Chapter 2: Exposure
【Don’t let her go.】
【Exactly! Bully her harshly.】
【The little rabbit is suffering, and you guys are celebrating? I can’t understand it.】
【What’s so good about bullying the weak?】
【As expected, a popular book attracts controversy. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.】
“I’m tired from the journey today; I just want to rest.” Adele grabbed Lina’s arm, pulling her up with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy. “Everything here lacks the style of the nobility, nor does it meet the requirements of the Sacred Cult. I have no interest in staying any longer. Do you want to come with me?”
She glanced around with disgust. A white wolf’s eyesight is excellent; she instantly caught the shadow hiding behind the bookshelf.
Just as I thought, there are eyes watching.
Lina didn’t dare refuse, saying obediently, “Wherever Teacher goes, I will go.”
Adele just had a naturally cold face, but beneath that layer of frost was a soft heart. She would never bully herbivores; on the contrary, she would proactively protect them.
When she saw weak members of her own kind, she would help if she could, to say nothing of the fluffy little rabbit ball beside her.
The little white wolf inside Adele’s heart had long been captivated by Lina’s cuteness. She couldn’t help but smile, and the corner of a snow-white fang was immediately revealed.
That was her canine tooth, a symbol of her status as a top predator. After transforming into a human, although it had shortened, it was still sharp.
Lina was a head shorter than her. Looking up from her perspective, she instantly had a vision of a wicked wolf opening its mouth.
!!!
The fear herbivores have for carnivores is written in their genes.
Lop-eared rabbits are also naturally sensitive and can’t handle shocks. Lina’s legs went weak, and her eyes rolled back as she fainted.
Help!
A wolf!
Before she could hit the ground, Adele caught her by the waist, scooping her into her arms with one hand.
Why did she suddenly faint?
Looking down at the little rabbit nestled in her arms, Adele silently made a resolution.
I will save her!
The maids were waiting outside the classroom. When they saw Adele push the door open, they were all astonished—
In less than half an hour, she knocked the young miss out!
You can really tell she’s a ruthless person just by looking at her!
Poor young miss…
The maids all held a “moment of silence.” Adele handed Lina over to them, and with a cold, indifferent face, said, “Get her treated. I will continue her lessons tomorrow morning.”
“Yes.”
The maids watched her walk away, looked at each other, and finally came to a conclusion—
The new instructor is suspected to be a cold-faced, wicked wolf with vicious methods. The poor lop-eared rabbit miss is going to be eaten.
【What is this person doing?!】
【This new one isn’t as ruthless as the last one…】
【Person above, don’t be hasty. If she doesn’t pretend now, how can she trick the little rabbit into trusting her?】
【Agreed. Beating her up every day is boring. Isn’t it more exciting to watch someone have a complete mental breakdown?】
***
Adele had just left the classroom when she was invited into an attic room.
The wooden door creaked open, and a musty smell wafted out. White wax had overflowed from the candlestick, dripping onto a stone table laden with offering fruits. The banner of the Sacred Cult hung high in the center of the ceiling.
The two words “Eternal Life” were carved into the floor, stroke by stroke, dense and crowded. From a distance, they looked like a pile of tangled centipedes.
A middle-aged man in an off-white linen shirt turned around at the sound.
He was the female lead’s monstrous father, the fanatical cultist prepared to sacrifice his own daughter in exchange for a long life, Herte.
“Oh!” Herte put down the idol in his hand. “I have been eagerly awaiting you.”
“Forgive my bluntness, but your daughter’s performance just now was terrible. She is completely unfit to be an offering.” Adele stood still, deliberately showing a look of disgust, her words direct and harsh.
The original owner of this body was just such an arrogant noble.
A moment of hesitation flickered across Herte’s face. “But, the instructors I hired before were all from the Sacred Cult. Perhaps it’s because Lina has only been studying for a few months and isn’t quite up to par yet.”
“Are you questioning my judgment?”
“Oh! No, what I mean is, please don’t be disgusted with her. Hit her if you must, scold her if you must. As long as you can mold her into a perfect offering, the methods don’t matter.”
Adele’s eyes were icy. If half of her reaction just now had been an act, her current irritation was completely genuine.
She didn’t want to respond at all.
Herte had long heard of her rudeness. Seeing it today, she truly “lived up to her reputation.”
Adele’s performance didn’t arouse his suspicion at all.
Herte took another step closer, his eyes earnest. “I know your status is noble and your position in the cult is high. That is why I invited you. Whatever you need to do, I will support you completely!”
He was very wealthy, but having reached middle age, he felt his strength failing him more and more.
