Chapter 40: The Mysterious Roommate
Adele had never understood the appeal of shopping. All that walking, all that browsing, all that… decision-making. It was exhausting.
But now… she understood. Completely.
The reason she hadn’t enjoyed shopping before… was because she had been poor!
And now… well, she still wasn’t exactly rich, but she had a personal ATM in the form of Celeste.
As the heir to a vast fortune, Celeste’s wealth was beyond Adele’s comprehension. The amount she had spent today… it was probably just a drop in the bucket for Celeste.
And as long as Adele was happy… Celeste was happy.
Celeste, who had also never found shopping particularly enjoyable, her every need and desire easily fulfilled, now found herself swept up in Adele’s enthusiasm, her own enjoyment stemming from… Adele’s joy.
It turned out that the best kind of shopping… wasn’t for yourself. It was for someone you loved, someone you wanted to spoil, someone whose smile… made your own heart soar.
It was a win-win situation.
Since they had arranged for everything to be delivered to Adele’s new house, they left the store empty-handed, their hearts filled with a shared sense of… satisfaction.
Bliss… pure bliss~
Adele was even willing to overlook Celeste’s occasional lapses in… propriety. Like the way she had taken Adele’s hand, her fingers intertwining with Adele’s, their touch lingering, their warmth a silent expression of… something more.
She would consider it… a reward.
Adele’s hand, small and delicate, curled into Celeste’s palm, her fingers like a tiny rabbit seeking warmth and comfort.
But as they approached the academy, their time together drawing to a close, they had to part ways.
They exchanged contact information, their promises to stay in touch a silent acknowledgment of the… complications of their relationship.
Celeste, noticing Adele’s outdated phone, her brow furrowed with concern, muttered, “I forgot to buy you a phone…”
Adele, glancing around to make sure they were alone, stood on her tiptoes, her hand reaching up to gently touch the spot where she had pinched Celeste earlier, her touch apologetic.
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice soft and reassuring. “I didn’t think of it either.”
“You can buy me one next time~ The latest iPhone, okay?”
Adele was a greedy little thing. But Celeste found her greed… endearing. To be needed, to be able to fulfill Adele’s desires… it filled her with a warmth that spread through her limbs, a joy that chased away the shadows.
“I will,” she said, her voice firm, her gaze unwavering. “Anything you want… I’ll get it for you.”
Adele’s eyes narrowed, a mischievous glint in their depths. You think I’m greedy now? Just wait… You have no idea what I’m truly capable of.
And what I truly desire… well, you can’t give me that.
But she indulged Celeste, her voice taking on a cloying sweetness, her words a playful tease.
“You’re the best, Celeste~” she purred, her touch lingering on Celeste’s arm.
“Be a good girl, okay?”
Celeste’s eyes, glazed with adoration, met Adele’s, her surrender complete.
Adele, satisfied, withdrew her hand.
“Alright, I’m going back to my dorm,” she said, turning towards the academy gates.
“You… you can go wherever you need to go,” she added, her voice turning cool and detached, her demeanor shifting effortlessly from playful to commanding. She was a natural at this… dominance thing.
“Just remember… whenever I call, you answer. No matter what.”
“…Yes, Master.”
Adele, with a final wave, turned and walked away, her steps light and carefree, her heart filled with a sense of… triumph?
Celeste stood there, watching her go, her golden hair swaying gently in the breeze, her blue eyes shining with a light that was both possessive and… worshipful.
She lingered for a long time, reluctant to break the spell, to return to a world… without Adele.
………………
With a few hours to spare before her afternoon classes, Adele decided to visit her dorm room.
Cromwell Academy, thanks to its vast wealth and sprawling campus, provided every student with their own private room, a luxury that was unheard of in most universities. The higher-ranking students even had their own private apartments, complete with gyms, swimming pools… The possibilities were endless.
As for Hermione and Dorothy… well, they lived like royalty, their every whim indulged, their every desire fulfilled.
