Chapter 3

In the desert, under the bright moonlight, a pink bat struggled to carry a bald guy and flew slowly.

Skipping through various psychological changes that even Adam wasn't sure of, he eventually succumbed to Silver Bell's tearful persuasion and agreed to accompany her to the ball.

This outcome made Silver Bell ecstatic.

So, Adam reluctantly drank some "pre-squeezed" blood, put on a suit, and the two of them headed out.

Soon, they stopped at the edge of the city. After all, a pink bat carrying a bald guy flying around the city was too conspicuous.

They got into a pre-arranged carriage, with Silver Bell excitedly chattering away while Adam calmly gazed out of the window.

This was the so-called capital they spoke of, a city that, in Adam's eyes, was both poor and rundown, not even comparable to medieval cities from his memory.

The entire city consisted of Turkish-style buildings, with plain and simple-looking structures, most of which appeared old and neglected.

In the originally not-so-bustling desert city, it became even more desolate at night.

On the main street, apart from fighting cats and dogs and drunken brawlers, there was nothing else to be seen.

In the distance, Adam could see a magnificent castle towering. The dark walls were only visible as vague outlines in the night, with torches lining the outer walls, and Adam's vampire vision could discern the guards patrolling the walls.

It felt like a militaristic country, which wasn't surprising considering the Sahara desert being such an economically deprived place. What could it develop in terms of prosperity?

Soon, the carriage stopped at the entrance of a mansion, and Silver Bell happily got off, reaching out to pull Adam, who was still looking around.

It was a huge mansion, with spacious courtyards planted with various non-desert plants, which was quite extravagant in such a water-scarce desert area, especially in densely populated cities, it was even more extravagant.

The enormous European-style building looked very new, with elaborate carvings on the walls without any signs of damage. At this moment, it was brightly lit inside, with people everywhere.

Wait, people?! So many?!

Adam was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe all these people were vampires! A bunch of vampires openly holding a ball in a densely populated urban area, was that even possible?

This was a...human ball!

Just as Adam was about to sternly reprimand Silver Bell, a woman approached.

With slightly curly golden hair cascading down her shoulders, she wore a blue silk headband on her head, and her slender eyebrows and eyes with blue eyeshadow appeared incredibly charming. Her high nose bridge and sensual lips, along with a perfectly proportioned face.

She wore a gorgeous European-style princess dress, with a blue gem shimmering on her snowy chest.

She exuded an air of luxury and charm, instantly catching Adam's eye.

"Silver Bell!" Silver Bell laughed and quickly went up to her, holding her hand.

"Silver Bell, who's this?" She pointed at Adam and asked.

After hesitating for a while, Silver Bell finally replied, "This is Adam, my dance partner." To be honest, she didn't know how to introduce Adam. In fact, she knew nothing about Adam. She was just excited about attending the ball for the first time and hadn't considered this question at all.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Adam. I'm Christine." She smiled and lifted her skirt, giving Adam a curtsey.

In that moment of curtsy, it seemed like she twisted her high heels, and she suddenly fell forward.

Almost reflexively, Adam caught her.

Christine smiled and looked up, "Thank you." There was a hint of ambiguity in her gaze.

But Adam noticed that when she touched his hand, the diamond ring on her ring finger flickered slightly.

Was that...intentional just now?

Before Adam could figure it out, the two of them had already started chatting and walked into the mansion arm in arm, leaving Adam to follow suit.

Christine was Kudian's midnight lover and Silver Bell's only female friend.

Regarding Silver Bell's friendship with this human, the Baron Smog knew about it but did not stop it.

Five hundred years ago, when Silver Bell was still a human, she was already known as the most beautiful woman in the capital.

Such a woman naturally drowned in the care of others every day.

However, it was at this most beautiful time of her life that a turning point occurred.

At that time, in her prime, she accepted her father's advice and became a vampire together.

Originally, for Baron Smog, this was out of kindness and love. Eternal youth, this was every woman's dream.

But when they truly became vampires, they found that what remained eternal was not youth but loneliness.

To hide their secret, their family had to distance themselves from other humans.

Because of their fear of sunlight, Silver Bell could no longer go to the market as usual to join the hustle and bustle.

Due to changes in diet, Silver Bell could no longer dine with her female companions.

With the estrangement and departure of their former friends, she couldn't bear it. She began to become silent and spent her days hiding in the dark mansion studying her paintings.

Even with friends, what was the use? Friends only lasted for three or four years, and afterwards, in order to keep the secret, Silver Bell had to distance herself from them again.

Moreover, due to the nature of their habits, vampires found it difficult to make human friends. As for other vampires, most of them were cold and lonely, disliking Silver Bell's passionate personality.

Endless youth turned into endless nightmares.

This was extremely painful for a father, but he was powerless.

Since then, Silver Bell had been very enthusiastic towards every guest who came to the mansion, as if she didn't want them to leave.