For the poor who couldn’t even fill their stomachs, a long life might be a curse. But Herte had no worries about food or clothing and owned a manor of several hundred acres. A long life was worth trading his own kin for.
Seeing that he was truly devout, Adele bluffed, “Those people you hired before were all half-baked. I am confident I can make your daughter a qualified offering, but I have one condition.”
Herte put his hands together in prayer, noncommittal. He closed his eyes and murmured, “May the Lord God bless me with eternal life.”
Adele’s cold eyes narrowed slightly. She kicked him in the knee. “The Lord God never blesses people. If you want eternal life, you must trade a life for a life.”
She paused, staring down at Herte. “Also, I hope this is the last time you test me.”
Caught off guard, Herte fell to his knees with a thud. Before he could cry out in pain, he felt a moment of embarrassment because his little scheme had been exposed.
The sharp pain in his knee instantly excited him. Veins bulged on his forehead. Because the more cruel, the more devout. Pain was his proof of submission to the Lord God.
He didn’t mind Adele’s offense at all, nor did he realize that he himself had been tested in return.
Adele was finally completely certain that Herte was a fanatical cultist.
She held a firm grip on the pace of the negotiation. Although her expression was calm, her back was already soaked with cold sweat.
Before transmigrating, she had only hastily read the synopsis and the main text. She only had a partial understanding of anything related to the Sacred Cult and was at risk of being exposed at any moment.
“After the job is done, give me two hundred thousand pounds.”
The original Adele had agreed to this deal for the money.
Herte pushed himself up using the stone table. He said “Good” three times in a row before saying, “Then, I’ll be troubling you, my lady.”
He gave a hypocritical gentleman’s bow.
Adele didn’t give him any face, turning to leave. “I will teach her well.”
Herte watched her leave, then pushed open a stained-glass window and held out his right hand. A moment later, an entirely black magpie flew down from the eaves and landed on his palm.
“Did she properly instruct Lina just now?”
The magpie blinked its blood-red eyes and slowly nodded.
Herte gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said to the magpie, “Good child, go on now. Continue to keep an eye on them.”
The magpie spread its wings and disappeared into the night. Herte gazed at the church standing to the north, his eyes burning with yearning.
For eternal life, anything could be sacrificed.
***
As the sky began to lighten, rhythmic footsteps could be heard from the top floor of the castle.
The night-watch maid woke with a start and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Six-thirty.
She had been about to doze off again, but in her peripheral vision, she caught sight of a pair of cowhide boots.
The wolf is here!
The maid shot up from the floor in fright. While straightening the bow on her head, she said, “Hello! Lady Wolf… Oh! No! Lady Adele!”
Adele stared at her expressionlessly, flicking her invisible tail.
I’m clearly a good wolf, so why is everyone acting like they’ve seen a ghost?
“Is Lina awake?”
“Not yet,” the maid replied respectfully. “The young miss likes to sleep in.”
“I’ll go in and have a look.”
“Yes.” The maid carefully pushed open the door. A small night light was on inside the room.
Lina was curled up on the bed, hugging herself tightly with both arms. It was a sleeping position that showed an extreme lack of security.
She was sleeping restlessly. The goose-down quilt had slipped to the floor, leaving her entire body enveloped in the cold air.
Her fluffy tail twitched from time to time.
So frail.
So pitiable.
Is she sleeping in? Or is it that she sleeps so restlessly at night, with such poor quality sleep, that she can’t wake up?
Adele glanced sideways behind her. The maid had already retreated. Only then did she relax and step forward, gently pulling up the quilt to cover Lina again.
As if sensing something, the little rabbit’s long ears wrapped directly around her wrist.
The warm, soft ears wound around her wrist bone. Adele’s face remained impassive, but with a “poof,” two short white ears popped out from the top of her head.
!
【Is this instructor a dog?】
【Those are clearly wolf ears!】
【Who cares if she’s a wolf or a dog, shouldn’t she be slapping the little rabbit awake right now?】
【Exactly! A mere offering is still sleeping!】
【But I think the little rabbit is pretty cute.】
【The cuter she is, the more you have to bully her! I just love that broken, teary-eyed look.】
“Ah—”
A scream echoed through the manor. The maid, who had returned, exclaimed in shock, “My lady! Y-you have ears! Can it be that you really are a wolf!”
Adele’s breath hitched. The ears vanished instantly. She turned around leisurely and asked, feigning composure, “What?”
The maid rubbed her eyes. The pair of white ears was gone. She muttered in confusion, “Did my eyes deceive me?”
Adele knew she was on the verge of being exposed. Just as she was about to act, a faint whimper came from behind her.