It was enough to make Adele… a little envious.
This world might exist within a novel, but it’s still so… unfair.
She shook her head, banishing those thoughts, those unwelcome reminders of the harsh realities of this world.
She reached the dormitory area, a picturesque cluster of small, identical villas nestled amidst a sprawling green lawn. The villas were arranged in neat rows, their uniformity a testament to the academy’s obsession with order and control.
Adele, following the directions on her key – “C Block, Building A, Room 201” – easily located her villa.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The first floor consisted of a living room, a dining area, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It was a surprisingly spacious layout, especially for a student dormitory.
The second floor housed two bedrooms, their doors facing each other, each room assigned to a different student. It was a luxurious setup, far more comfortable than the cramped dorms she had endured in her previous life.
Cromwell Academy, despite its focus on the arcane, marketed itself as an international university, attracting students from all over the world. But even with its luxurious accommodations, there were still complaints, whispers of discontent among the student body.
They wanted better dorms, better blood… Their greed, their sense of entitlement, was… remarkable.
Adele, though technically a vampire herself, couldn’t help but agree. She was, after all, more human than vampire.
If the original Adele had been torn between two worlds, then this Adele… well, she was a human soul inhabiting a vampire’s body. Her instincts, her values, her perspective… they were all… human.
She tiptoed through the villa, her movements silent, her gaze wary. She didn’t want to disturb her roommate, a mysterious figure she had rarely encountered.
She was small and slender, her movements as graceful and silent as a cat’s.
Her roommate… well, Adele’s only impression of her was that she was… reclusive. The novel hadn’t provided any details about her, her role in the story seemingly insignificant. Adele, while reading the novel, had assumed it was a Chekhov’s Gun*, a subtle detail that would eventually become relevant, perhaps even play a crucial role in the plot.
(Translator’s note: The term “Chekhov’s Gun” is a metaphor derived from the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s advice on storytelling. It refers to the idea that every element introduced in a narrative should have a purpose and contribute to the plot’s development. If an object or detail is mentioned, it should be used later in the story to avoid misleading or confusing the audience.)
After all, roommates… they were a breeding ground for drama.
But nothing had happened. Her roommate had remained a background character, her presence barely acknowledged.
Adele had finally concluded that… she was just a plot device, a way to justify Adele’s shared living arrangements. The author had probably decided that a lowly Sequence Five like Adele didn’t deserve a private villa. But to cram her into a four-person or six-person dorm room, like in a typical university… well, that would have required too much effort, too much character development.
So, he had created a nameless, faceless roommate, a convenient excuse to keep Adele’s living situation… uncomfortable.
A Sequence Five should suffer like a Sequence Five.
Adele rolled her eyes, mentally cursing the author for his… creativity.
She grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, then climbed the stairs to her bedroom, her movements still cautious, her gaze flitting around the hallway, searching for any sign of her elusive roommate.
She closed her bedroom door, the soft click a reassuring sound, and collapsed onto her bed, the soft mattress and fluffy pillows a welcome respite from the day’s adventures.
And then… she pulled out her phone.
Wait… I thought you were going to take a nap?
But it was a common affliction in the modern world: the inability to resist the allure of the smartphone. You tell yourself you’re going to sleep, but then… you pick up your phone, and the next thing you know, an hour, maybe even two, have vanished, swallowed by the endless scroll of social media, the addictive pull of games, the hypnotic allure of… whatever it was you were doing.
And when you finally put your phone down, your eyelids drooping with exhaustion, you can barely remember what you just spent the past two hours doing.
Smartphones… they’re insidious, aren’t they? Devouring our time, our memories…
Smartphone: Are you going to scroll or not?
Adele: Scroll!
Meanwhile, outside Adele’s door…
The door to Room 202 creaked open, revealing a pair of eyes, their gaze wary, their expression a mixture of longing and… something else. Something that made Adele’s heart skip a beat.
Why is Adele home so late today?
