Chapter 19: Sold Out

Silia froze at the sound, then scrambled off the bed.

“Mother?”

She hurriedly pulled Larvia to sit on the bed.

“Why’re you here all of a sudden? Something up?”

As she spoke, she climbed onto Larvia’s lap, snuggling into her arms.

“Nothing much, just checking on how my little Silia’s been doing.”

Larvia untied Silia’s twin tails, picking up strands of her creamy, smooth white hair and gently combing them with a brush.

“Mother, don’t worry, I’ve been super happy lately.”

“Oh? I’ve noticed you’ve been sticking to little Chloe a lot. What do you think of her?”

“Hm… she’s gentle, fun, and plays with me…” Silia rubbed her chin, thinking. “Oh, right! She loves durian pastries too and even brought some back for me today!”

Larvia’s lips curved into a slight smile.

Gentle… pfft.

For her daughter’s mental health, Larvia decided it was best if Silia never learned what Chloe had done to her.

“Really? You like her that much? Reginald told me you mention her name in class.”

“Tch, that old geezer’s snitching again…”

Silia muttered, pouting unhappily.

“Come on, he’s just trying to get you to focus in class. If you paid more attention, he wouldn’t have to report to me.”

Larvia set the brush down, grabbed a hair tie, and redid Silia’s twin tails.

“Little Chloe’s attentive in class, right?”

“Uh… totally attentive!”

Silia could tell Chloe wanted to focus in class.

But since Silia couldn’t stand the lessons, she dragged Chloe into playing, making her miss everything too.

Thinking of it, Silia felt a bit guilty.

“Look at little Chloe, hitting the library every day. Can’t you learn from her?”

“Ugh… she’s not going there to study…”

“Huh? Is that so?”

Larvia feigned surprise, covering her mouth and staring at Silia.

Silia realized her mistake.

‘Oh no!’

She’d blurted out her thoughts!

“So, little Chloe’s using studying as an excuse to slack off in the library? That won’t do!”

Larvia raised her voice, pretending to be angry.

“A probationary maid doing this? If she gets promoted, she’ll be even worse! If it’s like you said, I’ll have to fire her.”

“No, no way!”

Silia threw herself into Larvia’s arms, rubbing her newly tied hair against Larvia’s chin.

“Little Chloe’s not playing in the library, Mother, believe me~” she cooed by Larvia’s ear.

“Ugh…”

Larvia looked conflicted.

“So, you know what she’s doing in the library?”

“Well…”

Silia stammered, unable to get a word out.

“S-Sorry, Mother, I promised little Chloe I wouldn’t tell.”

“That won’t do.” Larvia shook her head. “Keeping secrets like that? She might be plotting something that could harm all vampires! Looks like I have to fire her!”

“Wait!”

Silia steeled herself, making up her mind.

“Fine, I’ll tell you…”

Larvia’s furrowed brows relaxed instantly.

“That’s my good girl~ So obedient~”

“Hehe, praised by Mother~ Little Chloe said a few days ago…”

Meanwhile, Chloe pushed open the library’s double doors and stepped inside.

The palace library housed countless tomes, covering every subject imaginable. The vampires’ ten-thousand-year history was condensed into this vast space.

Finding a single book among this sea of texts was no easy feat.

Even though the books were categorized, the alchemy section alone had hundreds.

Silia had long forgotten which book mentioned the transformation potion.

So, Chloe had no choice but to flip through them one by one.

Even skimming each page, finding the transformation potion among hundreds of books was grueling.

For days, Chloe had come to the library after work or classes, but she’d only gotten through two shelves. The alchemy section filled six large ones.

Words like “grinding,” “distilling,” and “boiling” appeared so often she felt she didn’t recognize them anymore.

She dragged a ladder over, climbed to the top shelf, and started flipping through books. To save trips up and down, she sat on the ladder to read.

After who-knows-how-long, Chloe finished another book, feeling utterly numb.

Glancing out the window, she saw the sun rising.

‘Time’s up.’

Rubbing her eyes, she prepared to shelve the book.

But the ladder wobbled slightly.

Normally, she wouldn’t care, but in her distracted state, it startled her.

Panicking, her foot slipped, and she fell.

“Ouch!”

She shut her eyes instinctively.

Thud!

A muffled sound rang out, but instead of pain, she felt something soft catch her.

“Be careful. This ladder’s not short.”

A leisurely voice spoke. Chloe froze, recognizing the voice and scent instantly.

Opening her eyes, she saw Larvia’s face. She was cradled in Larvia’s arms, princess-style, while Larvia smiled, unsurprised.

“Larvia?! What’re you doing here?”

“What, I’m the queen. Can’t I come?” Larvia’s lips held a faint smile. “You’ve been here every day. Just curious what you’re up to.”

“Just… looking for a book…”

“What book? Want me to help?”

“No, no, I’m fine alone!”

Chloe answered hurriedly, jumping out of Larvia’s arms.

“Uh, thanks for earlier…”

“Not hurt?”

“Nope.”

Chloe shook her head.

“Good. If you were, you couldn’t work tomorrow.”

“You…”

Chloe stomped her foot, puffing her cheeks, and fled, forgetting to shelve the dropped book.

“No excuses to skip work tomorrow~” Larvia called after her.

Turning, Larvia picked up the book.

“Hm… got to number 143 today, huh…”

Channeling magic, Larvia enveloped the thick tome, levitating it back to its shelf.

After a brief hesitation, she pulled out book 146 and tucked it into her bag.

‘Hehe.’

‘Waited two hours and you didn’t fall, so I gave you a little help.’