Lina, at some point, had covered her face with her ears and was sobbing, “Mistress maid, please don’t hit me. I won’t trouble you when I get up at night, and I don’t need you to cover me with the quilt. I was wrong, I’ll never sleep in again. I can dress myself. I’m sorry…”
Adele quickly realized that Lina had no status in the household. The servants were accustomed to fawning over the powerful and trampling on the weak, and they often disregarded her. This maid was presumably one of them.
She turned her head to look at the maid, her dark green eyes calm and rippleless.
Before hunting an animal, a white wolf would gaze at it with just such calmness.
The maid’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
She knew very well that Adele was not the master of the manor and couldn’t rightfully dismiss her; the labor bureau wouldn’t allow it.
But mistreating her master was unforgivable. Lina’s words were enough to confirm her guilt.
Just as expected, Adele stood up and, while walking toward her, said coldly, “I will notify the labor bureau to come and take you away.”
The maid’s heart turned to dead ashes as she begged for mercy repeatedly.
Adele closed the door with a backhand motion. She scanned the area, and after confirming there were no other eyes watching, she squatted down to meet the maid’s gaze. A silver ring of light appeared in her dark green eyes, then rippled outward a moment later.
This was the illusion magic of the white wolf clan.
Their eyes met. Within a single breath, the maid entered the illusion Adele had woven.
Time rewound to six-thirty…
Adele tampered with the maid’s memory, erasing the part where she saw the ears, and then changed the person who fired her to the female lead’s dad.
On the other side of the door.
The room had long since fallen silent, but Lina was still trembling. She peeked open one eye and looked at the comments.
【Don’t you guys think this little rabbit is quite cunning? She gave the instructor an excuse to deal with someone without getting her own hands dirty.】
【Speaking of which, that instructor is also weird. Didn’t the author say the instructor was a pure-blood human? Why does she have ears?】
【Maybe the author changed the setting. That’s not important!】
…
Lina closed her eyes, not wanting to watch anymore.
That’s right. She had done it on purpose.
The maid’s scream had startled her awake. She didn’t know what had happened, but she had keenly sensed Adele’s hostility toward the maid.
This was a special talent of sensitive people.
Since that was the case, why not borrow a knife to kill someone?
This maid was used to treating people according to their status and had often given her grief.
Once, after being beaten, she had no strength to walk and wanted to get into bed, but this maid refused to even help her up, letting her lie on the cold floor all night.
Such incidents were countless. Lina had always had a submissive personality, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel hatred in her heart…
Now, having resisted for the first time, her whole body was trembling.
“Lina.” When Adele pushed the door open and entered, she saw the person on the bed shaking violently, so she didn’t approach, asking softly, “Are you okay?”
Her fear of the title “instructor” far surpassed that of a few ignorant servants. Upon hearing Adele’s voice, Lina got out of bed almost instantly. Even though she fell, she didn’t cry out in pain, scrambling and crawling to kneel in the center of the room.
“I’m sorry, Teacher. I shouldn’t have fainted yesterday… I was wrong.”
“I’m not blaming you.” Adele squatted down and soothed her in a gentle voice, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hit you.”
Lina nodded mechanically, desperately trying to hide her two ears behind her back.
Obviously, she didn’t believe her.
Instructors are all the same.
Just as bad.
Just as vile.
Just as unscrupulous.
Adele didn’t dare touch her and took two steps back on her own initiative. “I know you don’t like me, so you have the right not to come near me.”
Lina looked up at her for a moment, then immediately lowered her head and said in a trembling voice, “Teacher, I have no rights.”
The previous instructor had tested her like this too. She hadn’t shown enough obedience, and what had she gotten in return?
Her broken bones would always ache and swell on rainy days.
Although Adele hadn’t beaten her at all from the moment they met until now, and her words and actions had been unexpectedly gentle, she still didn’t dare to accept it.
She was afraid this warmth was just an act. She was afraid the salvation she had longed for was just a deeper abyss of despair.
She was truly scared. It was safer to just keep kneeling on the floor.
She no longer hoped to be saved, but because of her recent act of resistance, a tiny idea of saving herself had been born.
If I can’t rely on others, then I’ll rely on myself…
This thought seemed fleeting, but it quietly remained in Lina’s heart, slowly taking root and sprouting in a corner she herself hadn’t noticed.
“I will listen to you. I’ll be very, very good.”
Adele’s heart was bleeding.
Just what kind of painful torment does it take to break a person’s spine?
“Don’t be like this…”
Adele hadn’t finished speaking when she suddenly froze.
Her invisible wolf ears twitched. She caught the sound of faint footsteps—
Someone is outside the door!