This kind of emotion was poignant because of excessive loneliness, excessive enthusiasm, hoping to seize every possible opportunity.

It was also for this reason that the cautious old father took an unprecedented tacit attitude towards his daughter making friends with humans. Only he, as a father, knew how heartbroken he was to see Silver Bell burst into tears in front of her new friends every time, for only he knew how painful it was.

Maybe just three or four years, right? It would all be over in three or four years. In these three or four years, she would be as cheerful as before. The Baron always thought so.

Admittedly, this woman named Christine brought Silver Bell a lot of joy. She had recently moved here from Western Europe, and no one knew why she had come to this backwater place, but the things she brought from Western Europe not only fascinated Silver Bell but also many local celebrities.

That's why there was this European-style ball.

For this ball, Silver Bell practiced with Kudian, and in case of emergencies, she also found Vine as a backup. But in the end, she brought Adam, who knew nothing.

Soon, Christine left to greet other guests. The two people holding cups in the hall were also spinning around in the crowd.

Obviously, contrary to Adam's expectations, this ball did require a prearranged partner—unlike traditional European balls, people here weren't used to socializing at balls, even though they wore elegant European dresses, they were still deeply rooted in Musa tradition.

But as they spun around, the two slowly began to blend into the atmosphere.

Unaware, Adam picked up his glass intending to drink, only to be stopped by Silver Bell.

"You'll get a stomachache if you drink that," she said.

"What should we do then? Are we going to show off with these glasses all night?" Adam retorted.

"I've prepared for this." With a grin, Silver Bell led Adam out onto the balcony and discreetly poured out the wine from their glasses, replacing it with the blood she had prepared.

"This was made by Uncle Kara, it tastes similar to wine but it's blood. Let's drink this instead," she explained.

Seeing her proud expression as she poured the red liquid from a small bottle into Adam's glass, Adam understood that she had indeed put a lot of thought into this ball.

For her first ball, it must be quite exciting, right? Maybe he should go along and fulfill this girl's beautiful wishes.

Suddenly turning around, Adam asked, "Do you want to dance?"

"I do, but you don't know how."

"Who said I don't?" 

"It's just a waltz, and it's the most basic one. After all, these people are all beginners here."

Adam had been part of the university's dance association in his previous life, so he surely knew a thing or two.

Thinking this, Adam took Silver Bell's hand and set their glasses on the nearby table before leading her to the center of the dance floor.

At that moment, the dance floor only had a few awkward couples struggling to move in rhythm to the music.

"Let's start!" Adam exclaimed with a smile.

"What?" Silver Bell looked puzzled.

Before Silver Bell could react, Adam had already placed one hand under hers and the other on her back.

"Here we go!" 

"Make the steps smooth, yes, like that... You have to feel my movements, not memorize the steps. The lady must accept the lead from the gentleman... Yes, let's try a spin... That's right, very well done!" Adam kept instructing, reminiscent of his days as a cheap laborer earning ten dollars per class back in university. The only difference was that the girl before him indeed had some dance talent and quickly got into the groove.

Suddenly, all eyes in the hall were on them.

It wasn't a sophisticated dance, something that wouldn't even be worth watching in Adam's previous world, but here, in this remote place, they seemed to have some capital to show off.

"Wow, you really know how to dance!" Silver Bell exclaimed joyfully.

Their smooth movements caught everyone's attention, even better than what Christine had taught them.

"He's good, who is he?" A tall waiter in a black suit approached Christine quietly, holding a tray.

Speaking with his head held high and his eyes fixed on the dancing pair, he seemed to want to avoid attracting attention.

Christine touched the ring on her hand and replied, "He's also a vampire." There was a hint of cunning in her smile.

"Which generation?" the man asked.

"I don't know, can't figure it out. Seems very powerful, my ring has never vibrated like this before."

"Eight generations or earlier?"

"Yes."

"That's impossible. Besides Bisa, there isn't a second eight-generation vampire in this place, let alone an earlier generation."

"Please don't doubt my accuracy!" Christine's tone turned slightly angry, but she still wore a smile on her face.

"Alright, no need to get angry. Even if it's not eight generations, it doesn't matter, right?" The man then shifted his gaze to the glasses on the table where Adam and Silver Bell had left them. "If I'm not mistaken, there's blood in there. As long as we add some..."

"Enough, don't hatch bad ideas." Christine took a deep breath. "Acting now would raise their suspicions, and our whole plan would fail. We've come all the way here, not just to hunt down two vampires..."

At this moment, in the dance floor, Adam, who was still dancing with Silver Bell, twitched his ears slightly.

"So they have ill intentions, huh? Perfect, I haven't had a full meal tonight," he said with a deeper smile.

"Huh?" Silver Bell looked confused.

As they continued to dance, the man and Christine spoke quietly, and Adam's smile grew wider.

"So they have ill intentions, huh? Perfect, I haven't had a full meal tonight," he said with a deeper smile.

"Huh?" Silver Bell looked confused.