine family struggle.
But Madam Sharon was her guardian; she should have known everything the original owner had done to Thorns.
Why, then, had Madam Sharon never intervened in Thorns’ affairs over the years?